The Walking Dead artist keeping comic tradition alive

MUCH like The Lakes International Comic Art Festival itself, Charlie Adlard's star has risen greatly in recent years.

A key guest at the Kendal event each year since it launched since it launched in 2013, the Shrewsbury-based artist returns once again when it takes over the town from Friday October 14 to 16.

Best known as the illustrator of The Walking Dead comics, his creations have inspired one of the biggest shows currently on American television, and the monthly editions are now among the top 10 most read long-running comics in the world.

TV and film has undoubtedly done wonders in bringing the world of comics into focus for a new generation, but Charlie sees it as his work at events such as this to spread the word that there is so much more out there.

"People say there's been a resurgence, but I do take that with a pinch of salt," he says.

"Since the mid-80s we've been having a resurgence and it's never gone away.

"Comics have been with us since the turn of the last century, and they've always been quite good at moving with the times, but it's still encouraging to see people coming to things like this.

"People perceive it that way because of the films, and that's both a blessing and a curse. They think that comics are all like The Avengers and Spiderman, but there's so much more than just superheroes.

"Obviously there's The Walking Dead, and the vast majority of the public have no idea it's a comic book. Then it becomes our job to tell people that there's so much more.

"I put on my social media channels that I would be a guest at Walker Stalker - which is basically the big Walking Dead convention in London - and just saw lots of responses from people saying "who's he?". I felt like responding to them all, saying that without the comic, it wouldn't even be a thing.

"It's clearly done incredible things for the sales of books, but the audience of the TV show is about 10 or 11 million people on average in America, and to put it in perspective, the sales of our monthly are about 60,000 - which is incredible and we're really thankful for, but ask anyone in the street about The Walking Dead, and they'll say "oh, you mean the TV show?". That's the challenge we all face.

"Where Kendal is so good is it is trying to show people there's much more out there."

The Lakes International Comic Art Festival has quickly established itself among the comic book elite, and Charlie - who has also worked on many other projects including Mars Attacks, the X-Files, Judge Dredd and X-Men - puts that down to the variety in its programme that just isn't there with the regular conventions that pop up most weekends.

As it has done from the start, the Kendal event always strives to be something more than just a comic book table top sale.

For this fourth edition, for example, there will be live comic drawing, films, exhibitions, comic trails, workshops, performance, master-classes, a free family zone and independent publishers – it is bursting with opportunities to get up close and personal with some of the leading comic artists and writers from across the world.

On the Saturday afternoon, Charlie joins his friend, the multi-talented independent creator and publisher Dan Berry, to explore and practise the fine art of life drawing in a workshop at the Brewery Arts Centre.

He says: "Obviously, like any festival or convention, you've got to do a bit of toe-dipping to see what works, but Kendal probably went in full throttle and it has proved to be very successful.

"There does seem to be one every week now, right across the country, but to be honest, some are very poorly attended - what this one does though is offer something different from the usual format.

"Unlike most, where it is just people sat behind tables signing things, this is similar to the Angoulême convention in France, which is one of the biggest in Europe - it takes over the whole town and features exhibitions and shows, and offers something for the general public.
The Walking Dead

"To be honest, I'd say it's less the comic "obsessives" going to this one, and it's got a broader appeal to all sorts of people, which in my opinion is healthy.

"Dan Berry is a friend of mine and also a local artist to me in Shrewsbury.

"This is a really good example of what Kendal is about, because I wouldn't be able to do something like this anywhere else, but it's the thing I'm looking forward to the most.

"It's geared towards people who want to be in the industry, and being able to draw the human anatomy is one of the most important ingredients - if you can't draw the human body, you're going to struggle.

"I can never learn enough about something like that."

Another key event to launch the 2016 festival is the "Clash of the Toon Titans", which pits Tintin against Asterix to determine which was the greatest. Charlie is one of the guests who will be stating his case for Asterix at the Friday debate, kicking off a busy weekend that will also see him visit CeX in the Westmorland Shopping Centre to judge visitor's own comic creations, stage his life-drawing class, and, of course, signing books and meeting fans at the Clocktower festival headquarters.

"You always want to go to a festival or convention and be busy, instead of sat around twiddling your thumbs - whenever I go to Kendal I always end up with too much on.

"There's a lot of things I'd like to see, like the exhibitions and go to some of the talks, because they're the most interesting bits - they're not just people droning on about their latest book.

"When a festival takes over a town like Kendal, it makes it feel exciting and full, without being overcrowded and impossible to get from A to B. A lot of festivals could learn a thing or two from Kendal.

"In my opinion it's the most original in the country, and probably the best."

The Lakes International Comic Art Festival will take place from Friday October 14 to Sunday 16 in Kendal. For more information, visit www.comicartfestival.com