With the 21st century’s explosion in popularity for comics has also come the rise of the comic conventions, those gleeful geek gatherings that started small and grew into massive mass media showcases for all things pop culture with their focus on film stars, studio promotion, and often hefty admission prices.
But where does that leave the kids and creators that just want to learn about art, cartooning, comics storytelling, and the industry itself?
How can an aspiring comics creator hope to make real connections with like-minded creatives or learn about the artistic and economic techniques needed to navigate the business?
Those are the questions that have helped spawn the first-ever Oklahoma Comic Arts Festival coming Saturday, September 13th to the Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center in OKC.
The free event is a full day of panels, workshops, artist showcases, and more, all designed to encourage fans and creators of any age to learn, connect, and help to develop a stronger comic creating community for Oklahoma.
As one of the masterminds behind the festival, artist Robert Wilson IV hopes that this new event can take some of the focus away from all of that mass media and instead shine the spotlight back onto the wonder, the creativity, and the skill that goes into comics creation.
Robert Wilson IV: There aren't very many comic art festivals in the United States like OCAF.
The biggest difference is between a commercial, for-profit convention and a non-profit, community oriented festival. So we're not charging for admission, it's free to the public. And it's really a festival for the medium and for creation and creators.
Brett Fieldcamp: Wilson is an accomplished and notably busy comic artist and cartoonist, having penciled acclaimed indie books like “Knuckleheads,” “Heartthrob,” and his upcoming “Dreamhouse,” as well as a slew of covers, prints, and even concert posters for artists as diverse as Metallica and Weird Al.
But he’s also an Oklahoman and also faced an uphill battle trying to find his way into the comics industry in a place so far removed from its creative hubs, a battle that he wants to make easier for new creators with this festival.
Robert Wilson IV: The thing that really struck me about the creative community here is it's super enthusiastic, and there's a lot of incredible creators, and there's almost no access to the top tier of creators. There's almost no access to publishers. There's almost no access to like professional comics editorial.
And so I wanted to take the enthusiasm and creativity that already exists and was thriving here in the city and give it a platform.
Brett Fieldcamp: But it’s not only the most appealing or potentially lucrative comics that Wilson hopes to spotlight with the festival.
While the capes and crusaders of the superhero genre will be well represented, so will other approaches, like educational comics, indie dramas and fantasies, and manga.
Robert Wilson IV: My hope and goal for OCAF is that it can reflect the breadth of what the medium can do, and in doing so, I want to kind of like cover all the bases in terms of what people are making and how they're making it.
So we have people who are drawing comics for Marvel and DC. We have things that are appropriate for a wide audience, including kids, and stuff, that’s kind of a little bit more technical.
So kind of no matter what you're interested in doing in terms of comics, I feel like we've got the bases covered pretty well.
Brett Fieldcamp: He especially hopes to demonstrate and prove to aspiring young creators the uniquely imaginative power of the comics medium, a power that first struck and transformed him as a child.
Robert Wilson IV: I've kind of wanted to be a comic book artist since I was probably about 10, when my mom got me and my brother a three pack of X-Men comics.
So it was, like, a guy, just like, some guy just drew this thing that, like, expanded my mind, which means that I could probably just draw something that, like, expanded someone else's mind, you know?
Brett Fieldcamp: It’s that epiphany that Wilson hopes to pay forward with the festival, but not just for kids. He hopes that the creative and curious of all ages, types, and interests will come out, even if it’s just to see some art, meet some artists, and reflect on just how imaginative Oklahoma can be.
Robert Wilson IV: I feel like Oklahoma City, like, people want good things for the city. People want creativity. People want culture.
And so bring your kids, bring your nieces and nephews, like, bring your dad who used to read Spider-Man.
I would love for this to be a thing that is, like, the rallying point for the comics community in Oklahoma.
Brett Fieldcamp: The first-ever Oklahoma Comic Arts Festival takes place Saturday, September 13th at the Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center and is free and open to the public.
For more information, visit okcomicarts.org, and for a look at the art, stories, and projects of Robert Wilson IV, visit robertwilsoniv.com.
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