Will Huck Brings Monsters, Stones and Trees to Thought Bubble

Will Huck is a comic artist, illustrator, and printmaker, appearing at Thought Bubble this weekend, at Table 15 in the ComiXology Hall.

He tells Bleeding Cool “my new zine ‘Toy Box Full of Monsters’ is a nostalgic celebration of toys, both real and imagined, from my childhood and others’. It contains fanart, sketches, original pieces, and a short preview comic introducing one of my characters – the mighty Hyper Satellite, an alien hero inspired by old Japanese “Tokusatsu” shows like Kamen Rider and Ultraman. The artwork itself is all monochrome, heavy on contrast and screentone textures, and printed on a vibrant neon green paper stock (that is proving hard to accurately photograph!) I will also be selling it as a bundle with the ‘Tamagotchi Death and Rebirth’ print.”

“I will also be bringing my original comic book ‘Stone and Tree’, which I created during my final year at Leeds Arts University (2021). This is the story of a chimpanzee community torn apart by conflicting brothers, inspired by research on potential chimp rituals, and containing plenty of ape vs ape combat!”

“Besides my publications, I have original lino cuts for sale. The physical act of cutting and printing these is very cathartic and makes for a nice change of pace from my usual digital work. I make these in very small print runs, and due to the nature of the process each one is a unique one-of-a-kind!”

“And last but not least I have other merch items such as these brand new ‘Watch the Skies’ keychain charms, and holographic ‘Giant Monster Appreciation Society’ stickers featuring a couple of my original kaiju characters. These are a pretty good representation of some of my main inspirations I think – weird creatures and monsters, whether they be in films, comics, or purported to be real (in the case of UFOs, crytpids and the like). Writing this I’m well aware that all my output is very self-indulgent, but if you’re not making stuff that interests and excites you then what’s the point? And on that note I’m really looking forward to chatting to other artists and con-goers this weekend, and discovering great new work to immediately throw the day’s earnings at!”

That’s a lot of exclamation points, Let’s see if he’s worth it…

Thought Bubble is the UK’s largest comic art festival; a week-long celebration of comics, illustration, animation, and more that culminates in this weekend’s comic convention. Focused on those who create comic books, specifically the artists, and the writers, it is especially supportive of small press. The festival was founded in 2007 by Yorkshire artist, Lisa Wood, also known as Tula Lotay, and was organised as part of the Leeds International Film Festival to raise the profile of comics in the area. The first Thought Bubble was held on Saturday, 10 November 2007 in the basement of Leeds Town Hall and was attended by a couple of hundred people, but has grown a little since then. The convention originally ran throughout Leeds but, in 2019, due to issues with Leeds City Council and the need for more space, the convention moved to nearby Harrogate. And earlier this year, Lisa Wood stepped down from the role of director to be taken by Travelling Man’s Nabil Homsi. This week’s events are already underway and the convention begins on Saturday the 12th of November until Sunday the 13th of November. Bleeding Cool will be reporting from the show all weekend long. Do feel free to say hi!