NYCC 2018: How American And European Comics Influence Each Other

New York Comic Con brings comic readers together from across the globe and this is no different for comic book creators. In the panel Currents of Inspiration: From America to Europe and Back, creators Belen Ortega, Kickliy, and Sylvain Runberg discussed their influences and approaches to comic making.

Although she’s originally from Spain, Ortega’s artwork is heavily influenced by manga. So much so that she even spent some time in Japan learning from local artists. Now Ortega  works on Millennium Saga  further adventures staring Lisbeth Salander the protagonist from The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.

Kickily is an American artist, who after surviving a tragic car accident, moved to France and re-learned drawing from scratch. After spending time in the garden of impressionist artist Monet, Kickily was inspired to create his series Musnet, about a mouse living in Monet’s garden. His new book Perdy, is the polar opposite with plenty of raunchy jokes and Western style gunslinging.

French comic writer Runberg, pulls from his two adolescent obsessions, comics and politics. Even in his science fiction works like Orbital there is some aspect of social commentary. However, as Runberg is quick to point out it never comes at the cost of an entertaining story. He currently works with Ortega on the Millennium Saga.

When asked about how American and European comics learn from each other, the creators explored the idea of European comics being more romantic. There’s a sense that comics can be about anything and not just superheroes or in one art style. With more European comics being released for the first time in english we may see a boom of Eurocomics in the American market in the same way we’ve had an Anime/Manga explosion.