Paul Gravett

Biography

Gravett's career began in 1981, as he and his "longtime partner" Peter Stanbury managed the Fast Fiction table at bi-monthly Comic Marts held in Westminster Hall. Gravett invited artists to send him their homemade comics, which he would sell from the Fast Fiction table with all proceeds going to the creator. His role in the British indie comics scene is depicted in Eddie Campbell's Alec comics, in which Gravett is called "The Man at the Crossroads."

Later in 1981, Gravett was employed as promotions manager for Pssst!, an attempt to publish a British equivalent of the lavish French bande dessinée magazines.

In 1983, Gravett and Stanbury launched Escape magazine

From 1992 to 2001, Gravett was the director of the UK charity the Cartoon Art Trust, dedicated to preserving and promoting the best of British cartoon art and caricature, and to establish a museum of cartoon art with gallery, archives, and reference library.

In 2003, Gravett founded Comica, the London International Comics Festival, which he helped run until its demise in 2014. Gravett coordinated a number of events surrounding Comica, like Comica Comiket and the Graphic Short Story Prize contest, run in conjunction with The Observer.

Gravett has written a number of books on comics. He also co-edited Ctrl.Alt.Shift Unmasks Corruption, a political anthology comic produced in 2009. Gravett and Stanbury's Great British Comics: Celebrating a Century of Ripping Yarns and Wizard Wheezes was nominated for a 2007 Eagle Award for Favourite Comics-related Book.

Bibliography

Gravett is the author, co-author, or editor of several non-fiction books on the topic of comics and sequential art, including:

• • US edition: )
• • US edition:
• • 2014 edition:
• • US edition:

References

Notes

Sources

• "Culture Shock" (interview by Chrissie Harper, Judge Dredd Megazine #251, 2006)

References

1. Ellis, Warren. "Biography".
2. Johnston, Rich. (April 21, 2019). "Peter Cannon, Eddie Campbell and Paul Gravett – The Men At The Crossroads". Bleeding Cool.
3. Beaty, Bart. (February 1999). "Positive Signs: Ten Worthy Translation Projects". The Comics Journal.
4. [http://www.bailsprojects.com/%28S%28cgta3r453deqw155d1o3mgyg%29%29/bio.aspx?Name=GRAVETT%2c+PAUL Gravett entry], ''Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999''. Retrieved July 25, 2022.
5. Millidge, Gary Spencer. (June 22, 2004). "THE RETURN OF THE LONDON CON: One: ComICA! 2003". Millidge.com.
6. Badham, Matt. (October 30, 2009). "Comica Festival 2009: London Is Bubbling Over With Comics!". Forbidden Planet International Blog.
7. Oliver, Andy. (October 14, 2014). "'Comics Are Truly International and Transnational' – A Guide to Comica Festival 2014 from Paul Gravett, the Man at the Crossroads". Broken Frontier.
8. (2011). "GRAPHIC SHORT STORY PRIZE". Comica: London International Comics Festival.
9. Brown, Mark. (3 November 2009). "Pow! Comic-strip heroes fight against corruption". [[The Guardian]].
10. (Feb 5, 2007). "Eagle Awards Website Open for Nominations". Comic Book Resources.
11. Faber, Michel. (25 November 2006). "Tardis of delights: Paul Gravett and Peter Stanbury's Great British Comics is an entertaining celebration of the medium". [[The Guardian]].
12. (July 2006). "Great British Comics: An Introduction". [[Forbidden Planet International]].