Hi-Ex (short for Highlands International Comics Expo) was a name given to a Scottish comics convention held from 2008 to 2012. It was held early of each year in Eden Court Theatre,

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

(up to 2012). The organizers were Richmond Clements (editor at FutureQuake Publishing) and Vicky Stonebridge.Scots' impact on comics examined

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, 22 January 2008 The convention was the Center of a range of other events organized to promote comics in the region, including "outreach visits" to schools (involving Kev F. Sutherland), with the help of the

Highland Council The Highland Council (' ) is the local authority for Highland, one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. The council is based at the Highland Council Headquarters in Inverness. History The Highland area had been created as an administrative a ...

and

Scottish Arts Council The Scottish Arts Council (), was a Scottish public body responsible for the funding, development and promotion of the arts in Scotland. The Council primarily distributed funding from the Scottish Government as well as National Lottery funds ...

, and an exhibition of comic art in Eden Court's gallery. Richmond Clements quoted: "Over the years Scots have had a surprising influence on comic art and script writing.

History

The idea for the convention emerged from the lack of a major comics convention in the area and a discussion Richmond Clements and Vicky Stonebridge had with Eden Court's Judith Aitken, about possibly bringing in a few guest speakers. Through contacts made because of their involvement with the

British small press comics British small press comics, once known as stripzines, are comic books self-published by amateur cartoonists and comic book creators, usually in short print runs, in the UK. They're comparable to similar movements internationally, such as American ...

they were able to speak to a wide number of professional comic creators and the event rapidly grew into a full weekend. They received advice from people who had experience in running conventions, including Michael Carroll, who chaired the Irish national science fiction convention,

Octocon Octocon, the National Irish Science Fiction Convention, first held in 1989, is held (almost) annually in October. It has mostly been staged in Dublin, but for four years was in the university town of Maynooth. It was not held in 2003, and in 2 ...

,Catwalks and comic book heroes

, 1 June 2008 and the Comic Expo's Mike Allwood.Interview with organisers
, ''Northings'', January 2008 Hi-Ex has been used by the

as an example of how the Internet has helped facilitate developments in the

Highlands and Islands The Highlands and Islands is an area of Scotland broadly covering the Scottish Highlands, plus Orkney, Shetland, and the Outer Hebrides (Western Isles). The Highlands and Islands are sometimes defined as the area to which the Crofters' Act o ...

. Clements is quoted as saying "Practically the entire event was organized through e-mail." ''Northings'', the Highlands and Islands Art Journal, described the first convention as "inspirational," and said that "by the end of the weekend I felt like a door had been opened on a whole genre of art that I hadn’t engaged with before." Of those that attended,

Gary Erskine Gary Erskine is a Scottish comic book artist. Career Born in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Paisley near Glasgow in 1968, Erskine grew up in Rutherglen and attended Burnside Primary and Stonelaw High School. Fellow comic artist Frank Quitely (Vincent ...

declared it a "complete success." In 2011 the gathering was cancelled due to lack of sponsorships, and time conflicts. The convention wasn't able to hold an event "fans and guests deserved." The exhibition for comic art and script writing was due to be held at Eden Court March 26 - 27th prior to the event's cancellation. the show returned in 2012.

Dates and locations

References

External links

Richmond Clement's blog

Vicky Stonebridge

Hi-Ex in the Highlands

Forbidden Planet ''Forbidden Planet'' is a 1956 American science fiction action film from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, produced by Nicholas Nayfack and directed by Fred M. Wilcox (director), Fred M. Wilcox from a script by Cyril Hume that was based on a film story by ...

, 3 February 2008
Hi-Ex photographs
on

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The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre's guide to Hi-Ex
by Kev F. Sutherland
The Predator's footage of eventWe are Family: A conversation with Vicky Stonebridge
Forbidden Planet, 31 July 2009 Fan conventions in the United Kingdom Defunct comics conventions Culture in Inverness