Hi-Ex (short for the Highlands International Comics Expo) was the name given to a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

comics convention A comic book convention or comic-con is an event with a primary focus on comic books and comic book culture, in which comic book fans gather to meet creators, experts, and each other. Commonly, comic conventions are multi-day events hosted at co ...

held from 2008–2012. It was held early in the year in

Eden Court Theatre Eden Court Theatre (Scottish Gaelic: Cùirt an Easbaig) is a large theatre, cinema and arts venue situated in Inverness, Scotland close to the banks of the River Ness. The theatre has recently undergone a complete refurbishment and major exten ...

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histo ...

. The organisers were Richmond Clements (editor at

FutureQuake Publishing FutureQuake was a British small press comic book founded by Arthur Wyatt, and later edited by Richmond Clements, David Evans and Owen Watts. Dedicated to showcasing work by new writers and artists, they published mostly self-contained comic stor ...

) and Vicky Stonebridge.Scots' impact on comics examined

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, 22 January 2008 The convention was the centre of a range of other events organised 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 (' ), the political body covering the Highland (council area), Highland Local authorities of Scotland, local authority created in 1995, comprises 21 wards, each electing three or four councillors by the single transferable v ...

and

Scottish Arts Council The Scottish Arts Council ( gd, Comhairle Ealain na h-Alba, sco, Scots Airts Cooncil) was a Scottish public body responsible for the funding, development and promotion of the arts in Scotland. The Council primarily distributed funding from the ...

, and an exhibition of comic art in Eden Court's gallery.

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 also received advice from people with experience in running conventions, including Michael Carroll, who chaired the Irish national science fiction convention,

Octocon Octocon, is the name of events organised by and for fans of science fiction (and fantasy). Octocon, Santa Rosa, California, was first held in October 1977. Octocon, the National Irish Science Fiction Convention, first held in 1989, is held ...

,Catwalks and comic book heroes

, 1 June 2008 and the

Comic Expo The Bristol International Comic & Small Press Expo, commonly known as Comic Expo or BCE, was an annual comic book convention held in the United Kingdom from 2004 to 2013. The show was held once a year in Bristol in the spring. The organiser was M ...

'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 Outer Hebrides (Western Isles). The Highlands and Islands are sometimes defined as the area to which the Crofters' Act of 1886 ...

. 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." There was no Hi-Ex convention in 2011 due to lack of sponsorship;"No Hi-Ex! 2011 Convention,"
Comics Bits website. Accessed 7 June 2012. the show returned in 2012. Hi-Ex 2013 was scheduled for 6–7 April 2013, at Eden Court Theatre, Inverness, but was canceled.

Dates and locations

References

External links

Richmond Clement's blog

Vicky Stonebridge

Hi-Ex in the Highlands

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, 3 February 2008
Hi-Ex photographs
on

Flickr Flickr ( ; ) is an American image hosting and video hosting service, as well as an online community, founded in Canada and headquartered in the United States. It was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and was a popular way for amateur and professiona ...

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 British fan conventions Defunct comics conventions Culture in Inverness