Association of comics
The association for comics, cartoon, illustration and animation e. V. ( ICOM for short ) based in Stuttgart is an association founded in 1981 that gives German employed and freelance draftsmen and authors a forum for the exchange of opinions and information. The aim is to improve their professional situation.
Emergence
At the end of the 1970s, West German comic artists and scriptwriters became increasingly interested in mutual exchange. For this reason, Eddy Brons and Achim Schnurrer published a classified ad in the comic magazine Comixene , in which they invited comic illustrators, authors, translators and editors to a joint meeting after the comic exchange in Cologne.
At the following general meeting on March 21 and 22, 1981 in Erlangen, it was decided to draw up a statute. The ICOM was officially founded, its first board members were Achim Schnurrer, Gerd Zimmer and Ruth Brons .
Further meetings then took place in Erlangen (until 1990, then at a different location), at which the later cornerstones of the ICOM emerged: closer networking of the draftsmen, authors and translators as well as the image improvement of the comic medium in Germany. The Erlanger meetings were gradually supplemented by lectures and exhibitions in order to also include the public, the meeting in December 1983 under the title "3rd Erlanger Comic Salon".
The ICOM was the initiator and co-organizer of the International Comic Salon in Erlangen from 1984 to 1990 (together with the City of Erlangen's Department of Culture).
From 1989 to 1995 the ICOM published a comic magazine (from 1989 to January 1993 under the title ICOM INFO , 1993 as COMIC INFO , then as COMIC! ). An internal newsletter has been published since 1981 (first as ICOM INFO , then as ICOM INFO INTERN , since 1994 as ICOMINTERN ).
Situation today
The ICOM has been awarding the ICOM Independent Comic Prize annually since 1994 to promote young, unknown cartoonists.
In order to give smaller comic publishers and fanzines the opportunity to sell their titles nationwide, the "ICOM Independent Comic Shop" was initiated, run by changing specialist dealers, currently Manfred Ilsemann ("Fantastic Times").
The COMIC! Yearbook has been published annually since 2000, in which the German-language comics scene is highlighted by various authors. In addition, developments in other countries are reported in international market reports. In 2013 the series was awarded the Munich PENG! Prize .
In addition to the COMIC! The ICOM yearbook also publishes the ICOM guide to fees, contracts, copyright law , to help less experienced artists. In 2012 the ICOM published the guide "The comic in the head - creative storytelling in the Ninth Art" by Frank Plein and Markus Hockenbrink (illustrations).
In 2011 ICOM took part in the Free Comic Day with the booklet "Comics for Everyone!". In 2017 he published the free booklet "Comic artist in dialogue", to which 27 artists, including 11 teams from manga and comic artists, contributed.
The board currently consists of Burkhard Ihme , Peter Krüger and Reinhard Horst (FeliX).