About Us
About Us
Welcome to LDComics
The largest women-led comics forum in the UK, open to all!
We believe in the transformative potential of the comics form to offer wellbeing through making and reading. The accessibility of the form as a storytelling medium has created fertile ground for a wealth of casual creators and minority voices.
We value comics as a tool to question and challenge injustices and inequalities in society on a global scale.
LDCOMICS CIC is a Community Interest Company registered in England and Wales. Company Number 13356603
LDC is led by a committee of five UK based women creators: Emma Burleigh, Lou Crosby, Wallis Eates, Lana Lê, and Dr Nicola Streeten. We organise and host comic-related events in the UK and beyond and delivery is assisted by a group of volunteers.
We plan to unleash the power of comics by providing a platform & opportunities for comic creators to share their work.
Our Mission:
To change the world through the medium of comics
We aim to…
- Provide a platform for comic creators to test new works and ideas within a social context, spotlighting narratives that give new perspectives on the real dramas of the everyday, in particular of an autobiographical nature.
- Celebrate & raise the standards, expertise & representation of female-identifying graphic novelists (in a historically white-male dominated space).
- Build a friendly community to counteract the solitude of comic creation, boosting wellbeing & creating networking opportunities in the process.
- Re-define the mainstream concept of ‘comics’ in the UK.
- Champion feminist leadership as the first women-led comics’ forum in the UK.
Our Vision:
We want to inspire you to create, and we believe the medium of comics is a wonderful, accessible way to do it.
In the future, we want to see:
- A thriving, supportive LDComics community in every city local to you (find out how to start your own local meet up here).
- A rise in the professionalism of comic artists.
- More stories, memoirs, essays & anecdotes in the comic form.
- More women being published and acknowledged at comic panels and awards.
- A change in the way comics are perceived in society For example, ensuring graphic memoirs are positioned beyond the sci-fi / manga section in bookshops and festivals.
How Will We Get There:
We inspire creativity, friendships and the sharing of experiences and stories. We do this by hosting events and activities across the world throughout the year.
This includes:
- Regular local meet ups, where guest speakers from the community are invited to share their knowledge, experience and projects.
- Talks & Presentations in Angouleme (France), India & Comics Festivals and Symposiums across the UK.
- Annual LDComics Festival which includes a (touring) zine library, one-to-one critical review sessions and presentations from publishers.
- Competition & Awards which highlight female-identifying comic creators across the UK (read why it’s women-only here).
- Professional Development Workshops to raise the professional standards of graphic novelists.
- Residency for a creative weekend in the UK countryside
Our Story so Far…
“LDC is like a combination between a book club and a series of TED talks” – (Julie Davis Art Animal, a women’s art magazine, 2013)
LDComics CIC (aka LDC & previously known as “Laydeez do Comics”), was launched in July 2009 by Nicola Streeten and Sarah Lightman. We ran as an unincorporated voluntary organisation, becoming incorporated as a Community Interest Company in 2021. We set up to champion comics work based on life narrative and the drama of the everyday.
Streeten and Lightman shared an interest in comics and graphic novels that were not about superheroes, but were focused on the domestic and autobiographical.
They felt that they couldn’t be alone and they were right!
LDC now has a worldwide presence with meetings held in San Francisco, New York, Toronto, as well as closer to home in Birmingham, Manchester, London and Bristol.
Artists, academics, publishers and fans from around the world are invited to speak at LDC.
The regular monthly events, previously physical and since COVID 19 online are an inclusive platform for people to test new works and ideas, where emerging artists present their work alongside more established practitioners, in an inspiring and friendly atmosphere. The online iteration has enabled a global presence.
Everyone is welcome, including those with no knowledge of comics and those already immersed.
Please visit past speakers page from this website to enjoy the rich and varied documentation of our meetings provided by our guest bloggers at events.
Recent History
2020: LDC goes entirely online to host an awards festival, residency and monthly meetups on a global scale!
2019: Bristol, Dundee & Manchester Meet Ups Launched
2018: Launched the LDComics Festival & Awards Ceremony
We launched the first women-only prize for graphic novels in progress at the one day LDC Day festival! Winner Emma Burleigh went on to get other publishing deals and started up the Bristol LDC meet up
2018: The Inking Women: Exhibition & Book Launch
The Inking Woman, edited by LDC founder Nicola Streeten and Cath Tate, spotlights the story of women cartoonists to the present day, and has LDC as a chapter of the UK’s tapestry of comic book history.
2017: International Girl Gang in Angouleme
We were invited to the 44th Angouleme International Comics Festival 2017, the third largest comics art festival in the world. Joining forces with Comic Book Slumber Party (UK), FEMSKT (Finland), and Laydeez do Comics (UK), we formed the International Girl Gang and hosted a series of feminist-focused events and panels at the festival.
2016: “Hometown” Comic Anthology
In this 60 page unique anthology, members of LDC Brum share their emotional stories about their Hometown. It was a great chance for LDC Birmingham members to work together and share their skills, knowledge and contacts to produce their first self-published zine. It was printed in it’s hometown by Rope Press, a not for profit printer of small press in Birmingham.
Thanks Yous
The steering is UK based, and we operate as a Community Interest Company.
We have gratefully received support for the activity around our first LDC DAY FESTIVAL (2018) and our Laydeez Weekend Festival (2019-20) from Arts Council England. This was supported with donations from the LDC community, we thank everyone who has donated to LDC over the years. In 2022 and 2023 we were grateful recipients of funding from the British Council.
We thank everyone participating in our activity in whatever capacity for your continuing support.
