Reg Bunn Award 2016

THE VARIOUS events of 2016's Birmingham Comics Festival were enjoyed by both young and old this April, and at the convention that took place at Edgbaston Cricket Stadium on Saturday 23rd, both were honoured...

During an early morning panel event discussing what it was that made the Midlands, and Birmingham in particular, a place so many comics creators were born or had made their home the name of Reg Bunn was brought up.

William Reginald Bunn was born in Kings Norton in Birmingham. He suffered hard times and poor health during his life; at one time sketching chalk drawings on the city streets to earn money. However, in 1949 he entered a competition run by Amalgamated Press the result of which lead to him becoming a stalwart of the British comics industry up until his death in 1971. During his career he would illustrate the likes of Robin Hood and The Spider, and latterly become known as “The cross-hatch king” for his style of illustration.

The comics community of Birmingham and the West Midlands decided to initiate an award in honour of and memory to Reginald Bunn and it was decided that this award would be received by an individual or party who the community felt worthy of acknowledgment by way of respect for their emerging talent and personal achievements, in the hope that it will embolden them to continue with their comics craft both as a creative act and potentially commercial venture in the years ahead.

The recipient of the 2016 Reg Bunn Comics Award was recommended by Laura Howell, and fully endorsed by Paul H Birch who initiated the award, and during the panel it was announced that the award would go to a promising young artist by the name of Nate Madden.

To this end, The Birmingham Comics Festival invited Nate’s family to spend the day at the convention, and Nate himself was presented an award signed by the many Midlands-related professionals attending the show, with the likes of Mike Collins, John McCrea and Phil Winslade also doodling sketches on the award making it an invaluable possession for a young fan.​​

Further to this, Phil Clarke, creator of the original comic convention in not only Birmingham but the whole of the UK back in 1968, donated pages of original art by the late Dennis Gifford that were presented to Nate.​

During the rest of the day, invites for Nate to talk to artists he admired were taken up and the lad, only just turned 15, was visibly impressed, expressing it to be one of the best days of his life. In recent times, he has suffered his own personal adversities, having been bullied at school. However, as his father Carl Madden noted: "He has used art and comics to help him.”A not uncommon thread in terms of experiences the family were to discover upon speaking to some of the artists present, and as his father further noted: “The award and invaluable tips he got have validated all the hard work and effort Nate continuously does.”

For this reason alone, the Midlands comics community is proud to have initiated the award. It is intended that the Reg Bunn Comics Award will be awarded annually.

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