Paul Gravett on Queer as Comics: London’s New Exhibition
A conversation about curation, discovery, and the power of comics
GraphicMEMOIRBlog | Conversation #89
Paul Gravett is an ever-present figure in the world of comics. I’ve encountered him many times at London comics events, and his Facebook feed has become one of my key sources of comics news and discoveries.
I was delighted to have the opportunity for a longer conversation with him in person at the recently opened Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration in Clerkenwell, East London, during my visit to see Queer as Comics. After spending time looking around the exhibition, I sat down with Paul to discuss the show, its curation, and the challenges behind bringing it together.
The exhibition
The first thing to note is what an incredible space the new Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration is. The former engine house, windmill base, and derelict stores have been transformed into galleries, learning spaces, a café, and a shop, surrounded by new public gardens in Clerkenwell. It feels like a fitting new home for illustration and comics, and is already a must visit destination for Londoners and visitors alike.
The exhibition itself brings together work by more than 70 individuals pieces of original artwork on display, bringing together a huge cross section of comics history alongside contemporary voices. Highlights include Alison Bechdel’s work, David Shenton, newer voices such as Lee Lai and Leo Fox, and Luke Healy’s recently released Dogs on Dates also makes an appearance.
The exhibition makes the important observation that both comics and queer communities have faced marginalisation, discrimination, and a lack of recognition over similar periods. Both have challenged assumptions and fought for visibility, and the exhibition successfully traces that journey.
I always find with comics exhibitions that there is a book I suddenly realise I should have read but haven’t. This time it was Howard Cruse’s Stuck Rubber Baby, a landmark queer graphic novel that Gravett also highlighted as a key work.
Writer, curator, and activist
Gravett’s curatorial projects include Comics Unmasked at the British Library (2014), Comics Creatrix (2016), and Asian Comics: Evolution of an Art Form, which I visited in California in 2024. The exhibition has since continued its tour, including a showing in Seattle.
Gravett is also a writer and commentator on comics, having edited and contributed to 1001 Comics You Must Read Before You Die and written on creators including Posy Simmonds and Tove Jansson.
When I asked Gravett how he defined his role, he described himself as a “writer, curator, and activist”. The word “activist” is what resonates most strongly for me about Paul. Throughout his career, he has been passionate about bringing visibility and legitimacy to comics, a form that has often been overlooked or marginalised. That sense of purpose feels particularly fitting for Queer as Comics.
His work is not simply about preserving comics history, but about opening up conversations and demonstrating the breadth, diversity, and cultural importance of the medium.
The curatorial problem
At the heart of Queer as Comics was the problem of scale. With around 60 to 70 creators included, the challenge was not finding material but deciding what to include. The field of queer comics is vast, and the exhibition needed to reflect its diversity without becoming so broad that the central story was lost.
The curatorial team therefore applied a series of filters. The focus was not simply on comics that featured queer characters or themes, but on work connected to queer experience and creators. The exhibition also avoided allowing areas such as superheroes and corporate Pride branded superhero publishing to dominate the show, as these could become exhibitions in themselves.
We also discussed the challenge of explicit content. There is a large body of queer comics that deals with sexuality in a more graphic way, particularly in underground publishing. The exhibition included some acknowledgement of this material, while ensuring the overall show remained accessible to different audiences, including younger visitors and families.
Another consideration was balance: representing different identities, genders, generations, and geographical backgrounds within the limitations of the gallery space.
Acquiring the work
The exhibition required research, personal networks, and a considerable amount of detective work to track down original material. Gravett described how much of the process involved finding and securing work from artists, collectors, and archives. Olivia Ahmad, part of the production team, travelled to New York, California, and Europe to help bring the artwork together, managing the practical challenges involved in borrowing original material, from transport to the formal requirements of exhibiting fragile pieces.
One of the most fascinating discoveries behind Queer as Comics was the story of a little known self published lesbian comic by Barb Kutzner. Gravett explained that it came to his attention through the research of Margaret Galvan, who has been exploring the history of queer comics, particularly in small press and independent publishing.
The story revealed how fragile comics history can be. Kutzner’s work had been distributed through alternative networks, but a telegram warning that remaining copies might have to be pulped was never received. It showed how close the work came to disappearing.
For Gravett, this kind of discovery is exactly why comics exhibitions matter. They do not just celebrate well known works; they can also recover overlooked voices and bring hidden histories back into view.
Some pieces emerged through the networks that surround comics. I was particularly excited to see an original piece by Mia Wolff, whose work I had discussed with her earlier this year in relation to Bread and Wine. Gravett explained that the connection came through Tucker Stone at Fantagraphics, another example of how the comics community itself helps bring exhibitions together.
Another artist whose work caught my attention was Ilya, a familiar figure on the London comics scene whom I had also interviewed previously. His inclusion reflected the exhibition’s connection not just to comics history, but to the contemporary communities that continue to shape the medium.
In some cases, however, the process was more challenging. Important pieces proved impossible to secure, either because original artwork no longer existed or because circumstances made lending difficult. Gravett noted that this revealed something fundamental about comics history itself: original artwork can disappear, be scattered, or remain outside public view. Every exhibition is therefore also a reconstruction of the material that survives.
What the exhibition aims to do
For Gravett, Queer as Comics is ultimately about visibility, access, and recognition. One of the hopes behind the exhibition is that younger visitors might see experiences reflected back at them and realise they are not alone.
Gravett spoke about the importance of creating a space where someone might encounter a story and think: this could be me.
He recalled seeing a grandmother sitting with her two grandchildren in the café, reading the free Queer as Comics comic pamphlet produced for the exhibition and explaining the stories to them and explaining the stories to them. For Gravett, moments like this capture what the exhibition can achieve: creating a public space where queer narratives are visible, discussed, and shared across generations.
Further Information
The exhibition is accompanied by a programme of events at the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration. From 4 July, the Centre will host free monthly LGBTQIA+ Family Drop-ins on the first Saturday of each month.
Upcoming events also include An Evening with Queer as Comics on 8 July, featuring Kate Charlesworth, David Shenton, Ollie Hicks, and Leo Fox, alongside curator tours, creative workshops, and a panel discussion on Queer Comics, Community and Activism.
Further details can be found on the Quentin Blake Centre website: https://qbcentre.org.uk/whats-on
Article written by Jonathan Sandler, author of The English GI: World War II Graphic Memoir, curator of the GraphicMEMOIRBlog, and Advisor to Mensch Publishing.
Stuck Rubber Baby by Howard Cruse is an absolute MUST - one of the very few graphic novels that for me, a stickler, deserves the term (in that it has a novelistic structure and depth, as well as the requisite staying power). It's a masterwork.