On Tuesday night, Tim Pilcher treated a packed room at the Phoenix Artist Club to an entertaining talk on comic books. Currently working as Humanoids’ UK Liaison and Chair of the Comic Book Alliance, Tim has been in comic book publishing for over 25 years and a go-to guru on the medium.

With graphic novels as the current fastest growing sector in publishing, we learnt the secrets to reading, marketing and selling them. Comics have long been undervalued and criticised, but their recent rise in popularity and recognition in literary circles is making the medium well on the way to leaving the snobbish opinions and negative connotations behind it.

Here’s a collections of photos and tweets to sum up the night.

Very cool and packed venue for #bookmachine with @Tim_Pilcher. Everything you want to know about comics! pic.twitter.com/GRILjqDmYZ
— Evelyn (@Evelyn_PJ) July 14, 2015

So @Tim_Pilcher is talking about words, pictures and the power of communication #bookmachine #comics
— Inspired Selection (@Inspiredjobs) July 14, 2015

.@Tim_Pilcher: visual aspect of comics has always been a strong lure #bookmachine
— Anna Cunnane (@MollyBloom1989) July 14, 2015

.@Tim_Pilcher: mti = the idea that words and pictures can communicate more than words alone #allaboutcomics #bookmachine
— Anna Cunnane (@MollyBloom1989) July 14, 2015

.@Tim_Pilcher thinks words are elitist… A complex cognition that depends on education. What do we think? #allaboutcomics #bookmachine
— Anna Cunnane (@MollyBloom1989) July 14, 2015

What happens if you’re illiterate or don’t speak the language? Text and pictures together is incredibly powerful @Tim_Pilcher #BookMachine
— Amy Francis (@AmyFrancisLBF) July 14, 2015

What’s a graphic novel? What’s a comic?See these photos and see which definition u like 🙂 #bookmachine @Tim_Pilcher pic.twitter.com/velACBWHAE
— Amy Francis (@AmyFrancisLBF) July 14, 2015

.@Tim_Pilcher: moral panic over comics in the 1950s. Led to a ‘comics code’ crackdown on horror/sexual content etc #bookmachine
— Anna Cunnane (@MollyBloom1989) July 14, 2015

Comics is a medium, not a genre, says @Tim_Pilcher at #bookmachine. Good point.
— Abbie Headon (@AbbieHeadon) July 14, 2015

Bookstores should order 2 copies of every graphic novel – one for the “comic den” and one for its relevant genre section #BookMachine
— Amy Francis (@AmyFrancisLBF) July 14, 2015

#bookmachine @Tim_Pilcher: Bestselling manga series One Piece has sold 354 million copies in Japan alone since 1997…astounding.
— Kate Jervis (@Kate_Jervis) July 14, 2015

.@Tim_Pilcher: comics accepted as a legitimate art form by French society #bookmachine
— Anna Cunnane (@MollyBloom1989) July 14, 2015

“Anyone under 30 has so much more visual literacy than their parents.” Sigh. #BookMachine
— Abbie Headon (@AbbieHeadon) July 14, 2015

.@Tim_Pilcher: how to read a comic – take in the whole page and follow from top left to bottom right #bookmachine
— Anna Cunnane (@MollyBloom1989) July 14, 2015

.@Tim_Pilcher: graphic novels are a growth area in publishing. Reasons could be visual literacy and time poverty #bookmachine
— Anna Cunnane (@MollyBloom1989) July 14, 2015

#bookmachine Visual literary v important for next generation. Maybe the reason for @guardian‘s lovely #GoSetAWatchman animations? #ontrend
— Kate Jervis (@Kate_Jervis) July 14, 2015

Visit the BookMachine Facebook page for more photos of the night.

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