Britain’s breakout comic book artist Lisa Wood left school barely able to read and write because of dyslexia but that wouldn’t stand in her way. After landing a job in a comic book store, Lisa founded what is now the UK’s largest comic book convention and began sketching professionally under her pen name ‘Tula Lotay’.

It’s Lisa’s fundraising that sets her apart as a true superhero, however. Lisa uses her success as an artist and conference organizer to raise money for Barnardo’s Children’s Charity - the same charity that arranged Lisa’s adoption when she was a baby.

SPYSCAPE goes behind the scenes with the creator of the Thought Bubble comic convention. 

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The struggle for acceptance

British artist Lisa Wood has used the pen name Tula Lotay to draw for some of the biggest names in the comic book world. She has credits for Batman, Lois Lane, and Wonder Woman for DC Comics, sketched for Spider-Man, Black Widow, Captain America, and Han Solo for Marvel, and worked on Dynamite’s Red Sonja. 

It is, she says, her dream job.

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Success wasn’t always a given, however. Born in 1975, Lisa Wood was taken into care as a baby and looked after by Barnado’s Children’s Charity. They placed her with foster parents who later adopted Lisa.

“At a very young age I was displaced, and those kinds of things stick with you,” she said in a 2020 interview. “Going through school I always felt like things were just very difficult for me… I couldn't fit in, and I definitely wasn't in a sound place to be able to learn. And I had dyslexia as well, so I could never read books with the rest of the class.”

Comic books became Lisa’s escape while growing up in the small town of Batley, West Yorkshire in the north of England. Her adoptive father would take Lisa to the local market to rummage through cardboard boxes of 25-cent comic books. He used the comics to help Lisa improve her literacy skills. Then, in the early 1990s, DC started its famed Vertigo imprint, a brand that specialized in comics for older teens and adults. It published ground-breaking titles such as Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series and hit a cord with Lisa.

The true superhero artist emerges

“I went into my own world when I read them,” she said. “My heroes were the artists who drew comics and the writers. And when you love something so much, you want to share it with other people.”

Lisa studied fine art after school and, while still a student, got a job at Traveling Man, a comic book and board games store with a loyal following. Through it, Lisa met people in the industry and had the germ of the idea that became Thought Bubble.

“I thought, wouldn’t it be wonderful to use this medium that I love so much to help other people to read and write, and look at children and adults who have literacy issues, and show them how valuable comics can be.”

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Sharing the message

The first Thought Bubble, held in 2007, was less a festival and more a series of community events. Lisa expected no more than a couple of hundred people to attend. She was wrong. The venues were packed.

“Everyone was so positive,” she said. “It felt crazy not to move forward with it.”

And so, Lisa did. She felt uncomfortable with the stress of organizing events but, within the first five years, it had become a well-established conference that could afford professional management. Lisa remained at the helm, but had time to establish herself as a comic book artist as well.  

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Artistic career

Lisa had always drawn for pleasure and shared her work on social media. As Lisa’s connections grew, contacts in the industry recognized her talent. “I always wanted to be a comic book artist, but I never felt I was good enough,” she said.

Many in the industry disagreed and sent her formal commissions. Lisa started drawing professionally around 2012 and “it just snowballed from there”. Her first cover was for Elephantmen and she was also the illustrator behind the Supreme: Blue Rose series.

Lisa now specializes in cover art and posters, which may involve spending several days or weeks on each project. And what has she learned? “Never feel you’re not good enough for anything you do.”
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Thought Bubble comics convention

From its humble beginning in 2007, Lisa envisioned Thought Bubble as a series of community outreach workshops. She has now expanded it to a one-week festival and a two-day convention, a Yorkshire version of San Diego’s famed Comic-Con and Britain’s largest comic book convention.

Thought Bubble is still focused on giving back to the community, however, and its success has given Lisa a bigger platform to raise money and awareness about children in need.

Among its many activities, Thought Bubble raises money through artwork auctions. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Thought Bubble posted online activities and organized free masterclasses so children could learn how to draw, color, and create their own superhero comic books to improve their literacy skills. The organization was also behind a drive to gather old and new comics to donate to schools and libraries to inspire reading. 

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During Thought Bubble conferences, Lisa has partnered with groups like Leeds Autism Services so children can build their confidence with art activities and learn how to cope with crowded spaces. In recent years, Thought Bubble has also campaigned for better pay for artists.

In 2019, Lisa Wood was awarded the Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award by the Comic-Con Eisner committee for her charitable and fundraising work. Lisa and Comic-Con have been in talks since then, hoping to team up to expand their charitable efforts to reach more people.

It is an achievable goal for an artist who wants to share her love of comics and use the medium to enrich the lives of children and adults everywhere. It is fair to say that Lisa Wood and her alter-ego Tula Lotay don't just draw superheroes.