Free Comic Book Day 2014

A quick posting and some pictures from yesterday's Free Comic Book Day. Like last year I took Tom Waits' Downtown Train (well it was on my iPod anyway) to London and got in the queue for Orbital Comics. A bigger line this year but a cheerful crowd was kept amused by a comedy Deadpool cosplayer who sang Tom Jones songs. We were also kept Bat-safe by sixties Batman who clearly knows you should never go out without a vest until after May.

The advantage of queuing for Orbital is that they let you pick which free comic book day issues you want so I was able to pick up the 2000AD Prog, a Bleeding Cool issue, and the lovely looking hardback Mouseguard which will soon be on its way to Canada for my nephew Ruairi.

From there to Forbidden Planet who hand out lucky dip bags of free comics (nothing particularly of interest to me) where I was first in the queue for the 2000AD droids signing. This year we had Tharg himself Matt Smith (no, not that one), top Dredd artist Henry Flint and Tiernen Trevaillion who draws the fantastic Absalom.

I got two copies of the Prog signed as well as a couple of trades. I'm hoping to get some more signatures including John Wagner's at the Lawgiver event on Monday and then one of the Progs and a trade will be up on eBay as charity auctions for Cancer Research UK.

After that I went back to do some back issue browsing in a slightly quieter Orbital and picked up my usual handful of early 2000ADs some of which will show up as Retro Reviews here later. I also walked over to Gosh comics in Soho and picked up a couple of comics for my daughter. Most of the FCBD mayhem had died down there but they still had artists painting comic characters on the windows, and a big table full of pens and paper where kids were making their own comics. Brilliant stuff from Gosh.

Another grand day out and look at all these lovely comics.

London Super Comic Con 2014

A quick dash through my haul from last weekend's LSCC, now in its third year with another big attendance especially on the Saturday which was pretty busy. Fortunately the aisles are wide and there is plenty of stuff to see. The big name guests didn't quite reach the heights of Stan Lee in 2012 and Neal Adams last year but there were some interesting people there and a couple of former art-droids from 2000AD. I picked up plenty of back issues and got a couple of comics signed.

Here's Alan Davis with my copy of Prog 350. A slightly unusual picture because Mr Davis appears to be smiling.

He also signed Prog 352 as well.

Dave Gibbons the Watchmen artist was there and signed his iconic Rogue Trooper cover for me.

Mr Gibbons was at the Comic Book Legal Defence Fund stand so I picked up the special edition print he has done for the fund. Here you go:

The other artist I was glad to meet was Garry Leach who was the original artist on Alan Moore's revival of Marvelman/Miracleman in Warrior back in the 1980s. He was signing at the Orbital Comics booth and I got him to sign his cover for issue 2.

Another Warrior artist Paul Neary was a late addition to the guest list so I got him to sign the same cover next to his Madman character. He then presented me with a Madman print as well. Bonus.

As ever I had a splendid time at the Con and met up with some old friends including the guys from the Comic Geek Speak podcast and the 2000AD forums. Sign me up for 2015 now!

Picture Post

A quick whiz through some convention pictures from last year.

This is legendary Judge Dredd artist Ron Smith signing two of his 2000AD covers for me at last year's Free Comic Book Day event at Forbidden Planet in London.

Here's Neil Gaiman in Ely cathedral signing a sketch of his character Delirium which was done by the artist D'Israeli.

At the first Lakeland international comic art festival last October I met the V for Vendetta artist David Lloyd who did a rather nice sketch for me.

And at the same event I had the great pleasure of not only meeting the creators of Judge Dredd, John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra, I even got to buy them a pint! Here's Mr Wagner signing a rather nice print of their famous characters.

 And Carlos with a quick Johnny Alpha head sketch he did for my brother.

Finally to last November's Thought Bubble where Henry Flint signed my one and only original comics page from his very first Judge Dredd story.

And the demon draughtsman D'Israeli produced a nice Dirty Frank drawing for me.

Aren't conventions a bit of fun in a busy, stressful world? It's the London Super Comic-Con in a few weeks and I can hardly wait.

Free Comic Book Day 2013 - 2000AD

Let me kickstart this blog back into action with a couple of quick reviews. Saturday May 4th was Free Comic Book Day. Which, as the name suggests, is an annual event where comic book publishers produce special issues to be given out in comic shops. The idea is to attract new readers and judging by the attendance at the events I visited in London they certainly seem to be getting young readers into the shops.

This year's 2000AD free prog had a delightful cover by Henry Flint which parodies several famous comic books.

I travelled down to London mainly to attend the 2000AD signing organised at Forbidden Planet but first I popped into Orbital comics on Great Newport street which is currently my favourite comic shop. I say popped in but actually the queue to get into the shop was already stretching down the road when I arrived at 11am. Fortunately it was moving very quickly and once inside they were allowing 3 free comics to each person. I picked up the 2000AD prog first and then a copy of Mouse Guard for my cousin Ruairi who is a big fan. The staff were slightly surprised that I only wanted two comics but I wanted to leave as many other copies as possible for the large numbers of kids who were queuing patiently. There were several Cosplayers in costume wandering the store and keeping the crowds entertained and the whole event had a pleasant family-friendly atmosphere.

I would have liked to have done some back issue browsing but the shop was crowded and I wanted to get to Forbidden Planet in good time for the signing. 2000AD writers Al Ewing and Dan Abnett were going to be there, as well as artist Ben Willsher, but the big draw was legendary Judge Dredd artist Ron Smith who was making a rare appearance. At Forbidden Planet they were handing out free comic day goody bags as people walked into the store (sensibly there was a kid-friendly bag as well). I got one of the grown up bags which contained the IDW Judge Dredd classics comic which is reprinting colourised versions of old Dredd stories.

I was downstairs in the FP book department about an hour before the signing was due to start. After the queue to get into Orbital I was looking for a long line but there were only a few early birds like myself. Everyone was in a cheerful and chatty mood and the hour passed quickly as we talked about 2000AD artists we had met, pieces of original art that people had, and crucially what we had brought to be signed. I had two old 2000AD progs from the 1980s with classic Ron Smith covers and here is the artist himself signing them.

And those covers.

I also got the FCBD 2000AD prog signed by Ewing, Abnett and Willsher who were all in fine form and content to play second fiddle to the excitement generated by Smith's presence. Forbidden Planet had helpfully provided huge piles of both the Prog and the IDW issue. So I picked up an extra copy of each to sent to another member of the 2000AD forum who was unable to get there.

After that I popped back into Orbital where things had calmed down a bit and I was able to find some nice 1970s issues of Werewolf by Night. Then I visited Gosh Comics in Soho where I met my daughter. I bought a signed copy of the new Halo Jones trade for myself, and the lastest John Allison book for Jenny before we headed out for a late lunch.

What a tremendous day! I really felt like I had packed a lot into a very short time and getting those two comics signed by Ron Smith was just perfect. I shall certainly be back for more Free Comic Book Day fun next year.

Big Finish's Big Day Out

Yesterday I made the snowy journey to Barking for Big Finish Day 3. Again this was a co-production between Big Finish and the autograph company Tenth Planet. And once again the star attraction was Tom Baker, but there were plenty of other guests and some interesting panels to attend.

Christopher Benjamin and Trevor Baxter play the marvellous Jago and Litefoot in their own spin-off series and they were both there in fine form.

I picked up the first series of their stories for them both to sign, along with the lovely Lisa Bowerman.

Chase Masterson played Leeta in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and has recently started her own Big Finish series as the impossibly glamorous bounty hunter Vienna Salvatore. She brought a lot of Hollywood sparkle to the slightly run down setting of a comprehensive school in Essex!

Also very glamorous, and rather surprising to find there as a Tenth Planet guest was Caroline Munroe, one of my teenage heartthrobs.

I hadn't planned on meeting Tom Baker again this year as I wasn't sure about the long queue but after Ms Munroe signed this picture for me I picked up a ticket for Tom and snuck in at the end when the queue had disappeared.

Sadly Tom seems to have got my name wrong this year! Oh well.

I also met Michael Keating who played Villa in Blake's 7 and Carole Ann Ford who was the first Doctor Who companion all the way back in 1963. Everyone I met was also very happy to record short audio clips for the British Invaders podcast which you may well hear in future episodes.

I bought another of the Big Finish Sherlock Holmes range, The Perfidious Mariner by Jonathan Barnes. Expect a review here soon.

The final highlight of the day was the chance to sit in on a recording of the Big Finish podcast, with Nicholas Briggs and Paul Spragg on fine form. Mr Briggs used the audience as impromptu extras for some crowd scenes that are coming up in a future Fourth Doctor release, the Dalek Contract, which I shall have to buy now just to hear if our jeers and laughter make it to the final cut!

It did feel as if the event has slightly outgrown the school setting and they have already announced that next year's event is moving to a hotel in Slough. It would also have been nice to have the programme of events ahead of the day itself, but I suspect Big Finish are rather busy at the moment as they build up towards the 50th anniversary events. But let's not detract from a fun day out with some interesting chats with jolly nice people. Well done Big Finish, hope to see you again next year.

Comic Con Cornucopia

A quick post to upload some more photos from London Super Comic Con. Here is the best Judge Dredd writer there is, John Wagner, signing the 36th birthday issue of 2000AD.

I picked up a slightly battered Avengers issue to get it signed by both Roy Thomas and Neal Adams.

This is an Ampney Crucis cover for 2000AD signed by the writer Ian Edginton, and artist Simon Davis who I spoke with while queuing at Bill Sienkiewicz's table. A very nice chap and I had't realised until I met them how much the characters of Crucis and his butler Cromwell resemble their creators.

And here's a couple from the Thought Bubble convention, held in Leeds last November. David Lloyd signed a V for Vendetta cover from Warrior magazine.

The 2000AD artist Henry Flint on his fantastic Dark Judges cover.

Just two more. Another 2000AD cover from prog 1807 which was the great cross-over issue from last year. As you will see I'm trying to get all the creators to sign this one at some point. There's even a Tharg scribble on there.

And while I was at Thought Bubble I did run into a little trouble with the Law. 'Nuff said.

London Super Comic Con

The second London Super Comic Con took place last month in the cavernous Excel centre in London Docklands. While it didn't quite have the same star attraction factor as last year's headline guest Stan Lee it still managed to bring many big name creators from home and abroad. The event was well organised and more spacious than last year, whether this was due to a larger hall or a slightly lower attendance only the organisers could say. The result was a more relaxed feel to the wandering around browsing the back issue boxes.

This year's star name was the comic artist Neal Adams who kept up the same non stop pace as Stan the Man last year. Despite the high prices he was charging for signatures, sketches and prints his stand seemed to be always busy. I managed to get to one of his free signing sessions and he kept the line moving quickly while still being cheerful and chatty. Here he is signing a classic House of Secrets cover for me.

And that cover itself.

Other highlight guests included a return trip for Brian Bolland who signed the 36th Birthday issue of 2000AD for me, and Bill Sienkiewicz who signed a classic Demon Bear image on a New Mutants cover. It was also nice to meet legendary writer and editor Roy Thomas.

There was an entertaining selection of panels including a 2000AD session which was patrolled by several costumed street judges. I also had the chance to chat with legendary writer and co-creator of Judge Dredd, John Wagner. Sadly His colleague Carlos Ezquerra had to cancel because of a Spanish air strike. Hopefully I will get a chance to see him at a convention later in the year.

I spent a lot of time happily browsing back issues and buying far too many 1970s horror comics. It was also fun to meet up with Brian and Bryan from the CGS podcast and to get to a listener meet up in a very crowded and noisy pub in the evening. All in all a good two days. It was good to see that the organisers had learned from last year and had the queues, the hall layout, and the panel room acoustics sorted out this time. Hopefully the convention was enough of a success to keep it going and I can look forward to next year's event.

One last item of note, the cosplayers were really out in force this year and very impressive they all were too. This very slick video gives you the general idea.

London Super Comic-Con - day 2 - more signings

The rest of the Sunday at LSCC was spent happily browsing through the back issue boxes and completing my collections of both the 1972 Swamp Thing series and the 1974 Man-Thing. I also got a chance to meet the writer Tony Lee who wrote a fantastic Doctor Who comic called The Forgotten. He signed my first issue and pointed out that the cover artist Nick Roche was also at the IDW booth, and he signed my cover as well.

The last queue of the weekend was to meet the great artist, George Pérez. I wanted to get him to sign my copy of Crisis on Infinite Earths #1. After the problems with the Brian Bolland queue on Saturday I was pleased to see that the convention staff had things better organised. They closed off the line shortly after I joined it and and announced that everybody in the line would get up to two books signed by George. They turned a lot of people away which was obviously disappointing for them, but better than having to queue for an hour only to be sent away empty handed.


Mr Perez himself was thoroughly charming, with a friendly word for everybody and handshakes and photos all round. Here he is signing my book.

And here is the book itself.

I had a fantastic time at the London Super Comic-Convention. If you get the chance to go next year you should. I'll certainly be back for more.

London Super Comic-Con Day 2 - More Stan Lee!

So day 2 of the LSCC and I had another ticket to see Stan Lee again. My brother was supposed to have come down from Darlington for the day and bring his copy of Fantastic Four #25 for Stan to sign. Unfortunately he was not able to come so I went to one of the dealers and bought a cheap copy of the FF annual #3 from 1965 and joined the Stan queue again. Once again things moved pretty quickly although I did have time for another good comics conversation with the chap I was standing next to in the queue. This time I was better prepared and got a slightly blurry photo of Stan signing the actual book.

My Sunday word for Stan was "Excelsior!" and he said it straight back at me. I read that so many times in Stan's Soap-Box articles from the comics of my childhood that it gave me an incredible thrill to hear him actually say it to me.

Here is the cover of the book Stan signed for my brother.

Well done to the organisers of LSCC for getting Stan over. It was a once in a lifetime chance to meet one of my childhood heroes and I had a great time.

Next up my final creator signings from day 2.