42nd Post

Looking back at last year's 42nd Post I remember what tough year that had been. This year my feet have continued to recover and my walking looks less and less like a sketch from Monty Python. I think this may be it and I'll take that, it's a long way from where I was.

I've traded my car in for an Automatic, so I can now drive again. You don't know how important it is to be able to just pop into a car and go somewhere. Being able to drive again has had a huge impact. A very positive thing.

The driving has allowed me to have a full year of Comic Conventions, and it's great to get back to those too. Standing up for 3 days at the MCM's doesn't help my poor feet but they are recovering more and more quickly and I think the MCM endurance is helping that.

Speaking of MCMs, this year I picked up the '42' book in October, subtitled 'The Wildly Improbable Ideas of Douglas Adams'. The man had a lot of improbable ideas that are now, or shortly will, become reality. Interesting that he didn't see all of them as a positive thing and I do often wonder if we are creating things because we can and not because we should.

Quantum has been a highlight. It's a lot of work, stress and strain getting something like this ready for publication every 2 months, and financially it's a real challenge too, but we need to try. Things are looking encouraging at the moment and so I think it'll continue for many years yet (I hope I haven't just jinxed it).

A new thing for us is the idea (which came from a friend) to have a subscription to TimeBomb where we produce some very limited edition comics and provide other content. This will help flatten out the ups and downs of print costs and distribution income. The first will go out shortly and features a variant cover version of Quantum 5.

Thanks you all for your support through 2023, and before.

All the best for 2024.

Gator Boys Figures.

As far back as WesterNoir Issue 2 Gary and I introduced The Gator Boys, a family haunting the Mississippi swampland.

They were kind of a hidden joke as we called the the Pontipees, to see if my Mum ever actually read my comics as the name comes from one her favourite musicals (Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (which I believe is based a pretty horrible story (which may have also been true))). 

Anyway, many years laters and we are pulling together some figures to make the table at conventions look a little more interesting than just a load of comics. 

You'll have seen Josiah Black on a previous post so here are two of the Pontipees.

I started with an easy-ish one. It was quite easy to get to all areas of the figure and he only had a pair of trousers on, so only two textures really.

The second one proved much more challenging.

A torn shirt and he was crouched over himself, making it really difficult to get to some parts without messing up parts already painted. The trick, I remembered from old, is to keep very little paint on the brush at such times. 

Quite happy with the result, I wanted his shirt to look as if it had been dragged through a swamp. I think I achieved that :o)

So, 2 down and 5 to go.

Quantum 5

Yep, just before Xmas Quantum 5 hit the stores. 

It features the last part of Whatever Happened To The World's Fastest Man?, who also features on the cover.

And some people have turned it into an ornament for their Christmas Tree (thanks for the photo Shaun).

You'll be able to find it in your local newsagents or W H Smith stores.

We hope you enjoy it, ideally reading it but if you prefer to use it for your Christmas Tree then that's good also.

Josiah Black Figure

I forgot to post this, I worked on it as I was painting the Kingdom figure from Stephenson's Robot, but we also printed off a Josiah Black figure.

It's a bit bigger than the old figures I used to paint back when I was using them to play D&D

It was good fun though and I'm pretty happy with the end result.

We've made a few other poses so I'll be doing some more in the future, the idea is to use them as a table display.

Oh, and we'll be having a go at the other characters from the series as well.

Catching up with my friends from Smart Meters

Well, a few years ago I was employed as an Information Architect at Smart Meters, yep, the guys who are putting meters in people's homes so you can see just how much you are going to be charged for making a cup of tea. I didn't last long, the company really was between a rock and a hard place and to be honest I didn't fancy banging my head against that particular rock for more than about 8 months.

Whilst there I made a couple of good friends though and every year around Xmas we meet up for lunch and a catch up in London.

Sadly this year Freddie couldn't make it due to health issues, and we both hope he has a speedy recovery, but Frazer and I enjoyed a burger, a few coffees and chatting, setting the world to rights, for the afternoon.

I'm not one for selfies so I took a few photos of the bill posts on various boxes along Tottenham Court Road. I love the way they age, where some stickers are torn off damaging the ones below and others just fall off probably due to the weather. They have their own story to tell.

The D&D boys get together for the second time in 2023.

We've been playing D&D as a group for many many years now and continue to meet up twice a year in person to play.

Renting a cottage / converted barn in Leek, we arrive on Friday and play right through to Sunday evening.

This year I arrived first, driving down the long sloping road to the barn, surrounded by lovely green fields...

...only to wake up on Saturday morning to a white-out.

It's the first time I've driven to the get together for quite a while, due to my poor feet, and I just knew I wouldn't be able to walk out of the place to the GastroPub about a mile away. Also I knew that my 2-wheel drive car would never manage going up the slope with that much snow on it. 

Luckily one of the guys has a 4-wheel drive and took me to the pub, so all was well and the food was fabulous.

A great weekend of D&D, with us making the same mistakes that we did some 20 odd years ago and having a good laugh about it.

We ended the weekend with our little Crib tournament, and I manage to beat Shaun in the final and so got to bring the trophy home with me.

It sits in my cupboard alongside my EAGLE award, although I guess I have to allow someone else the chance to win it next year.

Looking forward to the next session.

Marvels

So, having heard mixed reviews for this I decided to give more credit to those from people who had actually seen the movie...

...and I went to see it.

It's the best MCU movie I've seen in quite a while. I really enjoyed it.

If you find yourselves with some free time then I recommend you spending it watching this.

Thought Bubble - last Con of the year

As is traditional these days, we ended another year of comics with what is probably the best comic convention in the UK, Thought Bubble.

Having moved from Leeds, the event now takes place in Harrogate and the venue is ideal, as is the town itself really.

Two days of meeting up with fellow comic creators and readers.

I picked up a lot of great books, congratulated people whose books I'd bought earlier in the year and met a lot of people who read Time Bomb comics. 

Steve even talked me into trying to emulate the now famous pose that he does before every Con.

As you can see, I'm no natural.

I really enjoyed this Con, and I know I always say that but this time I enjoyed it more than I have for a number of years.

I really did manage to mix my love of buying comic books as well as making and selling them.

I even managed to buy some original comic book art pages from Dean Ormston and Jeff Lemire, having had them sign my collected Black Hammer.

A greats way to the the Con year.

Last Con of the year.

Next weekend is Thought Bubble, always a great social event as much as one to meet customers, new and old.

Thought Bubble has come a long way since the fist we attended in a room in Leeds. It has improved year on year and is now pretty established and stable, and based in Harrogate. 

A lot of wonderful publications to be found and creators to chat with, well worth a visit if you're able.

I've now recovered enough from MCM to write a brief report

Yep. It was very tiring.

Once again Steve and I manned the booth for the 3 days.

and long days they were, maybe this comics lark is for younger people.

There was a lot to see at the Convention was pretty busy throughout, I did wander to the other hall at one point but was quickly scared back to the safety of our booth.

Friday saw a lot more interest in Quantum, with people actually seeking it out, which was great. I think Friday is the day comic people go to the event as it's never quite as busy as the other days. This was certainly true of the past but this year Sunday seemed to be about the same as Sunday.

As with every event there were some great cosplays going around.

My favourites were...

Asterix and Obelix (I love home made costumes) and...

a really excellent HIM, the King Of Darkness (or His Infernal Majesty), again home made but really well done.

A great, if very tiring Con, looking forward to the next one in May 2024.

London MCM

This weekend Time Bomb Comics will be at the MCM event in the Excel Centre, London.

Do pop over and say 'Hi!' if you're at the Con, we have our usual booth.

Quantum 4 is now available in newsagents across the land.

I've seen it with my own eyes.

Popped into town yesterday and saw this...

I also saw some copies of Spectrum 2, and so moved a few copies of Quantum next to them...

Quantum and Spectrum, a busy weekend for Time Bomb Comics.

Quantum Issue 4 already?

Yep, this weekend Issue 4 of our Quantum anthology hits the High Streets.

Under a Death & Taxes cover by David Morris as a little nod to Halloween. 

This issue features the final part of our WesterNoir : Moon Cursed story.

Back issues are now available on the TimeBombComics website in case you need to catch up.

Bristol Comic Con.

Bristol Comic Con wasn't what it used to be, back at its peak in the early 2000s (I think), but it was a nice intimate event where people were happy to talk, whether professional, indie creator or customer.

In order to be noticed we decided to get a new Q banner, designed by my go-to designer Andy Bloor.

Very pleased with it and it certainly did the job...

I managed to take this photo with only Steve's hand blocking it a bit.

I'm always a little worried when meeting my heroes, worrying that I might not like the person behind the work.

Not the case with Alan Davis. 

We had a great time at the Con meeting Quantum customers and people who liked our earlier works but spending the night chatting about all sorts with Alan Davis is something I'll always treasure.

This weekend I allowed myself to buy a page of his artwork as well.

A nice 1 day event, and I hope it's not the last one.

Glasgow's ACME event.

Was great fun.

It's a long drive up to Scotland from where I live but we made it a road trip as I picked up Steve Tanner on the way.

Arrived on Friday afternoon to set up early, parking and access to the SECC was as easy, and friendly, as always. We really enjoy the friendly nature of all the staff at this event.

Two days flew past as we met old friends, new friends, old customers, new customers and strange people wearing strange outfits.

Some of them even stopped by to look at what we were trying to sell...

But for me the chance to see full sized replicas of my two favourite Batmobiles was the icing on the cake.

and

All in all a great show, look forward to next trip up the M6, maybe I'll take out my Batmobile.

Time Bomb Comics have 3 comics in September's Previews Catalogue

Looks like it's just like the situation with buses, no Time Bomb Comics in Diamond Distribution's PREVIEWS catalogue for ages and then 3 come along at once...

So, if you fancy reading any of these then pop into you friendly neighbourhood comic store and use the codes (SEP23018, SEP23019 or SEP23020).. it's as easy as that.

Next Convention will be the ACME Comic Con in Glasgow.

I've not been to Glasgow for a while and am really looking forward to this.
 

Quantum issue 3

 Popped into my local W H Smith store yesterday and was really happy to see this...

Quantum has its own label on the shelf 😊.

Also, of the 10 issues stocked there are now only 4 left. Very encouraging.

The Asylum event was great fun.

Time Bomb Comics had a great time at this year's Asylum steampunk event in Lincoln.

It was my first time in a few years due to Covid and then a health issue that I had all on my own, so this one was all the more special for me.

A great chance to catch up with old friends, and that's how we feel about the people at the Asylum events. Customers and fellow creators/stall holders, they all feel like friends.

This was the first time that I had the Kingdom figure on the table and he drew plenty of interest.

It made me laugh that Steve, having never painted a figure himself, just thought I'd used a silver paint spray can. Assuming that it had taken me mere minutes to 'paint'. I explained the true process and whilst I'm not convinced that he believed me he did take this photo of me with the collected Stephenson's Robot graphic novel and Kingdom.

It was really nice that people snapped up copies of the Graphic Novel, which they'd been following in comic format up to issue 5. The book collects the remastered issues, with additional pages, and has been completed with what would have been issues 6 and 7. A nice little package with the addition of the original short story from our ROBOTS anthology, coloured by myself, and some design sketches for the characters from El Indio! All wrapped up by a wonderful cover design from Andy Bloor.

Kingdom seemed to enjoy the day, especially when the belly dancers did their display.

We had a really enjoyable Bank Holiday weekend, I should be fully recovered by Saturday.

Looking forward to next year.

WesterNoir Volume 2 is in the September PREVIEWS

The good news is that as WesterNoir Volume 1 did quite well in the PREVIEWS catalogue Diamond have accepted Volume 2 as well.

If you'd like your local comic shop to order you a copy (saving you postage), so you can follow Josiah Black's tale further, then you just need to ask them to order is using the Diamond code SEP232020.

Quantum 3 is now available in the High Street.

Yep, Q3 has landed and it's a great moment for me as mine and Jemma's WesterNoir story is featured on the cover with great artwork by David Morris. 

Issue 3 will also be available in:-

Although some countries will need to wait a while.

Great to see Malta on this list from Issue 3 as we enjoy a great Comic Convention there in December every year.