Maidenhead Comic Con

Maidenhead is about 30 minutes away for me and their comic con had been suggested by both Gary Grutchley (he heard about it somewhere or other) and my barber (who'd been to the last one to look at a version of the Batmobile).

Two people who had never met (as far as I'm aware) mentioning the same event. Seemed like fate.

OK. 

I'm in. 

I contacted Bolt Comic Cons through their website and booked a table, pretty easy to do. 

I've been to small town comic cons before and whilst nice to be at the previous attempts had resulted in not too many people stopping to chat, let alone buy anything. But this was fated to happen, so it would be different wouldn't it?

It took me less that 30 mins to drive there, park up and find my table.

This was to be my first Con under my 4D Comics company name (I usually go along with Steve Tanner as part of the Timebomb set up). It felt nice to have 4D Comics on the table to greet me as I arrived.

The venue was a sports hall in a leisure centre. It was nicely spaced out and I had a fantasy author on the table next to me, with a person selling a load of graphic novels behind me. The rest of the tables were games and toys.

I was all set for doors opening.

The event started at 10am but they allowed a few people in before that, if they had a need (I heard later). I was pretty well attended, lots of families but unlike the one like this I did years ago, the parents weren't just there to follow their kids around. Lots of good chats with people and I sold a good number of books.

The event was well organised as well, and I'll certainly come back to the next BOLT Comic Con in Maidenhead and will also see of I can first any others in (they do quite a lot across the country).

I wasn't keen on the security though...

Dungeons and Dragons in Leek

Last weekend 7 blokes who are older than they were last year gathered in the same converted barn for a long weekend playing Dungeons and Dragons.

I've been playing for about 50 years now and we still play 2nd Edition (with a few modifications we've made (intended or by mistake) over the years). As a group we've been playing some 20 years together now, and we still do the odd crazy thing. 

A great time was had, and this time none of the characters died (although my half-orc Fighter Cleric Ubik came very close at one point).

Looking forward to the next one.

Portsmouth Comic Con will be here before we know it.

 

Portsmouth Comic Con is one of my favourites.

It is really well organised and is a really family oriented event.

Can't wait.

Thought Bubble 2026 and Bury Con

My application to the 2026 Thought Bubble, under my new 4D Comics company, has been accepted which is great news.

I've been at these events since they started in Leeds Town Hall many many years ago, as part of either AccentUK or TimeBomb Comics. It'll be strange doing this as 4D Comics but I'll have the usual support from Jemma and Gary so all is good.

Also, we've been accepted at the Bury event on the 28th June.

It's getting nice and busy.

POWER Con

Steve and I really enjoy our trips to Glasgow for the POWER and ACME events.

Well organised, easy to find and park at, a good number of people coming through the doors, friendly staff... what more could you ask for.

It's a long drive, which includes a slight diversion to pick up Steve Tanner in Brum and this year another detour to drop off Quantum 13 stock at the Diamond UK warehouse in Warrington. 

But it's worth it.

Stopping off at Tebay services (up and down) is always an added bonus, and breaks the journey up nicely.

We had good sales, lots of chats and it was great to have a customer who bought our black and white version of the WesterNoir Book One TPB come to the table to pick up Book Two.

And I managed to find a restaurant that did Crumble.

Of course, there was the slight embarrassment when Steve had to check out the Things... errr.. thing.

You really can't take him anywhere.

Emma Munday cover titles...

My go-to designer, Andy Bloor, has sorted out the titles for the book now. 

And I'm very happy with what he's done. It feels nice and sci-fi-ish.

I just need to finish writing it now 😊

And then when it's printed I'll have a little pile of them, looking a bit like this...

One day...

Comics Assemble!

Shane Chebsey is trying something new. 

A new convention that is aimed at keeping costs down as much as possible, and also hopefully attract a good number of potential customers.

Free with each table booked you get 10 free tickets, which you can sell for the £10 or give away, and then another 10 if needed. This is aimed at getting the creators to help raise the profile of the event but advertising the tickets to all of their readers. 

It's not a bad idea and worth a try... and worth supporting.

So, I have a table.

You can find out more over at Comics Assemble.

Emma Munday - First Impressions

When my daughter Jemma was about 5 and I was reading her a bed time story, probably a Roald Dahl book, I thought to myself. 

"Wouldn't it be cool if I wrote her a book myself."

And so, every year I picked up Emma Munday's first story and added a bit. And changed the bit that I'd already written.

The trouble is that most of my free time was spent writing comic book stories or colouring in pages of artwork for comic books I'd written.

The years passed.

This year I am determined to finish it and commissioned Ian Ashcroft to do me a wraparound cover image.

I'm very happy with the result.

Yes, it's a science fiction story.

Yes, although it took me years to write Book 1 I have the next 3 books already planned in my head.

The next step is to get my go-to designer Andy Bloor to work out the title fonts etc.

Oh, and for me to finish the book of course.

And my editor, my daughter Jemma (and no, I didn't hold this up until she was old enough to edit the book I wrote for her... I really don't plan that far ahead) will then make it better 😆

It never rains but it pours.

An interesting start to the year, not in a good way.

When I got back from my Mum's after XMas I was confronted with a damp patch on the ceiling in the dining room.

The dining room that Jemma and I had decorated only last year.

The position of the leak pointed at the loo in the bathroom above.

Turns out that my cistern had fractured due to the cold weather,, it happens apparently.

To make matters even worse the previous owner of the house had boxed the cistern in, so to replace it would require breaking the tiles.

The plumber was pretty good though and took all of this in his stride.

It's amazing seeing someone work who knows what he's doing and has all the right tools. 

It took him all morning, he had to pop out and get some wood at one point in order to put the new tiles in to replace the ones he had had to destroy. The only bit of good news was that we found some spare tiles under the bath.

Yep.

Not a great start to the year.

An unexpected expense.

But great to have the bathroom back and working again.

I just need to let everything dry out thoroughly now and then I'll paint the ceiling downstairs.