Dave's Comics

Took a trip to Brighton this week, I've never really explored the city before and I must say, I'm a fan.

The Lanes were really fun to explore with their mix of art, antiques and cafes (amongst other stuff) and I found Dave's Comics.

Which is a fabulous comic shop.

It has such a good range of books (and comics) and all placed in appropriate sections. 

Great fun to explore, and I could have spent a lot longer there.

Spoke to Stephen about hopefully stocking WesterNoir in the store sometime in the future, which would be great as we really don't sod any Cons anywhere near Brighton.

I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Brighton itself reminded me Brooklyn in the USA, it felt very arty and fun. Lots of great murals too.

Banbury Comic Con

Another well run comic con from the Bolt Events people. 

First outing for my new banner 😊

Yes, I should have put the table cloth lower to hide the boxes under the table but there you go.

I didn't do quite as well at this one as the families seemed to be there for the kids more than at Maidenhead, where the parents were also interested in stuff, but an enjoyable day.

The banners have arrived.

Both versions look fabulous and are ready for the next Convention.

I'll be taking mine to Banbury Comic Con next Saturday...

And also, for the first time in a while, I'll also have business cards.

Once again a big thank you to Andy Bloor for pulling this together. 

I wanted it to be similar to the banner, so that people remembered the table when they got home from the Convention.

Double sided and printed through Moo, but this time I've printed one design. 

Last time I had a few variations and found people collecting them at conventions.. these things aren't cheap 😆

New WesterNoir banner

After 10 or more years, and it has finally started to be a challenge to put up, I've decided to invest in a new WesterNoir Banner.

I wanted one with both Josiah Black and Cassidy McRae and Gary Crutchley did a fabulous job (as always) on the artwork.

Matt Soffe then added mood with his glorious colours

Before Andy Bloor added logo and a few words here and there...

But the problem working with two other creators is that they have different preferences for the words.

Jemma wanted...

Whereas Gary wanted...

and as Gary may well be doing some Conventions on his own, I've ended up getting one of each.

The things I do to keep my co-creators happy.

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.