Portsmouth Comic Con

So, last weekend was Portsmouth's Annual Comic Con.

I've done this for a few years now, and as it's only 1.5 hours away I tend to drive back and forth each day to save money that would be spent on a hotel room. Had I been travelling on my own then the current cost of petrol may have challenged this approach but this year I was bringing Gary Crutchley and his wife Karen (who were staying over at my place for the weekend) with me so it was definitely cheaper.

But, would we all be able to get up, out of the house and on the road, in time?

It all went very smoothly. We arrived in plenty of time and after two short trips between the car and my table we had sent up with plenty of time for a nice breakfast.

As always there were queues forming, which is nice to see.

Once again my table was in its usually position in the marquee and it's great when people look happy to find you.

We had a lot of people coming back to buy more, having bought our WesterNoir books over the last few years. In a couple of cases we even had people coming back to buy more having only just bought a book or two an hour earlier.

You get to see some great cosplays at this event and my favourite this year had to be the Planet of the Apes couple, with baby Ceasar.

It was great to catch up with a couple of fellow Dungeon and Dragons enthusiasts and continue to talk about our plans with regards a WesterNoir RPG. More on that in the future, but for now it's early days.

Sunday was much like Saturday. Yes it was a little quieter, as is usually the way of Comic Cons, but there were still lots of people to chat to about our books and sales weren't bad at all.

Portsmouth Comic Con really is a family affair. 

It has something for everyone.

Yes, it has a mostly comic theme to it but there are also computer games, authors with their books, role playing games, lessons on how to paint miniatures and of course a special area for TV and film celebrities. 

The Guildhall has something of of interest on every floor.

There were even said to be dinosaurs about the place..

..but I didn't see any.

It's great to be part of this event.

I'm already looking forward to next year.

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.