Manchester MCM ... a WonderCon.

Well I thought I'd do this report a little differently.
Colin has written his usual very thorough report over on his blog, which talks about how well we did as well as all the people we met and chatted with, so I thought I'd make this a more personal report than my normal effort and talk about those things that I loved about this show.

1 -The Accent UK table.
Seeing the Accent UK table laid out all neat and tidy with our wide variety of books proudly displayed for all to see.

Colin and me ... ready for two days of comics.

Over the last 10 years or so, yes it's been that long, Colin and I have been involved in the creation of a good number of comic books and have worked with a number of very talented people. Some professional, some amateur, some confident, some doubting their abilities, some fresh from college and some looking for something outside of their careers.
They all have one thing in common, they have all been chosen to be in our books, be it as writer, artist, letterer or designer and they all have talent (whether they see it in themselves or not).
And the results of their, and our, efforts always make me smile with pride.
2 - Seeing all those creative costumes. 
I'm a fan of the home made outfits that some of the people wear to these events. Obviously created over many hours, you can just see and feel the passion for the costume in the way it is worn, each person also play acting the character they've chosen.

Is it hot out there ?

My favourite at this Con was this one. I presume it's Mr. Freeze, and it looked completely hand made, right down to the fans inside that stopped the wearer from expiring due to the heat trapped in the helmet. Wonderful.
Also of note was the person wandering around as Thanos, at least I hope it was someone dressed up...

Thanos ain't afraid of no Gator Boys ...

... well, he seemed happy enough to strike a pose, Infinity Gauntlet and all.
3. The Customers.
Nothing makes me happier than someone returning to our stall to pick up more of our books, having read one or some of them already at a previous Convention. We had a number of people who stopped to pick up later issues of WesterNoir and one lady, having bought Strange Times and Robot Shorts on the Saturday, returned on Sunday to pick up anything else I had similar work in. I pointed out the anthology titles and she picked them all up. You can't get better feedback than that, and it's that sort of feedback that makes it all worthwhile.

The row of tables next to ours.

4. Meeting co-creators and comic friends.
It's the only time you tend to see your comic creating friends. Steve Tanner was at his stall (Timebomb Comics) for the entire weekend, but we managed to have tea with him Saturday night, and catch up on future projects.
I'm fortunate in that I meet up with co-creator/co-writer and artist on WesterNoir Gary Crutchley fairly often as he doesn't live too far from me, but it's great to have him helping behind the stall. He's very passionate about our books and it's also great for him to see the way that people are responding to his work. His sketches certainly tempted a good number of people to buy all 4 issues of WesterNoir.

Gary and me enjoying interest in WesterNoir.

You can read Gary's report on his blog.
5. Steampunk.
I love those costumes.

so stylish...

...they spark off so many ideas for stories...

6. Seeing old work friends again.
A good friend, Claire, from my days at Co-op IT popped in on Sunday with her eldest daughter Izzy, her sister Tamsyn and her nephew Lukas. They wanted to see what this MCM thing was all about. It was great seeing the kids discovering MCM Madness for the first time. They seemed to have a great time and I know that Claire was amazed by it all.

Lukas, strange furry creature with antlers and wings and Izzy.

7. See the Accent UK table at the end of the show.
It's always great to see that some of the titles have sold out (we can only bring so many to a show) and even better when we realise that we are taking far fewer boxes of comics home than we arrived with.

All that was left after two great days of comics.

A great weekend.