Blists Hill ... it's great to be back at a Convention.

 

If you've never visited Blists Hill then I recommend you do so, it's a great slice of our history. A village from Victorian times.

We were set up outside the Victorian Schoolhouse, as the organisers quite rightly decided that two exhibitors inside was the limit, and were kindly provided with a gazebo. The gazebo was actually pretty easy to set up, even for Colin and myself, and so in no time we were ready ready to go.

The first day felt quite strange really.

It's been so long since we've spoken to really people, in the flesh, about our comics.

Sunday felt more relaxed and I was surprised that at times it felt as if we'd not had the 18 month gap.

We did really well over the two days. New customers, old customers, people just interested in chatting about what we were doing and people who just wanted to chat. 

We had a great time.

Asylum XI - All on track.

Well, despite short notice on our part all is on track with regards both the Return To The Asylum comic and the V2A / AccentUK poster, artwork by the talented Gustaffo Vargas and lettering design etc by the early talented Andy Bloor.
V2A appear in the story I wrote that Gustaffo illustrated so expertly.

Find us in the Lincoln Castle at the event on Saturday and you can get a signed poster for £5. That'll be signed by V2A... and a couple of Accent UK creators if you'd like. Sadly Gustaffo won't be around at the weekend. Maybe one day.

Asylum XI is fast approaching.

Well, the biggest Steampunk event in the UK, if not the world, takes place every year over the Bank Holiday Weekend at the end of August.

Last year, due to my focus on the new steampunk anthology Enter the Asylum, I failed to get my Stephenson's Robot Issue 5 out. Not so this year.
Yesterday I received the boxes from great printers @CPUK (you can contact Rich via Twitter).
They look fabulous...

Andy Bloor has done his usual great job designing the comic and giving it a colour that allows it to fit in with but stand out from the other issues.
INDIO! has worked his usual crazy magic, each page I receive makes me smile.
The Back story this issue is by the equally talented David Hitchcock. working his own kind of pencil and ink magic on a tale set in the time period that's he loves, Victorian. I've done something with the colouring on this that I'm really happy with. Subtle but effective, I hope.
That doesn't mean that the next Asylum anthology has been put on the back burner though, oh no. Return To The Asylum (see what we did there) is with the printer as I type this.

The first ever Portsmouth Comic Con.

Last weekend saw the Accent UK A-Team, or Team-of-One (that's me then), drive down to the first ever comic con in Portsmouth's Guildhall.

I set off extra early as I had little idea of where I was going, how I'd get there, how long it would take and what I'd do if, be some fluke, I should find the place.
Yep, I was a Team-of-One.
Actually, I guess I was a Team-of-Two. GoogleMaps was along for the ride and so I did actually make it in pretty good time.
The omens were good.

I had the sense that my Stephenson's Robot, in that it features Isambard Kingdom Brunel, would do pretty well as the pub across from the venue was advertising for me.
Even on my own I managed to set the table up in about 10 mins, which is actually quicker than normal as normally Colin spends the next 10 minutes re-arranging things :o)

Having one table meant that I could only take limited sock and that I had to make use of a comic box on the table to hold back issues. The comics on the table itself were pretty much all the latest issue of a series or imprint. It seemed to work pretty well though.
And there I was, set up between Mr Lego and The Back Issue Brothers (who actually ran the local comic shop (Room 237) and took some Accent UK to consider for their store).
In the main hall, Comic City 1, there was a real mix of tables and I wondered if I'd suffer because of that. Comic City 2, the room behind me, was more Independent Comics based.
I did, however, get to see the comic stars as they made there way to the signing area, and managed to get a copy of ...

signed by the man himself. An excellent start.
I decided to not only try to sell comics but also try to promote our Kickstarter and so as people stopped and chatted, whether they bought anything or not, they ended up walking away with one of our Enter The Asylum fliers.

Some people were happier to do so than others and there being a great Steampunk presence, courtesy of The Gosport Steampunk Group, certainly helped.
Saturday then was a good day, a decent start sales wise but very long.
It was due to finish at 8pm.
The organisers took pity on us however and let us leave at 6.30pm due to our good behaviour I think.
Sunday was pretty much the same. Sales were good, people were more than happy to stop and chat. I think there were more families checking out what was going on but the number of people looked to be about the same.

...and of course Steve Tanner was there selling boxes of his Flintlock comic to everyone.
It was great to catch up with Russell Mark Olsen and pick up the latest issue of his great Gateway City comic, to have breakfast with Mike Garley and Martin Simmonds, to trade quips with Dave of Timebomb Comics and meet John Freeman (DownTheTubes.com) again after many years.
I also made contact with a sculptor which will hopefully lead to something quite exciting in the not too distant future. I'll keep the details close to my chest for now but I'm pretty excited, well, as excited as an English man gets which is typically not noticeable to anyone else.
Reflecting on the Con as I was driving home I realised that it had been probably the most successful first attempt at a Con of that size that I've ever been to. I think most stalls did good trade, most people had a good time and Portsmouth benefitted from the extra business.
Congratulations then to Joel Meadows and his team on a great Con.
I've already registered interest in next year's event and can only hope I'm accepted.

Kickstarter.

Accent UK are launching their first ever Kickstarter on the 1st of May. The new comic, titled 'Enter The Asylum', features 4 five or six page stories about the Steampunk persona that you'll see at the Asylum event in Lincoln in August.

It's a TimeQuake!

A new Steampunk event in Manchester?
Are we interested in having a table?
Hell yes.
Are we interested in doing something a little more involved than just putting comics on a table?
Errr... yeah... let us have a think.
It's one of the things we love about the Steampunk events. It's not just us turn up with boxes of comics, put them on the table and try to sell them. It's us turn up dressed as Steampunk characters and attempt to display our comics in new and interesting ways. And then try to sell them.
We've tried a few things before but this time (mostly due to Colins efforts) we went the extra mile.

We got lucky with the positioning of the wood panelling but the rest of it we brought ourselves.
I must say I thought it would look cool, but it looked fabulous.

We used the event to also plug our new comic, to be launched at Asylum X, called Enter The Asylum. It will feature comic stories about the characters that you'll see if you wander around the Lincoln event in August and will be our first attempt at Kickstarter in May.
We had lots of interest in the chair...

and got to meet a lot of interesting characters, some we wanted to chat to...

and some we didn't...

This event was unlike any other we've been to, in that it had the general Steampunk people wandering around with jet pack and googles but also Western and Post Apocalyptic Steampunk. There were all manner of contraptions on display and to be honest it would have been an interesting day for anyone, not just people into steam. It even had Dr Who characters and authors.
The funniest moment was when someone turned up and spotted themselves in our advertising picture, art by the talented Gary Crutchley.

Turns out this is just one of many costumes he wears, all of which are fabulous.

..and not surprising from a man who is obviously a creative wizard.
It was a long weekend but very enjoyable and successful.
Colin even took some time out at the end to try the chair himself...

... I think it, and the rug, might become a feature in his lounge.

New Steampunk comic.

Accent UK will be producing a Steampunk comic next year. Short stories featuring some very unique characters, with a twist. I'll not say more than that at the moment but the first story is in and I'm working on the script for the second one as I type this.
Gary Crutchley will also be contributing story and art in his own little tale, leaving only Colin to sort out his contribution.
Here's a teaser image.

with art from the very talented Russell Mark Olson, creator of Gateway City.
I'm hoping to Kickstarter this one to get it in front of people outside the UK.

Another event at the Asylum.

This was our second visit to the UK's (and possibly the world's) largest festival celebrating all things Steampunk, set in and around Lincoln's Castle and Cathedral.
Unlike last year, where we spent the three days in the Cathedral Centre (rooms above the cafe) which weren't that well attended, being a little out of the way, the organisers had decided to try moving the literary folks (that's comics and books) around the event. Each day at a new venue.
Day 1 then saw us in the Castle itself.
Being out there amongst the event in this way allowed us to really appreciate what it was all about. It struck me that this wasn't so much an event but more a spectacle. You could see this in the faces of those people who weren't dressed up, and may not have actually been aware of what they were walking into. You could see in their faces however that they were stunned by what they saw.

All the costumes on display.
All the modifications made to everyday objects with such care and attention to detail.
Stall scattered around the castle grounds had all manner of stock, from material for you to use to make your own steampunk gear to items ready to wear.
And all the while beautifully garbed people wandered around, perusing.
It really did feel like I'd wandered into a steampunk dimension and that this was a normal market in such a world.

Now, I've never been one to dress up but even I've started to feel the vibe and bought a few items. I've an idea for where to take my character but it's very much a work in progress and I expected to add an item or two each year.
Colin however needs only the slightest excuse to get his kilt out...

with matching socks of course.
We saw many more visitors to the store than last year, with returning customers looking to pick up the latest issues of Stephenson's Robot and WesterNoir.

Steve Tanner and David Morris where there with Flintlock, although we didn't get to see them for much time during the day as they were in a different venue. I popped over to check on how things were going and bumped into Ian Ashton and his family, which was great as we were able to talk about Kia Wordsmith, our collaboration which will be out next year.
We did get together with the Timebomb crew for a meal after a busy day though, to swap stories and give some insight into each other's first day venues.

Accent UK and Timebomb Comics crossover event.
(not sure where Steve Tanner was though)

On the second day we were back in the Cathedral Centre and did find that the venue had started to feature in people's plans. A good showing in the programme, and some new signs we put up, saw more customer's than we had the year before.
One of the things I love about the whole Steampunk thing is the diversity of costumes, ranging from Victorian through Western to Science Fiction (futuristic but with a steam overtone), and there was also the disturbing...

Sunday night saw us go to a Steampunk Giraffe concert, a band I'd only become aware of following last year's event. Accent UK treated Steve Tanner to the event as it's a significant birthday for him this year. It's funny that as we stood there in the audience we had to position ourselves to avoid our view being obscured by large top hats and feathers. Not a problem in most concerts these days. A great night out and I'm a bit hooked on the band now I must admit. Thanks Colin for getting me that CD, I played it all the way back to London in the car on Monday night.

Monday then was quieter.
I think people were spent up and had pretty much seen all they wanted to see.
We were in the University venue and I feel a little too far out for the casual browsers to wander back to if they'd been there on a previous day. We did however meet some people in wonderful costumes..

Lovely people and such amazing costumes. You may well see these three in a future comic of ours...
And then it was over and driving back to London with Steampunk Giraffe CD in the player I couldn't help but smile at what had been a very enjoyable Bank Holiday weekend and start to think about a number of steampunk projects of my own.
Damn ... it's infectious.

The Asylum 2016.

Over the past year we have been approached by the organisers of a huge Steampunk event in the UK. They like what we are doing and have noticed that Stephenson's Robot (in particular) is quite popular with people wearing Victorian garb and sporting a nice pair of goggles,, amongst other things.
Now that we have three issues of Stephenson's Robot out we decided that this was the year we'd give it a go.
Nearer the event we were advised that we'd do a lot better if we embraced and became part of the event, rather than just stand behind a table.
Hmmmm... a challenge. More so for me as I'm not one for dressing up.
We set to work.
Looking for interesting ways to display comic books and also looking for some Victorian type clothing ... a hat for one.
Fast forward a few months and there we are. In Lincoln. Having a pre-convention pint with Steve Tanner and then wandering around and taking in the sites.

Colin talks to Steve as if he knows a little about Lincoln
whilst Karen looks on knowing better.

 Saturday morning we were quite quickly set up in a room in a room in a building right next to the very impressive Lincoln Cathedral.

A new thing for us. Standing in front of the table. Old suitcases holding a reduced stock of comics.
It was a slow start and I think throughout the weekend we suffered a little from being in a new venue which was a little out of the way of the other attractions and activities.
We decided to put the WesterNoir banner outside, by the gate to the Cafe below us...

I think it helped as we did start to get more customers.

And very splendid they looked.
We didn't get much opportunity to wander around the event, although Colin did make the most of his trips to get cups of tea...

The costumes on display went from the very smart to the completely amazing. It's great to see so much attention going into what people wear, Some of the interpretations of what Steampunk covers were inspired.

They were both quite unaware that their
every word was being recorded....

The event was spread across 4 days, of which the comics were available for 3 of them.
It was a pretty mixed affair really. Saturday and Bank Holiday Monday were quieter than the Sunday. We had a good mixture of normally attired locals and steampunk attired travellers.
All of our books gained a degree of interest but Stephenson's Robot sold best, as expected.

We will return next year and try to put the comics building on the map.
We had a great weekend ... must work a bit on our costumes though as they were quite poor when compared to what other people had created.

Stephenson's Robot #2 is at the printers.

Yep, Issue 2 of our Steampunk, alternate history comic, Stephenson's Robot has been sent to Stuart Gould of UK COMICS CREATIVE for printing.

This issues back story has been illustrated by co-creator and artist of WesterNoir, Gary Crutchley and coloured by WesterNoir cover colourist Matt Soffe.

Just waiting to review the print proof copy and then it'll hit the presses ... or whatever they call them these days.

Stephenson's Robot Issue 2 is nearly ready to print.

The great news is that we've nearly pulled together issue 2 of Stephenson's Robot.
Once again Andy Bloor has pulled the design together follow on from the look he crafted for us with issue 1.
Gary Crutchley has illustrated the Backstory this time around, a tale about the Carnival Master written by one of the co-creator of the series Jon Ayre.
Indio! once again illustrates the main story, written by myself, which carries on exactly where issue 1 left off.

...and for those of you interested in collecting the limited edition Tarot cards that accompany each issue, this time around it's The Emperor.

..all is good.

London MCM - Wow.

This year's London MCM had grown into a three day event in an attempt to cater for the huge demand that it has seen in recent years. Last year they added a half day Friday but it wasn't very well attended and so had poor sales. We decided to trust the organisers however and still looked to make the best of the opportunity and be there for all three days.
We also decided that we'd try two tables this time.
We are struggling to get all of the stock on a single table these days and this means that there's really no space for the little extras, like the Lego figures that we've modified for each book, which always get interest from the children passing, but are usually left under the table.
Colin, Scott and Chris took the car down on Thursday, full of boxes of comics and I traveled down with my daughter Jemma on Friday, midday to get the cheaper train tickets. I'd decided to take a large percentage of  Gary Crutchley's great WesterNoir sketches with me, giving Colin only five made up Sketchpacks.
We'd only just arrived in London, at around 1pm, and Colin was texting me to say that he needed more sketches, he'd sold all the packs.
This was a very good start and an encouraging sign.
The queuing at the event seemed to be managed much better than last year and pretty soon Jemma and I were meeting Colin at the entrance and getting our passes.
Colin took the opportunity to show me Accent UK on the Comic Village index board, which was a worryingly large list of very talented and creative people...

and then he took us to our tables.
The tables looked great, and the first thing I did was get the WesterNoir sketches out and start building more sketchpacks.
It wasn't incredibly busy but we did have a good number of customers and putting my boxes of Accent UK Lego characters on the table certainly drew people in. We had a lot of fun helping kids identify the characters on the comics.
I also took the time on the Friday (as it was clear that the next two days would be incredibly busy) to pop over (I say pop over but it took about 10 minutes to navigate the crowds) and say 'Hi' to Andrew Potts. We'd promised him a set of WesterNoir to read when we chatted with him at the Belfast Airport a few weeks ago. He even offered to pose for a photo with the books and my daughter Jemma.

Friday ended and we'd done pretty well, much better than the half day Friday last year. I wondered if a lot of the people who had chosen Friday were actually the comic readers, looking to avoid the Cosplayers on Saturday and Sunday.
We followed the slow stream of reluctant people leaving the event and made our way to Greenwich, where we'd booked an apartment, sharing with TimeBomb's Steve Tanner. On the way we found what looked like Stig standing in a dock.

Nice to see that they're keeping London nice and clean.
Saturday was actually a quieter start than Friday's had been and I began to wonder if my earlier thought was going to prove to be the case, but I needn't have worried. Then afternoon was hectic. We had repeat customers, friends of repeat customers, a load of new customers and people who were just interested in what we were doing and wanted to chat. We saw some fabulous Cosplays, I particularly like the artistry that goes into the Steampunk costumes, for example Belle from Beauty and the Beast, but Steampunk...

I love the rose in the glass case on her back.
We had a tremendous day. Very tiring but very rewarding and were actually relieved when 6pm came around and with it the announcement that the show was over for the day.
We decided we needed some easy food and stopped off for Fish and Chips and a few beers on the way back to the apartment.
Sunday, I predicted, would be somewhere between the two previous days in terms of how busy we would be and how many books we would sell.

And this proved to be the case.
It's quite odd selling comics to people in Cosplay, but a lot of fun. They are really into the whole dressing up thing, and the atmosphere is really positive. Every costume is acknowledged and it's wonderful to see young kids stand in awe as they see their favourite character walk passed.

Things quietened down in the afternoon, as they invariably do, and as the event drew to a close we realised that we had had our best ever Con.
Highlights for me were ;-
1) The returning customers.
2) The guy who bought issue 1 of Westernoir, only to return about an hour later to buy the rest, having read it whilst having his lunch.
3) The guy who bought Stephenson's Robot #1 on Saturday, without the Tarot card, and came over to me on Sunday to buy the Tarot card, as he enjoyed the comic so much and didn't want to miss out.
4) Seeing Jemma's face when Andrew Potts actually did recognise me and greet me warmly.
5) The number of new customers.
A great Con, looking forward to the next one.