The Eternals

 I went to see Eternals, I tend to go during the day when the cinemas are empty, and really enjoyed it.

Yes, the costumes were different.

Yes, it differed / diverged from the comics (or how I remember them anyway).

Yes, there were a lot of characters to introduce so character development was limited.

But wow, what a good movie. I never noticed the time, I was fully immersed in what I was watching.

The Celestials... sets up a good next phase of the MCU, are they the galactic threat this time or will be get Galactus? Time will tell. 

..and the end credit scenes did their jobs... I can't wait to see what they do next with it all.

Thought Bubble 2021

In a word...Wow.

It was my first time in Harrogate, we'd missed the previous Thought Bubble due to other commitments, and I was intrigued to see the new venue and how it fit into the local area. I'd heard that Harrogate was a bit of a pain to get to if you haven't got a car, and wondered if there was further hassle once you actually arrived in the city.

Picking up Gary Crutchley on the way meant that I had company for at least half of the drive up from the South, and it was a long drive. It's been a while (due to Covid) that I'd driven so far, so we had a couple of stops for food and caffeine, but it all went pretty smoothly really.

We decide to find the venue and offload stock before going to the hotel, and unlike most Cons, where it's a bit of challenge finding where everything is the first time you attend, this was very easy. You couldn't miss it, it was just on the edge of town and well sign-posted.

You really couldn't miss it.

Saturday arrived and it was great to see that queues were forming...

and impressively long ones at that.

Inside the hall we'd set up in the RedShirt Hall, there were three halls in all. All of the halls had wall to wall quality stalls selling posters, comics, graphic novels and everything else you'd expect in a comic con.

As you can see from the image above, there was plenty of space between the rows of tables to minimise risk of Covid infection. Everyone was asked to wear masks when in the hall, which although a little uncomfortable for 2 days, was a small price to pay. Everyone also had to prove they had a Covid pass on entry. The organisers had done as much as they could.

Two days of great sales, meeting our creative friends and really enjoying being back out there.

A great Con, good number of attendees, good sales.

What more can you ask for?

Well, how about 'When's the next one?'.

Thought Bubble.

 Accent UK will be in the Redshirt Hall, stalls 44-45, at this weekend's #thoughtbubble2021 comic festival. 

Kia Wordsmith artist Ian Ashcroft and V2A Wasteland Chronicles co-writer Drone will be with us on the Saturday. Sunday it be WesterNoir co-creator and artist Gary Crutchley and I, proving the old boys have the stamina to do both days')

Please do pop over to the stall and 'Hello' if you're passing, it's been too long since the last one.

DUNE

One of my favourite books growing up was Frank Herbert's DUNE.

I think it was the first book that I'd read that ranged from people, through families to politics. Mixing in their a whole heap of strange characters, some of whom were very sinister, in that they were trying to shape and control everything, without most people knowing.

So, the film. The second feature film to attempt to bring such a large story to the screen. I went to see it early afternoon in an attempt to avoid a busy cinema. Who was I kidding, it was at least two thirds full.

It was fabulous.

It was different in places, which I like as it is a different media, but it maintained its grip on the characters, the world, the tribes, the families, the politics.. I couldn't fault it.

The standout moment for me though was the way the sand moved as the Sandworm moved through it. Like a Red Sea washing up against the rocks.

Fantastic and I'm glad I saw it on the big screen.

London MCM was great.

It was really good to be back at a large convention, behind the table, chatting with people as they stopped at the table.

I learned that a lot of punters missed the Cons as much as the creators.

It felt as safe as it could in current times. They checked your Covid Pass before you could get in (and repeated it each day) and they had even placed dividing walls around pairs of tables to reduce the risk of anything spreading. 

There is always a risk but I really feel that Reedpop did all that they could.

We had two great days and sold a record number of books for London MCM. We met up with friends for food, drink and chat afterwards and made new friends amongst the creators who we were paired up with.

I'm already looking forward to the next one.

London MCM

Colin and I are at this weekend's fist major Comic Con London MCM.

It'll be great to get back out there and try to sell some comics so I can make room in my storage locker for printing some more :)

Please do pop by the table and say hello if you're at the event.

Marleen's last work...

For those of you who have enjoyed Marleen Lowe's wonderful work for AccentUK, you might be interest in seeing the work she did before her untimely death.

It's a children's book called Garden Stories and is available on amazon.

I've ordered my copy and am really looking forward to reading it, and being shown once again what a talent we lost.