Crikey, so much for posting every sunday! It's not even as if I have been so busy that I just have'nt had the time to update. I just kind of....forgot. Anyway, at least this means the catch up shouldn't take too long.
13th March 2010. That's the date that Neil and Kate closed the doors of thier comic book store after almost 30 years of trading. Not as a result of the recession, just problems with thier landlord and a growing desire to devote more time to their animal rescue farm. It was a weirdly emotional day. I had been buying comics from them for a little over 20yrs (yes, I am that old) so had a deep connection to the people and the place. I can remember the day when me and my dad "discovered" Neil and Kates' store (Escape). I don't think I had realised before that point there were such things as comic book shops. It was like a bloody treasure trove to me back then. I could have happily spent the entire day there (it was a saturday) but I was mindful of the fact that my dad wanted to get home, so I grabbed some comics that seemed familiar to me and promised myself that I wouldn't forget where this shop was, so that I could return the following week. I must have been about 12yrs old at the time, so this was when a week felt like a year. If memory serves me right, I picked up Uncanny X-Men #248, a copy of GI Joe (which I immediately recognised as Action Force under a different name), a copy of Web of Spiderman and ....um...She Hulk #10 (I was 12yrs old!). Most of the X-Men stuff I had read previous to this were from British black & white reprint comics so X-Men #248 made no sense to me whatsoever. But that was okay. Because Escape had back issues! Boy, those were the days, huh?
Anyway, when I went there for the last time it was busier than it had been since the heady, exciting days of the early 1990s. I got the sense that some people wanted to have a good chat with Neil and Kate but were too self concious with all the people around. People were milling around waiting for the others to leave. I had a brief chat with Neil while I paid for my comics, shook his hand and wished him the all the best. And that was that. Onwards and upwards, as they say, so it was off to Forbidden Planet on Shaftesbury Ave to see what all the fuss was about. Y'know, for a store with that reputation I was expecting something bigger and with a better layout. And no back issue section?! I suppose that's the trade paperback market for you. They really need to sort out the shelving for their comics in that place. It goes right down to the floor! I was practically on my hands and knees trying to see what was on the bottom shelf. And, as we've already established, I'm getting on a bit and these knees of mine cannot take much more of that. Anyway, they do have a great selection of books and comics and now the challenge is going to be to get out of that place without spending an obscene amount of money.
THE DOCTOR IS IN.
Two episodes in to the new series and I'm still quite enjoying it. Smith does'nt command my attention the way Tennant did but he's a curious fellow is'nt he? I think I'm more impressed so far by the little things that Moffett has brought to the show (the fairy tale/Avengers feel of ep 1 was great).
O-MEN-ATHON.
Making my way through the entire run of Martin Edens' fantastic O-Men comic. Check it out on Myebook.com or order copies from Smallzone.co.uk. Then check out his new book, Spandex. Both books have had amazing reviews in all sorts of places that you wouldn't expect to see comic book reviews. Quite an achievement for a small press comics creator.
Right, that's it for now. I'll try not to leave it so long next time.
Cheerio.
