LONDON FILM AND COMIC CON

I've always wanted to go to the San Diego Comic Con, even though I know I would probably hate it (too many people, too hot, moan moan whinge whinge). Still, all that comic book awesome-ness all in one place, plus the glamour and the spectacle that comes with the Film and TV side can be pretty alluring. Personally I like a con to be fairly low-key and entirely comics based. For me BICS is the best con experience; busy but not too busy, good venue, great guests, lots of small press comics and fun and interesting panels. However, going to the same type of con all the time can start to get a little boring. Luckily the UK seems to be catching up with staging big multi-media conventions, bringing a bit more variety and some new faces to comic cons. This year I decided to check out a couple of cons that I'd never been to before (I've already posted about Kapow!)  so this past weekend I had a look at the London Film and Comic Con.

I've seen this con described as the UK's version of SDCC and I can see now why people would make the comparison. It's huge! And quite confusing. I found it quite difficult to keep track of where things were, what stages the comics panels were on or what they were about.   Although there's a big difference in the Film & TV element. With SDCC it's all about new and upcoming product. With LFCC it's all about nostalgia and recapturing past glories. I've never been that bothered about autographs or having my picture taken with someone who was in a film for 5 minutes back in 1975 so the Film part of LFCC  wasn't that relevant to me. No, I was more interested in the Comic part. And what a small part that was!  I thought that, as the con was called London Film And Comic Con, there would be loads of  small pressers, loads of artists doing sketches and panels etc. But, from what I could make out, it was all quite marginal. According to the website LFCC 2012 featured an expanded comics zone! Really? wow, what was it like before? 

It wasn't all bad though. I still picked up some comics from some new faces; Jericho by Fwah Storm and Reload Comics (www.reloadcomics.com) and Bearlands by Biggs + Bakki (www.subversivecomics.com) . I enjoyed both of them so much you can expect to see some fan art up here very soon. I found someone selling some original John Byrne Doom Patrol art for £230. a page. I'm a big Byrne fan and he was one of the first artists whose work I began to seek out and follow. And he's still got it. Just check out some of the commission work he has posted on his website (www.byrnerobotics.com). Anyway, I spent most of the time walking around the convention floor trying to convince myself to purchase at least one page. I eventually decided against it, believing that I might find better pages at a similar price on the web (ridiculous!). Needless to say I am kicking myself  right now. Still it was nice to be able to see those pages close up. Maybe next time.....

As well as finding a few gems in various back issue bins I also managed to find copies of the old  1970s Spider Man live action TV show and the 1994 Roger Corman Fantastic Four movie! So, despite my initial disappointment I still came away with some pretty cool swag. LFCC certainly offered a different con experience to what I am used and that's what this was all about anyway. Would I go again? Probably, yeah. It's still a fun and exciting atmosphere and all those Cosplayers are a sight to behold.   But I would like to see more in the way of comics panels, and clearer information on when and where they take place.        

KAPOW! 2012

I heard so many good things about Kapow last year that I just had to pop along this weekend to check it out for myself - and boy am I glad that I did! A nice, excited atmosphere, great crowd, friendly staff and really well organised. The main convention floor was pretty big and maybe a little confusing (for me anyway). I kept wandering around convinced that there was an aisle I hadn't been down yet. I think it drove me a little crazy after awhile! But there did seem to be a lot to take in, especially all the small press guys & gals along the balcony. Now, I'm a pretty shy person so conventions can be a bit of an ordeal for me. I did my usual thing of going past all the tables several times, stopping long enough to see if there might be something of interest to me but not long enough for anybody at the table to strike up a conversation. My technique is to wait until a table gets busy and then sneak in at the side to buy a bunch of comics whilst the exhibitor is busy chatting to someone else! Pathetic, I know, but it's the only way I can "settle in" to a convention. After doing that for a little while I found myself buying loads of comics and chatting to lots of nice small press people whose work I hadn't come across before. Although I was a bit disappointed that there wasn't many tiny xeroxed mini comics around. Most small press comics seem to be full colour and printed on very nice paper and...well... a bit expensive these days. I kind of miss the days when you'd see Lot's of stuff like Jonbot Vs Martha by Future Socks Comics. Saying that, there's probably lots of cons out there that cater specifically to mini comics. Anyway, I still managed to walk away with loads of comics, some artwork by the mighty Martin Eden (whose Spandex book seems to be taking over the world right now - go Mart!) and a lovely Harley Quinn sketch by the crazy talented Amano Jyaku.
And how about those cosplayers, huh? There were loads of them, gawd bless 'em. All showing varying degrees of costume making skill; from very professional looking custom made jobs to ill-fitting store bought spandex cossies to a guy in a paper mache Thing outfit. It's great to see so many people get so creative about this stuff.
As much as I enjoyed Kapow I do have one complaint. I generally go to cons for small press comics and panels. Kapow delivered on the small press area but the panels were a bit of a disappointment. Don't get me wrong, I loved listening to the likes of Joe Q and Sara Pichelli talk about working for Marvel, but it would have been better if I could have seen them too. I spent over two hours staring at the back of peoples heads and, as funny as Joe Q can be, that got boring pretty quick. So much so that I didn't bother attending the Warren Ellis panel (and I'm a big fan of that guys work). I really hope that next year the organisers set up a stage for the panelists to sit on so that everybody can see them and not just the guys in the front row. I hope they sort that out as I am definitely going again next year. Right, I've got loads of comics to read.  

IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT BEARS Y'KNOW, WE'VE GOT MONKEYS TOO!

Seeing Earth's Mightiest Heroes Assemble on the big screen reminded me of another gathering of unlikely heroic types, one that could be found in the pages of  SMALL PRESS UNITED!! This was a little project I did ages ago, just to amuse myself really. It's a bit of a mickey take of Image United (and a certain Image creator in particular) but with some of my favourite small press characters. Click on the Small Press United page at the top there (just under the NBC banner) to see the full 6 page "story" plus some other bits and pieces. If this inspires anyone else out there to do their own small press jam please let me know; I'd love to see what other people might come up with. If anyone wants a print copy of Small Press United just e-mail me an address to send it to and I'll do the rest.  

BEARMAGEDDON!

It's 2012 - the year of Bearmageddon! And it starts with Teddy Scare Bear painting the whole world with a rainbow - of blood! (that actually doesn't make any sense, does it?) This rather traumatic scene is brought to you by Matthew Craig, creator of such fine small press comics like Trouble Bruin, Trixie Biker and the tear-jerking classic Hondle! This is the first time I've seen one of my characters as portrayed by someone else and I'm absolutely chuffed to bits by it. Thanks Craig! Now is it just me or does it demand a spin-off series? I can picture it now - Teddy Scare Bear: The Hunt For Geoffrey!

'TIS THE SEASON....

....and a happy new year!!

MORE FAN ART - THE O MEN!

I know I said that I wouldn't be doing anymore fan art for a while but I didn't bank on the O Men making a triumphant return in the pages of Spandex #5 (thanks Mart!). I was so thrilled that I just had to draw a little picture. It's based on a panel from page 14 of the latest issue of the O Men. Wanna know how they compare? Well, you'll have to buy Spandex #5 won'tcha?

Definitely the last piece of fan art.

FAN ART - THE ABNORMALS!

So here's my rendition of Grant Springford's The Abnormals, with a slight nod to his previous comic Pest Control. A cast of strange characters uncovering even stranger phenomenon in the UK. Copies can be ordered from theabnormals.co.uk.

Right that's enough of this fan art marlarkey, I've got comics to draw!