Thought Bubble Comic Festival 2025!

 

Yay Thought Bubble Comic Festival in this weekend in lovely Harrogate - let's hope the weather matches the surroundings! This year I'm in the same hall as last year, re-named 2000AD Hall, at Table B46. Please stop by if you can and say hi - I've a few new surprises!

Macc-Pow is Back!

This year's events calendar is starting to take shape with a few applications pending but just received welcome news that I'm returning to Macclesfield this summer for the 10th Macc-Pow!!

It's testament to Macc's own Marc Jackson that he's made a success of this fun annual event over the years, boasting a fab line-up of the UK's (and beyond!) comics talent. Guests announced for this year so far include the following;

Alongside Yorkshire's own Thought Bubble Comic Art Festival, which have also recently confirmed their 2025 dates, Macc-Pow stands strong as one of the UK's finest celebration of comics - put the 28th June in your diary now for fab comics fun!

Thought Bubble Time!

Looking forward to returning to Thought Bubble next weekend, arguably the UK's biggest and best comics convention! Always a firm favourite from its humble beginnings in Leeds Town Hall's basement to its subsequent moves to larger premises at The Royal Armouries, Leeds City Centre before moving to it's present home of Harrogate's Conference Centre. 

It has grown and grown and now attracts comic creators from across the world, attracted by its reputation for showcasing a diverse range of talents and the capabilities of the comics medium. You'll find creators behind the latest polished superhero juggernauts to small press publications telling the most intimate personal stories and everything else in between!

This year I'll be in the DSTLRY Hall (one of an expanded four halls this year!) at Table C45 with my latest releases, art and prints. If you're around please stop by and say hello and if you've never been or not been recently, it's not too late to buy a ticket here!

Are We Nearly There Yet?

Sadly the world has changed again these last few weeks and it's hard perhaps to be optimistic about things, but try we must and surely the future will be brighter after these dark days.

On the comics front, I was hoping that events would more or less return to a 'normal' schedule but while some have already taken place, a few of our regulars have postponed to next year or cancelled altogether - including the much loved and respected Edinburgh Comic-Con, which will be greatly missed, thanks to James and his team for all they achieved.

At this time of writing, I think I've only two actual confirmed events for the year ahead with another 3 or 4 applied for, so it's likely to be similiar to last year with a much reduced calendar from the busy heights of 2019. That said, I think everyone is far more appreciative of any that safely do go ahead, as we all cautiously try to get our lives back but sparing thoughts for all those whose lives will no longer be the same again whether through conflict or covid.

Hello There!

Hi there if you find yourself directed here through a link from some of our cancelled convention or festival appearances. I'm part of an independent comic creator collective producing a diverse range of comic strips and publications, please browse this blog and its links for various information, commentary and surprises on comic, history and related subjects.

Please also have a read of some of my short comic strips posted recently to provide an insight into what we do and a wee distraction to your day :)

Missing Comics?

Aha, well seeing the traffic from yesterday's post and in the need for some postive action, I thought  since people can no longer come to comic conventions, festivals and gatherings, why not bring our comics to the people!

I know not the most radical of ideas, but starting this week I'm going to post the pages from one of my short comic stories so you can see and read the sort of thing I do, much in the same way you may have browsed my work at a convention or gathering.

Also just like at an event, if you like what you see and want to read more, (and support an independent artist!), you may want to buy the whole issue and perhaps have it sent to you and signed for your collection or as a souvenir of your visit!

To that end, I've re-newed my dormant 'etsy shop' containing two of my comics in the 'Moments of Adventure' series from which most of the stories featured will come from. The store can be accessed both here and on the comic cover link on the right. You may even fancy a browse round other etsy comic stores for goodies?

Not quite the same as attending the show you and we had planned but brings a small bit of the trading and browsing experience to you so you know what to expect when normality returns and we meet on the 'convention circuit', whenever that may be.

Now bookmark and watch this space but please don't all rush at once, I've plenty of stock!

 

Isolation!

I hope all reading this is well and coping with the current situation as best as you can. The coronavirus is impacting everyone in almost everyway and we are no different, so can't really confirm plans for the foresable :(

Most of our intended or booked events prior to Summer 2020 have already been cancelled or postponed and those that currently remain are, quite rightly, subject to continual review as the situation and Government advice continues to evolve.

It is hoped that the post-summer events, (and maybe those earlier?) will be held as close to normal as possible but of course no-one really knows. I will continue to monitor those and update our events listing as and when it appears prudent to do so.

As most creatives are already 'self-isolated' working from home, we can hopefully crack on with our creative endeavours more or less as normal, but without an audience or an income, this will test our resolve more than normal.

Hamba Kahle / Go Well

Scottish Spring Tour!

Quiet on here but not here after my various wonderful trips which are hard to describe! However, the comic convention season is already on the way with two shows under my belt during last week's Scottish Spring Tour!
 

The Dunfermline set-up inside a giant marquee!

Different set-up and stock for the Edinburgh show!

This took in both my Dunfermline Comic-Con debut and a welcome return to Edinburgh Comic-Con, where once again, Gary Crutchley ably manned the table during my infrequent absences (!) and sold his WesterNoir and recently launched Hard Country trades, to great success.

It's always great to catch up with the Scottish comic contingent and even though it was hard on my own at Dunfermline to do my normal socialising, I did see a great deal of familiar faces, many of whom I saw again with more time to chat in Edinburgh.  
 

With the shows being a week apart we took the opportunity to stay in Scotland, catch up with local cousins for a fab meal, then head North and catch up with the family - and Mother's Day, our first we shamefully realised since the year before we moved, 1986, Eeek!! - which was fun as always but the weather was pretty changeable this time of year.

We also made a welcome stop at Kemnay's finest, Geek Bothy Store where we caught up with Emma and Morgan, fresh from the shop's latest award-winning accomplishments and ahead of the following week's Scottish awards! The store is a delight and all awards are highly deserved for the hard work and attention that Emma, ably supported by Morgan, puts in :)
 

Geek Bothy's Current Comic Corner!

Manchester Comic & Reading Festival!

Very nice to be asked to participate in this new event, a collaboration between Dennis Whittle of the Comics Den shop in Oldham and Manchester's Central Library. Dennis is the chap behind the successful Oldham Library events which sadly I've been unable to attend so far but is branching out as part of this year's libraries summer reading challenge, focusing on comics.

Full details here including a complete list of the many talented comic creators attending.

It promises to be fun and can be enjoyed as part of the city's bee trail of which the library may house a few special exhibits, so you best 'Bee' there :)

Comics & Steampunk Double Feature!

To make up for last weekend without an event for Accent UK Comics, we've two this!
 

Firstly, I'm delighted to return to Macc-Pow next Saturday, which I greatly enjoyed last year and is another fairly local one to me which is nice. This year's event is #3 and coincides with Macclesfield's bi-annual Barnaby Festival which I understand was the catalyst for organiser Marc Jackson to put on the first event in 2016. This year like #2 is free to attend and takes place in Macc's impressive Town Hall , which was a great venue for the comic workshops, artists and exhibitors, so I'll looking forward to this.

A nice offical event picture taken off me at last year's Macc-Pow!

Next up, the same weekend but on both days is the mysterious 'The Town That Never Was!' at Blists Hill, Ironbridge. This is a new steampunk 'wild west' themed event organised by those fine folks at The Ministry of Steampunk who are behind the mighty Asylum festival in Lincoln, the world's largest annual steampunk celebration!

The event had a highly enjoyable 'soft debut' at the same venue last year to test the waters (to which Gary & I and our better halves attended in civvies) and all were blown away by the response from steampunks, the public and the venue so a return was inevitable but necessitated a move from the previous July date to June which unfortunately for me clashed with Macc-Pow! (which itself had moved from July to match the Barnaby Festival dates), so the intrepid duo of 'Deputy' Dave West and 'Gunslinger' Gary Crutchley will be there both days, defending the fort until I join them on the Sunday - what could go wrong!

A splendid picture from last year's 'soft debut' event!

Splendid Day by the Seaside?

Eeek! no sooner are we back from a delightful round trip to Aberdeen for Granite City Comic-Con, we're busy packing our trunks for a visit to the seaside for A Splendid Day Out, steampunk and ice cream, lovely! it's our first time but the event came highly recommended and is, I think, now in its 4th year with this year's expanded show incorporating the 'Arts of Steam', a celebration of the art & writing & crafts inspired by the steampunk genre/movement!

Actually is it a genre or a movement? not sure, maybe we can ask the man who first coined the 'steampunk' phrase himself, K W Jeter who is making a rare appearance to the UK for the festival. Many of course will recognise the name from his lauded Blade Runner sequel novels from a few years ago.

I'll be in the same venue as K.W Jeter in Morecambe's iconic Winter Gardens Theatre, a short walk from the promenade. I'm looking forward to the show, the venue and meeting new people which may well include (separately) a relative and an important Accent UK contributor!

Back Drawing!

Well it has been a hectic last few weeks with fun comic trips in England, the US and Scotland all keeping me quiet, if time allows I'll post some pictures and comments about each one but in between those, family time and the next batch of shows in a few weeks, I've found time to catch up with some of my drawing!

Well namely its some more of the wee postcard sized watercolour sketches mainly of characters from my 'Moments of Adventure' comics plus a couple of guest stars! These are fun to do and although I don't directly sell them, I include them in packs of both comics & prints to make a nice little package for folk at shows. They're becoming increasingly popular hence the fact that I had to do some more since the last few events has virtually cleaned me out!

I try and make each one unique but try and maintain a good spread of my characters, MacBeth and sundry Zombies tend to be most popular so I'll likely do a few more of them plus one or two Steampunk ones in anticipation of this summer's shows.

3 in 3, there's going to be a Time Quake!

Well we do like to test ourselves don't we so since things are too quiet round here, the Accent UK 'tourbus' is outdoing itself these next few weeks with Time Travel, Atlantic Crossings and a 'Homecoming' coming up!

Who opened the Jar? A glimpse of our Curious Comic Corner!

First up this weekend sees Dave and I re-united for a brand new event from those fine folks behind the Asylum steampunk festival that we've being enjoying in recent years. Time Quake though promises to be something very different with various 'zones' such as Post-Apocalyptic, Time Lords, Wizardry, Steam Wars and much, much more with ourselves building a small set for our brand new Curious Comic Corner in the very special 'Author & Artists Alley', not a standard 6' x 2' table in sight! Challenged we've been on this one with serious planning since before Christmas, there's been a few hiccups here and there but join us if you can in Manchester, it all promises to be a very different spectacle over the Easter weekend!

Next up is a different type of time travel as Dave and I will literally be travelling back in time (by a fair few hours at least!) to take up our positions in Artist's Alley of C2E2 in Chicago, the windy city! We're soooo excited about this, our first 'big' US show and our first time exhibiting across the Atlantic for I think 5 years! As I reported after Scott and I's Seattle trip, so much has changed over there with the growth of comic movies and related interest, so this is quite a thrill. That said we're under no illusion that it will be a tough gig for us alongside the better known creators of the comic world and of course the entertainment guests and more but we're going mainly for networking, a bit of promotion and of course the experience, exciting stuff!

Next up - and I do mean, literally next! - is a welcome return to Auld Reekie for Edinburgh Comic-Con. This will be our third time there and its been a privilege to be part of this enthusiastic, friendly event as it has grown. This time, WesterNoir's very own Gary Crutchley will also be attending for what I think will be his very first trip to Scotland! I will of course be failing if I let him go without trying a wee bit of haggis, neeps & tatties, washed down with a Tennents or maybe a wee whisky? We'll see!

Actually I think there's a fair few other 'southern-based' comic creators making the trip so with the amazing native comics folk, Edinburgh again promises to be an enjoyable trip.

So there we are, 3 shows in 3 weeks in 3 countries !  There's a few more after that with a couple of new shows to be added to our tour dates but luckily I'll have a decent break after this wee run to - hopefully - get back to the business of writing and drawing! It may be a wee bit quiet here until then but if you are anywhere near these 3 shows, feel free to join us and tell us about your own favourite comic trips!

2018 Comics Tour Schedule!

Returning to The Asylum!

No we're not going mad! Well I don't think so but busy prepping for tomorrow's warmly anticipated return to Lincoln for Asylum IX, the world's largest steampunk festival - yay!

It was only a year ago that we made our debut but the festival made quite an impression on us see last year's report and pictures here. This team the full Accent UK creative crew will be there with Gary Crutchley joining Dave and I. We're delighted to be invited back as guests and this time are participating in the programme with two separate panels:

Comics  for Big Kids! - A discussion on why adults do (or don't) read comics!  
Sunday 11-12 at the Cathedral Centre

The Murky Truth of Comics! - Revealing the secrets behind independent comics publishing curtain (with Sloth publishing's Nick Rossert)
Monday 2-3 pm at the university's Constance Stewart Hall

Accent UK are also exhibiting our wares in 'pop-up' shops across three market venues, Lincoln Castle on the Saturday, Cathedral Centre's Steampunk Embassy on the Sunday and at the university's Steampunk Campus Market on the Monday, so it's all go!

We may even have a couple of new releases available, watch this space!

Go-Go Granite City Comic-Con!

Gary Erskine's Splendid Granite City 2017 Poster Art

The Accent UK tour bus is revving up once again to complete 'Colin's Celtic Comic Trilogy Tour' with this weekend's Granite City Comic-Con in Aberdeen!

Can't believe its a whole year since the last Aberdeen show but there we are, although in some ways its come round a little too quick as my planned launch of the second Moments of Adventure collection is sadly not quite there. That's the problem sometimes with doing a large number of shows, there's no time to make the actual comics!

Having said that I have been busy producing some new sketches to go in the special Moments print packs:

......and there are still several new Accent UK titles since our last Aberdeen appearance.

So if you happen to find yourself in the North East of Scotland this weekend why not visit Granite City Comic Con, enjoy the fun and say 'Hi' to us.

Off to the Emerald Isle!

The next part of my Celtic Comics tour is a real step into the unknown heading deep into Northern Ireland for Enniskillen Comic Fest! I'll be flying into the almost familiar Belfast City Airport then hiring a car to get to Enniskillen which seems the simpler option than the 3 hourly buses!

The show itself promises to be special with an official 2000AD 40th anniversary status so wish me luck.

Colin's Celtic Comic Tour!

So I'm just about set for this weekend's return to Edinburgh Comic-Con and realised that the next three shows are all in Celtic countries of Scotland (twice) and Northern Ireland - I just need Wales to complete the set! This little 'Celtic Tour' is also different as I'll be 'solo' at them as, my Accent UK partner, Dave West is unable to make the trips :(

Don't feel sad though it's only logistics which is keeping Dave from accompanying me as we juggle this year's schedule of shows - the eagle-eyed may spot that we've already added two more since the last update - both in England to balance these Celtic ones! Its been a long time since I flew solo, so we'll see how I get on. It shouldn't be that bad though as the comics community is a friendly bunch and I should see a few familiar faces at each of them to I'm sure keep me company.

Mind you this is what happened at Edinburgh last year when Dave was keeping an eye on me!

A couple of weeks after Edinburgh will be Accent UK's first ever trip to Enniskillen who's Comic Fest returns for its second year. The show was highly recommended by our good friend Jenika Ioffreda and I'm quite excited about, particularly as its to be held in Enniskillen Castle itself!

Tharg has also recently awarded the Fest Official 2000AD 40th anniversary partner status as the mag continues its celebrations so expect several art & script droids to make the trip. While its our first time in Enniskillen, we have of course exhibited in Northern Ireland several times at the popular MCM Belfast shows so know there are many enthusiastic comic fans over there. At the moment though Enniskillen is likely to be our only NI trip this year as the MCM Belfast dates clash with Birmingham Comic Festival and as I've previously commented on, we sadly can't do them all.

The final leg of my wee tour suitably winds up at my North East homeland in Aberdeen's Granite City Comic-Con which is now in its third year. I shouldn't be quite so lonely here as, apart from catching up with relatives and comic chums, I should be joined at the table by Ace sales team Adam and Joe who did a sterling job last year, freeing me up for an occasional wander round the show which I, apparently, am prone to do!

Then a week after Aberdeen, the Accent UK team are re-united down south at the mighty MCM London show where both Scott and Dave will be in attendance while I perhaps take things a wee bit easy!

Please say hello if you're at any one of these shows where hopefully you will find a few new books and surprises since the last time you saw us!

Some of the new Moments of Adventure sketches ready for the tour!