Glasgow Comic-Con!

Hannah Berry's Glasgow Comic-Con artwork

Glasgow Comic-Con was a great excuse for us to make a family weekend of it with several relatives travelling from other parts of Scotland for a get together for Mrs M's birthday and a great time we had too. Dave's prompt show report is here, we were again bowled over by our reception, with the Dundee shows and last year's MCM Glasgow, this was now our 4th Scottish show, but easily the biggest in terms of comics hungry fans. Sales were steady throughout the first day and very healthy the second resulting in only a handful behind the near-record Belfast figure, so pretty chuffed. 

A view of the CCA and prominent Accent UK table!

And from above, note no Col or Dave!

The Glasgow comic-con in its wonderful quirky arts centre setting had a great vibe and atmosphere to it and again folk were so friendly with most new to our books. My limited Zulu packs again sold out on the first day as they had also done in Belfast (and London and Birmingham before!), leaving me with a dilemma whether to carry on selling the last 1/2 dozen copies I hold or to keep these for posterity. I'm chuffed they've still found an audience but desperate to complete something new.....In fact all books sold well in Glasgow as they have in fairness at all recent shows. Its gratifying that the quality of even the older books still stands up and attracts people.

GCC crew and organisers Ish & Sha model the very creepy 'Laptop Guy' dummy eek!

We were delighted to catch up with guests and old friends Leah Moore and John Reppion at the show along with the likes of Jim Alexander, Ellie Winter, Ed Murphy, Sumyra and Darren of Lucky Target Comics, Daryl Cunningham, the delightful Hannah Berry, Owen Johnson, Guillermo Ortego, the Dundee Uni crowd and many more!

Adam and Scott man the stand

The show was spread around three local sites and across three floors of the main CCA and from past experience of 'split-venue' shows we were a bit concerned but amazingly (to us!) this actually enhanced rather than hindered the show. There were few crowd bottlenecks, the talks (and queues) were well attended and managed and there was plenty going on for punters to wander about or to sit, chill and grab a coffee or beer, the perfect comic show really!

The CCA's bar, cafe and guest signing area - can you spot Gail Simone & Howard Chaykin?

An ariel view of the guest signing area, now also featuring Peter Milligan & Erik Larsen!

From an economical point of view, the tables weren't cheap but the crowd, while only a fraction of the MCM ones, were serious comic fans, keen for new discoveries and happy to buy books. One particularly fine fellow we'd spoken to on the Saturday duly kept his promise to return on the Sunday and bought virtually our whole range of books! It was just that type of show and also one where when going for a wee wander you'd bump into someone and have a chat as you went along, something you can't really do at the big bustling shows. I'd almost go so far to say that it had the same relaxed, vibrant atmosphere as we enjoy on our Danish trips, high praise indeed!

The West's about to team tag the Mathieson's!

Oh and the reason Dave and I managed to wander about was that for a little while on the Saturday we were able to leave Scott, Adam and Jemma in charge and very capable they were too. The next generation of Accent UK is shaping up nicely I'd say, giving us older fella's a deserved rest!

A rare sight - all Mathieson Men manning the Accent UK table!

Despite the wandering I sadly didn't really buy much, (I usually do my buying on the Sunday and the kids had gone by then - no stamina!), but my one must buy was Sally Heathcote:Suffragette!  I'd been holding off buying this until I got the chance to catch one of the talented creators and luckily for me, artist Kate Charlesworth was there and what a lovely lady she was too, very funny and down to earth. She was signing with top Scottish crime writer (and Girl with Dragon Tattoo graphic novel adaptation) Denise Mina. The pair were obviously good friends, enjoying each others company and a riot to chat too. I'm halfway through Sally Heatchcote and really enjoying it, historical action well done, just my cup of tea! (check out this great new interview with Kate by Padraig O'Mealoid).

Denise Mina and Kate Charlesworth share a joke

So congratulations to Sha, Mark, Jack, Ish and all the Glasgow Comic-Con crew for a great show and one, along with MCM Belfast we hope to return to next time.

GCC crew member Jeremy who Dave & I stared at all w/e, given his uncanny resemblance to old friend, Phoenix artist Neil Cameron - we made poor Jeremy draw a dinosaur to prove that he finally wasn't Neil!

Moments in Dundee!

Dan's surprised that Colin's much shorter in real life!

Aye, Aye fit like? Oops sorry gone 'all Doric' after being home for the Dundee Comics Expo - that's what happens when Gentleman Dave isn't around with his Earl Grey tea!

Anyway I'm glad to report that the Dundee Comic Expo was a good one with decent sales for Accent UK, actually selling more books than the year before so quite happy. This may have been down to my son Adam's keen promotional skills as he joined me on the table for the first time since last year's amazing Glasgow MCM, but probably was more to do with the joint manga/anime event taking place across the quadrant, Dee-Con, which attracted big crowds which were shared across both venues.

A glimpse of the Dee-Con  crowd after the queue had gone down!

Actually next to the beast that was Dee-Con, the Comic Expo was a modest affair with less exhibitors than the year before and no 'big' comic names in the way that Bryan Talbot, David Lloyd, Gary Erskine (and others) had previously provided. There wasn't a huge attendance but rather a steady flow of folk which made for a nice relaxed stream of browsers and buyers. Many were new to Accent UK but there were also returning readers, so the show was great value to us in showcasing our books north of the Border.

The obligatory 'stand by your table' picture!

The University of Dundee's Chris Murray and Phil Vaughan deserve great praise in organising and setting up the Comics Expo. They ensured that the cream of Scotland's independent comic creators were there in abundance including Black Hearted Press, Planet Jimbot, Rough Cut Comics and Team Girl Comics alongside D C Thomson's Commando and Glasgow's Plan B shop and others. It's a shame that their fine programme of talks and panels wasn't better attended but that was probably just a symptom of the casual flow of visitors into the expo making things seem a little sparse at times.

Jim Alexander holding fort

Being based 'doon sooth' I'm still finding my way round the Scottish comics scene so was pleased to have time to chat to many of the other exhibitors especially the likes of Jim Alexander who I've met a few times now and like me had his son there to help him out!

Colin and Treehouse Comic's Andy Herd do a bit of neighbourly sketching

Our table neighbours were new to me, Treehouse Comics, a recently established Dundee based collective who have already released their second anthology title, called of course Treehouse issue 2! They were a fine friendly bunch with 4 or 5 of their creators in attendance playing table tag. It was enjoyable chatting to them and hearing their enthusiasm and I'll be very interested to see what they come up with in the future.

Can you tell what it is yet?

I also caught up with Graham Neil Reid and Jeremy Briggs, Allan Lowson (of Back Street Heroes biker magazine fame), and a few others which is always fun and another valuable part of these shows. Adam's help meant that I wasn't stranded behind the table as I'd largely been the year before but the friendly relaxed atmosphere encouraged lots of conversations but maybe that's just the Scottish friendly nature?

Kirsteen, Colin and Winnie!

To my delight, my Zulu:Water Cart Rescue comics again sold well and I was even asked to do a special Zulu themed sketch of Winnie the Pooh which I enjoyed doing - thanks Kirsteen! Actually my Zulu comic stocks are now very much depleted so I am seriously considering a reprint to bring both issues together in a single volume? Of course I also desperately need to produce something new which an event like this always inspires me to do, so let's see what I come up with. I think maybe that July's Glasgow Comic-Con is a realistic deadline to aim for finishing one of my in progress projects....

Anyway thanks again to the Dundee Comics Expo team, I hope that they were as pleased with the day and that it becomes the regular comic event that Dundee deserves. Thanks also to Adam for his fine company and for taking the day's photos!

Zulu Pooh reporting for duty Sah!

Dundee & Comic Calendar Update

Well we're truly in the comic convention season now with Accent UK getting set for a return to the Dundee Comic Expo this weekend! The date's been known for a while but confirmation's have only recently been made but I can't wait. I really enjoyed last year's show, (see report here!) and this year promises to be a little different being a joint show with the manga/anime focused Dee-Con. 

Dundee Comics Expo 2013

This will again by a solo comic show from me but I may be accompanied by youngest son, who is currently studying in Scotland but I'm looking forward to catching up with the talented bunch of Scottish creators that I'm getting to see on a more regular basis now.

Speaking of Scotland, we're now also confirmed for a return to Glasgow for July's Comic-Con. We've also applied for our regular table at Leeds Thought Bubble which hopefully, under their new revised registration system will avoid the frustrations and uncertainties of last year. Less positive we won't be returning to this year's The Lakes festival as our application wasn't accepted which we're told is a symptom of the venue being small and heavily over-subscribed, so you can't win them all.

Actually looking at last year's record breaking event calendar, we are only planning to return to 5 of the 11 shows attended in 2014! Some such as Copenhagen Comics, (and presumably Carlisle's Mega-Con?) aren't being held this year, others like MoCCA, (held this forthcoming weekend too!) and the London Super Comic-Con are down to economics while as mentioned we've been declined for The Lakes, so a few changes.  Its perhaps a reflection of the current healthy number of comic festivals, that all 6 of these shows will be replaced with several new (to us) ones planned, so quite exciting really.

Gary Crutchley's cracking artwork

WesterNoir Book 4 - $100 reward? never!

 

At the moment, we have no overseas shows confirmed, (unless you count Belfast!) but are currently in communications for a show in a country we've never ever visited before which is exciting, with another under serious consideration, so we'll see. Just need to work on a few new releases to follow WesterNoir Book 4's earlier successful launch......

First glimpse of Martin (Man of Glass) Flink's new book 'The Lizard'!

Coast to Coast Comics!

Exciting few days ahead as I embark on a mini comics tour to the East Coast of Scotland and the Dundee Comic Expo over Easter (snow permitting!), followed closely by a trip to the East Coast of America and New York's MoCCA Festival!

And if that's enough its then only a couple of weeks until we return to London and the always enjoyable Comica Festival, but last time I checked London wasn't on the coast, let alone the East coast, so that doesn't really count as part of this Eastern seaboard tour!

I doubt I'll have a chance to blog between the shows but I've posted recently on both the Dundee show and MoCCA, so check those posts and their respective sites for full details and latest news on guests etc, but if you are in the area for either - or both! - check them out and be sure to drop by the Accent UK table.

In fact, if anyone is able to say 'hi' to me at both shows they can have a Free Accent UK comic of their choice, surely that's worth the expense of a transatlantic trip!

The Dundee show is the first time Accent UK has exhibited in Scotland and being so close to 'home', quite exciting for me. As Dave has difficulty finding his beloved Earl Grey Tea North of Cheshire, he won't be making the trip so I'll be 'flying solo' at a show for I think the very first time so we'll see how that feels!

You'll find me in the College Hall of the university's Tower building on Table 5, which is along the right on the tiny map below!;

We'll be making our third visit to MoCCA, (see here for my summary of last year's show) and as in previous visits, I'll be joined by my son Scott who will I'm sure keep me from getting lost but sadly Dave can't make this one as the 'heat' hasn't quite died down from his antics last time - this is what happens when a gentleman can't find a decent cup of tea in the big apple! In Dave's absence I doubt I'll be much help to Scott in deciphering the NBA Basketball games we should see on the pub TV but at least there should be less snoring this time! 

Anyway for those who can make it, the MoCCA table plan has been revamped from previous years and talks I think now held upstairs and a cafe downstairs.We'll be on E150, which you can see below if you're eyesight is good!

Comics Go Home!

Well okay, not quite home but close enough, Dundee is only about an hour's drive away from my hometown so a perfect excuse to visit!

The Dundee Comics Expo is a new show organised by Dr Chris Murray and team from the University of Dundee. I've not yet had the pleasure of meeting the good doctor but he is behind the MLitt in comic studies course at the university and the annual 'Dundee Comics Day' run the last few years in October as part of the city's literary festival. Last year's event continued its excellent track record of attracting top guests including Grant Morrison, Frank Quietly, Frazer Irving, Dave Gibbons and more!

As far as I can gather the Comics Expo is a new stand alone event evolved out of the previous (and still ongoing) manga themed events held at the university.  I'd heard good things about these by our long-term comics friend Jenika Ioffreda, (creator and publisher of the rather groovy  Vampire Free Style) but, not producing anything manga related had been put off exhibiting ourselves. This new event is though more generally aimed at all comic fans and intends to offer something for everyone.

Colin and Jenika at Thought Bubble in Leeds 2010

The inaugural show will include a talk from its main guest David Lloyd, (artist of V for Vendetta and others and the driving force behind the recently launched Aces Weekly digital comic) and a comics workshop from rising indie star, Karrie Fransman (The House That Groaned) as well as a selection of artists, indie comics creators and comics dealers.

Big thanks to the ever useful UK comics news site Down The Tubes who's article brought the show to my attention.

I'm just excited as I've long wanted to 'do' a show in Scotland and while we came close to attending Hi-Ex! in Inverness, it sadly just proved too far away from deepest Cheshire. Dundee is still a fair hike but we can at least catch up with realtives at the same time and make a nice Easter break of it. Plus of course Dundee is home to the mighty D.C Thomson who's various comic publications I grew up and probably started my life long love of the comics medium, they've a lot to answer for and it'll be a pleasure going back to where it all kind of started......

The Broons and Oor Wullie - D.C Thomson's favourites