London Film & Comic Con (sort of) report!

Now for the show that wasn't, the London Film and Comic Con! Accent UK didn't have a table for the show but Scott wanted to visit it and I was intrigued to see a show from the punter's side, something I've not done for gosh, maybe 12+ years!.  Well I'm sorry that I can't tell you anything about the show as we didn't get in! This is despite setting off at 7 in the morning from Manchester, and queueing at the Earl's Court venue for 3.5 hours!

The LFCC queue about 2 hours in! The folk on the left are in the same queue!

The same queue looking behind us - snaking all the way behind Earls Court and back again, don't forget that the folk on the right are in the same queue and theres more people behind them yet! 

There were huge, huge queue's and with the advance pre-paid tickets the venue was virtually full as soon as the doors opened. Of course there was no information to tell you this it was only after 2.5 hours or so that rumours started to spread that the venue had closed its doors for health & safety reasons and were now operating on a "one in one out" policy! The organisers had gone to ground and there was no way of confirming the rumour and in the meantime the queue behind us had grown to gargantuan proportions, all of this in the baking heat of one of the hottest days of the year!

2 1/2 hrs in, towards the front of Earls Court but not even 1/2 way in the queue - note folks still arriving on the left!

Well, Scott zipped off for some much needed water and did some investigating to discover that we were no better that maybe halfway in the queue and likely faced another 2 hours to maybe get in, that was enough for us so we finally did the sensible thing and gave up. Not before I should add, our very good friend Chris, (who was helping at Lucky Target's table inside) collecting and coming outside to deliver Scott's pre-ordered Stan Lee funko figure which was one of our main reasons for visiting.
 

The Q around 2pm just as we'd had enough

The same Q behind us and stretching at least 2 1/2 hrs behind!

The show was attended by Excelsior himself, Mr Stan Lee, in his last European show and this together with a huge list of Dr Who and media stars had caused the huge turnout and apparently caught the organisers on the hop, not helped by their own website encouraging people to turn up on the day as tickets would be available!

And it was one of the hottest days of the year with no refreshments available !

There's already been quite a bit of reportage on this with Bleeding Cool having a video report of the queue and chaos and The Beat having their own report and there are numerous horror stories if you search online. Needless to say there's definite lessons to be learned and although I didn't get to experience the show I can now sympathise with punters who have queued at shows we've exhibited at in the past and hope all was worth it once you got inside.

Photo of Scott to prove we were there

Having said that, Scott and I were determined not to let it spoil our day too much and in between catching up with Chris, made a wee visit to the nearby Natural History Museum and back into town to visit Accent UK comic stockists Orbital Comics, chatting with Camila and Chris and a wizz round a few other places before having a well deserved burger n pint before travelling home.

Happy to see Chris and head off for a cup of tea, 3 1/2 hrs in and not setting foot in the venue!

Thankfully there's not much travelling involved for us next week, making our third appearance at the extended MCM Manchester Comic-Con, which promises to be another well attended event. Its just been previewed in a full page spread in our local Manchester Evening News paper and online, so we'll see. Hopefully the queues will be manageable for all concerned and like our trips to Belfast and Glasgow be a worthwhile one for comics?

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!

Belfast 'catch up' comic report

Okay been busy, busy these last few weeks and sadly no room to properly catch up with many of the fun things we've been up to, so I'll stick to the recent comic shows attended, starting with Belfast!

A Belfast view from City Hall

The trip for the new MCM show there was amazing, I didn't expect Belfast to be such a great wee city nor the people to be so friendly and really into their comics. It's strange as, despite being fairly well travelled, Belfast just wasn't on my radar at all and if it wasn't for the MCM show I doubt I'd ever think about visiting. That's me being honest as growing up in the 70's you have a negative view of the place which, now having been there, I feel really guilty about. I'm sure, like most cities, it still has problems but don't let that put you off visiting its got much to offer.
 

Colin n Dave try to hide the fact they'd not packed the AUK banner!

Dave, as always, did a timely report on the show here, so I'll just add that, yes we did have fantastic sales, second only to the recent MCM London, so were pleased to discover a new audience. Special mentions to MCM regulars Jenika and Jeremy Biggs for also making the trip and being good company and also new friends, Leeann Hamilton, Danny from Uproar Comics (The Voice of Derry!), 2000AD's own P J Holden and Patrick Brown, whom I've long admired his work since his Tamara Knight days and was chuffed to catch up with his long running historical series, The Cattle Raid of Cooley and many more. It seems there's a really healthy indie comic scene in Northern Ireland, although maybe more creators were from Derry than Belfast?

Paddy Brown himself!

Jeremy Biggs surveys his dwindling stock...

The talented Cool Bean lady herself - Leeann Hamilton

Special thanks to our old friend (the original) Jeremy Briggs who had flown home to his native Belfast for the show and cordially gave us an informative tour of the city and introduced us to the delights of its Red Panda Chinese restaurant - see Jeremy's Down The Tubes reports here & here.

When Jeremy's collide - Jeremy Biggs meets Jeremy Briggs!!

Several titles sold out including these last copies of Zulu!

The show had a great atmosphere with many families in attendance and everyone seemed so upbeat that Belfast finally had its own big comic show. Exhibiting there had a great sense of comradery that you don't always get at the bigger shows (although with over 16,000 attendees this was clearly still big!). There was lots of banter amongst punters and exhibitors themselves and both Dave and I found ourselves moonlighting at other folk's tables to gave them a break and there was much sharing of food and coffee runs etc. It reminded Dave and I of the early Bristol shows when you pretty much knew everyone and supported each other and its a credit to both the organisers and the people of Northern Ireland that this big show had the same fun informal feeling. We'll be back!

Dave moonlighting at Jeremy's Subversive comics table

Col moonlighting at Leeann's Cool Bean table

My Belfast haul - all books not just Irish creators but Irish based stories!

Belfast Bound...

Very happy to be heading off to Belfast later this week for the inaugural MCM Comic-Con this  weekend. Its been held at the King's Hall with full details here on MCM's site.

As I've been reporting, Dave and I under our Accent UK disguise have really embraced the MCM shows these last couple of years starting with the local Manchester, then Glasgow and Birmingham culminating in the recent London extravaganza.

These 'multi-media' shows are good fun and exceptionally well attended and combined with more 'traditional' comic shows like Glasgow Comic-con, Thought Bubble and the like give us a great platform for our books. We approach each show differently which (usually) works in improving sales and also keeps things fresh and exciting for us.
 

Although I've not seen Game of Thrones, I understand its a great programme and is filmed not far from Belfast and I think James Cosmo, (of GoT, Highlander, Braveheart and others fame) will be there. Actually I spotted Mr Cosmo at both the recent Birmingham and London shows and a thoroughly decent bloke he seems to be. Strangely amongst the thousands of fans around he didn't seem to recognise me from our short chat in my hometown Stonehaven some 10 odd years ago, mind you I didn't have the beard then! 

So its off to Northern Ireland for the very first time and we've been having fun wangling with the baggage allowances and the like to see how many of which titles we can bring with us, sadly I don't think they'll all fit into a single suitecase......

Rabbit Rabbit - Record Sales in London!

 
We had high hopes for last weekend's MCM show in London and it didn't disappoint, record crowds - over 100,000 reported! - and record sales made it a show to savour!
 

Mr Stay puft shares Accent UK's joy!

Held at its usual Excel centre in London's docklands the shown has continued to grow since our 2010 visit. If I recall that show had around 16,000 attendees, a record at that time, but although we did well, the travel down from Manchester by train, carrying stock and bags ultimately put us off as we concentrated on 'purer' comic shows instead.

The truth is though that while comics are not the main attraction at MCM events, the comic village is an integral part and enjoys its share of the huge footfall so the opportunity is there to reach a new and potentially huge audience. Our successes at recent Manchester and Glasgow MCM's had tempted us south again and while we were a little nervous after our disappointing Birmingham experience, the vibe was good coming into the show.

These were the Saturday lunchtime queues - still huge!

'Bravely' I had decided to drive to London, the first time I've ever ventured beyond the M25 by car and while I had a few moments, Dave's borrowed sat-nav, voiced by Aussie Bruce saw me through. I all but missed the Friday setting up slot, but was pleased to find the venue and parking relatively easy. Caught up with our good friend Chris and his son on Friday for an enjoyable Mexican tea.

We then arrived nice and early at the venue on Saturday morning to properly set up. This was about an hour before the show opened and already there were big crowds forming, so much so that when Dave and Jemma arrived later by train, they had a 45 minute wait just to find the exhibitor's queue!

Anyway we didn't have much time for chatting as the show got busier and busier with us enjoying steady and brisk sales all weekend long, comfortably beating our highest ever MCM total by the end of the first day and with a new all record high the following day!

Chas n Dave man the stall - Rabbit Rabbit!

As the crowds were so big and diverse, many folks were newish to comics or at least new to indie comics but willing to have a look at what the comic village had to offer among its 200+ tables! We were delighted to find that all our stock sold pretty equally, not just the new stuff. Zulu was again very popular and quickly sold out on Saturday afternoon!

The re-jigged stall on Sunday morning with the last few Zombies, Wolfmen & WesterNoir 1's

The Sunday started slowly as it tends to do before again gathering pace with Man of Glass, Zombies 2,  Wolfmen 1 and WesterNoir 1 soon selling out along with our older Accent UK packs. We of course found it hard to sell Wolfmen 2 and WesterNoir's 2-4, after selling out of their first issues otherwise I'm sure we would have sold even more. As it was, Sunday was about 2/3rds of Saturday's sales and overall we enjoyed our highest ever show total of books sold in some 12 years of exhibiting, no mean feat!

Sadly Dave wouldn't let me spend Accent UK's takings on a new car....

The scale of the show does make life difficult in terms of getting out and about and looking round so although the Comic Village was huge we only had a glimpse of some of the stalls. Delighted though to have familiar faces as neighbours in John Maybury, Siobhan Hillman of Spacebabe 113 fame and talented brothers, Art and David Goodman,  who we've known for a long time. this gave me the perfect opportunity to pick up their Oscar Charles Drayton newspaper strip collection which they'd all contributed to. I'd heard about it some time ago but not had a chance too see the finished collection, in the style of a scrapbook, for myself, its an intriguing, unique and rewarding read.

Interior page of 'Oscar Drayton's' Newspaper collection

Behind us was the irrepressible Jim Alexander of Planet Jimbot fame, who I seem to be following round these days. On our other side was the crazily creative Cristian Ortiz and his wife Alice who worked incredibly hard at the show selling his Golden Campaign books and prints and were also rewarded with great sales.  Thankfully with so many familiar and friendly faces around us, life was never dull during the shows surprisngly regular lulls and time passed really quickly. I did also manage quick hellos to Gary Erskine, Sean Azzopardi, (one of the few comicy folks I can talk football with, even if he is a Chelski fan!), Dave O'Connell and a couple more but not many such was the nature of the show. Shout outs though to Accent UK contributor Danny Hayles who with writer Gareth Wood was tabling his intriguing new Atlantis comic and also to Lyndon White and Rudra Purkayastha who were launching their Cosmic Fish book first discussed at Comica last year.

Dandy Island's impressive Funko collection!

We enjoyed a bit of socialising on the Saturday with Chris and again long time friends Sumyra and Darren of Lucky Target Comics, including some unforgettable Greek music - Chas n Dave it wasn't! -, but we were all too sensible or tired for a heavy night after a long day and more to come on the Sunday.

Even the Johnny Depps couldn't remember the words to 'Snooker Loopy'!

Er, 'Snooker Loopy, nuts are we?', no thats not right......

That said it was really a great show for us (see Dave's MCM thought here) and although we didn't get to see much ourselves we're delighted to have found so many new readers for our books so, all being well, will make MCM London one of our regular shows - next stop MCM Belfast!

My MCM Comics haul

A Corner of An African Field...

I will post soon about my wonderful tour of Zululand but first, on this special date of 15 May, I wanted to share something totally unexpected that we found in a small lonely cemetery across the Buffalo River, not far from Rorke's Drift;

The small cemetery containing civilian and 1880's British soldier's graves

The large headstone of the grave on the right immediately stood out for me;

 Here's a closer look at the inscription;

'Mathieson' is my surname, (complete with the rarer 'i' spelling) and 'Alexander' is both my late father and my elder brother's name. You can see therefore why this particular 'find' really affected me.

 

Rather touchingly the headstone also bore the message " This stone is erected by a few of his friends".

At the moment I'm not aware of a direct family link with this particular Alexander Mathieson but the "Jock" confirms that he was of course Scottish. His age was 53 when he died in 1903, so sometime between 1850 and then he'd likely emigrated to South Africa and ended up in this remote spot.

Had he witnessed the Anglo-Zulu war of 1879 or had he made his journey after that and the later Boer War conflicts? At this stage I don't know and it won't be easy finding out but, seeing 'Jock's' grave all the way out here close to Rorke's Drift with the infamous iSlandwana hill in the background was really quite moving. To think that I may have a family connection so close to the sites that I have been fascinated with for much of my life is really quite something.

Jock's headstone looks towards iSlandwana hill

I of course wanted to show my respect and together with a local flower, placed a small cross on Jock's grave which Kate from our group had kindly and selflessly given me.

Today is the 15th May, the anniversary of his death so, whether we're related or not Jock, I'll be thinking of you, rest in peace.