'Naked' comic covers for Hallowe'en -!

From the vaults, please enjoy these 'naked' Accent UK comic covers for Hallowe'en !

Shane Oakley's Monsters cover from, gulp, 2006!

Steve Bissette's Zombies (2007)

Shane Oakley again, Zombies back cover (2007)

Andy Bloor's menacing Wolfmen (2007)

MCM London Comic Con Moments

Well that was fun, Accent UK returned to London's MCM Comic-Con last weekend and had a pretty cool time. Our appearance at the earlier May show produced record sales and really opened our eyes to the behemoth that these shows have become. This time felt busier and its since been confirmed that some 110,000 fans flocked to the Excel centre, which certainly explains the epic sandwich queue!.
 

MCM is all about Cosplay - see this wonderful Disney Group!

That said, we were a little down on sales, selling just over 75% of May's record and at times, despite the crowds, the Comic Village felt a little quiet. This is probably explained by the fact that the show has grown even bigger and, I think, used at least one more of the Excel's huge exhibition halls than last time. This, like the recent MCM Manchester show, is actually a welcome move, allowing more space for people to move round so there are less of the problematic 'bottleneck's early MCM's were known for. However there is just so much to see now that it is a challenge to get round it all and of course, fans have limited funds so can't buy everything they see, even if they want too.
 

These were a fun couple - Steampunk Golden Syrup Soldiers!

This was pretty noticeable in the Comic Village where more so than last time folk wanted to have a good look round first before committing to buy and who can blame them, with so much to see.  Thankfully we had several folk who did just that and returned, some even after queueing at the crowded cashpoint machine to ensure they had money for our books, which we are very grateful for.

Our Zombie 2 cover model turned up!

Steampunk cosplayer Xander Boo

We also had several returning readers who had picked up and enjoyed our books for the first time at the May show and wanted to see what else we had so again thank you!  Actually this, bizarrely, may also explain why sales were down from last time as in fairness we had no new books to offer since May. This may also be the reason why there were several exhibitor notable absentees from the May show, who without new product, may have decided to skip this show in the increasingly crowded UK convention calendar? Although sales were slower than May, they were still our 3rd highest ever, comfortably above our previous best ever figure from 2010, so we're certainly not going to complain!

Accent UK banner competes with The Hobbit during the London MCM set-up

But as happens, this opens opportunities for others and our immediate table neighbours were all, I think, first-time MCM exhibitors; Charlotte Franks 'Made by Anxiety', Lissy Raine 'Lillyluft' and Elizabeth Querstret, a fine friendlier bunch you couldn't hope to meet! There were many others so apologies if my geriatric head can't recall all the names or website links! Actually, amongst Rich Johnston of Bleeding Cool's prompt MCM reporting is a pretty comprehensive file of all Comic Village exhibitor tables on the Friday afternoon here  so you can see some of the awesomeness for yourself!

Scott set for Friday business

Rich's photos were from early Friday afternoon just after the show opened when Scott and I had barely arrived and were still unloading the car. We'd had a reasonable drive down but things always take longer than you think so it was a wee bit of a last minute panic to get registered, wristbands, parked, located and set up but that was down to us not the excellent organisation I hasten to add. Although vowing to leave earlier 'next time' I may not need to as MCM announced that next year's London shows will be over 3 full days, presumably meaning Thursday set-up's where in theory you have all day to drive down and unload etc. While this makes perfect sense for the show I didn't really get a chance to discuss this too much with fellow exhibitors and punters so we'll see how this goes. Our Friday afternoon sales were pretty modest it has to be said despite there being pretty good crowds - maybe between 6,000 and 10,000? Well, Mr Harry Potter himself,  Daniel Radcliffe was there don't you know!

It's not a 'proper' comic-con without Stormtroopers!

There was actually quite a full programme of panels, talks, media announcements etc which took part away from the show floor in various conference suites that the Excel offers. I don't know if this was a new aspect of the event but helped keep those queues and disruptions to a minimum even if it did mean that sadly we didn't get to see anything. I believe that as well as Mr Radcliffe, Brian Blessed and comics giants, Mark Millar, Dave Gibbons - and Accent UK contributor! - Kieron Gillen were also in attendance but I failed to spy any of them on the show floor afterwards.

Mr 'Time Bomb Comics' Steve Tanner works hard

Everything else went smoothly, Scott and I caught up with Time Bomb Comics Steve Tanner who we had arranged to share a Greenwich apartment, being as the Excel hotels had either sold out or got incredibly pricey. It's always good to catch up with Steve and share recent comic show experiences etc and find out about the brand new Birmingham Comic Festival next year that he's co-organising, and we're committed to attending.

It was amazing the transformation when Steve Tanner took his jacket off!

Dave and Jemma arrived by train the following day - after Scott and I had done all the hard work setting up it has to be said - and a jolly time was had by all! Accent UK has always been a bit of a family affair but it is a real delight to Dave and I to be able to regularly escape the table for a look around or a cuppa, knowing its in good hands, so thanks Scott and Jemma for your hard work, although both of you probably did your best to spend as much at the show as we took in!

The Mathieson Team Pose!

The West Team Pose!

Socially we were pleased to also catch up with long-time friend and comics guru Chris Dingsdale who joined us and Steve for a meal and a few Saturday night beers and then that was more or less that. There were several other fine folks we caught up with at the show, including Jenika Ioffreda who was launching her delightful Vampire FreeStyle collection, Gary Erskine, set to go on the much anticipated RollerGrrrls comic, Jeremy Biggs's mighty expanded Subversive Comics line and the irrepressible Stuart Gould.

Dave's the one in the silly hat.....

We've really embraced the MCM series of shows and by combining them with carefully chosen, more 'traditional' comic shows Accent UK have enjoyed our most successful year ever! So thanks to all concerned and we will definitely return next year with plans already made for a bigger Accent UK MCM presence!

Unlike this excellent Cos-player, with MCM shows "There can be more than one!"

ZULU Begins!

Me and Shakaland's Zulu Chief - April 2014

Okay so I have been 'quieter' in recent times but there is a reason, or should I say 'reasons' , as apart from a wonderful wee anniversary trip to Belfast with Mrs M and a few other domestic activities, I have started on my next comics project, which not surprisingly involves........Zulus!

You may have seen that, much to my surprise, my remaining Zulu: Water Cart Rescue comic packs have gone well this year, selling out at comic shows in Birmingham, London, Belfast, Glasgow, Manchester and finally Helsinki where my last 3 packs all quickly went!

The sold out 2014 ZWCR collector packs!

This has greatly surprised me, given the age and subject matter of the books, but it seems that there is always interest in Zulu, which I guess the movie and of course Michael Caine have had a lot to do with. So anyway hastened by my Helsinki success and the encouragement of Dave West and Gary Crutchley I have seriously embarked on a project to collect both ZWCR issues together into a single volume with a 're-mastered' theme of new lettering and (hush) colouring and a brand new back-up strip which directly links to the original issues!

Day of The Dead Moon from Accent UK's out of print Zombies anthology

Originally I was going to include my Day of The Dead Moon strip from Accent UK's sold out Zombies anthology book but fond as I am of this strip, the fantastical zombies theme doesn't really fit into Water Cart's intended historical accuracy - its based on a true event - so zombies were dropped and I therefore needed something new.

Instead I've returned to Rorke's Drift and its aftermath and plan to tell a short story from the Zulu's perspective, hopefully incorporating themes (and maybe characters) from the original series. This is only planned to be a short 8-10 page story so we'll see how it develops. For all those interested in my comic work, you'll hopefully be pleasantly surprised by this news and no doubt even more amazed if I get this finished!

2014 field trip research for my new Zulu story!

The new story, along with both ZWCR issues and some bonus features will form the remastered Zulu Collected Edition, hopefully appearing in time for the 2015 comic convention season.

I've had a few false starts recently with my own comic story-telling and have several projects just waiting to go, so I really hope this will be the one to get me going again. Let's see, but in a hopefully fortuitous omen, Zulu the movie was on TV today, the day that I finished page 1's pencils JABULA!

Page 1 pencils of my new Zulu story with my archive ZWCR copies

Forthcoming with Daniel Radcliffe!

Not Daniel Radcliffe - The Fun Boy Three strike a pose in Helsinki

Little quiet here perhaps but Helsinki was excellent, check out Dave and Gary's timely reports, mine still to follow! Things are going on though in the background including a new project and planning for our last couple of comic shows for what has been an exceptional year for Accent UK so far.

Our last show of the year will be of course be Thought Bubble in Leeds which is certainly the most prestigious of UK shows with the cream of indie comics talent (and us) on display and before then just before Halloween will be our speedy return to London's MCM Comic-Con. Our attendance there way back in May set a new all time Accent UK sales record which amazingly was subsequently broken, so there are high hopes for this one. We will be there on the shows first day, which is the Friday when we will be joined by none other than a certain Harry Potter star, Daniel Radcliffe who will be promoting his new movie, Horns! 

After The Dawn!

I'll post my comics report on Finland soon but just days after returning from Helsinki Dave and I had a short Accent UK rendezvous in London for Kate Bush's triumphant stage return at the Hammersmith Apollo after some 35 years!

There's already been much written about this surprise musical event of the year, suffice to say that we and the whole sold out audience were absolutely captivated by Ms Bush, her band, the music and spectacle of the show.

From the very first moments when she led her backing singers on stage in a marching formation it was clear that she very much wanted to be there and was genuinely humbled by the fantastic response she got. The first mini-set of 5 crowd pleasing songs were performed in a traditional way possibly to give the rapturous crowd a chance to digest that yes it really was her before the real performances began. I won't go into detail just in case you are one of the lucky ones with a ticket still to see her but after those first few songs the show really begins with two major interpretations of her most popular song suites, one recent, one not. These interpretations take in music, video, acting, dance, theatrics, effects and more with many surprises. It was clear to all that we were watching a genius at work and although there may have been one or two sequences which remained a little baffling, there was no doubt that this was something very special indeed.

Never before have I watched a musical performance when you literally did not know what was to happen next and although very familiar with the songs their interpretation brought, (excuse the pun), a deeper understanding. More so when you remembered that much of the songs were being performed live for the first time, some 30 years after their release!

It must also be said that the audience's reactions were also unprecedented, standing ovation's after most songs and the whole positive atmosphere projecting love and goodwill to the stage where it was humbly received.

This really was special and, despite the cost, I'm so glad that I was able to witness it. No doubt there will be a DVD available at some point which if it only captures 1/2 of the shows essence will be worth picking up.

Souvenirs from the performance

Finland Here We Come!

Aha, been doing a wee bit of travelling recently both home and away so had a break from comic shows but now its time to confirm our imminent departure to Finland for the 29th Helsinki Comics Festival!

The trip has actually been on our agenda since meeting some of the show organisers during last year's Copenhagen trip and with the Danish shows normally being bi-annual, we thought why not. This was also in our minds in not returning to MoCCA and the US this year, saving the pennies for a Nordic trip instead.

As it happens after we'd made our decision we'd heard from our good Danish friends about a different comics festival happening there this year, Art-Bubble in Horsens on 27/28 September 2014. This sounds special too but it would be pushing to do two overseas trips in the same year after a busy schedule already taken in Belfast, Glasgow and London trips etc so Finland it is.

Dave West and I will be accompanied by WesterNoir artist Gary Crutchley despite his unease at flying - good job its only a 3 hour flight (I think!), so its all systems go.

We'll be in the main tent for international exhibitors which I understand will be placed in one of Helsinki's central public squares and with free entry promises to be busy. There are special exhibitions planned for the likes of Tove Jansson and Tom of Finland and the festival's spotlight country, Germany so we'll hopefully get a chance to see some of these.

Following Finland we've also confirmed our final comic shows for this year being welcome returns to London MCM in October and Leeds's Thought Bubble in November, where we plan to launch a couple of new books!

 Right best go we're flying tomorrow, Finland, Finland, Finland, the place I want to be.....

  

Manchester Comic-Con: Bigger & Better!

Outside the Manchester (G-Mex) Central venue

Blimey that was good! Accent UK are all smiles after another incredible comics weekend, this time on 'home turf' at the MCM Manchester Comic-Con! This was the 4th show here, the first over two days and again attendance records were broken, despite Saturday's poor weather. Local paper, the Manchester Evening News reports that just under 40,000 people attended, 23,000 the first day and 15,000 the next which I think is double last year, justifying the move to two days.

The new signing area, taking queues away from the main hall

With more room for impressive costume displays

The new chillout & catering area

Inside there was a noticeable difference to previous shows as the event now extended into Manchester Central's conference facilities rather than just the distinctive railway shed. This provided extra space for seating, catering and a separate hall for media signings, props and costume displays, effectively moving the queueing areas away from the main hall. There were still bottlenecks here and there but the movement was generally comfortable and manageable, not something you could have said about previous years, so a major improvement.

The rain didn't dampen the crowds too much

There were still some problems 'outside' with Saturday's pay on the door entry taking up to 4 hours to enter, in the rain! After my own experiences in London last weekend, those poor folk had my sympathies and admiration for sticking it out. In contrast to London though, come 4pm, the event organiser's starting letting those who had waited so long in for free so at least they got to enjoy the last 2 hours of the show. This seemed to help keep tensions down and I heard little complaints from those I spoke to.

Whatever ticketing problems that there were seem to have been resolved on the Sunday with people quoting only minimal queueing times, so well done to the organiser's for taken steps to ensure a smooth entry to the show.

Inside the main hall

And what of the show you ask? well once inside it was the usual MCM explosion of colour, costumes, displays, gaming, manga, anime, movie props, special guests and more. This time though it was less frantic given the extended floor area, making for a more enjoyable experience all round.
 

Col & Dave strike the obligatory table pose

Gary strikes a pose - note WesterNoir banner & Jemma behind!

Of course Dave and I spent most of the time behind the Accent UK table in the comic village but managed our usual wandering to catch up with friends and fellow exhibitors. This was easier on the Saturday when team Accent UK was complemented by top artist and salesmen Gary Crutchley, (read his own report Manchester here), who is always a delight to spend time with and of course Scott and Jemma, fresh from their Glasgow stint.

Steve Tanner & Colin's turn to pose

We had been joined this trip by Steve Tanner of Time Bomb Comics, making his regular sortie North for the show and had a decent chance to spend time together rather than the usual short 'snatched' conversations we usually have. It was a real delight to catch up with Steve and share thoughts, experiences and ideas on the UK comic scene - not sure Dave and I are quite ready to share Steve's taste in loud shirts though! Steve and Time Bomb have some exciting plans ahead including the imminent launch of Longship at the forthcoming Birmingham ICE show, (which sadly commitments mean we can't attend), so be sure to keep a lookout for them.

Scott & Jemma take their usual turn at the table

Very good to also catch up with show regulars, Jeremy Biggs, David and Art Goodman, John Maybury, Siobhan Hillman, Adam Cadwell, Dave Bulmer, Abby Ryder, Lyndon White, Rudra Purkayastha and the ever busy Jenika Ioffreda - this was something like her 14th show of the year compared to our 7th! Also pleased to chat to 'longtimer's' Martin Eden (of Spandex and O-Men fame) and Laura Howell (of Beano and Gilbert & Sullivan fame!) whom we'd not seen for a long time. Laura was actually one of our table neighbours and its always nice to see a familiar face, on the 'other' side we'd the talented Jack Baker and Tom Stephens who I don't think I'd met before but they've made a few appearances since making their comic debuts in the last year or two. That's whats often good about the MCM Comic Village layouts that you meet new people and discover new comics even when you're not able to escape your table!

One familiar face was that of Barry 'Baz' Renshaw and his family. Baz, as some may recall, was along with Dave and I, the founder of Accent UK back in the day and of course the driving force behind the indie comic press magazine Red Eye. It was therefore particularly good to catch up with him and hear about his own comic plans which we wish him well with.

Baz & daughter Amy enjoying the show

Cap & friends dropped by

This guy talked & walked!

These were a great group of cool steampunk cosplayers

Sales-wise, the extra floorspace and duration of the show meant for a more relaxed affair with a steady flow of customers to the Accent UK table, some new, some returning and many great comments on the books. Robots, Zulu (again, last couple of packs!) and Dave's Strange Times sold out and all four issues of WesterNoir proved very popular, (as did Gary's sketches!). Thankfully though the recent pattern of these shows was repeated with the whole of our back list receiving interest so all books including old favourites, Wolfmen and Man of Glass enjoying decent sales. Adding up afterwards we were pleasantly surprised to find that MCM Manchester was indeed bigger and better with overall figures surprisingly rivalling that of the recent London show!

We seem to be enjoying a bit of a purple patch at the moment but being cautious chaps we won't get too excited just yet.We are now though having a short break from exhibiting with family and other commitments meaning no more shows until September when we have a very special trip indeed lined up, watch this space!

You will buy Accent UK comics!