BICS 2008 [Pt 1]

Just got back from Bristol Comic Expo and I’m tried like a dog. It was no fun driving the 200+ miles on Saturday morning and 200+ more on the way home today. Especially using my mam’s satellite navigation system which had no idea where is was going. At one point telling me to get off the motorway and drive via the Moon to get to Bristol. Luckily I had riding shotgun with me my mates from Unico Comics, Steven, Adam and Dan and they where able to find our way back to civilisation using the bones of a dead magpie and the interrogation techniques of Jack Bower. It was a lush day and we left South Shields about 5am and arrived in Bristol at 11am. It would have been 10:30 but the one way system of Bristol city centre is as complicated as the Aztec Zone of the Crystalmaze!First port of call was the Ramada Hotel and a snotty receptionist who looked at the four of us like we were idiots when asking about paying for the car park…snobby cow. Over the road was the Comic Mart and a queue about a mile long outside in the kind of sun that would be more expected on the planet Mercury. Anyway we queued for about 30 minutes before Steven said that we’d prepaid so we could probably just walk in… DOH! The Comic Mart was amazing and had everything from mainstream comic books to small Indie stuff like “Man, Man” or Hero Killers. I saw people like Dave Gibbons, Bryan Talbot and David Lloyd all signing books and the such like. There was even some American guy yelling about how great he was and how he was in over 610 publications…TUT well who isn‘t? It was great to see so much small press stuff and really showed that not only will Unico Comics can have there own stall but we’ll be able to sell a bucket load of our comics in the process.

It was the perfect weather for the Expo and I did feel sorry for the poor fellas in the Stormtrooper outfits from the 501st. Thinking about it I didn’t see a single person dressed as Batman… where’s the loyalty?!?Anyway I got to meet Dave West at Accent UK and passed him my portfolio of work to him. He asked me to come back in the afternoon for a chat and a coffee. Which I did and we had a good talk about British comics and what he’s looking for. The good news that I was asked to write for the anthology and a one shot (more on the details in a later Blog). I’m very, very happy and being given the chance to write on someone else’s book… Happy days! They'll be more info when it comes!We took in a few seminars from DC Comics I got to see, Dave Gibbons (Watchmen), David Lloyd (V for Vendetta) and Bryan Talbot (Alice in Sunderland). Really enjoyed it and looking forward to going back next year.

We’re also looking into Unico Comics having their own table at Bristol in 2009.