1. NEXT year the Bristol Expo is returning to the Empire & Commonwealth Exhibition Hall (aka 'The Cowshed') and not before time. I never warmed to the 'split site' idea and it will be great to get the whole thing back under one roof. There was a real buzz about those events in the Cowshed, something that's been sorely lacking for the past few years (the word most people used to describe the Ramada event this year was 'quiet').
That said, this year's Expo really confirmed for me that my time as a self-publisher is up. I have a few interesting irons in the fire at the moment and it's them that I'll be pursuing in the coming months. Besides, I'm looking forward to attending the likes of Bristol as a punter - for a start, I might actually get the chance to talk to a few more people instead of being stuck behind a table on my own all weekend.
2. BRISTOL hotels really know how to take the piss. £2.75 for a small cup of tea in the Mercure Holland and £12.80 for three bottles of Budweiser in the Ramada. FFS!
3. SOME exhibitors didn't seem to care whether they sold any of their books or not. My table was in Hall 4 at the Mercure Holland hotel - right at the back in the spaces presumably inhabited by those of us who'd left it late to book. Chances are, this area would have been one of the last places punters visited as they made their way round the Expo and, as a result, it was quiet for a lot of the weekend.
Faced with such adversity, my reaction was to try and engage as many people as possible - I stood for the entire weekend (ouch!), said 'hi' to anyone within six feet of my table and pointed out I had a sale on. That slightly 'in your face' approach worked and I did better business than I had any right to.
However, I noticed a lot of other exhibitors near me made little or no effort to actually get people to their table. This was exemplified by the two guys sharing a pitch next to mine. They were both terrific artists with some high-quality stuff to sell, but I doubt they made a dozen sales between them all weekend. They seemed content to sit and sketch for hours at a time, occasionally breaking off to chat to friends.
I probably sound like a terrible capitalist pig for even mentioning it, but isn't the idea of being an exhibitor to get your work out there and try and make a few bob back on what it costs to actually attend in the first place?
4. IT'S been two years since I've exhibited at a comics event like the Expo and the sheer number of new small press and indie publishers that have popped up since then is astonishing. When I started self-publishing nine or ten years ago there were a couple of dozen other like-minded souls doing their own books. I bet there's a couple of hundred now, and a lot of them are very, very good.
5. I KNOW a lot of people hate them but Cosplayers really brighten up these events. My favourites this year were the rather chunky chap dressed as Deadpool and another guy done up as Strontium Dog - he even had contact lenses to give him that weird mutant dilated pupils look.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Monday, May 9, 2011
Bristol weekend on its way
I HAVEN'T been to any comics-related events in around two years so am really looking forward to this weekend's Bristol International Comic & Small Press Expo. I have a table (#60 in Hall 4 at the Mercure hotel) from which I will be selling the likes of Hero Killers, Blood Psi, Septic Isle, Devilchild and Brothers for a once-in-a-lifetime sale price of just a quid each.
In fact, punters will be able to buy the entire Moonface Press back catalogue (except Shriek! and Tim Skinner which are sold out) for the princely sum of £7 - a bargain in anyone's language.
I'm also hoping to recruit a couple more artists in Bristol. I've already got two guys lined up to work on stuff I've been trying to get off the ground for ages but am keen to find a couple more collaborators for story ideas I've come up with more recently. If you're a comic-book artist and might be interested in finding out more, come and say hi.
My football-flavoured one-shot, Scoregasm!, is now being lettered by artist Duane Leslie and I'm hoping to launch it in time for the new football season in August. Watch this space for further details...
In fact, punters will be able to buy the entire Moonface Press back catalogue (except Shriek! and Tim Skinner which are sold out) for the princely sum of £7 - a bargain in anyone's language.
I'm also hoping to recruit a couple more artists in Bristol. I've already got two guys lined up to work on stuff I've been trying to get off the ground for ages but am keen to find a couple more collaborators for story ideas I've come up with more recently. If you're a comic-book artist and might be interested in finding out more, come and say hi.
My football-flavoured one-shot, Scoregasm!, is now being lettered by artist Duane Leslie and I'm hoping to launch it in time for the new football season in August. Watch this space for further details...
Saturday, April 30, 2011
New British Comics #3
I'VE been a bit out of the indie press loop lately so was pleasantly surprised when Karol Wiśniewski got in touch to tell me about the New British Comics anthology he edits. He was also kind enough to send me a copy of its third issue (see Lawrence Elwick's gorgeous cover above) which boasts 80 black and white pages featuring 13 different strips.
As with any anthology there is good and less-good but the former far outweighs the latter here. My favourite strips include Ink vs Paper by John Miers, a silent tale that is beautifully drawn and ingeniously constructed, and Better Living Through Distance by Dave Thomson, a bleakly amusing story about the universal nature of disappointment.
Best of the bunch for me, though, is Von Trapp by WJC. It's a nine-page vampire western that is not only atmospheric and chilling, but also boasts terrific, off-kilter art full of weird angles and odd perspectives. Loved it!
New British Comics #3 is a snip at £4. For purchase information, visit the NBC blog site at: http://newbritishcomics.blogspot.com
Sunday, March 27, 2011
The shock of the new
THERE'S a new four-page story to download over at moonfacepress.com. It's called The Saboteur and was written by me and drawn by Mick Trimble, who you may remember as my collaborator on 2008's Septic Isle one-shot.
Look for the link at the top of the Moonface home page – it's FREE to download as a PDF.
* ON the subject of new stuff, my one-shot football comic – cryptically entitled Scoregasm – should be winging its way onto the net or into print (or maybe both) in the next month or two. The brilliant Duane Leslie – whom I collaborated with on the third volume of Devilchild amongst other stuff – is the artist. Duane also did the cover, with colours provided by Eva de la Cruz (see below).
Bits of the story's DNA come directly from the kind of football stories I read as a kid in comics such as Tiger & Scorcher and Roy Of The Rovers. The strip Billy's Boots was certainly on my mind when I was writing Scoregasm, although my story operates in a very different, far more cynical world.
Blokes of a certain age should remember Billy's Boots. It was about a young boy – named Billy Dane – who had a magical pair of football boots that made him the best player on his school team. It was a fun, innocent tale full of last-minute winners, plucky underdogs overcoming the odds and scurrilous opponents who'd have been more at home in the KGB than on a school football pitch. Because of the 'magic' boots, the strip also had an almost-supernatural element (although you were never entirely sure if the boost the boots gave Billy was all in his head).
As I've inferred, Scoregasm is a whole lot darker than Billy's Boots (its sub-title is 'Sex, Secrets... and Football'). I guess it's all about the loss of innocence and perhaps reflects how my own opinion of the beautiful game has changed over the years. I LOVED football when I was a kid, was obsessed with it actually, whereas these days I find many elements of the cynical, brutish soap opera it has become thoroughly dismaying.
There are hardly any football comics these days (Striker in The Sun and very little else) so I'm hoping Scoregasm may get people talking. I'd like to reach actual football fans with it but god knows how I'm going to do that. Ideas on a postcard please...
* MY old friend Phil Hall is currently telling the story of his lifelong relationship with comics over at his blog: http://alifeincomics.blogspot.com
Three chapters in, Phil hasn't got to the really juicy stuff yet (I suspect the recollections regarding his time as News Editor at Comics International will make essential reading, as will the chapters dedicated to Borderline magazine), but it's still an enjoyable, nostalgia-tinged read that British fans of 70s Marvel and DC will find essential reading.
Look for the link at the top of the Moonface home page – it's FREE to download as a PDF.
* ON the subject of new stuff, my one-shot football comic – cryptically entitled Scoregasm – should be winging its way onto the net or into print (or maybe both) in the next month or two. The brilliant Duane Leslie – whom I collaborated with on the third volume of Devilchild amongst other stuff – is the artist. Duane also did the cover, with colours provided by Eva de la Cruz (see below).
Bits of the story's DNA come directly from the kind of football stories I read as a kid in comics such as Tiger & Scorcher and Roy Of The Rovers. The strip Billy's Boots was certainly on my mind when I was writing Scoregasm, although my story operates in a very different, far more cynical world.
Blokes of a certain age should remember Billy's Boots. It was about a young boy – named Billy Dane – who had a magical pair of football boots that made him the best player on his school team. It was a fun, innocent tale full of last-minute winners, plucky underdogs overcoming the odds and scurrilous opponents who'd have been more at home in the KGB than on a school football pitch. Because of the 'magic' boots, the strip also had an almost-supernatural element (although you were never entirely sure if the boost the boots gave Billy was all in his head).
As I've inferred, Scoregasm is a whole lot darker than Billy's Boots (its sub-title is 'Sex, Secrets... and Football'). I guess it's all about the loss of innocence and perhaps reflects how my own opinion of the beautiful game has changed over the years. I LOVED football when I was a kid, was obsessed with it actually, whereas these days I find many elements of the cynical, brutish soap opera it has become thoroughly dismaying.
There are hardly any football comics these days (Striker in The Sun and very little else) so I'm hoping Scoregasm may get people talking. I'd like to reach actual football fans with it but god knows how I'm going to do that. Ideas on a postcard please...
* MY old friend Phil Hall is currently telling the story of his lifelong relationship with comics over at his blog: http://alifeincomics.blogspot.com
Three chapters in, Phil hasn't got to the really juicy stuff yet (I suspect the recollections regarding his time as News Editor at Comics International will make essential reading, as will the chapters dedicated to Borderline magazine), but it's still an enjoyable, nostalgia-tinged read that British fans of 70s Marvel and DC will find essential reading.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Event Horizon
AS I mentioned in my last post, I'm keen to attend some UK comic events this year. I was going to do BICs but 2011's event has been postponed because the organisers need to find a new venue (this is a shame because I always really enjoyed visiting Millennium Point and its museums).
Anyway, after giving it some thought, I've booked a table for the Bristol Expo (May 14-15). I intend to use the weekend to meet up with old friends, recruit a few artists and to sell off some of my remaining stock of comics. It also works out quite nicely for my missus whose sister lives in Bristol and who she hasn't seen in ages.
I've booked table 60 in Hall 1 at the Mercure Hotel (I'm next to Mirus Entertainment) so if you're attending, please come and say hello.
Anyway, after giving it some thought, I've booked a table for the Bristol Expo (May 14-15). I intend to use the weekend to meet up with old friends, recruit a few artists and to sell off some of my remaining stock of comics. It also works out quite nicely for my missus whose sister lives in Bristol and who she hasn't seen in ages.
I've booked table 60 in Hall 1 at the Mercure Hotel (I'm next to Mirus Entertainment) so if you're attending, please come and say hello.
Monday, January 31, 2011
On a more positive note...
IT'S been an interesting start to the New Year. As I mentioned in my previous post (you know, the ranty, embittered one about how awful 2010 was), I've been talking to a film producer for a few months now about turning one of the comics I wrote and published a few years back into a movie.
Anyway, things seem to be moving in the right direction at the moment and just last week I was in London (at swanky Soho House) to meet said producer, a couple of up and coming young screenwriters and a well-known actor/director whose work I admire enormously.
The premise of the meeting was to start thrashing out a plot made up of the stuff from the original comic (which would probably only make up 15 minutes of film time), a load of new material I'd written to continue the story and a variety of ideas from everyone else. It went very well and although there's still a lot of work to be done and obstacles to overcome, I got the feeling everyone present was really committed to making this happen.
I won't be counting my chickens though. I was in a very similar position a couple of years back after being contacted by an American producer who had worked on a hugely successful '90s serial killer flick. Everything was really positive for a few months and then slowly but surely the whole project crumbled to dust. I'll get round to telling that whole sorry story one day (perhaps on here) but it still hurts just thinking about it.
* I'VE been writing some short stories recently (well, I might as well get on with something while I wait for a couple of decent, reliable comic artists to make themselves known). I haven't written prose in years and years but it's going quite well so far. It's much harder work than writing comics, where you have an artist to rely on for a lot of the tricky stuff. Anyway, I seem to have settled into a kind of horror/comedy groove and am going to have a look around to see if I can find some anthologies to submit my stuff to.
* THERE should be a new four-page comic story available for free download from moonfacepress.com in the next few weeks. It's called The Saboteur and is written by me and drawn by Mick Trimble, my collaborator on Septic Isle. It was originally intended for Accent UK's Robots anthology a few years ago but the story's original artist never got round to finishing it and Mick stepped in.
Anyway, things seem to be moving in the right direction at the moment and just last week I was in London (at swanky Soho House) to meet said producer, a couple of up and coming young screenwriters and a well-known actor/director whose work I admire enormously.
The premise of the meeting was to start thrashing out a plot made up of the stuff from the original comic (which would probably only make up 15 minutes of film time), a load of new material I'd written to continue the story and a variety of ideas from everyone else. It went very well and although there's still a lot of work to be done and obstacles to overcome, I got the feeling everyone present was really committed to making this happen.
I won't be counting my chickens though. I was in a very similar position a couple of years back after being contacted by an American producer who had worked on a hugely successful '90s serial killer flick. Everything was really positive for a few months and then slowly but surely the whole project crumbled to dust. I'll get round to telling that whole sorry story one day (perhaps on here) but it still hurts just thinking about it.
* I'VE been writing some short stories recently (well, I might as well get on with something while I wait for a couple of decent, reliable comic artists to make themselves known). I haven't written prose in years and years but it's going quite well so far. It's much harder work than writing comics, where you have an artist to rely on for a lot of the tricky stuff. Anyway, I seem to have settled into a kind of horror/comedy groove and am going to have a look around to see if I can find some anthologies to submit my stuff to.
* THERE should be a new four-page comic story available for free download from moonfacepress.com in the next few weeks. It's called The Saboteur and is written by me and drawn by Mick Trimble, my collaborator on Septic Isle. It was originally intended for Accent UK's Robots anthology a few years ago but the story's original artist never got round to finishing it and Mick stepped in.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Piss off 2010, you've been a crap, frustrating year and I'll be glad to see the back of you!
AS my rather unsubtle title implies, the last 12 months have been somewhat difficult. This has been especially true when it comes to my writing.
As you may remember, my plan for 2010 was to team up with a variety of artists to pitch story ideas to comic-book companies such as Image, Markosia and Insomnia (of whom, more in a minute). I had several ideas that I duly worked up into pitches and wrote sample scripts for. Unfortunately, not a single one of my collaborators actually completed - or in several cases, even started - the work. There are many reasons for this (one guy simply had a better offer) and I'm not one for recriminations, but it still put a major crimp in my game plan and left me feeling rather disillusioned.
I also came close to getting a project off the ground with British indie publisher Insomnia - or more specifically their historical imprint, Vigil. Martin Conaghan, who was the editor of the company's Vigil line, loved one of the two pitches I sent him and was keen to take it on. Unfortunately, it was very shortly afterwards that the company imploded. I'm still hoping to place one or other of my historical pitches with another company so fingers crossed...
There is another possible light at the end of the tunnel, too. I was contacted by a film producer in May and have been working on something for him that I'm hoping will pay off in the new year. If it does work out, it will make all the frustrations of the past 12 months more than worth it. If it doesn't, I shall probably go and sit in a dark corner somewhere and sob...
Due to a profound lack of cash, I haven't attended a single comics-related event this year. I missed BICS for the first time since its inception and Bristol for only the second time since 2001. I still haven't attended Hi-ex or Thought Bubble. I've even missed the MCM Expo events in east London that are a short train journey from my home. Hopefully this is something I'll remedy in 2011. I still have a few boxes of Moonface Press stock (Hero Killers, Blood Psi etc) knocking about the place so I may even book a table at a couple of events. Probably not Mark Millar's new Kaboom! event in London though as the price of table space there is extortionate.
In the new year I shall also continue my search for artists to collaborate with. I have a few cracking ideas for graphic novels and mini-series and I'm not going to let them fall by the wayside.
As you may remember, my plan for 2010 was to team up with a variety of artists to pitch story ideas to comic-book companies such as Image, Markosia and Insomnia (of whom, more in a minute). I had several ideas that I duly worked up into pitches and wrote sample scripts for. Unfortunately, not a single one of my collaborators actually completed - or in several cases, even started - the work. There are many reasons for this (one guy simply had a better offer) and I'm not one for recriminations, but it still put a major crimp in my game plan and left me feeling rather disillusioned.
I also came close to getting a project off the ground with British indie publisher Insomnia - or more specifically their historical imprint, Vigil. Martin Conaghan, who was the editor of the company's Vigil line, loved one of the two pitches I sent him and was keen to take it on. Unfortunately, it was very shortly afterwards that the company imploded. I'm still hoping to place one or other of my historical pitches with another company so fingers crossed...
There is another possible light at the end of the tunnel, too. I was contacted by a film producer in May and have been working on something for him that I'm hoping will pay off in the new year. If it does work out, it will make all the frustrations of the past 12 months more than worth it. If it doesn't, I shall probably go and sit in a dark corner somewhere and sob...
Due to a profound lack of cash, I haven't attended a single comics-related event this year. I missed BICS for the first time since its inception and Bristol for only the second time since 2001. I still haven't attended Hi-ex or Thought Bubble. I've even missed the MCM Expo events in east London that are a short train journey from my home. Hopefully this is something I'll remedy in 2011. I still have a few boxes of Moonface Press stock (Hero Killers, Blood Psi etc) knocking about the place so I may even book a table at a couple of events. Probably not Mark Millar's new Kaboom! event in London though as the price of table space there is extortionate.
In the new year I shall also continue my search for artists to collaborate with. I have a few cracking ideas for graphic novels and mini-series and I'm not going to let them fall by the wayside.
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