Back from Sheffield

My thanks to all those who stopped by my table at the Sheffield Film and Comic Con yesterday. It was great to meet various people who'd read Sonic the Comic when they were kids in the 1990s, and hearing how much the comic had meant to them. 

It was also good to meet Paul C who runs Last of the Famous International Fanboys, a great blog! Check it out here:
http://famousfanboy.blogspot.co.uk/  

Last but not least, thanks to editor Richard Burton and artist Nigel Dobbyn on their tables either side of me for being good company. It was also good to catch up with fellow comics folk Gary Whitlock, Mike Collins, John Wagner, and others. Thanks again to Mike and Cassandra Conroy for the invite, and for organizing the event. 

The next convention I'll be at will be in Bournemouth at the end of this month. Full details here:
http://www.bournemouthfilmandcomiccon.com/    

Sonic the Comic crew at Sheffield

Cover by Nigel Dobbyn.

Next weekend there'll be a mini-reunion of contributors who worked on Sonic the Comic as three of us are guests at the Sheffield Film and Comic Con on August 15th/16th.

Artist Nigel Dobbyn, the comic's original editor Richard Burton, and myself (a scriptwriter on the comic for most of its run) will be there to meet those of you who read Sonic the Comic back in the 1990s.

Sonic the Comic was a big success for Egmont Fleetway, running from 1993 to 2002 and featuring top quality work from people such as Richard Elson, Roberto Corona, Nigel Kitching, Mick McMahon and many more.

I may only be at the event on Saturday (not sure yet, update to follow) so come along and it'd be great to meet you. There are loads of other guests too of course. Check out the website for full details of the show:
http://www.sheffieldfilmandcomiccon.com/

Scenes from Sheffield

I enjoyed my day at the Sheffield Film and Comic Con yesterday. The event is in its second day today but I was only there for the Saturday. As always it was good to catch up with fellow comic pros and chat with readers. Thanks to all of you who asked for a sketch. It was also nice to chat with Doctor Who's Sophie Aldred and Frazer Hines who briefly dropped by my table. (As many of you will know, Sophie provided the voice for Dennis the Menace in the 2009 Dennis and Gnasher cartoon TV series).

I was at my table most of the day but here's a few photos I took whist having a break. 

It was great to catch up with artist Lee Sullivan again after several years. I've known Lee since the Marvel UK days. A fantastic artist. Here he is with a sketch of Peter Capaldi he was working on for a fan. Check out Lee's work at his website: 
http://www.leesullivanart.co.uk

My table position was sandwiched between two major talents, with Lee Sullivan on my left and the fantastic Yishan Li on my right. Here's Yishan doing one of her superb portrait sketches of one of the many who stopped by her table yesterday. Visit her website here: 
http://www.liyishan.com/

The mighty Paul Grist was there too. I haven't seen him for a long time so it was good to chat and purchase the copies of The Weird World of Jack Staff that I'd missed. It's an excellent comic that homages the classic comic heroes of the past and is a must buy for every UK comic enthusiast. Copies of Paul's books are available on Amazon. 

Cosplayers are a big thing at these events now, with many spending hours designing their costumes in preparation for a show. I particularly liked this Dan Dare outfit. (Sorry I didn't catch your name. Email me if you wish me to add it.) In retrospect perhaps I should have chosen a better background for the photo rather than outside the Ladies! Sorry Colonel Dan! 

Two people were inside a Star Wars walker they'd designed out of card! Here it is, striding off to encounter the Hulk!

While not as packed as the London Expo, the Sheffield event was still very busy. Here's a few shots I took of the hall...

This was the first Sheffield event but there's already one scheduled for next year, on 15th / 16th August 2015! Here's the flyer...

The organisers, Showmasters, (http://www.showmastersonline.com) also have many other events on the calendar for the next 12 months. Here's the list for you to keep the dates in your diaries...

My thanks to Mike Conroy and Cassandra Conroy for the invite and hospitality. Good to see you both again. 

Sheffield Film and Comic Con

A quick reminder that it's the Sheffield Film and Comic Con this weekend at the Motorpoint Arena. Now I'm hoping to attend tomorrow but I'm pretty busy at the moment with deadlines for Monday morning so it all depends on how much I get done tonight. 

Not that I'm complaining about being busy of course, but it's typical that I've a lot on just as I was scheduled to be at the con. 

Anyway, hopefully I'll be there tomorrow. Here's a few other comics folk who will be attending: Nick Percival, Yishan Li, Al Ewing, Paul Grist, Lee Sullivan and Staz Johnson. (Dave Taylor and Ian Edgington were also due to attend but they've both had to cancel.)

From the world of TV and film: Eve Myles, Anthony Head, Paul McGann, Sophie Aldred, and many more.

For full details, check out the event's website:
http://www.sheffieldfilmandcomiccon.com/