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Temporarily stepping up from lurker to actual poster status. Huge congrats to Matt - I have a friend who ran the marathon this year and she was wiped out for days afterwards, so massive respect for achieving it.

And an equally big thank you to Jim for graciously stepping aside. 

I can't wait to see the final result on the sketch cover and hope you all have a fantastic Lawgiver!

Well done Smiffy, Eamonn and Alski, and thanks everyone who voted.

Now, time to start thinking about the new one...

TM should have copies of the new Swimming in Blood collection early, as this is the official launch event.

Even better!

[To help celebrate the release of the much anticipated collection of 2000 AD's 'Devlin Waugh: Swimming in Blood' we have superstar artist SEAN PHILLIPS signing copies in our Manchester store for you lovely, lovely guys and girls.*Extra guests added!*Thanks to Tharg and his hardworking minions at 2000 AD, we are super excited to announce that we will also be joined by author John Smith and current artist Peter Doherty!]

A quick bit of pimping for my favourite local comic shop (if a half hour train ride counts as local...). This is from the Travelling Man Facebook page, a 2000AD-centric signing on Saturday 22nd March, 2 till 4:

[Description]
To help celebrate the release of the much anticipated collection of 2000 AD's 'Devlin Waugh: Swimming in Blood' we have superstar artist SEAN PHILLIPS signing copies in our Manchester store for you lovely, lovely guys and girls.

*Extra guests added!*

Thanks to Tharg and his hardworking minions at 2000 AD, we are super excited to announce that we will also be joined by author John Smith and current artist Peter Doherty!

As the book isn't due out for a couple of weeks after this date, I'm not sure what they'll actually be signing, but the Travelling Man signings are always well organised and great fun. See you there!

1) Eamonn1961 - The Girl From 14B
2) Smiffy - The Carousel
3) Bolt-01 - The Wall

Good luck everyone!

Hi All!

Yeah, always meant to get round to joining properly - spent a lot of time lurking around the creative common and seeing what was upcoming in the events thread, and everyone seems very friendly, which is certainly my experience when putting faces to some of the regular names at various cons.

Chris, whereabouts in Cheshire are you? The leafier end of things, or the grimy post-chemical pits towards Widnes? (that's where I am - I'm always surprised that we haven't got a sign on the outskirts saying we're twinned with The Cursed Earth...).

Cor - ever vigilant! I thought I'd sneak in and out without drawing too much attention at this time of night Hi Bat King!

[Merchantable Services]

Here goes:

Merchantable Services

We all knew something went on in 3615, but not what.

Whenever you were on the main desk, day or night, you'd see a stream of visitors stopping on 36. Rosakis, my CitiDef commander, thought it was just regular slab walkers, making a few credits without having to worry about Weather Control screwing up again. The client demographic seemed off to me, too constant and diverse for a couple of walkers in one small apartment, but he got annoyed whenever I said anything. I guess demographic is pretty fancy talk for an unemployed robot repairbot repairman.

Still, I was curious. When we heard about an upcoming inspection, I volunteered to go and evict them, at least temporarily. Rosakis just shrugged and returned to his sandwich.

I met a few of the regular clientele on the way, but they didn't seem embarrassed. One juve even waved as he passed.

I found the door to 3615 wide open and walked in. The main room was empty.

"Hello? Anyone home?"

"In the bedroom."

She sounded a lot older than I expected, even for a specialist, and I wondered if I'd got the wrong apartment.

"Ma'am?"

"It's fifty credits for ten minutes dear. Come through when you're ready."

That settled it. I pushed open the bedroom door and walked in, steeling myself for whatever obscenity might be waiting.

It turned out to be an old lady, sitting on a floral couch, her knitting on her lap. When she looked up and smiled at me, I felt like a child.

"Would you like a cup of tea dear?"

She patted the seat beside her and I found myself sitting automatically.

"Um. No. Thank you. Ma'am, I'm with Gideon Osbourne Block CitiDef."

She clapped her hands, beaming.

"Wonderful! I hoped you'd come and see me - You boys must have such a terribly hard time."

I tried to think of an answer, but before I could, she slipped her arms around me and pulled me to her meager bosom.

"There there, it's alright. Granma loves you."

I wanted to speak but all I managed was a strangled sob. I couldn't remember ever being held by someone who didn't want anything in return, someone who would hold me like a baby and love me just as I was. If this was what she offered to the citizens of Gideon Osbourne then no wonder she was doing such a roaring trade; basic human tenderness was the rarest commodity in the place.

Tears streamed down my face as she sang a half remembered lullaby and stroked my hair, and I clumsily folded my arms around her tiny form, holding on for dear life.

Half an hour later, I made my way back to the main desk and checked in.

"Gone already?"

Rosakis frowned at me.

"Yeah, guess they got word too. Place is deserted."

He shrugged.

"Fair enough. Quitting time then. Another heavy night of book learnin'?"

I shook my head.

"Not tonight. I've got my granma staying at mine."

Hi everyone!

Long time lurker, first time poster, finally tempted to create and activate my account for the Tales of the CitiDef competition... I'm a long time fan, love collecting original sketches from the droids (and non-2000AD artists too) and have probably spent time with most of you in queues from Kapow to Thought Bubble and Kendall.