Dreddcon 4

[Buddy]

"You're not having those!" - Jocks catchphrase.

What was the name of that dealer bloke?

And of course we found out what happened to Halo in the unwriten books. Ian told us not to say but it would have been great.

[Mangamax]

Yep, all of the above. Just as fun as last years but were there less attendences this time?
Having a natter with the art droids is still a top thrill and all were on top form, producing some excellent sketches.
Mine this time are:

LASER ERASER by Mike Collins. Great guy, great salesman and great annoyance that American Gothic isn't ready for publishing yet. Not an expert but i reckon this could by Mike's finest work yet. Cowboys vs Vampires - how can it go wrong?

HANNAH CHAPTER by Dom Reardon. Became pretty apparent that she was the most popular choice for sketch subject - odd that, seeing as she's been seen by a lot of folk as dead annoying. Testiment to Dom that he never got tired of the task and that each was totally unique.

BATMAN by Jock. Dead moody Bats giving off loads of attitude. You just wouldn't mess with this guy. Give Jock a go on the title would ya DC. Pretty please?

JOHHNY ALPHA by Carlos Ezquerra. As with Dom/Hannah and Jock/Dredd, Carlos has this knack of producing sketch after sketch of the same character yet making each individual. A charming, charming man who was obviously very tired but still had time for everyone. Thrill power overload indeed.

JUDGE HERSHEY by Boo Cook. Hah! Top bloke, great sense of humour and a dead enjoyable 15 minutes or so. He'd never done the gal before but you'd never know it from looking - plus she's talking to me! Cheers Boo

ROBOT ARCHIE by Steve Yeowell. Thought i'd go for a less obvious one this time and Steve certainly came up with the goods.

Also bought a page of Cabbalistics off of Dom - not sure without checking the back progs but think its the first apperance of Demon-Jenny. Great in print, fantastic in the flesh.

I'll have access to a scanner next week so all the above will be on the site then.

[Trout]

Oh wow. Wow, wow, wow.

I have so many highlights I know I'll miss someone out, so sorry in advance!

Shedcon and Dreddcon were both terrific, and I'm very grateful to so many droids for being so approachable and kind with their time.

Top thanks to several, in no particular order:

1) Dom Reardon , the Terribly Friendly Man Who Could Not Stop Sketching, for a beautiful Cabs page which he sold me despite really not wanting to because it had sentimental value.

2) Jock , for his constant kindness despite being very distracted by a dealer.
I had to wait a long time for my Jock sketch, but it was so worth it.
It's guaranteed to be utterly unique forever. For those who don't know, it's a portrait of... me!
I'll put it up on the site sooner or later.

3) Ian Gibson , for a Halo Jones sketch which was so beautiful I was actually a bit emotional afterwards.
I'll always treasure it.

4) Carlos Sanchez Robostogie Ezquerra , whose quick, skilled hands produced me a perfect Alpha is an impressively short time.
He was sketching for chuffin' hours. What a hero.
I also really enjoyed chatting with him, especially when he said, "I'm a very dirty artist." I think he meant what he draws. :-)

5) Gordon Rennie , for being great fun in various licensed premises over the weekend, and for giving me a real chuckle when he looked embarrassed to autograph my Necronauts book. Heh, heh, heh.
Also, he captioned my Jock sketch for me: "The biggest Loser of them all." The cheeky bugger! But I laughed. It was a line worthy of the evil fish himself.

6) Jamie Boardman , for losing several years off his life due to the stress of running a truly wonderful convention.
The venue was perfect.
SAME PLACE NEXT YEAR PLEASE!

7) The Mighty One himself, for chatting with so many of us in the bar and candidly revealing all sort great things to come.

8) So many others, especially sketchers Steve Roberts, Simon Davis, Steve Yeowell and Boo Cook and the ever-splendid Mr John Wagner , for actually remembering me from last year, despite the huge numbers of people he meets at cons.

It was also fantastic to meet up for what's become our annual message board Christmas night out.

I enjoyed a god laugh with so many fine fellows, including: Tiplodicus, DavidXBrunt, Paul von Scott, Slippo, Dudley (hell of a rhyming pitch, James!), Uncle Umpty, Gary Wilkinson, Oddboy, Art, Logan, Big C, Wake, Al-Says-Pop (sorry I had to leave the train so suddenly and couldn't say bye, Al!), Bart Diaz, Mangamax, Bolt-01 (who's also drawn me!), Mini-Bolt, who was a fine young lad, and probably several more I've forgotten.

I also enjoyed buying lots of stuff, including the excellent PJ Maybe Extreme Edition and even some new clothes, especially the new polo shirts.

It was a near-perfect weekend.

All we have to do is find a hotel that's not a shithole, and I'll have this convention thing cracked!

Now then...

+++ re-engaging evil fish mode +++

I hate you all, you mud-eating scumbags.

- Trout

[Trout]

Arses.



Grrr.

- Trout

[Trout]

[JTurner]

Good taste, Oddboy. I also got myself two amazing Cabalistics pages from Dom, and for a very nice price. Trouble is, now I've got to find frames that fit.

Also got a great A3 Dredd from Carlos, and a Dane and King Mob from Steve Yeowell, and a Halo from Gibson.

The venue was okay, but it all seemed much lower key than the last Dreddcons. I was also dissapointed that there were only 4 PCs running the Dredd game (but I still had a good time with those incendiary rounds, tee hee).

Oh, and isn't Alan Barnes a nice guy (or perhaps it's all a clever disguise)? Even though I introduced myself by saying "I've no idea who you are, but you look like you know about portfolios.". I'll appologise now for butting in like that.

[Matt Timson]

I feel cheated.  The black tie thing I had to go to was shit.

I don't give a toss if Sara goes into labour on the same day next year- it's Dreddcon or bust!

Cheers all-

Matt

[Dudley]

I don't know whether they're all so enjoyable, but I had a great time at My First Dreddcon.  Going to have to work harder on saving though - kept staring at all these beautiful pages of artwork and thinking ("if only I had another two or three grand...")

Meeting all the messageboarders was a real highlight (wierd how half of you look like I thought and half are the total opposite...no, not saying who).  Wish that I'd planned it better and will save my pennies so I can stay out all night next time.  

Got a few photos which once I've finished the film will be scanned & posted to someone to put up here, namely:

Judge Wake (wearing juve-issue helmet)

The Trout's minion alongside Jock's portrait of same.

Jock in "negotiation"

Oddboy wresting artwork from Dom.

Also hopefully a photo of my own attempt at the Pitchfest, though I may be a blur what with shaking so violently I couldn't read from the page!  Thanks to judges Spurioso & Rennie for their comments (which all seemed pretty fair and accurate to me), and kudos to Tiplodocus who came second by a single vote with a filthy fantasy.

Got very few sketches (comes from disorganisation), but a lovely Black Siddha from Simon Davis and ("yet another") Hannah Chapter with extra freckles from Mr Reardon more than made up for it.

Oh and John Wagner looked exactly like he should.  He just should, that's all.

[Wake]

Judge Wake (wearing juve-issue helmet)

The helmet Dudley is talking about is this one, cast by Don Post for SD Studios from Stallone's helmet. Casts shrink by about 10% so it's a tight fit - though it wouldn't fall off me if I was hanging upside down.

Dudley gets a special thanks from me for helping me carry my stuff from the Dredd the Law exhibition halfway across town.

I only bought two pages of artwork - the 'book page' and a Hannah Chapter page from Dom Reardon. However, I did buy the Dredd the Law exibition promo Dredd costume.

Wakehttp://www.2000ad.nu/termight/props/sdhelmet.jpg">

[JamieB]

MK13, Dom and pretty much all the Nerve Centre team organised DC4, actually; I just flap about a lot at these kinds of things - but I'm glad you had fun!

J-Bo-can-I-sleep-now?-1

[Trout]

:-)

I wondered if I'd get a reply like that.

You were the one I felt sorry for, because you were the one looking most stressed.


- Trout

[Oddboy]

Some more things of note/highlights...
___________________________

"I have Dredds life planned out for the next 40 years" John Wagner.
He then went on to explain his plan: "The future of Dredd is Gordon Rennie"
___________________________

Apparently, no one had ever asked Dom for a Jonathan Brand sketch before, so he was quite chuffed as he does identify with the character (you all saw his IMO brilliant waistcoat, right?)
___________________________

Picked up the Definitive Maybe eXtreme Edition & then later got John Wagner to sign it - which he did in a great PJ style childish backwardlettered kinda way. Superb!
___________________________

Enjoyed an excellent Kung Po Chili Chicken at the breakaway buggered-off-to-the-Chinese-restaurant group, but to my shame I lost both pulls of a cracker to Si & Jock. Didn't want the pearl earings anyway. But Jock was kind enough to donate me the mini-screwdrivers.
___________________________

Watching as both Jock & Dom were duped into bidding for the oversized charity art pieces - they weren't kidding, these are HUGE! about 10foot tall by 3foot wide!
___________________________

DreddCon was absobloodylutely great fun.
Hope to go again next year.

[GordonR]

>>He then went on to explain his plan: "The future of Dredd is Gordon Rennie"

I love John Wagner.  He's great.

[Trout]

All great men are flawed, it appears. :-p

- Trout

[Mr C]

Highlights:
Jamie's boundless drunken enthusiasm for his job and the great quote "I piss on Jim Lee!"
Tharg turning up at Shedcon with his cycle helmet
Seeing a load of lovely artwork from Dom Reardon
Trying to stifle a "eeek!" when seeing Ezquerra and Wagner enter the bar.
Being in Ian Gibson's way.
Monkey haberdashery
Tiplodocus' pitch...
...and subsequent Dom sketch
Feeling a lot better about my writing abilities after the ptchfest ;)
Meeting everyone and having a great time at my very first con!

There was a nasty rumour going around however that Grennie's a nice guy... didn't believe it for an instant :)