Colin,
if you are deciding between Lawless and Thought Bubble, it depends what you want. Are you looking for a broad comics experience or an intense 2000AD jamboree?
I know you have love for a wide range of comics so you will probably get to meet a broader range of people at TB.
If the Harrogate festival is like last year 2000ad will should have a decent sized presence and should bring along, let's say half a dozen droids. On top of that there will be another 50 or so creators from big publishers through independent, niche presses. However the whole weekend is held inside a very large warehouse-like hall so seems a little impersonal to me.
Lawless is in a very intimate space, moreover Su and the team hit the bullseye with creator : fan ratio. I think they are anticipating around 320 attendees this year...and hosting 35 creators.
The space at the DoubleTree (one fairly large room for droids, another slightly smaller one for traders, an 80ish person capacity conference room for talks, a middling space for the Dave Roach exhibition) is perfectly-sized. I went last year and never felt rushed, never felt like I was going to miss a signing or sketch opportunity, never looked at a queue and thought, why bother? In fact, the very opposite: I chatted to umpteen artists and writers and the longest I waited for anything was a 15 minute queue for a bespoke Henry Flint sketch.
If you want to save a bit of dough
Option One: get an early train on Saturday and aim to be there for 10:30 in time for the first talk, then stay only one night.
Option Two: The action wraps up by 3pm / 3:30pm on the Sunday so if you think you can get everything achieved in one day maybe get a day return and head back home on Saturday night.
My vote is Lawless, and yes, I am defo going.
if you are deciding between Lawless and Thought Bubble, it depends what you want. Are you looking for a broad comics experience or an intense 2000AD jamboree?
I know you have love for a wide range of comics so you will probably get to meet a broader range of people at TB.
If the Harrogate festival is like last year 2000ad will should have a decent sized presence and should bring along, let's say half a dozen droids. On top of that there will be another 50 or so creators from big publishers through independent, niche presses. However the whole weekend is held inside a very large warehouse-like hall so seems a little impersonal to me.
Lawless is in a very intimate space, moreover Su and the team hit the bullseye with creator : fan ratio. I think they are anticipating around 320 attendees this year...and hosting 35 creators.
The space at the DoubleTree (one fairly large room for droids, another slightly smaller one for traders, an 80ish person capacity conference room for talks, a middling space for the Dave Roach exhibition) is perfectly-sized. I went last year and never felt rushed, never felt like I was going to miss a signing or sketch opportunity, never looked at a queue and thought, why bother? In fact, the very opposite: I chatted to umpteen artists and writers and the longest I waited for anything was a 15 minute queue for a bespoke Henry Flint sketch.
If you want to save a bit of dough
Option One: get an early train on Saturday and aim to be there for 10:30 in time for the first talk, then stay only one night.
Option Two: The action wraps up by 3pm / 3:30pm on the Sunday so if you think you can get everything achieved in one day maybe get a day return and head back home on Saturday night.
My vote is Lawless, and yes, I am defo going.