UK Web & Mini Comix Thing 2004

Art · 21 March, 2004, 05:50:13 PM

Heh. Somewhere in that in the eating area just behind them D'Israeli was lurking, similarly unabused by rabid hordes of fans and quietly putting together an episode of Judge Dredd in Illustrator. I soon put a stop to that, ensnaring him into various weird technical conversations and pressing a copy of FutureQuake on him. That was fun.

Quirkafleeg · 21 March, 2004, 11:24:18 PM

>ensnaring him into various weird technical conversations

"Bitmaps! Bitmaps! Space Bamboo! Bitmaps! No come back...!"

Art · 21 March, 2004, 11:29:45 PM

Nah, s'all in Illustator. Vectors dude, not a bitmap in sight. It's the wave of the future...

Quirkafleeg · 21 March, 2004, 11:46:01 PM

... but you did tell him all his projects were doomed right?

Art · 22 March, 2004, 12:07:19 AM

Nah, there wasn't a bar there.

Quirkafleeg · 22 March, 2004, 05:31:13 AM

oh well... no doubt you'll make up for it at Bristol ;-)

paulvonscott · 22 March, 2004, 06:16:29 AM

Well, that was fun enough.

Sadly after a couple of days of drinking I wasn't on best form on the day, but as that isn't much anyway, I doubt anyone would notice.

We were between Gary Spencer Millidge and some art school fan club bloke. I've been reading the Alan Moore tribute book most of today in between falling sleep (not related).

The event was pretty quiet, cheers to the people who did drop by and say hello, and double cheers to the people who bought a comic.

I myself bought lots of self indulgent small press stuff, which I look forward to shredding in a voodoo ritual. Gary, the artist from BAM and the guy with sideburns all had small press stalls and bought something.

Shame I missed Disreali, I had no idea what he looked like.

Cheers to Arthur and Nathan for turning up.

Cheers to Chris and Finn for being on the stall, that was a lot of fun. I kept wishing Finn would speak up when talking to me, doesn't he realise how old I am?

Cheers to Pat for organising it, for a first go, I thought it was pretty good. Room for improvement in some areas (need a PA!), but overall, good.

Oddboy · 22 March, 2004, 05:51:10 PM

Of the stuff I got, I've only read Ben's mini-comics & Starscape #1 - both of which were great, but in very different ways!

Is Ben 'Griefbringer' one of you lot? Damn people with fake internet names!

Yeah, really looking forward to D'Israeli's next Dredd which looks like being tip-top stuff.

The con could probably do with trying to consolidate its name a little though, either add "& Small Press Comics" to the title or call it something that doesn't mean anything.

paulvonscott · 22 March, 2004, 06:53:57 PM

The name was a big problem Oddboy. I and a lot of people there, were all saying 'but we aren't web or mini-comics!' so how many people did that put off? Sellers (which were well represented) and Punters.

Independant Comics Festival (or something) might have been better.

Incidentally, would it have mattered if DC Thompson or Rebellion were there? Or even if nefarious foriegners were allowed. Because the event reminded me of Bristol or Winterfest (which have a heavy small press presence 1/2 - 3/4) and I'm not sure what would have been lost by that, but I can see what would have been gained.

The Octagon aside, there were lots of anxilliary rooms that I could see. Why not let traders into those for that matter. Surely the more people you attract the better?

Those are criticism which may or may not be just. I did enjoy the event and thought it was very well organised. Well done Pat! Due to the distance from me, I probably wouldn't attend another unless I happened to be in london at the time.

paulvonscott · 22 March, 2004, 07:02:41 PM

"Is Ben 'Griefbringer' one of you lot? Damn people with fake internet names!"

Ben 'Griefbringer' Clark is a real person, who goes by the name of Satchmo on the board, but doesn't spend as much time here as many of us.

Ben did Griebringer, Left, Wrighty, Necro Nancy, Stinging Death and Lighthouse Girl. His stuff is genuinely funny. I.e. it makes me laugh out loud, and you can probably imagine how hard that is.

Ben currently has three comics out:

Lenny Biscuits (Part one of his talking cactus detective mystery)

Mike Neville vs. The Monkey God

The Return of the Mecah Mikezilla

All are a lot of fun, 50p each, and you can arrange to get them from me or from Ben.

Link: http://www.magicbeanscomics.co.uk/" target="_blank">Care for a Magic Bean?

Oddboy · 22 March, 2004, 07:33:23 PM

Ah Satchmo, right!

I can vouch for the excellence that are his 50p Magic Beans.

Aaron Smurf Murphy · 22 March, 2004, 11:01:37 PM

I thought it was a downbeat but none the less fun con, everyone was laid back and most exhibitors were interested in the works others had produced (I brought a stack of stuff inc Mr Nile and all 3 issues of Starcsape which definately goes in leaps and bounds every issue).

Doing the panel was pretty fun though I had this constant sense that no matter how logical and accurate a comment sounded in my head it came out as crap when I opened my mouth.

Still it was a bit to quiet and as Paul said the con did'nt help itself with its name. If it happens again i'd consider it based on the fun/publicity exercise that it was if it was held at a better location, the octagon was foolishly buried deep in a ironically easy to get to and find university.

Still, lots of fun, Chris gave us more more and Paul bought an original - Cheers lads!

Finnigan Sinister

Art · 22 March, 2004, 11:11:43 PM

Yeah, i liked teh Mr Nile stuff too. His site has some interetsing stuff on it as well, bit of a mixed bag.

Link: http://www.e-merl.com/" target="_blank">http://www.e-merl.com/

starscape · 23 March, 2004, 01:15:13 AM

Yep, definately needs a name change. All-in-all, a good bit of fun. Might be an idea to have the sign outside the entrance rather than pointing to a completely different part of the University.

What I want to know is: how do people get to know about these mini/ web comix? I thought I knew a bit about the small press but these things are something completely different.

Don't think we should sit next to Gary Spencer Millidge again as we all ended up buying his graphic novels.

BTW Starscape 3 is out officially next week (or if you subscribe you get it this week). Best art and production yet.

Link: http://www.starscapecomic.co.uk" target="_blank">Beyond the stars...

Oddboy · 23 March, 2004, 02:05:20 AM

There was this one two - looks really quite interesting, sign up & play - it's a 12 week puzzle game!

Link: http://www.beholder.co.uk/planetarium/index.html" target="_blank">Planetarium