Comics UK

i've had hundreds of Annuals in my time but never an Avengers one (John Steed). I remember buying a Danger Man annual with my birthday money in th sixties only to be disappointed that it was all text stories. No I can't remember why I didn't look inside first. Perhaps I asked for it as a present or you weren't allowed to thumb through things back then.

Don't get me started on people who read papers in supermarkets (licking their fingers as they turn the pages) and then put the paper back. I growl at them as i pass. "Why, you razzlefrackle...."

Good replies. Thanks for your responses. Raven, yes some cons still have panel discussions. I was on two at the Birmingham Comics Festival on Saturday, and there were others throughout the day. Such panels are not always so well attended these days though, despite huge crowds coming to the events. I think people prefer the personal touch of being able to talk to the creators on a one-on-one basis. I'm easy either way really. I like doing panels but I also enjoy talking to the readers and doing sketches for them at my table.

I can appreciate that travel expense can be an issue to some locations. Some places are reasonable to get to. London is about £40 on the train for me, but I get into the events free as a guest, and can make money back selling my comics if I'm lucky so it's a different scenario.

[/quote]I'm sure there are a number of enterprising young women out there who'd be willing to do so for a price...[/quote]

I'm glad I wasn't the only one with that thought!

Phoenix wrote:

stevezodiac wrote:My wife left me because my comics collecting took precedence over her.

I don't think mine was overly impressed either when I replaced her with piles and piles of story papers.

I took the precaution when choosing my partner (internet dating) of saying upfront that I was into comics, so it was a filter to make sure that he liked comics... though I appreciate that's easier from my end of things because historically there have been more male comics fans than females! It's changing now though of course.

Adam Eterno wrote:

I'm sure there are a number of enterprising young women out there who'd be willing to do so for a price...[/quote]

I'm glad I wasn't the only one with that thought![/quote]

I think I mostly thought - groan! or possibly d'oh.

stevezodiac wrote:I've never been to a comic con. I have seen them on tv and really don't feel comfortable beng asscociated with a load of geeks dressed as superheroes. Even though some look really good i just find it a bit sad, like grown men i see with skateboards. Dignity at all times is my credo. Yes I know its no fun but i suffer from social anxiety so any form of exhibitionism is anathema to me. (pronounced Anna Feema).

The media give a false impression of the percentage of people in cosplay. The tv news focuses on them because they're good visuals. The majority of attendees aren't in costume. Also, cons aren't the domain of the stereotypical "geek" as much as they used to be (not that it's a bad thing). You get more families attending now, often discovering such events for the first time.

There's also a lot more women at events now, both fans and creators, which is a really positive development.

maybe I'll see you in July.

We will all arrive dressed as your characters, Lew---I still have a pair of unused Doc Marten boots for the start of a Tom Thug costume.

I've had the good fortune to be able to go to lots of cons in the US and the UK and find them terrific fun. In the US my local comicon gradually became more and more about cosplay, toys and the like, but local collectors solved this by starting a new con which was just about buying and selling back issues, which was fantastic. In the UK I go the London marts every month and have done for about four years now. British comics get rarer and rarer there, which is a shame, but they do still show up. The thing I find annoying is all the dealers selling knock-off DVDs at the London mart - it probably keeps the thing going but it has no appeal to me and is presumably illegal. The best thing about the annual comic cons is meeting creators and getting sketches from favourite artists (I have a very excellent Pathetic Shark from Lew, for example). My next goal is to go to the Paris comic con, I think next April.

ISPYSHHHGUY wrote:We will all arrive dressed as your characters, Lew---I still have a pair of unused Doc Marten boots for the start of a Tom Thug costume.

...and I've got a massive pair of underpants for Felix!

I have been to three conventions- One in Bristol years ago, and twice ( or was it thrice?) to the Leeds Thought Bubble. I am glad to have met Eddie Campbell and Posy Simmonds. I had a good time at all three but they were expensive and not the kind of thing I feel like doing all the time.

I often feel alienated in the world of comics fans simply because so many of them are fans of very different comics to me. I didn't grow up on Marvel or DC or even 2000AD. I grew up on DC Thomson and IPC humour and football titles, and Asterix and Tintin, graduated to American indie comics like Eightball and Love and Rockets, caught up on past classics such as Krazy Kat, EC comics and Segar's Popeye, and got deep into self-published small press stuff (I put some of my own comics out this way) and have a smattering of works by the likes of Alan Moore, and samples of other non-mainstream odds and ends from world comics that have interested me. I don't usually like superhero comics and am hard to impress with sci-fi, crime, or horror. In short, it is hard for me to sustain a conversation about comics with other random comics fans. In fact I am wary of outing myself as a comics reader because people usually jump to the wrong conclusion.

But that's comics for you! A very broad church.

dishes wrote:I have been to three conventions- One in Bristol years ago, and twice ( or was it thrice?) to the Leeds Thought Bubble. I am glad to have met Eddie Campbell and Posy Simmonds. I had a good time at all three but they were expensive and not the kind of thing I feel like doing all the time.

I often feel alienated in the world of comics fans simply because so many of them are fans of very different comics to me. I didn't grow up on Marvel or DC or even 2000AD. I grew up on DC Thomson and IPC humour and football titles, and Asterix and Tintin, graduated to American indie comics like Eightball and Love and Rockets, caught up on past classics such as Krazy Kat, EC comics and Sagar's Popeye, and got deep into self-published small press stuff (I put some of my own comics out this way) and have a smattering of works by the likes of Alan Moore, and samples of other non-mainstream odds and ends from world comics that have interested me. I don't usually like superhero comics and am hard to impress with sci-fi, crime, or horror. In short, it is hard for me to sustain a conversation about comics with other random comics fans. In fact I am wary of outing myself as a comics reader because people usually jump to the wrong conclusion.

But that's comics for you! A very broad church.

That's interesting, dishes. I too feel pretty awkward when I'm around comics fans who talk about mainstrain DC and Marvel characters' latest escapades as though they're real people they know. I'm too wary of the venality of the industry to have any respect for the inner lives of these fictional beings, though I do have a great fondness for old school UK adventure characters from the like of Valiant and such, even though I understand that ultimately none of their creators earned anything royalty-wise.

The crowd at this site mainly seem to be fans of IPC and DC Thompson humour titles, so I guess maybe that reflects most British comics fans of a certain age?

Michael Anden wrote: The crowd at this site mainly seem to be fans of IPC and DC Thompson humour titles, so I guess maybe that reflects most British comics fans of a certain age?

I think it's the just the way the forum has turned out. Lots of existing discussions about those comics leads to more fans of those comics joining in and fans of other kinds of comics going elsewhere. It's a self-perpetuating cycle.

dishes wrote:

Michael Anden wrote: The crowd at this site mainly seem to be fans of IPC and DC Thompson humour titles, so I guess maybe that reflects most British comics fans of a certain age?

I think it's the just the way the forum has turned out. Lots of existing discussions about those comics leads to more fans of those comics joining in and fans of other kinds of comics going elsewhere. It's a self-perpetuating cycle.

I think there may be more too it than that- I'm not aware of any regularly-frequented UK-centric forums that deal mostly in action rather than humour titles.