A visit to a London comic market

I'm afraid the real world has interfered with the spandex one and I've neglected my comic blogging responsibilities this weekend. I can only apologise to my loyal band of readers: Ben W, Dave F and the mysterious four men/women in Scotland, Ireland, Canada and the Arizona desert. One day you will team-up and reveal yourselves to me as the mightiest beings on the planet. Failing that you could always leave a comment on the blog.

I took some time out from things to hit London's monthly comic mart today. In the video below you can see me on my way to the home of this event (the Royal National Hotel) putting my geek spotting powers to work.

I made a bet with myself that the man who got off the bus at the same time as me was a comic nerd. He ticked most of the boxes: fat, smelly, dirty, shirt hanging out of his trousers. Had to be a fanboy. Sure enough I followed him all the way to the comic mart.

Enjoy my slightly creepy stalking below. Also appreciate the sheer nerdiness of the two fellas who leave the mart just before the man I'm following enters the building. Ahhh, truly these are my people.



Anyway, in true idiot style I forgot to bring both of my lists of comics to get (don't ask me why I have two, I just do) and so was unable to tell which of the huge selection of ROM back issues on offer I needed. This and the fact that I could not find the three issues of Nightforce I need to complete my run depressed me immensely, but thankfully my day was brightened by the following purchases...
Captain America volume the first for £6 + the bloke on the stall threw in The New Teen Titans Annual #2 for free. That annual went nicely with issues #38-#41 which I picked up for 50p each. I'm slowly creeping towards a full set of the original Wolfman/Perez run.

Next stop the 10p comics stall where I was oppressed by a heaving mass of sweaty cheapskates fighting to snap up any bargains. I soon tired of being jostled by them and left with just one purchase: Punisher #48, an item I bought solely for this cover...

verily, the image of the Punisher strapped to the barrel of an Iraqi supergun was too good to miss.

Sadly the comic itself is shit, although to be fair it is almost saved by this moment...




Diamond manicure? WTF? Worth 10p though I'm sure you'll agree.

Paid a bit more for issues #1, #2, #4 and #5 of the 1980's 2000AD/Fighting Fantasy hybrid, Diceman. £7 all told, although the bloke on the stall did throw in 2000AD Extreme #14 as part of the deal. So I was happy.

Been keen to get my hands on Diceman for a while. Too knackered to plough through it tonight. Suffice to say it's full of superb art from the likes of Kevin O'Neill, Bryan Talbot etc. Great stuff.

Finished the day by buying a few Heroclix. I might never play the bloody game, but Red Skull, Sinestro and the Green Goblin look nice on my shelf. Bless.