Kapow! Day Two

Leinil Yu enjoying a kebab at 10am.

Sad Beast.

Bored Spidey.

Cosplayers getting ready for cosplay contest.

Posers.

Chris Weston.

Dave and Lady Deadpool.

The winner!

Dave won best cosplayer award for Kapow! 2011!

Amazing!

What a great weekend. Report when I have time (few days)

Kapow! Day One

Good craic. Off to day two now. Here are the snaps I took of day one. Mostly Dave. Obv.

Queuing. 9.30am. Robot and guide.

Inside.

Dave breaking the punters in.

Bane buys a round.

Someone's wank fantasy (mine).

Great minds.

Lex Luthor AKA Little Ad on the angry juice. Shortly afterwards he was threatening people for laughing at cosplayers. Behind the smile, Mike Leader is crying.

Why so serious?

Baaaaaaane!

Big Dave F has been posting pictures of himself dressed as Bane on Facebook...

What can you say?

He's going to Kapow in this costume.

I fucking love Dave.

Old man slags off youngsters for meeting up and reading comics/Ancient fanzines/An ad

Apparently it's Read Comics in Public Day.

What a load of old wank.

If you're into this kind of thing then there are a bunch of nerds meeting up to read their comics in The Crown, New Oxford Street, just round the corner from Gosh and Comicana. They'll be there at midday, thumbing their copies of Scott Pilgrim and looking stupid. Someone will probably beat them up.

Frankly I like to read my comics in private. I'm too old to be enjoying them and I know it, so why the fuck would I want to attract attention and ridicule by getting them out in public? I'm a 38-year-old man for fuck's sake, if I read Spider-Man in a pub, then I deserve to be laughed at.

I'm not sure why comics fans feel this desperate need to legitimise comic reading anyway. Honestly chums, let's keep this embarrassing secret to ourselves.

Just a stone's throw from The Crown is the Bloomsbury Street Oxfam bookshop. I was back in there the other day buying more decaying early 80s tat - some Avengers, some Defenders a bit of Power Man and Iron Fist. All overpriced at £1 a pop, but hey, by buying them I'm doing my bit for Pakistan, so it's all good. There are still a fair few comics left in there. Get yourselves down if you have the chance - maybe buy a water-damaged copy of X-Force to read in public, that'll impress the grown ups.

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UK Comics legend, Dez Skinn has posted a shitload of old fanzine images featuring hitherto unpublished art by the likes of Dave Gibbons, Brian Bolland, Frank Bellamy and even Jim Steranko! Best thing I've seen on the web for yonks, it's HERE

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The most horrible monster of all time...

Ad from The Defenders #104, February 1982

Return to the mart!

So, the mart then. It's been a while since I went. I've missed it.

Arrived nice and early for my return to the fetid fray, largely because I was meeting Tam who had very kindly offered to donate me a full set of Paul Jenkins' run on Hellblazer. Top score. Thank you sir.

Anyway, picked up huge plasi bag of Hellblazer comics and watched as the early arrivals filed into The National. No fucking about for me as I headed straight for the 25p bins in search of gold. Didn't find any, but I did dig up plenty of nice tat, including Dazzler and Power Pack number ones, a bunch of Iron Man Armor Wars issues, a couple of very beat up silver age comics and a terrible issue of The Flash which features a villain called Ubermensch. Ubermensch is a sort of Hank Pymesque figure who knocks his missus about...

She leaves him for The Flash (yes really)...

so he injects himself with shitloads of steroids...

and dons a special suit to become a super-powered wife-beater...

On the way to The Flash's house he kills a horse...

and runs into a wall by mistake....

What an utter loon.

When he eventually gets into The Flash's gaffe, he's completely blown out his eyes smashing into stuff, but he still manages to grab his missus from Flash's bed and jumps out of the window; at which point The Flash delivers this immortal bit of dialogue...

I don't have the next issue. I don't want it. This is the perfect end to the story.

Apart from that I got the first three issues of Warlock, the 80s Fighting Fantasy magazine. I bought these as they were coming out and this was a purely nostalgic purchase for me. They were a bit pricey (£4 for number 1 and £3 for the other two) but they will keep me warm in my old age. Ah.

Afraid the speculator in me took over when I spotted this in mint condition for £2...

I know, it's worth fuck all, but I did see other stalls at the mart knocking it out for a tenner, and you can sometimes get a fiver for it on ebay, so errm, you know.

For the same price I also scored issue #12 of Super-Villain Team-Up. I've gone on at length about my love of this series. Although I own the reprints, issue #12 is the one where Doctor Doom fights Red Skull and his flying Nazi cock gun on the moon...

and this was a beautiful cents edition for £2! So I had to have it.

From there I scored four very tatty copies of early 2000AD issues and wandered around idly looking at freaks before my eyes fell on the day's big prize - a complete run of the 1980s DC Who's Who + the updates for £11! Not in the best of nick, but what a treat - 31 issues of encyclopedic goodness. Less scholarly than the Marvel equivalent (which I also love) but even crazier and suffused with a sort of disco colored light that gives them a trippy camp vibe. Magical stuff.

I remember reading Who's Who as a lad and loving the entry for War Wheel. Obviously it was the first entry I flipped to in my newly acquired set. Still a thing of glory, so it is. I was going to write about its wonderfulness, but someone has already beaten me to it and frankly there's no way I can do better than this.

Genius.

So happy was I to have found that War Wheel entry after all these years that I wittered on a lot about it to John, Tam and Nell in the shit pub outside The Royal National. They listened politely. We had a nice chat. Good times.

Later on, as John and I finished our last drink and watched the depressed dealers packing longboxes of unsold tat into their vans, King Stinker (who I have mentioned before at the end of this mart report) loped into the pub. His T-shirt was stained yellow by months worth of sweat and he was hauling a heavy sports bag of comics behind him like a ball and chain. As he moved from table to table drinking the dregs of leftover pints and eating bits of food from long since abandoned plates, it became clear just what a terrible state he was in - utterly mad, mired in squalor, a deranged tramp. I felt momentarily awful for taking his photo all those months ago. Let's face it, I've taken the piss out of this tragic fellah. Not nice. Not nice at all.

As I was experiencing this rush of guilt, two lads got up from their table and started snapping pics of him. They laughed and I felt even worse.The guilt didn't last. See, I'm still a cuntish teenager at heart, so I'll go on taking photos of him and the rest of the oddballs who attend this strange get together. I really am fascinated by them. Morbidly so. They'll be gone soon. The marts will be gone soon. Someone has to record them in all their stinking glory. Might as well be me.

Mega Knitty One

From an ancient 2000AD competition, this Earthlet manages to look simultaneously cool and naff...

Dude!

Scan from 2000AD Sci-Fi Special, 1984

On meeting creators

Went to pick up my comics from Gosh! yesterday and had a brief chat with Mr Salmond. He mentioned that the Chris Ware and Dan Clowes signing had gone well and that they were both nice blokes. I was quite sad to have missed the event, but at the same time I'm not really that fussed about meeting comic creators. I once bumped into Alan Moore at The Tate, I went up and shook his hand and said I enjoyed his work, but that was that. I did go to the Gilbert Shelton signing at Gosh where I got a nice sketch in my Freak Brothers Omnibus and had a bit of a chat with him - you can check out the video proof HERE.

So yeah, Mr Shelton was a lovely old fella, but in the main I really can't be arsed to queue for hours to chat with writers and artists. That's the main reason I haven't bothered with the MCM Expo today. I'm sure it'll be great. I was half tempted to go just to gawp at the cosplaying masses, but I find it hard to get enthused at the thought of standing in line to get Warren Ellis to scrawl his name on a comic when he so clearly doesn't really want to be there.

In truth, as much as I love comics, I find the people who collect them a lot more interesting than those who create them. That's why I enjoy the stinky old marts so much. I'm far more comfortable people watching at The Royal National than I would be trying to make small talk with Jamie McKelvie. I can see the attraction of starting a sketch book, or getting a few commissions done to stick on the wall, but I'd rather be rifling through longboxes of decaying tat than mixing with the great and the good of the comics world.

What a miserable old cunt, eh?

Sorry kids.

Special Guest Appearance - John B does Bristol

As promised, here's John Bishops's report on last weekend's Bristol Comic Con. A big LLC thank you to John for doing this. Enjoy!...

Camera charger broken? Check. MP3 Player not charged up? Check. Phone not charged? Check.
Thoroughly prepared for the Bristol Comic Con I set off.

So as usual it's a sweltering day, perfect for a long journey on a packed train. My only source of amusement is the poor sap who had bought a ticket for the next day and claimed his seat reservation was valid for a month. He had to cough up an eye-watering £119. I managed to wake up seconds before pulling away from my transfer stop narrowly avoiding ending up in Swansea. After another appalling train ride I finally got to Bristol, which is actually a pretty nice looking place- I've been there a few times and never get bored of walking around.

When I get there I'm immediately immersed in a blisteringly hot stinkpit. It always seems the air-con never works on the day that most of the people attending are more interested in being bombarded with cosmic rays than a hot shower.

This time it seemed smaller than ever. It used to be in a big warehouse-sized room, so you could just walk up and down the aisles, but this was spread out across about 5 rooms of varying shape and size, almost like having a convention in your house. I could have missed some of it and not even known. Not much in the way of comics to be honest, unless you enjoy the ramped up prices of Incognito, or slabbed books (don't set me off). There were a few bargain boxes, including a real treat of 10p comics! Yes, nowadays the 25p boxes are dwindling, so a 10p box was a delight. I picked up a few guilty pleasures, and a couple of picks to sell on ebay- Marvel Thundercats #1 which I've sold in the past for about 8 quid, but just looked on ebay now and one just sold for 55p, and the often overlooked Next Men #21 featuring the first mainstream appearance of Hellboy. That goes for anything between 15 and £30. So that's nice.

There were a few artists doing sketches, and I've been after Doug Braithwaite to do a sketch in my book for years now, but he's always well busy. Luckily this year I finally got a headsketch of the Punisher (Braithwaite's run on the title a few years back was fantastic) and as expected was brilliant. I was going to get Gary Erskine to do a sketch, but he had just started a rather intricate Megatron for a little kid. He was a lovely guy, very patient. I managed to snag a photo of a Wonder Woman he'd done for someone.

If you were getting Sean Phillips to draw a sketch for you, why on Earth would you ask for Mr. Fantastic? Admittedly it is beautiful, but come on? Zombie Cap surely!

Sean Phillips

Went to the Chris Claremont talk, which was pretty good although a guy next to me seemed to be unable to resist his stupid little pistachios in the most rustly bag ever. And someone letting their Thunderbirds ringtone go off every ten seconds. When the talk was over I went to ask Chris if he had any words for the London Loves Comics blog. "Great talk Chris, thanks". He walked past. I like to think he didn't hear me, rather than ignore me.

As always, there were a few hardcore geeks who dressed up. Luckily no sign of the absolutely terrifying Silver Surfer in his skintight leotard this year. Would have got a better picture of Rogue here, but her boyfriend was already looking a little irritated.




Bumped into a few of my chums in the small press area, Joel Meadows editor of Tripwire www.tripwire-magazine.com Giovanni Spinella, who I'd illustrated a story for, which was included in 'Lovealiensex' from the Comics Creator's Guild. Dave and Art Goodman, my Square Eyed Stories homeboys with their latest wares (which I was too slack to get anything in this time round) www.squareeyedstories.co.uk and Christian Wildgoose promoting his upcoming work www.dream-solver.blogspot.com All good stuff. For some reason, this part of the convention isn't particularly easy to get to, it's round the corner on the fifth floor of a different hotel. Although this seemed to be the main gathering point for those wacky Stormtroopers who seem to haunt every con nowadays. Cue facebook pic of 'me surrounded by stormtroopers'. LOLs all round.

The Goodmans

Christian Wildgoose

Lord Vader

After a gruelling day of stamina-sapping heat I decided to refresh myself in the bar. Camera battery done for, I sat on an empty chair of three round a table. Turns out the two guys who next sat down were Philip Bond (legend) and who sounded like some kind of legal rep for Brian Bolland. He really liked mentioning his name, and just happened to have about his person two original 'Killing Joke' pages. Which were, as expected, amazing. For a split second I wondered if I could find anything to club him over the head as he left the building. My homicidal thoughts were interrupted by a fellow who came to talk to them. I needed another beer so I let him have my chair. He turned out to be Phil Noto, who looked a lot less like James Bond than I'd imagined.

After getting another beer, I sat near a chap who might have been the most rabid Wally Wood fan I've ever met. His name was Graham, and he also self-published comics. Nasty ones. I said I liked the sound of that, so he let me peruse one of his works as he got himself another beer. The very first page has cock and pussy action, and the centre spread features the subtle message 'Hey Cunt Face, fuck your pets, asshole.' It's relatively well drawn, reminiscent of Kev O'Neill by way of Francis Bacon and Jeffrey Dahmer. On drugs. When he came back, I reminded him my train was coming. He generously let me keep his comic, saying the reason no comic shops wanted to stock it was because they didn't understand good work. As I made a run for it he shouted about how the Turner Prize would soon be won by a comic such as his. I didn't turn round.

On the way home there was a massive brawl on the train. I'm already looking forward to 2011.

Cat Tatt

I've seen some strange superhero tattoos in my time, but this one takes the biscuit...

If you don't recognise this spandex-clad puking cat go HERE

Market Value

That it is Cap, that it is. And never more beautiful than when the comic mart is in town.

Look...

Yes, ageing nerds on Woburn Place. A fine sight that signals the coming of December's stinkfest at The Royal National. Ah, those empty nerd sacks, soon to be stuffed to bursting with cheap tat! Fills my flabby manbreast with excitement so it does.

I heard several dealers moaning about the sparse crowd at this month's event, but to me it seemed pretty packed - surprisingly so given that Christmas is round the corner. I certainly had trouble getting through the crowds to the bargain longboxes, I even ended up having a pop at one social inadequate who spread himself across three boxes and refused to move to allow anyone else a look. The tosser ignored my polite request to budge up, so I gave him and his wheelie case a shove. Ha! Take that you filthy imp. LLC picking on weedy nerds since 1972. Have it!

Once he'd been moved, I was able to dive in and retrieve a good number of yellowing goodies. Let's have a bit of a rundown shall we? First, and most exciting, JLA issues 189 and 190 for 30p a pop! WOOT! In case you don't know that's these babies. Oh yes, BOLLAND STARRO covers. Magnificent. Top story too. Read it in bed last night and will be taking a closer look at it in an upcoming blog entry.

Also purchased for 30p - Flash #304. It's probably pants, but I thought the cover was a beaut'...

Hi-tech shit man. Colonel Computron sounds like a complete cunt!

Added three more 2000AD progs to my collection (37, 44 and 57) for a combined spend of £2.75! Picked up Warren Ellis' collection of CBR columns, Come In Alone for £2.95. Snaffled up the first trade of Image's Proof for a fiver and lingered over the Tomb of Dracula Omnibus for a long time before deciding against and grabbing a couple more cheap single issues instead for a grand total spend of...£11.85. Good haul!

On the way out I had a look at the VERY expensive comics on this stall...

Bit of a blurry pic, sorry, but note the fact that the boxes are positioned facing the wall and that there is no direct access to them from the main floor. To get to them you had to get the approval of the dealer before filing down past a wall of hugely expensive key issues. Every one of those boxes is probably worth five figures. Heavy stuff, those old boys in the photo were ready to part with huge amounts of wonga. Different world.

Away from the comics, there were more DVD stalls than I'd seen before. The mart seems to have become a bit of a meeting place for collectors of obscure films and TV series and it looked to me like the DVD dealers were doing better business than their comic counterparts. I watched these duffers spend a hefty wadge on dodgy looking Al Jolson flicks...

...before moving on for my traditional trip to Heroclix man's stall. Nothing tempted me this time, but I was taken by this display of £1 Hulks trying to smash their way out of their bargain box...

Grand stuff.

Captain America in London scan from Captain America #305, May 1985 (25p from yesterday's mart)