Last weekend I went to the comic convention formerly known as NICE, now renamed To Be Continued, in beautiful downtown Bedford. The name had changed but the celebration of graphic storytelling remained. A small but perfectly formed con, TBC was yet again a haven for fans of comics and comic creators. Top name guests included Alan Davis, Sean Phillips, John Wagner, Adi Granov, John McCrae, Mike Collins and Paul Cornell, along with many other up-and-coming talents. There was also an emphasis on genre fiction authors this year, with the likes of MR Carey, AY Chao and Eliza Chan adding a new dimension to the expo.
I'd only been in the lovely Bedford Corn Exchange a few minutes when I made my first purchase: Ian Gibson's The Lifeboat, from the publishers of The '77 Comic. This was the final graphic novel from the sadly-departed writer and artist, and a beautiful piece of work. I'd spoken to the Man From '77 ( sorry, didn't catch his name ) last year, and he'd been enthusing then about Gibson's upcoming work, but sadly the creator passed away only a few months after that.
Isn't it a gorgeous cover? Obviously reminiscent of the classic Halo Jones strip, but a creator-owned, passion project for Gibson and a reminder of the singular talent the comics world has lost. It was a poignant purchase, which I've only skimmed so far, and I'm looking forward to giving it some proper time and attention.
On a lighter note, I caught up with my old bloggin' buddy, Peerless Pete Doree, and bought a copy of his Essential Showcase Presents: Stan & Jack. This cavorting collection of Pete's stellar strips is fantastic fun and the ideal gift for the Armadillo in your life. 'Nuff Said! ( Apologies for lapsing into Stan-speak there... it's cataclysmically contagious. ) Pete had previously said he would personalise the book with a sketch and I asked him to draw me a Thing...
...Benjamin Grimm, that is. Pete had never drawn The Thing before and, as he's such a notoriously difficult character to draw ( Ben, not Pete! ), I felt slightly guilty about my request. But, I'm sure you'll agree Pete knocked it out of the park with his spectacular sketch of Bashful Benjy. It was great to catch up with Pete: we had a good old chinwag about comics ( of course ) and he also made time to duck out of the con and go for lunch with me and Sarah. Top bloke!
Of course, I also went longbox diving and picked up a few goodies. Fittingly, I found a couple of groovy Jack Kirby mags for decent prices:
And this all-time classic Amazing Spider-Man, which I've been after for many years. It's slightly creased and, although I was tempted to buy a slightly better condition copy for £15 more, I was happy to pick up this beauty:
Plus a few more magnificent mags:
These last two were purchased from the artist/writer himself, the always affable Mike Collins... and were signed at no extra cost. Nice.
I also briefly bumped into my other old bloggin' pal, Mighty Joe Ackerman. Joe hadn't been very well recently and wasn't sure if he'd make it, but turned up with a mate who was looking after him. Sarah and I popped out of the building briefly, saying we'd catch up with Joe on our return, but missed him. I've been trying for literally years to get me, Pete and Joe together in one place and one time but it never seems to work... even when we're all in the same building.
Hey ho, that was a minor disappointment in what had been a lovely day. Same time next year?
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