View Full Version : Bristol Convention
Hi iFanbase - anyody going to the Bristol Comic Convention next month? If so, do you fancy meeting up for a pint?
http://www.fantasyevents.org/index2.html
Just me, then? Do speak up if you're going. Otherwise I'll feel lonely!
Ok! Lonely it is, then. That's fine - no, really it's just fine!
I promise I will post something here afterwards to let you know what you all missed, and - if you are at all bothered - I'll be twittering from the con. too; follow me on Twitter at: BrizzleComics
thenextchampion
05-08-2009, 02:12 AM
Ok! Lonely it is, then. That's fine - no, really it's just fine!
I promise I will post something here afterwards to let you know what you all missed, and - if you are at all bothered - I'll be twittering from the con. too; follow me on Twitter at: BrizzleComics
Hey man if I could afford to go to Bristol I would love to go. That 'con' at South Jersey last month was nothing special.
cadgers
05-08-2009, 02:16 AM
Yea, me too. The guest list has some of the best names in comics going.
So here we are again, as Bristol hosts the UKs biggest comic con again, albeit in a scaled down form compared to previous years, what with the global economic catastrophy and all.
Right now, I'm sitting in the hotel bar drinking coffee. I've already done some shopping, filling a few gaps in the collection, and waiting for the panels to start.
I'm looking forward to hearing what DC has planned for their "Blackest Night" event, and to hear what Dave Gibbons thinks of the reaction to the Watchmen movie.
There's a couple of Batman cosplayers here (an impressive Riddler and a less-than-lithe Harley Quinn) but I'm not sure that dressing up is really in the British psyche. That said there is a cackling coven of witches running around the bar... but I think they're on hen-do.
Oh yeah, if you're at all bothered, I am twittering too at Brizzle Comics
An interesting DC Nation panel (well, I thought so anyway!) - apparently the first to be held outside the US.
After the inevitable questions about who's coming back in Darkest Night, the discussion seemed to touch on what DiDio thinks drives the DCU, and I think that could be summed up in the word "Icons". The iconic status of Hal Jordan as Green Lantern and Barry Allen as Flash is what's driven the editorial team to push for their return over the last few years. And he makes a good point; comic fans love what we know and feel comfortable with. We are creatures of nostalgia and our willingness to pay for that is the core of DC's (and presumably Marvel's) business.
The problem with that logic, though, is that you'll never see an original creation again and dodgy spin-offs will abound. "Terror Titans", anyone?
Some interesting discussion around monthly comics vs. Trades vs. Digital distribution. Didio sees his job as making the minis so vibrant, urgent and exciting that you absolutely cannot afford to wait for the trade. (which doesn't explain why DC are so tardy releasing stories in trade format sometimes). As for digital formats, he was quick to distance himself form them, saying he was responsible for the periodicals, but did say that DC didn't think they could find an economic model that made it viable whilst paying creators a decent royalty. Oh - and collecting JPEGs isn't as satisfying as a bookshelf full of the paper stuff!
I asked what role he thought a Justice League book should have in the DCU. He like the question but found it hard to answer and I'm not surprised as it seems to Leto be the impossible book to write. Do you pitch it as the hub of the DCU, in which case you're at the mercy of the progress of the event of the week, or do you isolate it in it's own bubble when it becomes non-essential. Do you fill it with the Big 7 and respond to every change intheir own books, or develop lesser characters who deposed the team and who no onereally cares about? In the end he threw itopen to the floor and got a split of opinion. Apparently the new book in July with Hal's proactive league will "push the reset button"... Roll on July!
I left with the distinct impression that Dan Didio wants to leave a legacy of really strong stories. He understands that most, if not all the changes he makes to the DCU during his tenure will ultimately be undone in the service of future storytellers. But that's ok as long as what's left on the trades shelf are strong stories, true to the integrity of the characters and the DCU as a whole.
Sorry for the typos! Editing this on an iPhone screen is tough!
Enough! The Vertigo panel's about to begin.....
Yesterdays Vertigo panel with Jock, Mark Buckingham and Mike Carey was a sedate but enjoyable affair.
The stand outs as far as I was concerned were Mike Careys "The Unwritten" which has an interesting premise & art by Peter Gross. The ash-can they handed out was interesting enough for me to give it a try when it comes out next week.
The other really cool project was the Vertigo Crime books: a series of hard cover one shot graphic novels in the crime/noir genre. One written by Brian Azzerello is the story of a football player crippled by injury and gambling debts (err... isn't this the Booster Gold origin story..?) who becomes bodyguard to the daughter of a crime boss. On the cover, she seems to be licking a string of pearls, so it's probably a bit sexy too!
The other announced Vertigo Crime book was Ian Rankins first OGN, writing John Constantine. Sounds good to me.
Now awaiting Dave Gibbons on the Watchmen...
I attended 3 panels one after the other today, with no time to post between them, so here goes in one big post.
Dave Gibbons and John Higgins talk Watchmen. A fascinating insight into the way the Watchmen art team approached the book, with particular emphasis on the use of the restricted, rather pulpy colour palate, and how it informed the look of the movie.
Especially interesting was the comparison between the pencils for mid-'80s DC in-house ads to promote the original maxiseries and the reproduction of those line drawings as photographs to promote the movie. Bob Wayne let slip a purely hypothetical release schedule for the DVDs (Original and "Directors Cut"). I know what I'm asking for for Christmas...
DCU
With a whole host of creatives including Lee Garvett, Gary Frank and Phil Winslade on the panel, it was largely the Dan Didio show again. I asked about his reflections on publishing weekly stories for 3 years and he became quite emotional about "52" - holding the final issue was the highlight of his career, he said. He's strongly in favour of DC producing a book on a weekly basis - just not necessarily over the course of a whole year for a while was the implication, citing the forthcoming Wednesday Comics as another model of doing a comic every week.
2000AD.
Now I don't buy this comic (do many of you get it in the US?), but I know enough about it to get some of the gags. Whoever was behind the ragged, moth-eaten rubber mask of Tharg (galactic despot and Editor-in-Chief) played the part with relish, with and wicked comic timing. The art/writing and editorial droids seemed suitably subdued and the panel was a riot. What's happening in 2000AD? I have no idea, but I haven't laughed so much in ages!
So that was the Bristol Con 2009. Small, but perfectly formed.
Listening to Dan DiDio was the highlight for me - I think he has had a bad press, but from what I heard he clearly maintains his passion for comics and the DCU in particular.
I am touched that so many people have read this thread over the weekend! Thank you!
I've never blogged before, so I'd welcome your feedback and comments on what I've written over the course of the Con.
Cheers - Chris
PS And Dave Gibbons signed my Absolute Watchmen book, so I'm happy!
cadgers
05-11-2009, 03:46 AM
Thanks for the writeup I would have loved to see the 2000 AD panel. One thing I read on another forum though was that Dan Didio said during his panel "People who trade wait DC books. Hate DC". Was that true at all I'm kind of interested in that.
Hi! The 2000AD panel was certainly an unforgetable experience, thanks to the quick psychopathic wit of the Mighty Tharg!
It probably won't surprise you that Dan Didio did NOT say that he hates people who just buy DC in trades in either of their panels. (Although , I suppose he could have said it in a private conversation that I wasn't party to...)
During the DC Nation panel he did take a show of hands on who buys single issues and who waits for the trade. He then said: "You guys are the ones I worry about".
He very much considers himself in what he describes as the periodical business. I think that means that he believes the single issue to be DCs core product that should lead all others, including DC related movies, books, toys etc.
There was some discussion about whether the success of The Dark Knight film put DC under any pressure to make the Bat-books more accssible for potential new readers. He said not. They find that new readers coming onboard on the back of a film tend to go for the trades as a complete all-in-one story.
But he aspires to make the single issues so exciting, so urgent that you simply won't want to wait for the perfect bound book!
He doesn't hate trades readers (Bob Wayne would've lynched him if he had said that!) I just don't think he belives himself to be editor of a line of trades; he'd rather be editor of a line of comics.
Hi everyone. I'm resurrecting this year-old thread as the 2010 Bristol Comic Expo is taking place this weekend.
The website is here: http://www.fantasyevents.org/bristolcomicexpo/index.html
(Hasn't Jabba the Hutt lost loads of weight!)
Are any UK iFanboy listeners going? Do post a message on here if so.
If any of you are interested in following the weekend's events, I'll try to do some updates on the forum, or you can follow my Twitter feed: search for me at BrizzleComics.
Looking forward to a great geeky weekend.
Cheers - Chris
deadspace
05-23-2010, 11:32 PM
It'd be interesting to know how it went. I saw Andy Diggle tweeting that it'll probably be the last time he goes.
I'm going to the Thought Bubble con in Leeds later in the year. I hear it's pretty good and Tony Harris has been confirmed for it already. Diggle and Jock and a bunch of other UK comics folk will probably be there too.