San Diego Comic Con Day 5

The last day of the con and what can I say. It was by far the easiest to handle. There was very little left that we actually wanted to do. We went to the signing for Pixu with Gabriel Ba, Becky Cloonan Vasilis Lolos and Fabio Moon. Then went out for a bite to eat and then back in and grabbed a copy of Vasilis book The Last Call from Oni Press and he happened to be there signing so I got him to sign it there. Then we went out for some air and headed back in to do some last minute shopping I got a copy of 5 from Fabio Moon and had it signed by 3 of the 5 people who worked on it.

Throughout the day we had ran into Matthew Sheret the curator of Phonogram vs The Fans and had also seen him several times during the show. We also had a chat with Jamie McKelvie about his con experiences and San Diego in general.

We then wandered around for a bit and then head out after saying a few goodbyes. All in all it was a extremely enjoyable experience that I hope to have again maybe even as a professional one day.

This concludes my Comic Con 09 diary now I will enjoy the rest of my non comic related San Diego holiday without the feeling that I must remember ass much as possible for the blog.

San Diego Comic Con Day 4

Today was a different start to usual we didn't head straight for the artists we headed for the unexplored area the video games. We got to play a variety of unreleased games including LEGO Rock Band, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 and DC Universe Online.

We then headed for the DC booth just to check out the possible talent and found Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba who were both nice enough to do a sketch for myself and Max.

After this we went wandering for a while over to the Marvel booth where joined the line for Matt Fraction's Iron Man 2 the video game signing, where I asked him to sign my copy of Casanova which he was more than happy to and even thanked me for reading it.

The next move was over to Dark Horse where Max was lucky enough to be handed a winning raffle ticket for the Mike Mignola signing by a woman obviously to busy to attend the signing so after receiving his arm band he went off to buy a copy of In The Chapel of Moloch to get signed by Mr Mignola. The next event was the special announcement signing of Gerard Way and Becky Cloonan. The signing announced their upcoming series The True Lives of The Fabulous KillJoys. They signed the KillJoys signing cards as there was no existing merchandise for the new project.

After this signing Max left and I stayed to attend the afternoons signing at the Oni press booth. I had Robbi Rodriguez sign and sketch in my copy of Maintenance volume 2 and then after a walk around for an hour or so I was first in line for Bryan Lee O'Malley He was nice enough to do a sketch this time around as the line was shorter but still quite long. Then I had my Courtney Crumrin Volume 2 signed by Ted Naifeh.

San Diego Comic Con Day 3

We started a bit later today. We got down to the convention centre at about 10 and walked the floor for 15-20 minutes and then headed up to Room 4 for a Panel on Darick Robertson. When we got there we entered in on the DC Talent search panel this was a cool insight into how to break into comics and how it's done. This ended quite early before the the Darick panel was meant to start sowe sat at the front until it began. The panel was basically an hour of Q&A. Darick was humble and humourous, he answered the fan questions while adding far more information than required.

Our next port of call was a extended walk of the convention floor. We walked around the as yet unexplored areas such as the majority of Artist's Alley. We saw some notable people but didn't really do anything here.

After this we went over to Sean 'Cheeks' Galloway's booth to purchase his new book 'Cheeks Unclenched'. This came with a free head sketch of my choice inside. He was extremely appreciative and humble. stopping multiple times to say 'thanks for waiting' and was just a generally cool guy to meet.

After this we went off to lunch grabbed a bite to eat then down to Wildstorm to queue for Jim Lee. He was almost half an hour late to the signing by this point I had already decided to ditch the queue but Max stayed and was nice enough to get my copy of All-star Batman and Robin signed. I decided to join the short queue for Zander Cannon and get a sketch from him. He was an incredible chill guy he answered my questions fully and was appreciative of compliments and comments.

Then we decided to head back around to Artist's Alley where we met Jim Mahfood and got a free headshot sketch from Chris Giarrusso. He was quick but we didn't stick around to talk. We then had to head to the Dark Horse booth to find out if we were lucky enough to get into the Umbrella Academy signing. I was incredible pleased to find out that I had been pulled in the raffle but Max unfortunately was not. At this point we parted ways and I stuck around and Max headed back to the hotel. I then joined the queue around half an hour before the signing began and got my issue 1 of Umbrella Academy signed by Gabriel Ba and Gerard Way. Gabriel Ba even remembered me from our meeting yesterday.

This ended the 3rd day of the convention.

Exclusive Picture of Peter Maggs at Comicon

"My Spider-sense is tingling!"

San Diego Comic Con Day 2

Today started like any other day I woke up, showered and got dressed. Then I caught a bus to the city centre and walked down my destination. Then it got decidedly un-typical. First thing I did was wait in a long line to get to the Exhibition floor where I walked over to the booth of none other than Mr Brian Wood. A incredibly nice guy we chatted to him for a while I got him to sign my copy of Local I got yesterday and I purchased his 2009 design book in which he did a small sketch and signed it. We asked him about his favourite artists to work with and some other questions. We then went over to Mike Mckone and I picked up my second but more expensive ASM page. After this we went to Artists Alley to find Ryan Kelly the artists of Local he did a small sketch and signed it for me.

We then headed to the Image booth and met Jamie McKelvie of Phonogram fame and Matthew Sheret (curator of the Phonogram Vs The Fans Fanzine). Being British the were cool and we had a blast talking comics and music with them. I handed my sketch book and a reasonable fee to Mr McKelvie for a sketch which I would later retrieve in all it's glory.

We then headed out of the convention floor to check out the room for the Spotlight on Bryan Lee O'Malley. There was a MMO panel about to start in the room so we sat in on that but barely listened then as it was ending we went to the front so we would have prime seating for the O'Malley panel. The panel was good fun it was moderated by none other than comics guru Scott McCloud. He asked Bryan Question's mainly about Scott Pilgrim but did make a brief mention of Lost At Sea. It was humourous and interesting and I learnt some cool stuff. He then answered some fan questions mostly about the upcoming Scott Pilgrim movie and some comic related questions.

After the panel ended we headed back to the DC booth for a Becky Cloonan Signing at Vertigo. I had her sign my issue 1 of American Virgin. My sketchbook still in the capable hands of Mr McKelvie I was unable to get a sketch at this time but after going to the Image Booth and chatting with Phonogram scribe Kieron Gillen and asked him if my sketch was done and had been left by Mr McKelvie. This was just in time to rush back over to the DC Booth to get a Sketch from Becky Cloonan before the end of her signing.

This left just 1 hour before the signing I had most looked forward to my all time greatest influence as an artist Darick Robertson. So we went out so my traveling companion, Max, could cash some traveller's cheques. We came back to find an insanely large line for Mr Jim Lee who Max wanted to meet which became impossible as they had capped the line (But tomorrows a new day). I was the only person who turned up early for Mr Robertson's signing until another gentleman strolled up about 5 minutes before it began. He was an awesome guy to meet and I was so glad I had the chance. He was reasonably chatty and was more than happy to oblige to fans requests for pictures. He also signed and gave away copies of his newest series based on the Prototype video game. He did me an awesome sketch of Spider Jerusalem from Transmetropolitan. He was nothing if not gracious again humourous and friendly. When he arrived to a line of 2 people he chuckled and said 'Thanks for making me look cooler than I am.' Obviously in reference to teh comparison between his and Jim Lee's lines.

It was then back off to the booth of Brian Wood, Becky Cloonan and co. and we were pleased to find Gabriel Ba at the same booth. I had him sign my copy of Casanova 1, which garnered a reaction which brought a smile to his face. He was obviously happy that people read work of his that wasn't The Umbrella Academy. I also purchased a lovely set of prints from Becky Cloonan which I am somewhat afraid to open in fear of ruining them. We then went off to the comic shop within the convention centre and came across Hope Larson doing a small signing at the end of the shop. Luckily I had me copy of Gray Horses with me and I had her sign it for me and she was handing out free unedited review copies of Mercury her upcoming graphic novel and I happily took a copy.

We then went outside but still within the convention centre and had a rest before heading in to loiter around the Oni Booth waiting for the Bryan Lee O'Malley signing to begin. We conversed with the various Oni Press booth representatives and learnt some stuff about various books the supplied. We then went on a short walk to waste away the time before the signing. The signing eventually began and unfortunately due to the length of the line he was unable to do sketches but he did sign my Scott Pilgrim volume 1 and gave me a lovely compliment on my glasses.

This is the end of day 2 we left it there for today we were tired and hungry so we needed to get back to the hotel.

Here is all the goodies from today and some other pics.

Hi I'm ricky one of the writers for the collective. comics wise I'm mainly influenced by marvel superheroes and literary influences include stephen king and john connolly. I cant really draw but have done a short strip to put up here.

San Diego Comic Con Day 1

As was requested I will post images and text on my experiences of San Diego Comic Con.

The first day of the con started late the doors opened at 6 and the room flooded with people. We headed straight for the DC booth and grabbed as much free stuff as possible. I then joined the cue for the Fables signings. And received sketches from both the creators Writer Bill Willingham and Artist Mark Buckingham.

After this I decided to do a bit of shopping and picked up a bunch of awesome items.

Runaways HC volume 1 ---- Scott Pilgrim T-Shirt

Skydoll HC ---- Gray Horses

The Perry Bible Fellowship Almanac ---- Limited Edition Freak Angels Print

Lost At Sea ----Scott Pilgrim Full Colour Odds and Ends

Mike McKone Page from ASM---- Local HC

Along with these Items I reserved another Mike McKone Page from ASM this time with Spider-Man and the New Vulture. Also I met the young lady that Mr. McKone based the woman in the panels on.

Thats day one in a nutshell day two coming soon.

CANCELLED - Manga event at Swansea Central Library

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Tuesday 4th August, get your artwork and home-made costumes down to the central library for the latest manga products.
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