Bristol International Comic Expo May 2007

This was first blogged at MySpace but I thought it an apt reminder of what a great guy James Redington was following his untimely death from a rare heart condition at only 28 years of age:

Firstly, a big thank you to James Redington of Portent Comics for allowing space on his tables for a Murky Depths presence at Bristol. His range of comics is remarkable and extends to an audience of all ages. I believe that Potent Comics might one day be one of the UK's leading comic producers. If you're a budding illustrator with aspirations to become a sequential artist then you'd get a good grounding at Portent Comics, and lots of support.

Unforunately Portent's table was right alongside a table occupied by signing artists, Chris Weston being one, which meant that often half of the Portent table was obscured by queuing punters (meant in the nicest possible way!). Saturday was really busy but people were more intent on squeezing passed than stopping to browse Portent's extensive range - or seeing the Murky Depths' corner.

I think the organisers should seriously consider reserving an area solely for tables that cater for artist signings for future expos. It isn't fare on the other traders. Watching the cash going into the pockets of signing artists I'd say the expo was a nice little (untaxed) earner for them - but it certainly adversely affected the sales of tables nearby.

On a positive note for me it was great for networking and meeting a couple of the artists that Murky Depths are featuring in issue one, particularly Luke Cooper who also has comics in the Portent range and was working alongside me all weekend.

A few pics from the weekend.

Saturday: Jamie and Liz (sneeking the sweets).
 

Saturday: Luke on the left sketching. Liz still tucking into her sweets (James changed things around on Sunday with us splitting the table and titles.
 

The ubiquitous Imperial stormtroopers.

Terry Martin
Publishing Editor