Con Cancellation

With deep regret I'm afraid I'm unable to attend the London Film and Comic Con this coming weekend. I have to meet deadlines and I'm running behind schedule. I often take pages with me to events, to draw between meeting readers, but with the best will in the world I still wouldn't get as much done as I would if I stayed at home. 

With juggling so many events and deadlines this year I suppose it was inevitable that it'd affect things eventually. Work has to take priority in these situations and I couldn't risk being away for four days at the moment. My apologies to everyone who was hoping to see me there.

The next event I'll be at will be the Bristol Comic Expo on Saturday 6th August. A one-day event. For more info, see here:
https://bicsevents.wordpress.com/


By the way, if you're at the Manchester MCM con this weekend, my Beano pals Nigel Parkinson and Nika Nartova will be selling copies of my Brickman Returns! comic. Drop by and say hello.

Back from LFCC

Crowds before it got REALLY busy.

I had a great weekend at the London Film and Comic Con. Got back late last night and have pressing deadlines so to be very brief...

My thanks to Mike Conroy, Cassandra Jane Conroy, Missy Gainsborough, and the rest of the LFCC team for their hospitality over the weekend. It was a pleasure being a guest. Also thanks to fellow comics creators David Roach, Roger Langridge, William Simpson, John Watson, Gary Erskine,Mike Collins, Pau Vassileva, Mike Perkins, Andy Diggle, David Leach, and many more for being great company. Last but not least, thanks to Mel Horton, Jonathan Sloman, and everyone who stopped by my table for a sketch, a book, or for a chat. A thoroughly enjoyable weekend with lots of laughs.

One of the sketches I did over the weekend.

Comic creator's slap-up feed, Italian restaurant, Friday night.

Brickman in London

A last minute reminder that this weekend I'm a guest at the London Film and Comic Con which takes place at Olympia. I'll be bringing along copies of my 2005 book Brickman Begins! (Yes, I still have copies!) It's a 152 page digest that reprints all the Brickman strips from my early days in fanzines in 1979 up to Yampy Tales in 1996. There's a brand new prologue, numerous new bonus pages by guest artists such as Alan Davis and Tim Sale, and a sort of spoof interview with me. Plus an introduction by Alan Moore.

I'll also be selling sketches on request, so drop by for a sketch, buy a book, or just have a chat. 

I understand I'm on a humour comics panel on Saturday morning around 10.20am, so I hope some of you will be there for that. 

The guest list this year is more impressive than ever, with comics guests including John Wagner, Dan Slott, Mike Collins and David Lloyd, and stars from film and TV including Sigourney Weaver, Michael J. Fox, Catherine Tate and Hayley Atwell. For full info see the website here:
http://www.londonfilmandcomiccon.com/  

Going to LFCC?

Just a quick reminder that it's the big London Film and Comic Con at Olympia next weekend (July 17th to 19th) so I hope to see some of you there. Other comics guests include Steve Yeowell, Gary Erskine, Rachael Smith, and Mike Perkins. Guests from the world of film and TV include Sigourney Weaver, Michael J. Fox, Hayley Atwell, Catherine Tate, Colin Baker, and many more.

I'm scheduled to be on a humour comics panel at some point over the weekend so come along and join the discussion. More details next week! 

Official convention website:
http://www.londonfilmandcomiccon.com/

Hayley Atwell confirmed for LFCC

The guest list for next month's London Film and Comic Con keeps getting bigger and better! Sigourney Weaver (Alien, Ghostbusters etc) and Catherine Tate (her own TV show plus Doctor Who etc) were recently added to the list and now Hayley Atwell has been conformed as the latest guest.

Amongst her other screen appearances, comic fans will know Ms.Atwell as Peggy Carter in Marvel's Captain America movies, Avengers: Age of Ultron, a few episodes of the Agents of SHIELD TV series, and her own Agent Carter mini series. 

The London Film and Comic Con takes place at Olympia on 17th to 19th July. Hayley Atwell will be attending on Saturday and Sunday.

Guests from the comics industry include Mike Perkins, Rachael Smith, John Wagner, Lee Sullivan, Dan Slott, Gary Erskine, David Lloyd, Mike Collins, and me amongst others! I hope to see some of you there! For full guest list and more info, visit the LFCC website here:
http://www.londonfilmandcomiccon.com/

It's convention weekend!

It's the London Film and Comic Con this weekend at Earls Court and the event promises an impressive array of guests. Amongst the many names there you'll find Carrie Fisher, John Hurt, Bernard Cribbins, Jenna Coleman, Charlie Higson, Emma Vieceli, Jessica Martin, Mark Buckingham, Dave Gibbons, Steve Rude, David Hine, Mike Collins, Gail Simone, Bryan Talbot, Hunt Emerson, Chris Weston, and even the legendary Stan Lee!

If you drop by the Aces Weekly table (manned by mighty David Lloyd) you'll be able to take advantage of the subscription incentive of buying a unique hand-drawn sketch card which contains a secret code on the back. Type in that code at the Aces Weekly website and you'll have access to a full volume of the digital weekly to read on your PC, laptop or tablet. You can choose your card by various artists. Here are the 12 recent ones I drew the other day...

I'll have a table at the event but a reminder that I'm only going to be there on Saturday. If you're attending, please stop by my table for a chat and perhaps buy a sketch of whatever character of mine you'd like me to draw. I'll also be selling copies of my 2005 book Brickman Begins!  Here's a photo of me at last year's show, taken at a deliberately wonky angle by Debbie Tate. 

Hope to see you there! 

Here come The Stan Lee Eagle Awards!

The latest press release.....

The launch of The Stan Lee Eagle Awards 2014

COMICBOOK legend Stan Lee is providing fans around the world with

a fresh opportunity to honour their favourite writers, artists and titles of the previous 

year.

In collaboration with awards director Cassandra Conroy, the co-founder of the Marvel 

Universe is set to officially open The Stan Lee Eagle Awards for nominations on 

April 23rd 2014 at www.stanleeeagleawards.com.

Conroy took over as chair of the original 'Eagle Awards' in 2008 from their founder – her 

father, Mike Conroy – and has spearheaded the awards evolution. 

"My dad's intention was always to give the fans a voice and I'm delighted that this latest 

initiative will take his vision to an entirely new plane." she said.

Dubbed the People's Choice Awards, The Stan Lee Eagle Awards are unique in that they 

offer the only worldwide platform for professionals and non-professionals alike to voice their 

opinions of the work being done in the medium. 

"It'd be great to see more non-English language titles and creators being recognised and 

having such a household name as Stan Lee attached makes virtually anything possible," 

stated Mike Conroy.

"Many view Stan as a comicbook god," he added. "That Stan was the very first inductee on 

to Eagle Awards Roll of Honour back in 1976 just makes Cassandra's coup that much more 

of a personal pleasure for me."

The Stan Lee Eagle Awards will be held annually in July at 

the London Film and Comic Con.

"The original Eagle Awards had a coveted reputation that was well earned and respected. 

But to have Stan 'The Man' Lee offer his brand and patronage to champion The Stan 

Lee Eagle Awards is just incredible," proclaimed Cassandra Conroy, who added. "There 

has been a Conroy behind the Eagle Awards since their inception in 1976. I'm delighted 

that such a legendary creator as Stan has been willing to help me build on my father's 

legacy."

The 2014 prizes will be handed out as part of this year's London Film & Comic Con with the 

inaugural ceremony being held at Earls Court on Saturday, July 12th.

STAN LEE

It is almost impossible to summarise Stan Lee's contributions to the US comic book 

industry. A writer and editor who began his career in 1939 at the age of 16, he almost 

single-handedly ran Timely and Atlas – the precursors to Marvel Comics – writing a 

significant percentage of the stories for a line that consisted primarily of war, western, 

romance and fantasy/monster anthologies from 1941 until 1961 when he partnered with 

artist Jack Kirby to create Marvel's first superheroes in almost a decade. The Fantastic 

Four revived the fortunes of what had been a moribund company, and the collaboration 

between Lee and the legendary King of Comics continued as they followed that runaway

success with a wave of other well-receivedcharacters: Ant-Man (in Tales to Astonish), The 

Incredible Hulk, Thor (in Journey into Mystery), Iron Man (in Tales of Suspense), Sgt 

Fury and his Howling Commandos, The Avengers and X-Men among them.

Stan Lee's attendance at London Film and Comic Con, July 11th - 13th 2014 will be his last 

ever official European convention appearance.

CASSANDRA CONROY

GROWING UP surrounded by comics and immersed in the British comics scene thanks to 

her father, Mike Conroy, it was all but inevitable that Conroy would develop her own love for 

the medium. A face on the UK convention circuit since her early teens, Conroy took over 

the running of the original Eagle Awards from her father in 2008 when she was only 16. 

Determined to reinvent for the 21st century what were originally envisaged as fan awards, 

in 2014 she teamed up with legendary Marvel Universe co-creator Stan Lee to create a new 

worldwide brand in The Stan Lee Eagle Awards. Since 2012, Conroy has been coproducing 

the Comic Zone element of Showmasters' various UK-based multimedia events 

with her father.

MIKE CONROY

ONE OF the UK’s leading comics journalists, Mike Conroy is currently publisher/editor of 

Multiverse, Britain’s leading comics news magazine. He writes the bonus features for all 

the titles in Hachette’s hugely successful Ultimate Marvel Graphic Novel Collection line, 

as well as co-producing Comics Zone, the event-within-an-event at Showmasters’ massive 

nationwide multimedia extravaganzas, with his daughter Cassandra. A veteran comics

journalist, historian, author and biographer, Mike Conroy is also the founder of the Eagle 

Awards. Established in 1976, the Eagle Awards are one of the comics industry’s oldest and 

most coveted international prizes.

More detailed bios at www.stanleeeagleawards.com

London Film and Comic Con (www.londonfilmandcomiccon.com) will run from Friday 11th 

July to Sunday 13th July 2014 in Earls Court 2. The Stan Lee Eagle Awards takes place 

during the evening of the event on Saturday 12th July, doors open from 7pm.

London Film & Comic Con - this weekend!

This coming weekend (Friday 6th to Sunday 8th July) sees the annual London Film & Comic Con at the Olympia Grand Hall London. This year the organizers Showmasters has given the Comics Zone part of the event a facelift, with Mike Conroy bringing in top guests from the UK and USA such as Jim Starlin, Alan Davis, Mike Ploog, Simon Furman, Gary Frank, Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning and more.

Guests from the worlds of film and television include Gillian Anderson, John Simm, Bernard Cribbins, Jeri Ryan, and Karl Urban who's playing the title role in Dredd, the forthcoming new Judge Dredd movie. Sounds like it'll be a great weekend!

For more info visit the website at http://www.londonfilmandcomiccon.com