Dare you enter... The Castle of Comic Creators!

Northern Ireland's Enniskillen Comic Fest has just revealed its new venue for this year's event. It's to be at Enniskillen Castle. Guests will include John Wagner, Carlos Ezquerra, Steve MacManus, Nigel Parkinson, Nika Nartova, Colin McNeil, Alan Grant, Yanick Paquette, me, and many more to be announced! Having never done a comic con in a castle before I'm looking forward to it! 

You'll find us at the castle on Friday 5th and Saturday 6th May 2017, and it's free entry! For more info, visit the Enniskillen Comic Fest Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/Enniskillen-Comic-Fest-1030761763641321/

News of the Enniskillen Comic Fest 2017

I'm very pleased to announce that I've been invited back to the Enniskillen Comic Fest for their event in 2017. I had a great time at this year's show and I'm really looking forward to flying over there again, meeting the new friends  made this year and meeting new people too of course. 

For next year's show, my Beano pals Nigel Parkinson (artist Dennis the Menace, Minnie the Minx) and Beano colour artist Nika Nartova will also be guests. Joining us will be guests from 2000AD including Steve MacManus, John Wagner, Carlos Ezquerra, Alan Grant (also his second visit) and Colin MacNeill. 

There'll be other guests announced over the coming weeks too, so keep an eye on the Enniskillen Comic Fest Facebook page for news!
https://www.facebook.com/Enniskillen-Comic-Fest-1030761763641321/

If you live in Northern Ireland, or you're visiting next May, I hope to see you there!

A great time at the Enniskillen Comic Fest

Batwoman (Joanne Alexander) and some bloke who looks like a darts player.

The Enniskillen Comic Fest was fantastic! My thanks to Paul Trimble and his dedicated team for their warm hospitality over the weekened. Myself and the other guests were well looked after from the moment we arrived in Northern Ireland to the time we left. 

With my traveling companions Laura Howell, Hunt Emerson, Steve Yeowel, Matt Brooker, and Phil Winslade we arrived at Belfast International airport on Thursday evening to be greeted by festival organizer Paul Trimble and his daughter Laura. Then we met up with other guests Jenika Ioffreda, Alan and Sue Grant, Clint Langley, and Pete Doherty, and were transported to Enniskillen in a hen night party bus. Which was a first for me I must say. Thankfully we all resisted any urge to do any pole dancing. 

The Comic Fest was very much an event for the community and on Friday Laura Howell, Davy Francis, and myself were taken to a local primary school to give a talk and presentation about the basics of creating a comic page. Afterwards we did some fast sketching various Beano characters for the children. The class was very attentive and well behaved; a credit to their school. On Friday night all the guests were taken out for a slap-up feed and a few drinks at the nearby Wetherspoons.  

Saturday was the day of the festival and there was a busy number of attendees. My thanks to all who stopped by my table for a sketch, comic, or just to chat. It was great to finally meet Andy Boal (one of the admins of the Comics UK forum) and meet many others I'd only previously 'met' online. Nice to meet new friends too, including cosplayers who are genuine comics fans and homegrown creators such as Katie O'Kane. It was brilliant to meet up again with my old Oink! pal Davy Francis. A perfect way to end Oink's 30th anniversary week. (Yes, it's been 30 years since Oink! was launched. See my tribute here:

http://lewstringer.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/oink-30-piggin-years.html )

On Saturday night, with the successful festival over, we were again all taken out for a meal, and ended the evening at a nearby hotel to relax with a few drinks.

On mid-day on Sunday it was back aboard the party bus for the trip to the airport and an early night when I arrived home. All in all, a truly memorable and enjoyable weekend. Thanks again to the organizers, fans, and fellow guests for making it such a blast. 

Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/Enniskillen-Comic-Fest-1030761763641321/

My only regret is I didn't take more photos, but here are the few I did. You'll find other pics online by other guests, which I'll link to later. 

It's Davy Francis!

Beano / Regular Show comic artist Laura Howell!

Cosplayers!

Iron Man!

Movie blockbusters collide! Iron Man v Batman!

Cosplayer Joanne Alexander as Marshal Law!

...and a few more pics courtesy of Davy Francis...

Beano night out with Hunt Emerson and Laura Howell.

Busy times!

I know some of you are anxious to know when I'll be covering more old UK comics but I'm afraid I haven't a lot of spare time at present. As you know (unless you don't read the sidebar) writing and drawing comics is my full time job and in addition to that I'm also attending a lot of conventions this year. This doesn't leave me much spare time for researching and scanning old comics at present but this blog will get back on track soon, even if it's only one post of that nature every now and then. Meanwhile, I'll continue updating it with brief news items and hopefully throw in the occasional look at vintage comics when I have time. 

Today I sent off my Daft Dimension contribution to Doctor Who Magazine No.500. I'm not going to reveal anything about my strip until it's published on May 26th other than to say I had a ball with it and it's the daftest Daft Dimension yet! DWM 500 will consist of not one but two 116 page magazines, boxed with various goodies. And the content... you'll be amazed. Spoilers! 

This weekend I'm in Northern Ireland for the Enniskillen Comic Fest along with my Beano pals Laura Howell and Hunt Emerson, plus other top guests such as Glenn Fabry, Phil Winslade, Steve Yeowell and more! Looking forward to meeting readers who haven't been able to get over for cons in England. In a couple of weeks I'll be in Manchester for the Film and Comic Con, then it's Lancaster Comics Day, and events in Macclesfield, Shrewsbury, London, Bristol, Birmingham... 

I'll be back soon so be good! In the meantime, check out Down the Tubes for all the latest news about the British comics industry...
http://downthetubes.net/