2019 ... so far!

Anyone keeping track, here's my complete list of places I visited this year, 48 days at events. If it looks like a lot of travelling and time away from home, it is! If you saw me at a public event not on this list, let me know, I expect I forgot!

2/3 March   London

8/9/10 March Liverpool with Nika

6 April Northwich with Nika

27 April  Wythenshawe

11/12 May  Enniskillen, Northern Ireland

18/19 May  Sheffield

1/2 June  Shrewsbury

8 June  Nantwich with Nika 

14 June  Paris

22 June  Macclesfield with Nika

29/30 June  Blackpool

20/21 July  Mottisfont

27/28 July  London

3 August Wigan
10/11 August  Sheffield
17/18 August  Glasgow

24/25 August  Cambridge

31 August  Preston

7/8 Sept Cardiff

28/29 Sept  Norwich, Norfolk with Nika

3 Oct London

19 Oct Nottingham

 20 Oct  Buxton with Nika

1/2 Nov Malta

18 Nov Glasgow

23/24 Nov Reading

14 Dec  Stockport and Bury

This year I've hung out with old comics pals and finally managed to spend some time with some fellow cartoonists/artists/writers/illustrators who in previous years I only had time to nod at and shout "hello" to. 

2019 saw me finally get to more than wave at, for example David Leach (I supported his successful attempt to meet one of his heroes!) Mike Collins (he does more shows than I do, and he has a big friendly family!) Sonia Leong (the heart and soul of Manga in a sharp suit) and Paulina Vassileva (who could have predicted that late night chats in hotel bars in Heathrow and Cardiff would be real highlights of the year?!) 

Next year I've already been booked for some return visits, and some places I've never been before- Bath! Hull!! If you've ever wanted to say hello, please so, if I'm coming to a town near you. Most of the 2020 dates will also feature my colour artist Nika, and one or two surprises!

Starting in January, I'll be posting my itinerary for the year- keep checking back because I sometimes accept invites to events as little as two weeks before!

Big Big Big Day Out

In the middle of a frantic summer of events, here's a quick look at something I did in May but which was only 'published', as a one-off colossal wall fixture, on Saturday! It's part of the Beano Time Travellers Exhibition and Trail at Mottisfont Hall, Hampshire. Here's NT person Helen proving just how big it is!
And here's one of the pictures from it, and a close up of me next to Dennis's head, if more proof were needed just HOW BIG the whole thing is!!

Some months we do three weekends

By the end of 2019 if everything goes to plan, I will have done 67 Comic cons or other Comic-related events since Sunderland in February 2015, most with Nika.
Some places we've done more than once, so you can tell we must have left the place tidy. London, we did events in Baker Street, Kensington High Street, Waterloo and Olympia, and even all the way over in Docklands. Manchester saw us at Trafford Park, at Central, and I did a solo one at Manchester Library while Nika was in Greece letting the grandparents get to know her new son. In Liverpool we did the hotel where I had met my brother for the first time (true fact) and at the newly built Exhibition Centre, a 10 minute walk from home for me. This summer we'll be doing some places we've been before, like Blackpool, Macclesfield and London, and a lot of new ones like Shrewsbury, Norwich and Sheffield. You'll notice we haven't done any in North Wales, or way out West, so, if you're thinking of having an event, why not ask us! We're always very popular with the public!

Untold, But Not For Much Longer

I hope to finally bring Part 4 of my untold secrets blog posts very soon- I've been negotiating. Stay tuned.

And on Monday I Drew...

Here's one of those 'other' projects I do. At Christmas INTU ran a competition for 'impossible' gifts- and one of them was "You're the star of your own comic book!" For the promotion I drew the 'Charlie's World' example. Last week the winner, Will, was announced, and on Monday I drew his gift. Eagle-eyed blogviewers will spot the distinct Ditko and Kirby influences at work here, to which I can only reply "Who else?!"

If It's Saturday It Must Be Slap-Up Feast Time

I started this Annual unofficial Beano/Dandy freelancers dinner
in 2009 and although we've missed one or two years, and some
invitees never do reply or attend, possibly suspecting a fiendish trap of some kind, we have had quite a few memorable moments.
This year we welcomed
Alan Ryan, Laura Howell, Lew Stringer, Nigel Auchterlounie, Danny Pearson, Barrie Appleby, Paul Palmer, Hunt Emerson, Emily McGorman-Bruce, Gordon Volke and "Beano Betty" herself, shoe designer and dog sitter, Claire.
We nearly had Sam Emms (Spectra), Tommy Donbavand, Andy Fanton, Hugh Raine, Leslie Stannage, Duncan Scott, Steve Bright, Nika Nartova and even Dave Sutherland too, but they all had to decline for various very good reasons!
Maybe next year we'll have all of them and even more.

Comic Con Appearances for 2019

Here is a list of my Comic Con appearances in 2019.

Some will also feature Nika, my colour artist. 

2/3 March   London Olympia
8/9/10 March Liverpool

6 April Northwich, Cheshire

27 April  Wythenshawe, Manchester

11/12 May  Enniskillen, Northern Ireland

18/19 May  Sheffield, S Yorkshire

1/2 June  Shrewsbury, Shropshire

8 June  Nantwich, Cheshire

22 June  Macclesfield, Cheshire 

29/30 June  Blackpool, Lancs

27/28 July  London Olympia

3 August Wigan
10/11 August  Sheffield
17/18 August  Glasgow

7/8 Sept Cardiff

28/29 Sept  Norwich, Norfolk

20 Oct  Buxton, Derbyshire
23/24 Nov London Olympia

Whatever Will Be

On November 1st 2000 I had an idea! For some reason, my sister's favourite song went through my mind, the Doris Day song, Que Sera, Sera. And then I imagined if Bea was asking her brother instead of Doris asking her mother, and voila, a 2 page feature for the Dennis the Menace Annual 2002, published in September 2001.



Here's the rough I sent to the Beano editor, and the finished page, just about the only Beano work I wrote, drew, lettered and hand coloured myself.