Bristol Expo

By John Freeman on 14 May 2007

Bristol provided its usual mix of weird weather (wet) and entertainment (Star Wars storm troopers, Batman a gorgeous Black Cat and a determined Batman who wandered from the main hall to the hotel despite torrential rain in costume).

I don’t know exact numbers yet but Saturday was incredibly busy, making it all the more difficult to catch up with a huge number of creators and publishers. Indie press reported some brisk trade and Bryan Talbot sold all 60 of his copies of Alice in Sunderland at the event – complementing the sellout success of his fantastic new graphic novel. The Blink Twice and Brodie’s Law teams seemed on fine form, and there was much fun on the Panini stand thanks to its Dalek (not, as far as we know, a regular member of the Doctor Who Magazine staff).

After hours gatherings were equally crazed and as usual the hotel bar was packed and pretty raucous thanks to Eurovision parties taking place. The Eagle Awards went more smoothly and there was good news for Moonface Press who won an award for Hero Killers – congrats to them.

There’s a feeling that the event might be beginning to outgrow the railway shed it takes place in, but it seemed all right to me. Great to see, as usual, such a great mix of both pro publishers (Titan, Panini, Cinebooks, Markosia etc), indies and the manga contingent.

Special thanks to Mike Allwood and the team for a great weekend!

About the Author
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John Freeman

John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.