Ok Folks... It's now official. The weekend of December the 9th and 10th this Year sees the opening of the first Birmingham International Comics Show! Organised by Myself, James Hodgkins, and Andy Baker (with a little help from our friends).
It will be held at the Famous Custard Factory Arts Complex, which is only a short walk from the centre of the City. Here's a link: www.custardfactory.com
There will be International and UK guests appearing, with lots of events planned all weekend,plus 30 tables have been allocated for small press and Indy publishers. (Including Scar Comics of course!) There will be an exclusive Convention Bar open 'till late, and the first day of the convention will also be going on late with events and signings. There will shortly be a website up at: www.thecomicsshow.co.uk so keep checking that for more information as it unfolds. Tables for self publishers and small pressers are only 70 pounds for the whole weekend, or if you wish to share a table with another publisher (Saturday for one, and Sunday for the other) the price is 35 pounds for a single day. This is half the price of a Dealer table so a great bargain, as we are aiming to attract at least 1000 visitors, with a huge advertising and marketing campaign.
The website is still under construction, so if you'd like to find out more, you can email me - for now - at: shane@smallzone-comics-shop.com
I'd like to. A weekend in December is a busy time to be away from the shop, and this Willy Fogg's got a globe that's not going to trott itself. But I doo like custard.
More top guests are now confirmed for the show including: Hunt Emerson, Paul Grist, Andy Diggle, Andi Watson and all the way from the US...exclusive Marvel artist Skottie Young.
I don't know about you, but I know I can't wait until December 9th!! More guests to be confirmed.
As far as we could tell the show was a huge success. Feedback has been 90% positive, and we plan an even bigger event for next year.
US guests confirmed so far include: Mike Mignola, Adam Hughes, John Cassaday and Michael Golden. All of our UK guests want to come back, and many have written to us, expressing thanks for a great show.
I hope you can make it to next year's show mate, as it's being moved to earlier in the year, probably September. Hope to see you there!
all the best, Shane www.thecomicsshow.co.uk www.smallzone.co.uk
Just to let you know...this years show happens on the weekend of October 13th - 14th at our new bigger venue...The Think Tank at Millennium Point.
Guests include: Mike Mignola, Adi Granov, Mike McMahon, Kevin Nowlan, Esad Ribic, Dave Gibbons, Bryan Talbot, Sean Phillips, Mike Carey, and many many more top names.
Hope you can make it along this year..would be great to see you there. Check out our new website at: www.thecomicsshow.co.uk
We now have a very special launch party going ahead on the Friday night.
All guests, and Exhibitors are invited, along with the first 300 advanced registered visitors. So if you've already registered in advance for the show, you'll be glad to know that you are automatically on the guest list.
To find out more check out the new dedicated webpage at: www.thecomicsshow.co.uk/launchparty.htm
Just a quick update for any Anime fans on here: There will be Screrenings of the new Neruto Movie, new Bleach Episodes and the latest Hellboy Animated Movie on the Sunday in room two...and it's free!
I'm really looking forward to the Birmingham International Comics Show. It's the fist big show I've been to in years. The line up of guests and events looks great. It's only a couple of hours away from Leeds (where most of our forumites live) so I recommend everybody who can, get the train down there and comic yourself right up.
Transformers fans are in for a treat at this year's Birmingham International Comics Show!
Not only do they get the chance to see the new Transformers Movie in IMAX format on Europe's largest IMAX Cinema, but all paying attendees to the show get a 10% discount too!
I did have a great time. I found my way round Birmingham city centre much more easily than I expected. The hotel I was staying in was OK. At the launch party on Friday night I met up with my friend Mike. Bennets is a pretty swanky bar, not usually populated by slightly balding, slightly over weight men in Punisher shirts. There were plenty of comic creators there for anybody who wanted to spot themI was starting to think that THIS comics industry is not the comics industry I understand, but after a few more pints, and spotting a few more people that I knew, I really started having a good time. I ended the evening drinking with a few other retailers and a few lads from Diamond Comic Distributors. I was the most drunk I've been for about a year and was quite ill when I made it to the hotel. In the morning I headed, blurry eyed, to the event. I didn't have a clue where it was and nobody I asked about it seemed to know either... until I found one helpful Brummy who walked me almost the whole way there. The event was held in Think Tank at Millennium Point, kind of a modern museum that looked to have links with all the local colleges. And it had an Imax too. Think Tank is the science but. It was a great venue, plenty of space to escape to from the stuffy dealer room, a bar, a cafe. All very modern and clean. It's a shame the building wasn't busier with locals, it may have drawn in a few more people. The dealer room wasn't your traditional comic mart. It was mainly taken over by small press comic creators pimping there own comics. There was some absolutely fantastic stuff there. Really inspirational. I didn't make it to any of the talks on the Saturday, in fact I went back to the hotel quite early. Still recovering from the previous night. Just as I was about to go to sleep I got a call from a mate and I ended up meeting him in town for a few drinks. Thankfully, we were all as worse for ware as each other so it wasn't too large. Sunday morning, I did make it to the event in time for the Small Press Future panel. Which was a pretty light hearted affair. I spent the rest of the morning chatting to comic creators and inviting some of them to send their stuff to OK so we can stock it here. I left in the early afternoon and was home inn time for antiques roadshow. All in all it was a great weekend, though I wish I hadn't drunk so much. The venue was the best venue I've ever been to a comic convention, despite been a bit further from the city centre than I thought it would be. The highlights of the weekend for me were watching a friend fall drunkenly down some steps and face plant into another mans groin, and seeing 500 people walking about with OK Comics Kapowch's... Same time next year?
