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Nerd Cons in Brum: UK Games Expo 2017

I have ineffably fond memories of last year’s UK Games Expo… if only because it was part of the tail-end of 2016 before Britain lost its fucking mind and fell for complete and utter bullshit. Right, now that I’ve got that out of my system, I can get onto the actual convention.

As far as I can recall, there are two things I’ve never done at the Expo: booked in the full three days, and done a full day of roleplaying. The reasons were mostly logistical (it’s a good 40-60 minutes from my place to the NEC by train), but after using up some annual leave and 20 minutes on Trivago, I managed to get a three-day ticket and two nights at the Yardley Travelodge, a mere 20 minutes by bus to my destination. Continue reading →

Nerd Cons in Brum: MCM Birmingham Comic Con, Spring 2016

By the time this comes out, the juggernaut that is The MCM  Group will have left the NEC once again, only to return in Autumn. Last time I attended the convention, I got rather huffy over of going on a Saturday (the very idea!) as the last time I did it was far too noisy for my delicate sensibilities. Well, I decided to throw caution to the wind and go there yesterday (I considered going on both days, but my wallet protested most vociferously).

Well, it seems my fears were (mostly) unfounded. True, there were a few times where the aisle I happened to be in resembled Spaghetti Junction in the late afternoon, but for the most part the crowds stayed on the right side of “busy”, and everyone was having a good time, which is as it should be. As for the price hike in tickets, that was ameliorated by simply buying one online – this meant I “only” spent £11, instead of the downright extortionate £15 I had to fork over last time. Continue reading →

100 All-Time Greatest Comics… Improved: Yet another interlude

I’ve talked about the main problem I have with the list Imagine Publishing came up with several times, and I figured now would be as good a time as any to bring it up now; some of the comics just aren’t that great. Not that they’re bad (but there are a few of those, which I’ll get to later on) but they just don’t qualify as all-time greats.

I mean, I understand softballing people who are new to comics (incidentally, everyone who worries about picking up a comic halfway through the story… don’t. Comics nowadays are very considerate about bringing johnny-come-latelys up to speed, and DC and Marvel have their own wikis, so just look up the previous issue if you’re confused). But there’s a difference between going easy and just going for the safe option. Continue reading →

100 All-Time Greatest Comics… Improved: An Interlude

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I thought now would be as good a time as any to explain my own thought processes behind this odd little case of editing after the fact. As I keep saying, this publication isn’t a bad list… it’s just quite frustrating. There are some genuinely amazing comics in there… and there are some bloody odd ones too, and I don’t mean the nice kind of “odd”. I’ve been quite nice so far, but there’s going to be at least one update in the near future where that won’t be the case. Continue reading →

Nerd Cons in Brum: MCM Birmingham Comic Con

While it’s perhaps the most well-known geeky convention in the West Midlands (local press showing up to photograph the best cosplayers doesn’t hurt) Birmingham Comic Con can be a victim of its own success; they’ve had to rent out a nearby hall just so people can queue to get in. On top of that, I’ve had to stop going on Saturdays, because frankly it’s just too busy on its first day for an old duffer like me. In my defence, the last time I went on a Saturday I was in a human traffic jam for the majority of my visit.

However, I’m not being entirely fair to MCM. They’ve clearly revised their layout plans since then to give far more room for congoers to walk about, without sacrificing floor space for vendors of neat stuff that actually comes from Japan, you guys. Continue reading →

Female Comics Creators: The Good, The Bad & The Problematic

I’ve noticed a fair amount of controversy these past few years over the rise of female writers and artists in comic books these days. Some say it’s leading to the gentrification of comics, edging out good stories, characters and creators in favour of bland, oh-so-quirky stories where super-smart female protagonists get to call out Obvious McStrawman on his mean ol’ misogyny. Others point out that the usual male power fantasy has ruled the roost for too long, and it’s time for a wider breadth of genres to flourish by letting new blood into a rather nepotistic industry.

I want to go on record and say that I like to think that I belong more to the second camp than the first – the idea that male comic fans have to play gatekeeper to keep the cooties out of our special club is just plain silly. On the other hand, it’d be just as foolish to pretend that somebody is incapable of writing or drawing a bad comic purely by virtue of their gender.

To help organise my own feelings on the subject, I’ve decided to go over some female-created comics that I feel are being praised less for being good comics and more for being written and/or drawn by women. By the same token, I know all too well that it’s easy to criticise without contributing so I am also going to take the time to suggest comics in a similar vein that are, frankly, a lot better than the ones I’m covering in this blog post. Continue reading →