What kind of fan are you?

[alanultron5]

I can't get to any now Lew due to my health- but when I did, I was a bit disappointed that there were so few UK titles- apart from `Fantastic` and `Terrific` Even at London ones they were over 90% US stuff (Marvel D.C etc!) I never once saw an old Sparky all my time of going to them (Late 70s to early 2,000`s)

I did get chatting to a few other attendees- mostly about the "Dr Strange" storyline in `Strange Tales` issues 136 to 168 (1966-68). We did touch on UK comics a bit- but they really didn't know about `Sparky` much! I enlightened them though!

[colcool007]

I have been to three conventions- One in Bristol years ago, and twice ( or was it thrice?) to the Leeds Thought Bubble. I am glad to have met Eddie Campbell and Posy Simmonds. I had a good time at all three but they were expensive and not the kind of thing I feel like doing all the time.

I often feel alienated in the world of comics fans simply because so many of them are fans of very different comics to me. I didn't grow up on Marvel or DC or even 2000AD. I grew up on DC Thomson and IPC humour and football titles, and Asterix and Tintin, graduated to American indie comics like Eightball and Love and Rockets, caught up on past classics such as Krazy Kat, EC comics and Segar's Popeye, and got deep into self-published small press stuff (I put some of my own comics out this way) and have a smattering of works by the likes of Alan Moore, and samples of other non-mainstream odds and ends from world comics that have interested me. I don't usually like superhero comics and am hard to impress with sci-fi, crime, or horror. In short, it is hard for me to sustain a conversation about comics with other random comics fans. In fact I am wary of outing myself as a comics reader because people usually jump to the wrong conclusion.

But that's comics for you! A very broad church.

As I grew up in the 1970s in the county of Angus or Tayside if you prefer, there was little chance of escaping the ever present D C Thomson publications. My love of comics started from when I first began to read. And once I started, I just did not want to stop. I sort of moved away during my early 20s but then I realised that I just enjoyed them too much to give them up so ended up going back to them after I met with my wife who is as much a fan as I. Like Dishes, I have a very broad interest in comics. I have Binky Brown Meets The Holy Virgin Mary staring at me, I am about to scoot off to pick up that wonderful collection of early Commandos and the man has told me that he has even more 50s and 60s comics! I've got a Saltire bag, various annuals, the Sergio Aragones coffee table book not to mention that Ian Kennedy has just phoned me! I love Asterix but never got into TinTin.

I will admit that it took a while for me to out myself as a comic fan, but I got to the stage where if people cannot accept me as I am, then they are not worthy of my time and effort. And I enjoy the comics far too much to give them up. Now excuse me while I go and chortle over Jim Stewart's Meerkat posters.

[Lew Stringer]

I can't get to any now Lew due to my health- but when I did, I was a bit disappointed that there were so few UK titles- apart from `Fantastic` and `Terrific` Even at London ones they were over 90% US stuff (Marvel D.C etc!) I never once saw an old Sparky all my time of going to them (Late 70s to early 2,000`s)

Yes, the lack of old UK comics at marts and cons has always been disappointing, and they're less likely than ever to be seen at cons these days. Conventions now are mainly for people into the current UK/US comics scene rather than back issues, although perhaps there's still a chance of finding a few old British comics at comic marts. It's not really worth travelling out of one's way though just on the slim hope there might be British comics from yesteryear at such events.

[Phoenix]

not to mention that Ian Kennedy has just phoned me!

There's really nothing to compare with a bit of juicy name-dropping, is there, Col?

[starscape]

When I sold at conventions, US comics sold waaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than UK ones, even though everyone else was selling the US ones too. But I still always liked to have a few.

ABC was a British mart of course but the prices were generally pretty steep.

[philcom55]

The first few years of Memorabilia at Birmingham's NEC were the best source of old British comics I ever found. Unfortunately they hardly bother with comics at all now!

[Lew Stringer]

The first few years of Memorabilia at Birmingham's NEC were the best source of old British comics I ever found. Unfortunately they hardly bother with comics at all now!

Yes, those first Memorabilia Shows were ideal for all kinds of UK collectables. I bought some 1960s Daily Mirrors there, and old UK comics. Nothing like that there now MCM have taken over.

Are the ABC Shows still running? I've only been to the one I was a guest at but they had a lot of British comics. Not really a convention as we know them but it seemed a good little event.

[colcool007]

not to mention that Ian Kennedy has just phoned me!

There's really nothing to compare with a bit of juicy name-dropping, is there, Col?

Damn straight! Alas it was to let me know that someone I would have liked to have interviewed is no longer able to. A shame, but that just means that I will be relying on other people memories for another of my unsung heroes pieces.

However on the good news front, I understand that Keith Shone is still going strong and his paintings can be viewed at this gallery. They are truly worth having a look at.

[tony ingram]

The first few years of Memorabilia at Birmingham's NEC were the best source of old British comics I ever found. Unfortunately they hardly bother with comics at all now!

I used to go there every year at one time, sad to hear it's apparently gone downhill.

[stevezodiac]

We should have a yellow card smilie for anyone who refers to "DC Thompson"

[Adam Eterno]

We should have a yellow card smilie for anyone who refers to "DC Thompson"

That's taking the "p"!

[paw broon]

Having attended a number of cons and organised and run some as well a long time ago, I don't go to them often nowadays. I've sat with, chatted with, got drunk with, had dinner with, fallen off my seat laughing with many pros and fans over the decades and as I get older, I feel I've done all that. I just don't have the stamina for it any more. Mind, a couple of the pros I still communicate with have said they sometimes feel the same.
The thing is that when I was doing all that con stuff I wasn't talking comics with those pros, rather just normal patter. To illustrate that bit about not talking comic business and just to do a Colin here, when I had dinner in France with Mike Richardson, he suggested we should avoid comic talk. We did and the conversation was excellent, although I think he had a bit of trouble with my accent at first, but that just added to the fun.
Panels never appealed much and I wasn't interested to any great extent in how creators went about their work. So now I go to marts on the off chance something rare that interests me turns up - or something that fills a gap in a collection.
All that said, I do miss the human interaction at cons and as Lew points out, there are cons here in Scotland. So, despite all the queuing up outside in the cold - even when you have a pre-paid ticket - I fancy a wee visit to one this year. And that's knowing that there will be hardly any older British comics for sale.
When I started going to marts in London, traveling down overnight on the train or coach, I knew there would be lots to enjoy. For instance, at the Westminster marts, there was a table with piles of pocket libraries at very affordable prices and being a bit thick at the time and ignorant of the wonders in Thriller Picture and Super Detective Libraries, I didn't buy them, instead heading for the older American stuff. One of the first purchases was The Double Life of Private Strong #1 (Archie, Kirby, The Shield - doesn't get much better!) and I still have it and have added #2 to my collection.
The finished product is what interests me but back then, the social side of simply having a good evening in good company was great fun.

[big bad bri]

when i first started collecting marvel and DC when secret wars started i used to go to the westminster and kings cross marts every month and would more often than not spend all my money on 1st table i came to it took months to learn the further in you went the cheaper the tables were,i used to see english comics often stuffed under the tables of american stuff but wasn't really interested as i was big into marvel by then and was buying my weekly comics eagle buster etc from my newsagent so was happy with that,with hindsight i would have got my english stuff as marvels are easy to come buy and british stuff not and not within my budget when they do pop up on ebay as some people haven't got a clue as to the value and charge way over the odds.
I would often drag my little brother along to these marts as i was often stuck babysitting him and yes i lost him in the packed halls more than once and got whupped for dragging him down central london lol.I do miss those marts and if i could afford it would go again and see what british comics if any they had.

[alanultron5]

In the early 1980s I was able to attend a couple of London fairs due to my helping out a local dealer (Calling himself `Boz Trader`) He drove me down. In spare time from helping out on his stall- I was able to look around and find a few 1971 `Countdown` comics. There were some 1960s `Dr Who` annuals on the walls behind a couple of the bigger stalls. I think they were priced between £30 to £70 which was pretty high in those days! (No E.bay back then!) Saw No DC Thomson or IPC stuff though.

One stall had, what it termed, original comic art. Some I later discovered where from the Lion Strip "The Spider" and a strip called "The Waxer" I didn't know artist was Reg Bunn then!

[Kashgar]

It may seem strange that someone who has thirsted for knowledge on comics and their creators for over forty years has had so little to do with conventions but that is certainly true in my case.
I think for a good number of years the relative scarcity of conventions, certainly within easy reach, was a factor as were work and family and for these reasons, in the end, I just never got into the habit.