Wednesday 5 June 2013

Pull list 05/06/13 the "not so much Big Two as Big Who" edition

As our time with out current suppler / LCS winds down, so does our list of books. Now that Wrath of the First Lantern (or whatever the latest Green Lantern universe event was called, we are down to a very small number of DC books, and were it not for Marvel bringing out Kick-Ass 3, they wouldn't even show on the list at all this week.

Image once again reign supreme as my favourite publisher, a trend that I anticipate will continue as we wend our way into the murky waters of finding a new weekly supplier. I swear, reading / buying comic books is worse than having a drug habit! On which unsavoury note, here are the weeks books...

DC

Green Lantern #21 

DYNAMITE

Garth Ennis Red Team #3

IDW

Colonized #3 

Locke & Key Omega #5

IMAGE

68 Jungle Jim #3 

Bedlam #7

East Of West #3

MARVEL

Kick-Ass 3 #1

INDYS

Uber #2 

Herobear And The Kid Special #1 

Thursday 30 May 2013

Pull list 30/5/13 - the "delayed because of another bank holiday" edition

Thanks to a combination of the bank holiday and my lcs having the worst courier company in the world, this weeks book have been delayed by a day.

The entire world seems to be looking forward to the new Brain Wood take on the (all female) X-Men, but I will be totally honest and admit I am only getting it to make sure that my run of Skottie Young baby variant covers is complete! If I enjoy the first issue then I'll pick up the first trade when it comes out, but I'm not going in with any expectations.

On with the list then...

Dark Horse:

Dragon Age Until We Sleep #3

DC:

Justice League Of America #4 

IDW:

Danger Girl Trinity #2 
My Little Pony Micro-Series #4 Fluttershy 

Image:

Lost Vegas #3 e
Mind The Gap #10 
Thief Of Thieves #14

Marvel

X-Men #1 - Skottie Young Baby Cover

Wednesday 22 May 2013

Pull list 22/05/13 - the "Lantern heavy" edition

It's almost like the old days looking at this weeks picks, eleven new books coming out!

It should be a good week for MrGiantwoman, he has four new DC books this week, plus new Deadpool and the second issue of the bizarre (but rather good) Miniature Jesus.

From my point of view Revival is one of those books that just keeps getting better and better, so I'll be settling in with that (and maybe a cheeky glass of wine) this evening.

DC

Batman Lil Gotham #2

Flash #20 

Green Lantern New Guardians #20 (Wrath Of The First Lantern Tie-In)

Green Lantern #20 (Wrath Of The First Lantern Tie-In)

Red Lanterns #20 (Wrath Of The First Lantern Tie-In)

Image

Five Ghosts Haunting Of Fabian Gray #3

Miniature Jesus #2

Revival #10

Marvel

Deadpool Vol #10

Indys

Adventure Time #16 

Adventure Time Fionna & Cake #5 


Wednesday 15 May 2013

Pull list 15/05/13 - the "my money saving plan is finally working" edition


So, finally the pull list is down to a manageable number of titles, and I can stop despairing at the size of the "to be read"  long box, and actually start reading some of them!

Fingers crossed this will mean a few more articles coming up on here in the near future.

Saving money may have just been ruined though, as I've been offered a ticket to MCM at the end of the month, and I can't decide whether to trust my brain and pass on it, or to use my normal approach and grab it with both hands. Hmm...

While I ponder, here are this weeks books:

DC

Fables #129

Dynamite

Bionic Man vs Bionic Woman #5

IDW

My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic #7 

Image

It Girl & The Atomics #10



Wednesday 8 May 2013

Pull list 08/05/13 - the "I wonder if the bank holiday will mess up the delivery this week" edition!

After a great time at Free Comic Book Day in London, visiting Orbital and Forbidden Planet - managing not to pick up any free books in the process - it is a nice quiet week for myself and MrGiantwoman, which might be even quieter if the delivery hasn't turned up today. Only one way to find out!

Without further ado, here is today's list:

DARK HORSE

Star Wars (Dark Horse) #5

DC

Green Lantern Corps #20 (Wrath Of The First Lantern Tie-In)

Justice League Of America #3 

IDW

Rocketeer Hollywood Horror #4

Chin Music #1

MARVEL

Deadpool #9

INDEPEDENTS

Uber #1

Plus of course an FCBD titles that we asked them to get for us!



Wednesday 1 May 2013

Pull list 01/05/13 - the "calm before the storm" edition

A nice quiet week, which I can do the before the Green Lantern 1:1 scale replica I am expecting some time in the next couple of weeks turns up. The LCS got a job lot of Green Lantern trades in last week and somehow (no names mentioned MrGiantwoman...) a number have ended up in our box. A quiet day today should give me a chance to grab a couple of those, as I need some GL inspiration for a potential cosplay that is currently in the works...

Once again Image take the lead, although only two books this week are for me, and neither are Image, shockingly. 


DC

Fairest #15 - looking forward to reading Sean Williams new storyline.

Dynamite

Game of Thrones #14

IDW

Colonized #2

Image

68 Jungle Jim #2

Epic Kill #10



Wednesday 24 April 2013

Pull list 24/04/13 the "Jupiters Legacy comes out at last" edition

Iron Man 3 comes out tomorrow. I have avoided all teasers, trailers, spoilers, photos, screenshots, you name it! As with Avengers and Amazing Spider-Man last year, I am going in to the cinema tomorrow with a totally clean palette, hoping for an awesome film experience with no preconceptions. It had better be good, I've got the whole day off work for it!

On the comic book front, "Jupiters Legacy" comes out this week. I am excited. That is all. 

Dark Horse

Dragon Age Until We Sleep #2

DC

Before Watchmen Comedian #6
Flash #19
Red Lanterns #19 (Wrath Of The First Lantern Tie-In)

IDW

My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic #6
My Little Pony Micro-Series #3 Rarity

Image

East Of West #2
Jupiters Legacy #1
Lost Vegas #2

Marvel

Deadpool Killustrated #4
Deadpool #8

Indy

Adventure Time #15

Wednesday 17 April 2013

Pull list 17/04/13 - the "50% Image" edition

Well, another week, another trip to see what we will or  won't get! Plenty of new titles out this week that we are looking forward too, and it seems that I can officially call myself an Image fan girl now. 7 out of 14 books from one publisher? Eep!

A bit of new Danger Girl to keep MrGiantwoman out of trouble is always good, and hopefully the latest edition to the 'Wrath of the First Lantern" series from DC will mean it is drawing to a close, for the sake of my wallet if nothing else.

DC

Green Lantern New Guardians #19

Fables #128

DYNAMITE

Bionic Man vs Bionic Woman #4

IDW

Colonized #1 Regular Dave Sim Cover - missed from last weeks pull!

Danger Girl Trinity #1 

IMAGE

Five Ghosts Haunting Of Fabian Gray #2

It Girl & The Atomics #9

Mara #4

Miniature Jesus #1 

Revival #9

Thief Of Thieves #13

Todd The Ugliest Kid On Earth #4

MARVEL

Captain Marvel #12

INDEPENDENTS

Adventure Time #15

Sunday 14 April 2013

MrGiantwoman speaks: Dark World (1992)


I think an early sign that a game is going to be fun is when you open the box for the first time and gaze in wonder at all you behold before you. Is it a vast box that when opened reveals a small deck of cards huddling in the corner? Maybe you need a caravan of camels just to transport all of the components because against all logic it will clearly longer fit back in the box it came in? Or perhaps it is just a very well designed box with every component nestled in its own little space. Add in to the above the randomness of buying board games from a car boot sale or charity shop, and you also have the joy of opening a game and not knowing if you will find alof it in the box.

What does any of this have to do with Dark World? Well, recently our regular gaming friends brought over a box that had been purchased a few years before in a field somewhere in the south of England...




We started to set up the game which is a fun endeavour itself. Little doors that open need to be attached to the walls and hinges, then once attached to the walls all slot together and clip to the board and form a pretty sturdy gaming area. It took three of us a while to get this bit right as there is only one way the board fits together! Meanwhile at the other end of the table our friend who for this evening had taken on the guise of KORAK THE COBRAN, was building the castle and placing himself upon the throne. The next few hours we would spend trying to remove him from this lofty seat and claim the legendary MACE OF CHAOS (sadly missing from this copy of the game) thus winning the game.





We all chose the heroes that we would use to attempt this mighty quest, and we were given our starting weapons. Myself - the dwarf (attracted to fine, large helmets and jewelled weapons) - received an axe, the ranger was given a sword, and finally the Barbarian was given a small bit of card found in the box earlier along with some bent pipe cleaner as the cudgel was lost to the same fickle fates as the Mace.

Once the playing field had been assembled and most of the rules had been gone through we set about playing. Since the missing Mace was the randomiser that determined which order the players go in (none of this left of dealer then proceed counter clockwise business here) we used a D6. This interesting touch means that each turn is different, and ensures people are paying attention!

Each turn goes in a fairly traditional manner, each player can make 3 actions (which include combat, moving etc) fighting your way towards the amusingly named DOOMSTEP and onwards up the castle itself. During this time Korak is constantly fighting back with hoards of monsters, assigning magic items to them when they die and directing their movements around the board, even unleashing the terrifying HAUNTER, that we dubbed “Mr Woo” because of the noise we all made when he randomly went across the board, killing everything he touched.

When travelling around you can pick up ever popular Healing potion which can bring you back into the fight again in no time, also there are speed boots which give you a free turn when used, and the fireball grenade, and for the dedicated explorer there are special upgraded golden weapons which give you an extra die in combat. These golden weapons are worthy of note, they are actual physical golden coloured weapons you find in tiny chests that you have to pick up to look inside and replace the weapon in your characters hands. Very rewarding!

Obviously with all these evil minions roaming about the place even the mightiest hero gets knocked out from time to time and sure enough one by one , we all fell. This meant that our character when back to the starting space, and spend a turn healing up at the Fountain of Healing, and you were on your way again. This might sound like a rather minor inconvenience, but as the game progressed we had to travel further and further from the starting area to fight the monsters and to get to the castle, dying became more and more perilous. The Dwarf was hit by the terrifying “Mr Woo” on numerous occasions, and spent a lot of time travelling, and considering you can only move three spaces it took a while. There were secret doors, but I could not roll high enough to use them which resulted in the dwarf mindlessly staring at the wall for a good number of turns, all the while the other characters were shooting past me getting back into the fight. It turns out later that on the starting square there is a teleport, which instantly transports you too the last opened door, which if we knew about sooner would have made the game a bit quicker!




Eventually we made it to the throne room and fought the vile Korak, and were victorious! The Barbarian as the first to claim the space where the Mace of Chaos should have been thus ended the game, but alas the noble helmet loving dwarf had the most points overall and won the game. This is in no small part down to the fact that I spent a good portion of the end game staring at a wall, trying to find a secret door, while the Ranger and the Barbarian burnt through their accumulated points fighting the final defensive hoard. After we got it back in the box, it struck me. This game was like a B-Movie, it was a really good evening of playing, and we all had a lot of fun playing it, but it was missing the polish and the flare of other games of its type. Not as flamboyant as the Dark Tower, or as well rounded as Hero Quest, but if you happen across this little gem out in the wild you can do a lot worse than spending a couple of hours playing this!



El_Gringo (aka MrGiantwoman)

Wednesday 10 April 2013

Pull list 10/04/13 - the 'sub-ten books' edition

Finally, getting to have a quiet week! I am not sure how the reaction is going to be when I go in to get the books this week, as it will be the first time seeing the shop owner(s) since cancelling all the orders, but only time will tell. 

I don't expect we will get Star Wars, as they still don't have issue #2 for us, but the others are regulars or ones ordered from Previews, so here's hoping!

DC

Star Wars (Dark Horse) #4

Batman Lil Gotham

Green Lantern Corps #19  (Wrath Of The First Lantern Tie-In)

Threshold #4

IDW

Rocketeer Hollywood Horror #3 

Image

Saga #12

Marvel

Wolverine Vol 5 #2 Regular Alan Davis Cover

Secret Service #6

Independents

Adventure Time Fionna & Cake #4 


Sunday 7 April 2013

Pull list

I made a big decision last week. I talked it over with MrGiantwoman, and we agreed that it was for the best for our future. I'm not talking about coming off all my medication (although I have done that recently too), I'm talking about cancelling our entire pull list with our local comic shop. The entire thing, some 50+ titles per month. This was obviously a massive choice for us to make, given that the shop is a mere fifteen minute walk from my work, and they have been good enough to us in the past to let us have books on credit the week before pay day, all three staff from the shop came to my 30th birthday party last year, and we recently went to London Super Comic Con with the two shop owners. So why did we do it?!

Part of it is to do with money. Everyone is tightening their belts again this year, the cost of living has gone up again and there is no sign of a payrise on the horizon for many of us, so spending the crazy amount we were on books just wasn't feasible in the long term. Plus we are still paying off our trip to NYCC last year and trying to work out how we can get back to the States to see all our awesome friends out there again, sooner rather than later.

It wasn't just that though. For me it was an emotional l decision. I get very stressed and anxious about the littlest things, which affects my health. New comic book day is supposed to be fun, and time to chat to your friends, discuss what each of you is picking up, post pictures online of your haul, and have a good time reading the new issues. 

But it isn't for us any more. 

Every week I would get an impending sense of dread as my lunch break approached, wondering which books we would be missing this week. You may have noticed that I tend to post my pull list online prior to visiting the shop each Wednesday. I actually started doing that to save myself printing off copy of my list to take with me every week, as I have to meticulously check off each book to make sure we have it. It was okay though, because every week there would be two or more books in our box that we neither asked for nor had ever expressed an interest in... Oh no wait, it's the other one. The one where that doesn't make it okay, it makes it worse. The last three books they missed from our list were Mind The Gap, Deadpool and Flash. If you've met (or know) MrGiantwoman and I, you will know why this is an major issue. Add that to the fact that we have been going to this shop for over two years, and you may start to see why I stopped looking forward to the trip.

I am going to absolve myself of blame for the missed books too, as every month we would leaf through the latest issue of Previews borrowing it at closing time on a Wednesday or Thursday, then dropping it back in before they opened the next day so that no-one would miss out on taking a look, along with a list of all the title we would like in addition to those we already have. Only last month they decided that if we wanted to look at it we would have to buy a copy. Fair enough, they are a business, they need to make money. Would have been nice if they had told us before they sold all their copies though, so we could not make a list for June, this not including the fact that they called me at work to demand their copy back. The one I hadn't borrowed...

I don't want this to turn in to a list of complaints about a shop that won't be able to respond (they are all technophobes after all) but the other main issue I had was their organisation. I am a creature of habit. Every Wednesday I leave my office at the same time, take the same amount of time to walk to the lcs, and every week - without fail -  they will not have pulled my books for me. They have a book of orders you see, and we are pages 63 - 66 in the book. The lady that pulls the books doesn't make it past page 43-ish by 2:15pm on a Wednesday. Even if I phone ahead and remind her that I'll be in at 2:15pm. Sigh.

If I am going to spend £200+ in a shop each and every month I at least want them to show me a modicum of respect as a customer, and to make a bit of an effort to get my order right, and ready when I want it. Maybe I was spoiled by visiting the wonderful Tor Comics on Long Island, but the sense of community in that store, and the solid organisational core they had, was something to behold. Bearing in mind the relationship we thought we had with the two owners (they offered me a job recently), the fact that neither have been in touch to ask about our cancellation speaks volumes to me.

So, for the future (we will still take our books up to May due to their ordering process), who knows. After a recent visit to Orbital comics in London we might try their subscription service, if not it might be the corporate giant that is Forbidden Planet. We aren't going to go without our comic book, we just need a way of getting them into our desperate little mitts...

Tuesday 26 March 2013

Pull list 27/03/13 - the "two weeks in one go" edition


Didn't make it to the local comic store last week, so there are quite a lot of books to pick up this time round. So, without further preamble, here goes:

Dark Horse

Dragon Age Until We Sleep #1

DC

Green Lantern New Guardians #18(Wrath Of The First Lantern Tie-In)

Justice League Of America #2

Fables #127

Flash #18 

Red Lanterns #18 (Wrath Of The First Lantern Tie-In)

Dynamite

Bionic Man vs Bionic Woman #3

Garth Ennis Red Team #2

IDW

My Little Pony Micro-Series #2 Rainbow Dash 

My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic #5 

Transfusion #3 

Image

Five Ghosts Haunting Of Fabian Gray #1

It Girl & The Atomics #8

Revival #8

Saga #11

East Of West #1

Marvel

Captain Marvel #11

Deadpool #6 

Deadpool Killustrated #3

Independents

Adventure Time #14

Tuesday 12 March 2013

Pull list 15/03/13 - the "my money saving plan is finally working" edition

So, a (sort of) quiet week at last. Just in time for New York Comic Con to start announcing guests, and for me to start considering selling internal organs to get back there again this year!

Anyway, before I start sobbing in to my keyboard, this weeks books:

DC

Emily and the Strangers #2
Ghost #4
Start Wars #3 - if we actually get it, seeing as we're still waiting on issue #2!
Before Watchmen: Ozymandias #6
Green lantern Corps # 18 (Wrath of the First lantern tie in)

Dynamite

Game of Thrones #13

IDW

Rocketeer Hollywood Horror #2

Image

Mind The Gap #8 - absolutely cannot wait for this, still my favourite book of the moment
Todd The Ugliest Kid On Earth #3

Marvel

Wolverine #1 - very excited about a new Paul Cornell book, especially taking on a favourite character of mine. This could get expensive though, as I will probably end up buying the regular and Skottie Young covers!

On a different note, this should be a very good week for the comic reading community, as not only have those lovely folks over at Talking Comics got Jonathan Hickman on their show, but they will also have the one and only Matt Fraction coming in for a chat too - well done those guys! I highly recommend checking out their weekly podcast for all things comic related, published every Wednesday with book of the week reviews and lots of listener question and comment.

Right, time for me to delve back in to the world of Dr Wertham, which I am still struggling through chapter by eye-twitching chapter! 

Tuesday 5 March 2013

Pull list 06/03/13 -the "split decision" edition

Hmm, seem to have a bit of a two way split between myself and MrGiantwoman as to the top publisher this week, with his five DC titles (well, three, two are for me) equally the tally from my five Image titles. Once again, Marvel fail to even make the billing, with Boom! and IDW slipping in one title each on the sly!

Enough pre-amble, here is the list:


DC

Before Watchmen Rorschach #4 
Green Lantern #18 (Wrath Of The First Lantern Tie-In)
Insurgent #3
Lot 13 #5
Fairest #13

IDW

My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic #4 

Image

Bedlam #5
Epic Kill #9
Lost Vegas #1 
Mara #3
Repossessed #3

Boom!

Adventure Time Fionna & Cake #3 Regular Cover

I am especially looking forward to Lost Vegas, as proven by my going all fan girl about it on Talking Comics earlier today. 

I'm also looking forward to the end of the Before Watchmen series, not for the usual "event dragging on too long" AvX type reasons, but because I've been holding off reading most of them until they are all safely tucked away in my long boxes, so that I can read them all in one. 

The end is nigh!

Neonomicon

Neonomicon

Writer - Alan Moore
Artist - Jacen Burrows
Colour - Juanmar
Publisher - Avatar Press

I first heard about Neonomican when there was a controversy over it being withdrawn from an American library due to complaints about it's content from the mother of a teenage girl who borrowed it. Whilst I disagree with the religious standpoint from which she argued, having now read it I can see why she disliked her daughter being able to read it. Having read it earlier this evening, I am still trying to digest what I have read and seen.

The story is based around the Cthuhlu mythos of H.P. Lovecraft, and brings a number of other authors and texts in to give it a decidedly literary feel, but the creeping, unseen horror so prevalent within the original stories pervades throughout, even when the terror is given a face. Whilst we do not see or encounter the Great Old One himself, we are given glimpses of creatures from the tales of Lovecraft, initially through a decidedly clever plot twist involving the perils of short-sightedness. These give enough of the style of the original tales for it to work wonderfully.

The story revolves around a number of unsolved murders and the FBI agents who are entrusted with finding the killer or killers. Whilst the book may start off in a fairly standard crime solving fashion, it soon takes a darker turn, which to remain spoiler free I will refrain from going in to. The book as a whole serves as a great example of how implied horror can be wholly more terrifying than the simply showing gore or torture. I am a great fan of this style, and would much rather be given the scope to fill in the blanks myself - which often enables me to scare myself more than any words or images could.

I am not sure that I could suggest other readers pick up this book, unless they want to be genuinely disturbed, as some of the darker twists that Moore takes you through are honestly disturbing, and the artwork - when it does show you some of the more twisted images - is pretty damn freaky. The book not only shows you the darker side of comic books, but it also explores some grander ideas about the nature of time and space, and our place within it. If you want a book that will disturb you and make you think, then by all means pick up Neonomicon. Just don't read it before bed time...

Wednesday 27 February 2013

London Super Comic Con 2013 - a summary


So, now that the dust has settled and I have gotten over my latest bout of con induced nerd-flu, it's time for me to recap what was once again a great weekend at the ExCel centre.

Starting off on the Friday, we helped the guys from Uncanny Comics in Worthing load the van with swag (and thankfully our suitcase!) then headed up to London on the train, in my case accompanied by Seduction of the Innocent, the now much maligned Dr Wertham treatise on why comics were the root of all evil in the 1950s. sadly for my fellow passengers, especially given the knowledge (recently revealed) that large amounts of it are bunk, I found it to be a rather amusing read, prompting many looks from my fellow travellers as I laughed and chuckled my way through the first few chapters.

Upon arriving we were very disappointed by the shoddy reception at the Ibis ExCel Docklands, but once we blagged our way through security in the centre to pick up our passes - Mr Giantwoman exchanging nods and smiles with George Perez on the way - we were in and unpacking with the guys. The pre-con room looked pretty huge, but once it started filling up with dealers and exhibitors it started looking a lot more like I remembered it from last year.

Once we were all set we took a sneaky look around to get our bearings, then headed off to wash up and meet a friend for dinner. Which accidentally involved wine. Then we slipped and fell on the way back to our hotel, landing in the bar of the Novotel (seeing as our hotel didn't have a bar at the time!), managing to meet up with some fellow con-goers, including the talented Joe Ward and friends. Oh, and we may have accidentally supped on a Talisker and three whilst there...

Saturday dawned bright and a little too early for our liking, so we schlepped back to the Novotel for breakfast (yep, no restaurant in our hotel either!), then got a call from our lovely twitter friend Phil to get our cosplay on for the day. He may have over-estimated our skills, asking us to apply his Cable scar and hair colour, but a mere hour or so later our Victorian-style X-Men were all set and we headed in to the centre. As with last year, we got to walk past a number of bemused looking patrons of the Baby Expo that was on, many of whom did not seem to appreciate my homemade Wolverine claws as much as they clearly should have done! I am always a bit nervous about wearing a new cosplay, but as we were asked for photos before we even made it through the doors, my fears were allayed pretty fast. Cable, Gambit and lady Wolverine (or Wolverette as Joe suggested) were having fun.

Saturday was taken up with snapping up lots of swag, one of my best purchases being the slipcase box set of Freekangels, complete with artist signature and a cheeky sketch inside of the first book. We were all pleased to be asked for a few photos here and there, and despite being asked to help out on the stall once or twice managed to fit a couple of cheeky pints of cider in around lunchtime, and picked up a fair few more books too, including the brilliant Manhattan Projects by Jonathan Hickman, which is highly recommended by both of us. Sadly the list for Mark Buckingham sketches was full by the time I got to him, but Phil got a lovely Madea to adorn his walls, as well as picking up a few other quality pieces he had ordered in advance.

The evening led to a few more drinks, still in costume in my case, with another twitter friend, Rosie (a great artist who drew the Zatanna adoring my lounge wall) and her mister, then a slightly earlier night before the second day of madness. We did manage to make our hotel room look like something out of a spy movie though, as there were liquid latex bottles and contact lens cases left over from Cable, and Mr Giantwoman had to cut his Gambit hair off with clippers ready for his Sunday costume. Helpful hint kids - don't drink several pints of cider then try to cut your own hair. You may need help!

Sunday morning was moderately less painful, and saw us costuming up in Firefly garb, myself as Kaylee and Mr Giantwoman in his Wash outfit. After breakfast he went back to the room to tidy up (oops!) and I headed down to get in the queue for the Dan Slott signing, making it fifth in line thanks to my magic exhibitor pass. Despite that, it was still a good hour - and a terrifying nerd-stampede when the doors officially opened - before I was able to get a couple of books signed, mostly thanks to the guys in front of me having between 15 and 30 books EACH to have signed. Grr! All of that went by the wayside though, when Mr Slott applauded my Kaylee outfit. Day made.

Once I was all done there we met up with Phil and his lovely wife Bims, or Jayne and Zoe as they were for the day. Our costumes went down even better than those of the day before, and all my worries went by the wayside once again. I didn't think my day could get much better, then I tried my luck again with Mark Buckingham, and whilst he wasn't able to fit in a sketch for me, he gave me a postcard with a drawing of Alice in Wonderland that he had done, and was slightly shocked at how madly happy that made me. I literally jumped up and down in excitement, Alice being my favourite book and character of all time. Day made, again.

But wait, there is more! A few times I got roped in to covering for the Uncanny guys as they went off buying bits and pieces and chatting to friends in the business, and as I was talking to the chap on the stall next to theirs, I mentioned the wonderful Sandman bookends on the Diamond stand opposite, which will hopefully be making an appearance in Previews - and therefore my house - quite soon. He mentioned to his boss that I was a fan of Neil Gaiman, and his boss, the utterly lovely Mike Lake, then started producing item after item of Gaiman ephemera, which had me squee-ing like a goodun! Turns out Mike started Titan books many moons ago, and knew Mr Gaiman back before he became a full time author. Obviously, stories like that are always taken with a pinch of salt, but after he showed me the sample of Stardust that was sent out to publishers I was all ears, and when he let me look at the signed Christmas card Mr Gaiman sent out one year, featuring an excerpt from American Gods that never made it in to the final book, I had what can only be described as a Gaiman-gasm. Day made, for the third time. I'm actually shaking now just thinking about how amazing it was to be able to see, touch and read such a wildly rare item.

The rest of the day (unsurprisingly) passed as something of a daze for me, even packing up and storing everything in the van couldn't ruin my good mood, and the tube closures meant nothing to me!

All in all, the Sunday was a much more chilled out affair, but the whole weekend went swimmingly, with great organisation from all the staff and volunteers at the con once again. Just need to see if they can top in next year now - good luck guys!