StazJohnson

Sorry to leave this until the last minute, but I will be at the Birmingham Comics Festival which takes place at the Edgbaston Cricket Ground tomorrow.

I'll be doing the usual signing & sketching, & appearing on a couple of panels where I will regale anyone who care to listen with my legendary wit & astounding intelligence, not to mention my modesty. That is to say, I will be responding to any questions with one of my three stock answers:-

1 ."Let me answer that question this way".. after which I go on to talk about whatever the hell I want.

2. "What I think you're trying to ask me is..." after which I go on to talk about whatever the hell I want.

3. "Before I answer that, can I just say...." after which, I go on to talk about whatever the hell I want.

For those interested, sketches will be charged at the (convention only) rate of £35-.

Here's a link to an interview I did with Paul H. Birch to help promote the show.

Contrarty to all previous expectations, & indeed, contrary to anything I have told anyone who has asked, I now WILL be at this year's Thought Bubble convention.

I won't be on artist's alley (or whatever they are calling it), I'll be in the marquee (not exactly sure what that means, but I guess all will become clear on the day) at a table hosted by my local council (Wakefield Council) to promote a comicbook project they produced recently.  Sounds unusual, I know, & I wish I could say something to prove it's all perfectly normal, however, truth is, it IS a very unusual project. Designed to mark the two hundedth anniversary of the death of pioneering biologist & local celebrity eccentric, Charles Waterton, it is a comic in three acts, each drawn by a different artist. John Welding provides his unique comedic vision to a tale of Waterton's childhood, Richard Bell depicts the events of Waterton's elderly life (when his eccentricities really came to the fore) & I illustrate the middle tale, which tells of (as you might expect) Waterton's middle years when he spent much of his time in South America searching out previously uncatagorised anilmal species. While both John & Richard tackle the colouring & lettering of their strips themselves, I was ably abetted by Dylan Teague on colours & Jim Campbell on lettering. All three stories were written by Wakefield Museum currator John Whitaker.

We'll be at table 56 in the Thought Bubble marquee so come pay us a visit to see how it ended up looking. Also, despite being there to specifically promote the Waterton project, I will be sketching (£35-), should anyone wish. See you there.