Thursday 19 November 2015

Thought Bubble 2015 - MULP #2 Launch!




Across the 14th and 15th of November the Improper Books gang and I were at Thought Bubble, Leeds, and despite the flooding and the hurricane winds it was probably the best Thought Bubble yet!

No-one was letting the deluge outside dampen their spirits. Friday evening there was such a buzz of excitement among all the creators, and it was only magnified once the doors were opened to the public Saturday morning.

Of course over on the Improper Books table we were buzzing with the launch of two new books! Bone China, the long awaited second part of Porcelain: A Gothic Fairy Tale by Ben Read and Chris Wildgoose. But also MULP: Sceptre of the Sun issue #2 was making it's convention debut!

The amount of anticipation, praise and recognition we received for these two new books was overwhelming! I know for a fact that Ben gushed a bit over on twitter, so I shall do my gushing here. This only being my second year of exhibiting at conventions, and the debut of only my second book, I was completely bowled over by the sheer volume in which people came by our table, and that was just for MULP!

Thank you to all the people who had bought the first issue previously and waited patiently for the second, for exclaiming how much you enjoyed reading it and wanted to follow the story. To the people who picked up issue #1 on Saturday and came by to get issue #2 on Sunday, having read it in one sitting and needed more! To everyone who squealed and grinned at the thought of Mice in an Indiana Jones Pulp adventure, and asked when and where they could get issue #3!
You are ALL amazing!


As always it was an absolute pleasure to catch up with friends, old and new! Here are a few of my highlights with people I met at the con.

There was one incredibly lovely lady who stumbled upon Matt and I at The Lakes Comic Art Festival this October, she had with her proof copies of her books that featured a charming mouse who longed to be a dragon. Of course Matt and I dissolved into a puddle of squee when we saw this.
During Saturday this same lovely lady bounded up to our table and presented us with the final copies of her books plus a knitted Dragon Mouse!!
Eleanor, I really don't think I exclaimed louder that weekend than when I saw that green little mouse on your shoulder! I just had to own one of my own! Massive kudos to your mum also, who I am told was knitting furiously to keep up with their popular demand!

The Adventures of Dragon Mouse and The Little Star Dragon by Eleanor Hollindrake
Twitter: @idrawdragons


Another gentleman stopped by our table and actually almost made us weep!
Robin Scott previously met us at the Lakes last year, he and his wife were taken with the art style of MULP and bought one of my prints for their bathroom. They then both stopped by our table this year and exclaimed how they loved the print so much they wanted the comic. And again at Thought Bubble Robin came by to not only purchase issue #2, but to share his lovely thoughts on issue #1 AND give Matt and I a copy of his Inktober comic project. He mentioned that MULP was a great source of inspiration to him and wanted to share his limited run with select people! 

Thank you so much for sharing this with us Robin. Every Life I Ever Lived is personal, touching and beautifully illustrated, gorgeous work!
Twitter: @robinwscott


And lastly, I got to catch up with possibly one of my favourite people in comics. 
The last time I saw him was at Bristol Comic Expo a good few years ago, at this point MULP #1 was still in the process of being drawn. I was chatting excitedly to him and showing him scans of my work from MULP on my phone. His words of encouragement were a source of motivation for me, so when I heard he was at Thought Bubble I knew I had to share the completed issue #1 and #2 with him.
Ian Churchill, creator of Marineman and illustrator for DC Comic's Ravagers, ended up making me giddy like a school girl, not only had he been aware of my work through recommendations from a charity he works with, but had been following the progress of MULP and Improper Books!
Always the loveliest of blokes, catching up with Ian was one of my favourite moments at the convention, I hope it's not so long before we see each other again!

So that about sums up my weekend, barring a re-telling of my first absinthe with Jennie Gyllblad and Stacey Whittle offering me her fluff! Haha!
Needless to say I had a fantastically wonderful time, here's to next year's line up of con's!

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