Monday 27 October 2014

Sonic The Comic-Con

Sonic the Comic-Con
Sonic the Comic-Con 2014

   This Sunday I made the trip to York in England to attend the first ever Sonic the Comic-Con, a one day event celebrating Sonic the Comic, the UK's Sega comic book which ran from 1993 to 2002 and Sonic the Comic Online, the semi-offical fan continuation that has been running online since 2003.
   I've written about STC before and my feelings on the book should be pretty clear, it's a series that meant a huge deal to me growing up, scenes from the comic continue to be vivid in my memory and it's impressive story telling and beautiful art have heavily influenced my creative work well into my adult life. 

   During the day several of the artists and writers of the series were present, signing issues, offering sketches, getting on stage for Q&A sessions and even running art classes. There was also merch for sale, and entertainment in the form of the quiz show 8 out of 10 Caterkillers and a live edition of Sonic the podcast. 

   It was a really great day and I hope that STCC continues to run into the future. It was an honour too meet so many of the people who helped create a series that means so much to me, I had an amazing time.

   But enough rambling, here's the photos I took during the day, and some pictures of what I got signed. 

STCC
First up, the awesome banner that greeted fans as they piled into the building, this art also graced the T-shirt that was handed out to backers. 

STCC
Another banner featuring some key moments from throughout the series. 

The Guests
Richard Elson & Nigel Kitching


Richard Elson and Nigel Kitching, the duo responsible for many of the series greatest moments, from the Death Egg and Metalix sagas to the pivotal arcs surrounding issue 100 and the Robotnik Reigns storylines, without these two, STC wouldn't have been half as impressive as it went on to become. 

Richard Elson also provided new covers for the series when the book moved onto being full reprints, providing probably the only reason to continue buying the series up to its last issue. 
Nigel Kitching wrote and drew the long running series Decap Attack, a strip based on a little known megadrive game which went on to be far more successful than the game ever was.

Carl Flint & Kev Hopgood
Carl Flint, the man responsible for many covers throughout the series as well as many back up stories including impressive runs with Tails and Amy, he also created Shortfuse the Cybernik who was just a normal squirrel until Robotnik trapped him forever inside his invincible Cybernik armour. Shortfuse was able to rebel against his programming however and fought Robotnik alongside Sonic.
Also, Kev Hopgood, the artist behind thecovers for the first two issues way back in 93.

Nigel Dobbyn
Nigel Dobbyn, the artist behind many of my favourite strips across the series, most notably his work with Captain Plunder and Knuckles' world tour arcs, probalby the greatest Knuckles strips in the whole series. 

Ferran Rodriguez
Ferran Rodriguez flew all the way from Barcelona to join the con, he's the artist behind many strips and covers from early in the series' run as well as the Badnik pinups which made up the magazines centrefolds throughout the years.

Jon Haward
...and finally, Jon Haward, the artist behind the Shinobi and Eternal Champions strips from the early days of the series where the book was more of a Sega comic than one that focused solely on Sonic.
He also tweeted a picture of me.....so that happened.

The Event
Q&A
During the day there were two Q&A sessions, a quiz show, live edition of Sonic the Podcast and art classes.

Shortfuse was just a normal squirrel until Robotnik trapped him forever in his invincible Cybernik armour. Shortfuse was able to rebel against his programming however and fought Robotnik alongside Sonic.
In the centre of the hall were several tables covered in some of the amazing artwork from across the series, including this lovely Carl Flint cover which features Shortfuse the Cybernik, who was just a normal squirrel until Robotnik trapped him forever in his invincible Cybernik armour. Shortfuse was able to rebel against his programming however and fought Robotnik alongside Sonic. 

Chuck D. Head
A wonderful Decap Attack canvas by Nigel Kitching.

Elson
 Beautiful lineart by Richard Elson that made up the cover of one of the reprint issues.

1000
The original painting that became the cover for issue 100, considered by many to be the greatest issue in the entire series.

101
A personal favourite, the original cover art for issue 101, the first ever issue I picked up. Seeing this in person was just wonderful and I was tempted to try and sneak out with it....I didn't though...honest...

I love this
An awesome sketch done for a fan by Ferran Rodriguez, which brings together his work on STC and the multiple disney comics that he has worked on. 

Impressive cosplay of Elson's version of Amy Rose and the swashbuckling Captain Plunder.

art
 There was also an art contest with the prize of an impressive canvas illustrated by all seven guests. I entered this...I did not win.

Megadroid
My entry in the guestbook.

The Haul
Of course, no trip to a comic convention is complete without stuff to spend your money on...here's everything I picked up on the day. 
STCC
First up, the freebies, everyone attending the con was handed a wristband and a copy of the special edition of STC printed for the event. It features new strips, posters and much more, it's a really awesome item and a great tribute the series. I managed to get it signed by all the guests too which was cool. We were also given a free packet of chewits (not pictured...devoured).

shirt
 Also, the con t-shirt which was available if you backed the original kickstarter for a certain ammount or higher. The shirt was available in blue or yellow but the yellow really made the design pop out so I opted for that. 

99&100
At the merch stall I managed to pick up copies of issues 99 and 100 which was really great for me as they're the only two issues I didn't own heading into the event. So now, I have the entire run.

Knuckles
A sketch of Knuckles by Nigel Dobbyn.

Shortfuse was just a normal squirrel until Robotnik trapped him forever in his invincible Cybernik armour. Shortfuse was able to rebel against his programming however and fought Robotnik alongside Sonic.
A sketch by Carl Flint of the character he helped create, Shortfuse who was just a normal squirrel until Robotnik trapped him forever in his invincible Cybernik armour. Shortfuse was able to rebel against his programming however and fought Robotnik alongside Sonic.

Hai-ya
How cool is this? Joe Musashi drawn by Jon Haward. 

Eggman
And my final sketch, Dr Eggman by Kev Hopgood. Kev was clearly having a blast drawing all the newer characters and designs that he never got a chance to work on during the series' run. 

1&2
Next up, the issues I got signed. I took a good few issues with me, but even then it was really hard to whittle them down to the books I wanted to take. Nonetheless, I think I got a good mix of historically significant issues and issues that were of personal importance to me. 
Here's the first two issues, signed by cover artist Kev Hopgood.

Shinobi
Two great Shinobi covers by Jon Haward

Sentinel

Ferran
One of my favourite strips and two covers by Ferran Rodriguez

1st birthday
 The 1st anniversary issue

50
and 50th issue

Shortfuse was just a normal squirrel until Robotnik trapped him forever in his invincible Cybernik armour. Shortfuse was able to rebel against his programming however and fought Robotnik alongside Sonic.
Three great covers by Carl FLint, two featuring his creation Shortfuse who was just a normal squirrel until Robotnik trapped him forever in his invincible Cybernik armour. Shortfuse was able to rebel against his programming however and fought Robotnik alongside Sonic. 

Knux
Nigel Dobbyn's village of the damned storyline which is one of my all time favourite stories.

Oh man....this arc....
The Robotnik Reigns arc, my favourite story in the entire series. The first epic sonic story I'd read, having jumped onto the series after the Metalix and issue 100 arcs. I love this story.

Oh Johnny...never forget :'(
A series of issues signed by Kitching and Elson featuring several key moments in the series, from the first appearence of Metalix, Sonic vs Knuckles, Johnny's death and the final issue before the book went fully reprint. 

Porker
I just had to get these signed, Elson's original cover for the story where Porker is kicked out of the freedom fighters by Sonic, and the remake of the same cover for when the same story came around in the reprints. 

Kitching
Two great covers by Nigel Kitching, when I handed him the Sonic/Super Sonic cover Kitching says he really hates the cover and said the art is terrible. Gotta say, I disagree.

King of the rings, the final issue
Seeing as I got the first issue signed, I had to get the last. This is the final issue of the book before it was abruptly cancelled. It also features one of Elson's greatest covers, this thing is just epic. He had the original lineart of this cover with him too which was a joy too see. 

aaww
And last but not least, a Sonic plush because....hey...who doesn't want a Sonic plush?

   And that's everything. I had a fantastic day, meeting all the guests was a dream come true and I had a great time talking to the attendees too, many of whom I've spoke with before online so it was nice to finally meet them in person.
   Whether or not STCC will become an ongoing thing or whether next year will see the return of Summer of Sonic remains to be seen, but whatever happens I look forward to seeing what the organisers put together in the future because this show was awesome.

   Also, after wearing the same outfit to MCM in Glasgow and having nobody recognise  who I was dressed as, it was nice to have folk come up and compliment me on my costume.
   Old Man Owl represent!

old man owl


Monday 28 April 2014

My Top 5 matches in the Streak



21-1
My Top 5 matches in the Streak

   Earlier this month, Brock Lesnar shocked the world by becoming the only man to win a match against the Undertaker at Wrestlemania, ending his 21 year undefeated streak, putting an end to one of the greatest runs in wrestling history and more than likely signalling the end of the Undertaker’s career.

   The match received a lot of criticism, sparked a wave of rumours that Brock Lesnar changed the script for the match and raised questions about Undertaker’s condition going into the match. However, whether or not you think Wrestlemania XXX was the right time, or Brock Lesnar was the right man to end the streak, I’m sure we can all agree that the streak will stand the test of time as one of the most exciting and entertaining runs in the history of the WWE.
   So rather than mourn its end, let’s celebrate those matches in the streak that had us on the edge of our seats.
   These are my top 5 matches in the Undertaker’s run, it’s all personal opinion so don’t be too bummed if your personal favourite isn’t included and as ever, be sure to let me know your favourite matches in the comments.

Wednesday 12 February 2014

Notes on the Subject of False Life...

Notes on the Subject of False Life...

   The following is a piece of artwork I produced as part of my third year at University. We were told to go out, buy a book and re-contextualise it, to change it up,destroy it, remix it, do whatever we wanted with it.
   For my submission, I picked up a copy of Mary Shelly's Frankenstein and transformed it into "Notes on the subject of false life" the confessions of Dr j. Osterman, a biologist inspired by the Frankenstein novel to go forth and attempt to reanimate the dead himself.

   It's a piece of work that I've always been proud of. While I think it could be better, I think I got the idea across well and some parts of the book are suitably creepy. It's something I've wanted to try again ever since and I may well. If I ever do I'll be sure to post it here, but for now I hope you enjoy reading through Dr Osterman's confession. 
    Some pages can be really hard to read so I'll include the text of the story below.