There are a couple of comics I want to talk about in more detail, and there will also be a post coming about the Eagle Awards, but here are some general thoughts about the Bristol Comic Expo.

From BristolCon’s point of view, it was a mixed bag. We met a bunch of people who were interested in attending as writers, artists or dealers. We also met several people representing other events with whom we can do cross-marketing. We gave away almost 500 fliers. But sales were very poor. We had a collection of interesting merchandise: books by local writers, Andy Bigwood artwork and mugs, and Scott Dennis (who was in town for a mystery convention) gave us some t-shirts to sell. No one was buying. I’m somewhat heartened by the fact that some of the other dealers also complained that, while there was a lot more traffic than last year, sales were not as good.

I didn’t attend much programming, but I was pleased to get to the Vertigo panel and encourage them to talk about Chris Roberson’s books: Cinderella and iZombie. I don’t known if Simon Bisley has stopped muttering about zombie detectives yet, and if he hasn’t I apologize.

The Vertigo panel was also where I discovered that Mark Buckingham, the artist on the utterly fabulous Fables comic, is British. My guess is that Brit comic fans will mostly give their allegiance (should patriotism figure at all in their calculations) to Paul Cornell in the Hugos, but Fables is a great comic and I’m happy to find any excuse to encourage you to read it.

On a personal level I’m not too keen on sitting tables at conventions. I’m very bad at it, and it means I don’t get to hang out with my friends quite as much, but I did enjoy the weekend and must have been doing something because I was exhausted by the end of it. I’m rather glad I’m not rushing off to France in a couple of days time, because I need the rest.