Nicecon UK report with a few (edit 2: more pics on p3 from THE LAUGHING M4N)

[MPS]

Who are these guys? Great shirts.

 

 

 

F**k these guys! No, only kidding... they had some great T's and I am only saying that because they didn't have any Medium sizes left of the ones I wanted. I had asked on the Saturday right at the start and they had already sold.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Garf]

Who are these guys? Great shirts.

 

 

 

F**k these guys! No, only kidding... they had some great T's and I am only saying that because they didn't have any Medium sizes left of the ones I wanted. I had asked on the Saturday right at the start and they had already sold.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here you go...

 

 

[MPS]

Thanks!

 

Who are these guys? Great shirts.

 

 

 

F**k these guys! No, only kidding... they had some great T's and I am only saying that because they didn't have any Medium sizes left of the ones I wanted. I had asked on the Saturday right at the start and they had already sold.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here you go...

 

 

[Prince Namor]

Great report, thank you!

[THE LAUGHING M4N]

NICE was great (thumbs u It was my first time there and I'd highly recommend it for the relaxed and casual atmosphere from all there.

 

Warning: Long post, just hit the spoiler tags if you want the pics

 

It was great to see many families there and the children getting sketches, buying prints and chatting with creators themselves

 

We would encourage the signature hunters to step forward and get them done so they weren't waiting for all sketches to be completed, however a few abused the goodwill. I'm talking about asking for 30-60 issues signed at a time. I think several creators were embarrassed to say something and left it to us in the queue to have a word. At least one or two sketches may have been completed in that time and the self-righteousness of some fans was bewildering But that was a very small exception to a very positive experience. Fellow fans were extremely easy to talk to and share their purchases, sketches and commissions.

 

I'm a big fan of Ian Churchill and went to him and his wife Sacha first, got some sigs and had a chat about Revenge and Marineman (he's begun to work on more). I got onto his sketch list and chose The Joker and left it to him to decide if he wanted to do a headshot, torso or full body. Most of my budget would be set aside for this and while his choice would dictate what I could get from others, he was my priority.

 

I talked with people I recognised from the London comic marts and since we wanted a few sigs, joined in the queue for Steve Dillon. I forgot to ask him when he's next abroad as he had quite a lot of fans waiting.

 

Time flew by watching several artists sketch at their tables and during their stint for sketch roulette. Bringing Emanuela Lupacchino her drink was a bonus

 

I joined Guillem March's queue which had been busy from the moment doors opened and was advised he was about to leave for sketch roulette and be back in an hour. I decided to wait along with a few others and we all took turns to save each others spot in order to grab lunch or go have a walk and just passed time by discussing collecting goals. Seems a fair few like DC The New 52.

 

Guillem eventually returned, so the first sketch of the day would be from him. Headshots were the only choice and he had a set price that was cheaper if you wanted a Batman or Joker (profile shot) or higher for anyone else. It was between the Gotham City Sirens. Poison Ivy was my initial choice but for a headshot, I don't think she's as visually interesting without colour and I've enjoyed his Catwoman work.

 

 

 

 

I missed out on getting on Carlos Pacheco's sketch list early on but a last minute addition of Alan Davis and Mark Farmer to the lineup meant I had a brilliant alternative and was well within my budget. Unfortunately, it was too late in the day for Mark to ink it. Here's my second sketch:

 

 

 

 

Emanuela Lupacchino had a sketchbook for sale which I bought and got a quick sketch inside later on. I'm quite pleased with what I got as there's a fair amount of detail considering the speed and modest price. My third sketch of the day

 

 

 

 

I ended up sitting with Martin Griffiths whose pricing was very cheap for a penciled headshot, torso or full figure and even his pre-show sketches were affordable. He'd sold many of them already. Martin is the cover artist for several of the Marvel animated DVDs, at least here in the UK (X-Men 90's, 80's Spider-Man) and also worked on the Transformers UK and Thundercats comics.

 

So by the end of the first day, I'd had a relaxing time with the guests and other fans, didn't spend too much and still had a few things accomplished.

 

I had decided to use my free sketch roulette ticket on Sunday and was first in that queue in the morning so got to have a choice of Guillem March, Tomeu Morey or Paco Diaz. The chap behind me asked if he could go for Guillem as he missed out on him the previous day and as I'd seen him on Saturday and wanted to pay him for another if possible, I was more than happy to help and went for Tomeu Morey as he colours Guillem's work and I'm a fan too.

 

It was fun watching him use a water pen to shade and blend and I saw a great rendition of Scarecrow he did later on.

 

 

 

 

Steve Dillon's queue had formed very quickly and was soon cut off, so I thought perhaps later on. Got talking to some of the other collectors from the previous day as we were eager to see any updates to jam pieces or if anyone had any luck getting on anymore sketch lists. and had a browse through stalls and picked up a few more blanks.

 

I checked in with Ian Churchill and confirmed I still wanted him to decide whatever he thought best and would await the results.

 

As the footfall was extremely low compared with the previous day, I got back into the queue for Guillem March. I let others who hadn't seen him go ahead, bought one of his sketchbooks and he did this:

 

 

 

 

I think they would look fantastic coloured but Tomeu Morey was only sketching that weekend.

 

I joined the Steve Dillon queue for the third time, he'd gone away for lunch or something and left a note saying he'd be back for the last hour of the day but it got to only 40 minutes left without him returning and I had to start making a move to catch my train but checking on these before I left.

 

Martin Griffiths had completed which I plan on getting coloured and added to at MCM Expo London next month if possible:

 

 

 

 

Stopped by Ian's table to see he'd finished my sketch which left left me speechless It compliments the Batman piece he did for me earlier in the year.

 

 

 

 

He had commented how a head/torso would probably be best but I didn't expect him to add a full figure as well. I don't know if he remembers I've always loved his rendered style but I couldn't have been happier with the result. I've thought about eventually trying to see if Norm Rapmund would ink the pieces as I thought he was the best match for Ian and enjoy his work with Brett Boot. Then again I do love raw pencils and waiting on a Ryan Benjamin pencilled piece from an opp.

 

The last stop was with Emanuela Lupacchino who would be drawing me the Gotham CIty Sirens. I hadn't asked for anything specific, I prefer to let artists do as they please but was thinking about suggesting something expressive since she can convey emotion. I'll let you be the judge

 

 

 

 

There's different types of ink there, glossy, matte, copic markers, metallic and even glitter which the picture cannot pick up. I love the reaction from Harley, Selina's bewilderment and especially the flower! It reminds me of a Goomba from Super Mario crossed with Audrey from the film Little Shop of Horrors

 

All of this capped a birthday week for me and sets me up nicely for NYCC next month, not my budget but certainly reinvigorated my interest in comics that had started to wane and was brought back by great guests, friendly fans and a very relaxing comic-centric convention.

 

Highly recommend NICE 2015. I know I'll be there next year.

 

(thumbs u

 

 

[Garf]

 

Those are really cool. Like all of them especially Churchill and March. Getting more tempted to grab a Catwoman page from March now.

[Ken Aldred]

+1

 

Some really nice sketches there.

[THE LAUGHING M4N]

He's only selling his OA sketchbooks and sketching at conventions from now on He mentioned he's in Belgium next but didn't have anything else planned nor 2015. Hopefully LSCC? I'd have loved to bought that page he sold or the one of Batman and Catwoman under his cape. The one of Bats and Poison Ivy was similar too.

 

Hi Paul Hope you're well

[gaz973]

Great report, Boon and some beautiful sketches. Love the Churchill work, been a fan of his stuff for a lot of years. (thumbs u