GLASGOW COMIC CON 2012 – DAY 2

GLASGOW COMIC CON 2012 – DAY 2 by G-Man

July 2, 2012, 10:41 pm
Filed under: Events | Tags: Batman, Glasgow Comic Con, GordonMcLean, JimStarlin, JohnFarman, JohnLees, JohnWagner, No More Heroes, School of the Damned, ShaNazir, The Standard

We’re just recovering from the weekend and coming to terms with having to be back to work today, but here’s Gary and Craig’s look back at what the second day of the Glasgow Comic Con had to offer. Make sure to check our Day 1 coverage too, since there’s loads of revealing bits from Mr Grant Morrison about his upcoming Multiversity series in there too.

As with most Cons, the Glasgow Comic Cons 2nd day started off with that Sunday, “after the night before” feeling. What separated it here though was how strong it started by having the “Quiz and Coffee” panel – minus the coffee – kicking off the day with some laughs as the writers took on the artists.  From there, although not as many people in attendance, sitting in on some panels and taking a wander around both venues meant the day was over before we even realised.

The quieter pace meant a good chance to see the dealers and get some more sketches in a much more relaxed atmosphere. Stories of the Saturday night SICBA awards were flowing and it was a good chance to hear from the winners. John Lees managed to bag Best Writer for his work on The Standard, while fellow GLoW member Gordon McLean’s book No More Heroes won Best Comic. James Devlin managed to go home with two awards for his work on BHP’s School of the Damned for Best Artist and Best – further indication of just how strong the Glasgow indie comic scene is.  Team Girl Comic was unfortunately missing from the usual faces this year creating a definite gap from last years event, and we were also sad to hear that Neil Slorance was missed off of the voting paper for the awards even though he was nominated in the Best Artist category for his work on Jonbot Vs. Martha. Like other elements of the weekend, the organisation side of things still needs some work.

Among the highlights from the panels during the day were the “In conversation” ones with John Wagner and Jim Starlin, each recounting interesting and humorous tales from their time in the business. Of particular note was Starlin’s tales about his work on Batman and the controversial killing off of Robin during the Death in the Family story – Jim notes that he’s always found the idea of dressing a young boy up in primary colours and making him fight crime during the night a little bit like child abuses, so was always keen to keep his stories focused more around the Dark Knight rather than his Boy Wonder counterpart. For a long time Starlin had suggested offing the character, and when finally the publisher went with the ideal, the editor at the time took the credit – that was until DC realised that all of the Robin merchandise they were selling was pointless – at which time it became Starlin’s fault and he took the blame.

As well as the traditional Cosplay competition, some small seminar style groups also took place during the afternoon, looking at the different elements of creating comics with local creators Jim Alexander and John Farman as presenters. Although it wasn’t suitable at the Mackintosh Church to hold more than those put on, if future cons were to be held elsewhere, it would be nice to see more of these types of events running alongside the main panels, since some of these dried up quite quickly during the day, leaving large gaps in the schedule.

Sha Nazir and John Farman have definitely helped grow the event from the 1st year – extending to 2 days, adding a 2nd venue and bringing in bigger names as guests –  it’s a clear indication of the work that’s been put into staging the event at a time when the Glasgow indie scene is flourishing. We love having a con like this on our doorstep, so we hope that the major downfalls can be addressed so that we can have it back next year and be even better.

The weekend was a good chance to hang out with friends and catchup with creators of some of our favourite comics – both big names and small press.

Gary – @gjwatson85 and Craig – @hastiecraig

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