This weekend saw the first Uni Comics Festival at the University of Hertfordshire in Hatfield. I was lucky enough to be offered a table, thanks to
Sean and
Daniel Goodbrey and ended up sharing it with
Andrew Cheverton who was premiering his lovely new hardback West: Justice. I took part in a panel about autobiographical comics chaired by
Paul Rainey, along with
Marc Ellerby and
Phil Spence. The hour of discussion passed most agreeably, an intimate affair as the panel outnumbered the audience. Sales were slow, to put it mildly, and I was becoming positively despondent by mid afternoon, when
Dan made my day by selling one of the wrestler paintings I had put on his table. Things picked up after that and after a few drinks with
Sarah McIntyre,
Gary Northfield and all the other lovely comics folk I headed home a happier bunny.
Hatfield is a convenient half hour drive from my bit of London, so should this become a regular event, I would no doubt attend again. I guess this was a trial run, but I would have thought there was room for at least double the number of exhibitors. A lot more promotion would be needed for the visitor numbers to increase substantially. It is off the beaten track and signposting was not clear either.
While I was there I got
Doug Noble to pick out a couple of pages for his learned tome, well he is the editor after all, and I couldn't choose.
Oh and thanks to
Matt Sheret I will be featured in
Paper Science 2, a whole page no less! The newspaper will be handed out FREE on Saturday May 1st by We are words + Pictures for Free Comic Book Day at
Orbital
