The Wife and I are planning our a trip to the United Kingdom this summer for our tenth anniversary. We're looking at the tail end of July and/or first week or two of August, and what I'd like to know is: what cool comic-related conventions, signings, museums, shops, etc. are out that way and worth a look-see? We'll be spending most of our time in England, but we'll be circling around a bit to hit Scotland, Ireland and Wales as well. I know of the Cartoon Museum in London (Gah -- I'll be just missing the Bryan Talbot exhibit!) and... that's really about it, actually. So if anyone reading this who knows a thing or two about the area (and I've checked the logs -- I know at least a few of you are reading!) I'd really appreciate any insights, suggestions, and directives that you might be able to pass along. Thank you.
We now return you to your irregularly scheduled blog.
5 comments:
Head over to Forbidden Planet while you are there ...
It's awesome!
- David Gallaher
British comics site Down the Tubes has an events guide.
You might contact the British Cartoon Archive at the University of Kent at Canterbury to see if thy've got any events planned (the calendar at the website is out of date). Canterbury is about an hour and a half from London by train and is also the home of the Incognito Comics shop.
Otherwise, by way of shops, if you're in London your first stop should be Gosh! Comics, on Great Russell Street, opposite the British Museum. The Forbidden Planet on Shaftesbury Avenue is huge, but is mostly a toy shop. The graphic novel section in the basement is worth a look, but FP is much weaker than Gosh! in newspaper stips, European, small press and non-mainstream material - and there's not much point travelling to Lndon to buy things you can get at home, is there?
I'm out of touch with what back-issue comic dealers still have bricks and mortar shops. Comicana did, last time I was in London, as did Krypton Comics and Mega-City Comics.
30th Century is worth a visit, if you're interested in British Comics. Sadly, I think that The Book Palace, a great source of out-of-the-way material which used to run two shops in South London, is now on-line only.
Gettting around London can be a slow business, so allow plenty of time if you want to get to any of these suburban stores.
Gad, Sir! Comics linked online! (See what I did there. Almost clever, that.)
Seriously, thanks for the suggestions with the links provided and everything. Gosh! definitely sounds like someplace I'll need to hit. I believe we'll have one day to roam around London without the tour group, and The Wife is more keen on just about everything outside London, so it shouldn't be too hard to swing by. (He says not actually knowing yet WHERE in London he'll be staying.)
Don't know if I'll be able to hit Canterbury or not, but the Archive's web site looks like they have some good stuff.
Thanks much!
Well, I don't know of anything going on in London at the moment, but I'll keep an ear to the ground and let you know of anything.
The comic convention scene is pretty poor, at least compared to the American ones I've been to.
Thanks, Nicholas! Much appreciated!
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