Thought Bubble Comic Festival Review Part One: in Which Holly Goes to Her First Comic Con

[miss_s_b]

We just got home from Thought Bubble. I'm going to do a second post about the stuff I enjoyed later on, but I thought I'd get the cute over with first.

Things of which Holly approved:

• pretty much everything to do with The Phoenix, including going round "finding" Phoenix feathers, and getting an art lesson from Neill Cameron, whom Holly describes as "the Epic-est of Epicness". In fact, I really want to give props to whichever person or persons decided the stuff that The Phoenix folks would be doing, because it was pitched exactly right for Holly. The challenge to go "find" Phoenix feathers was great, and gave us an incentive to go around the whole exhibition and see all the cool things; the drawing tables with a constant supply of paper and pencils were great (and attracted a few adults as well as kids); but the best bit as far as Hol was concerned was getting to meet Neill Cameron (because he writes/draws her favourite bit of the Phoenix - How To Make Awesome Comics* - and do a workshop about drawing robots with him - of which there are a few pictures below.


• Doctor Simpo, and his draw-a-monster game, which we had to go back to because one go at it wasn't enough.


• Seeing lots of artists just sitting around drawing cool stuff - especially lots of lady artists, and the lady artists were POPULAR, and Holly really noted that. She pointed out to me that the biggest queues were for Becky Cloonan and Kate Beaton.


• Cosplayers. There were many cosplayers, and she liked them. Especially the Dead/Skeletal Captain Jack Sparrow


• Elderly heroes - I wish I could remember the artist's name, but he was drawing decrepit versions of DC heroes. She particularly liked The Flash in his motorised wheelchair


• Cindy and Biscuit, which I would have bought had I had any money left, and will be buying once I have a bit more brass.


• Getting to see Andrew and his magnificent beard (although we rushed off reasonably quickly because she kept seeing more cool things)

How to Draw Robots workshop


Holly (just visible extreme left) enthuses at Neill (on the right)


Neill's lesson on making a robot version of something else (in this case a dragon) - work out the basic shape of the thing, make it more geometric, and then add missiles and rocket thrusters.. This has really gone in. She's been sitting on the sofa drawing and muttering to herself pretty much since we got home, and I keep detecting the phrase just add some missiles...


Holly drawing robots (with my shadow falling in the east)


The finished masterpiece: Kangabot (a kangaroo robot) jumps over a robot giraffe with the aid of her rocket-thruster feet, startling Kangabot's robot flea (which has been helpfully magnified in a blow-out circle so you can see what it looks like close up). Meanwhile, in the background, a robot koala climbs a robot tree, and a robot bat is roosting in a cave.

Cosplayers


Holly gets arrested by the Judges


Lady Two-Face

Holly being Holly

You may or may not know that the setting for Thought Bubble is Leeds's magnifcent Royal Armouries museum. This is Holly being cute and doing Cher impressions with the cannons in the courtyard:


If I could turn back time...


... If I could find a way...

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* second favourites are Bunny Vs Monkey and Corpse Talk

Comments

[andrewhickey.info]

I'm so glad she enjoyed it. I thought she would -- Thought Bubble has always *seemed* both more family-friendly and more female-friendly than any other con I know of -- but it's always difficult to tell.

The Mindless Ones are already planning next year's stall, so we'll hope to see you there.

[miss_s_b]

Holly is already talking about cosplay for next year LOL