2017 So Far...

Sorry we've been a bit quiet around here lately. April was a pretty busy month for us, we took a trip to Denmark, to take part in the Art Bubble Festival at DOKK1 in Aarhus. This was our first convention outside of Britain, and an excuse to visit our artist Mark Tranter at the same time. The convention took place in a massive library and there was free entry to the public which meant that we got to interact with a constant stream of people throughout the day. It was an interesting event, we got to experience a European convention and see how it differed to the ones that we are used to attending at home and see the difference in comic tastes. Instead of the wall to wall superheroes and US style comic books, the majority of stalls were focused on European comics such as Tintin and Asterix and (to my surprise at least) lots of Carl Barks and Disney comics. There was also a distinct lack of cosplay; with the Power Girl pictured below the only cosplayer we saw all day. Another thing that was lacking was money; the Danish don't usually carry actual physical money, choosing to use Mobilepay instead. Luckily, as Tranter lives in Denmark, we had access to this otherwise the day could have been tricky. I also kept forgetting to add a zero to the Danish Krone prices, which made things a little interesting.  The day overall was really fun and gave us an insight into a different kind of convention than we were used to. We learned that stickers are a universal language. Tranter also managed to pick up a copy of New Mutants 98 (which Kieran is very jealous about). As well as Art Bubble being our first foreign convention, it was also Knitted Wilmont and Weebers first trip abroad and they enjoyed riding wooly rhinos and the convention and a trip to Legoland too.

Art Bubble and Legoland

Our next Con was Swansea Comic and Gaming Convention at the Brangywn Hall Swansea on the 27th of May. SCGC2017 was the first con in quite some time where all the members of the Collective were in attendance with Tranter making the trip from Denmark to be there too (and bring the main raffle prize with him too). Unfortunately, we were all too busy on the day so haven't got photo's from the day to share, we had a great time and our famous wall comic proved to be very popular again. This is a Convention that we highly recommend with a great selection of stalls for gamers and comic fans of all ages.

Swansea Comic and Gaming Convention

The only other convention we have attended this year is the Cardiff Independent Comic Expo (CICE). Whilst CICE isn’t the busiest show that we attend, it is one of the hidden gems of the UK con circuit attracting a wide array of independent comic creators and a good list of comic pros as well (such as Dylan Teague, Jon Davis-Hunt, The Etherington Brothers and in previous years Charlie Adlard and Al Ewing). CICE has always been a special show for us as it is the first convention outside of swansea that we attended and where we launched Copperopolis 1. This year the con took over more of the Masonic hall in Cardiff with another room added to fit even more comic creators. If you are interested in the independent comic scene CICE is really worth a visit as the friendly atmosphere allows you to pick up books from a variety of genres and interact with the creators. We had a lot of fun at this years show adding a few more entries to the Joe Stickman gallery, chatting to the other exhibitors, and buying some great comics too.

Cardiff Independent Comic Expo

At the moment we’re busy working on Copperopolis 3, so all the people asking at conventions can rejoice and start asking where is issue 4. As a result we haven’t had time to go to as many cons as we usually do, but it’ll be worth it when the issue comes out, watch this space for further announcements regarding issue 3.

Night Shift Sketches

so i recently did a short stint stacking shelves on a nightshift, safe to say it was booooooring. so i needed a way to help get through the night, and seeing as im (slightly) behind on my pages for the new issue of Copperopolis, needed to get the feel for sketching back. 

the idea was to get a little sketch pad, do a sketch on my break and stick it on instagram asking what the next sketch should be for the following shift.

when i put up the first sketch, i only had one suggestion, from Ricky Webber one of our writers (say that 3 times fast). he said to work through the characters of Copperopolis.

it shall be done... not because you said, or lack of suggestion, because i want to ;)

1. so here is the first one, a selfie depicting my general mood, 

in all my beardy hobo-ish goodness.  

2. starting of the Copperopolis characters, one half of the Button Men, 

Montgomery Weeber.

3. unfortunately you cant have one without the other, here is the other half of the Button Men.

The Bumbling Bobble headed buffoon, Baldrick J. Wilmont.

4. first of the bad guys (in the sketches and the comic). 

Vortigen The Tyrant and later "The Man in White"

5. "The Mayor of Copperopolis - protector of the city for centuries. has anger issue"

no doubt brought on by the stress of having to deal with the Button Men.

6. The Not-altogether-there, soaring soldier of the sky's, "The Red Kite" 

7. the surprisingly popular Sgt. Davis Haig. Director of C.W.T.C.H (Central Welsh Terrorism Control House), Copperopolis' answer to SHIELD.

i must point out, yes the centre of that logo is a MASSIVE rip off of the SHIELD logo, i know that. as yet CWTCH does not have a logo, i drew that simply to get the point across (it was 4am give me a break)

if a CWTCH logo is featured in future issues of Copperopolis, it will not look like that (which is a shame, i do think that dragon is kick ass)

8. and finally one of my favorites, the Poetically named mister Avary Peck, Leader of the "Bird men of Gower" 

and there it is. im no longer on the night shift, so there wont be any more 4am sketches, but i may however continue rattling through Copperopolis characters when i have a spare moment, i mean, come on, i got the rest of the sketch book to use.

Live long and prosper True Believers, and may the force be with you

EXCELSIOR

... your a wizard harry!

Copperopolis #1 - available now!

Copperopolis First Issue Cover

The Beginning...

The Mayor's Office

Meet The Button Men

Bard Ass!

Thanks for your patience, True Believer! It's finally here, Copperopolis #1, from The Swansea Comics Collective. It's 28 pages of comic craziness for only £2.50! No ads, all story & art! Copperopolis is a universe in which the members of the Swansea Comics Collective could fuse characters, stories and ideas in one big melting pot. It’s a fictional version of Swansea where many of
the landmarks are recognisable but strange heroes, villains and monsters also stalk the streets. A place where we draw inspiration from our city’s past and from the rich and fantastic mythology of the Celts while throwing in our own unique, and sometimes bizarre, ideas!

You will discover the origin of Copperopolis, witness the clash between Merlyn and Vortigen, meet the Mayor as tackles the threats the modern city faces, wonder at the stupidity of the Button Men and the sheer awesomeness of Bard Ass! Oh yeah, it's got dragons in it too!

If you need another reason to put your hand in your comic please note we are a Not For Profit group. All of the money raised from the sale of the issue goes towards producing the next issue and funds our comic creating workshops for schools and our local community.

Copperopolis Number One is on sale now at The Comix Shoppe, Swansea, found opposite the Grand Theatre at 13 Shoppers Walk Arcade, 01792 642097. 

If you're not from around these parts visit ORDER ONE HERE