I wouldn't say I generally dress in a gothic sort of way at all; in fact, I'm not even entirely sure what constitutes 'gothic', other than lots of black and a vague cross between Victoriana and punk. But whatever, maybe I'll dress up as a flying buttress or depressed arch; I'm going to cobble together some bits of my pirate costume and see what else I can dig out of the wardrobe and head off to the Charing Cross Road. So far I've talked with Emma Vieceli, she's coming, (remember we did the Paris Manga & Sci-Fi Show a few weeks ago), Philip Reeve, and I hear these people are coming, too: Christopher Fowler, Tanith Lee, Jon Courtenay Grimwood, Marcus Hearn, S.D. Crockett, Suzanne McLeod, Jonathan Rigby, James Pearson, Joel Meadows and John Kaiine. I hardly know anyone in that list, which is a good reason to go along. Perhaps I'll see you there!
Templar Publishing sent me a new comic to review, An Egyptian Escape by artist Emma Dodd and writer Kelly Gerrard, a follow-up book to A Roman Rescue (first book toga party pics here) by this new duo of female comics creators. I haven't managed to read and review it myself yet, but while he was in town, Philip Reeve nabbed my copy for his 10-year-old son, Sam, who has reviewed it for me.
Sam's really gotten into comics in a big way since The Phoenix Comic launched, and he thinks comic creators Jamie Smart and Gary Northfield are the bee's knees. Here's Sam's review:
An Egyptian Escape: The story is about a boy and his dog. The boy loses his dog down a hole and travels into Ancient Egypt.
I like the story. I like the way that the cat is the same as the other cat called Snowball. I think they could improve on drawing hands.
I think you should buy this book. It is a great comic to read in bed.
Thanks, Sam!