Tonbridge Comic-Con 2018 Builds on Previous Year Success

On one of the hottest days of the year hundreds of geeks and nerds (of which I am one) from various fandoms descended on the Angel Centre in Tonbridge to attend the second ever Tonbridge Comic-con.
I had even higher expectations than last year as that was the inaugural event and this, the sequel, had to be bigger, bolder... better. So how was it? Did it meet my expectations? Well, read on and find out...

Tonbridge Comic-Con 2018

As I approached the Angel Centre I could see a long line had formed and keeping the people entertained were various people in costume, there was Darth Vader, numerous Storm Troopers, a Sand Person, a Jawa and an Imperial Officer. People were getting their photos taken and children were kept enthralled/ terrified.
Inside there were lots of stalls selling all manner of geeky goods at a fair price including anime, manga, Marvel, DC and video game merch. A difference from last year was the amount of stalls as there seemed to be a lot more, but this was a good thing at they sold a wider range of products from last year. There were they typical Funko Pop Figs, t-shirts and posters but also there was a Disney Princess cupcake stall, wallets and purses and lots more vintage figures, annuals and collectable cards and stickers. I purchased some of these cards and was really pleased at the price (5 packs for £1) as well as 3 cupcakes (3 for £5, for my wife and 2 unwell daughters).

There were a few celebrities doing signings and photosincluding Jason Ybarra (Star Wars: Rogue One), Ian McNeice (Dr Who) and a free signed photo for all attendeed from Simon Fisher-Becker (Dr Who).
There were a few people dressed up, representing various fandoms, however not as many as last year but that was to be expected as the heat was oppressive.

Around the Angel Centre hall were lots of items and photo opportunity pieces of memorabilia and costumed folks which you could snap away at. There was the giant inflatable Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, a handmade Batmobile Tumbler and the Iron Throne. The atmosphere of the whole event was lovely and calm and outside the centre many attendees and cosplayers had a chance to congregate and share in their nerd-dom. The second Tonbridge Comic con has built upon last years successes and continues to grow. As a local event it is great and I look forward to it growing and expanding its scope and aspirations.

Overall this was a well organised event with lots of offer for families and young people, I hope next year it's even bigger and better next year!

I bought 5 packs of random cards and stickers for 1 pound... bargain! I wonder if the stick of chewing gum is any good?

Gotham Central Comic Review

First things first, this series is definitely for a maturer audience and is not suitable for younger readers.

On this website I usually write about comics that are suitable for schools and pupils but I made an exception in this case as I want to spread the Gotham Central love as it was an underappreciated comic upon initial release but with these collected edition it will hopefully find the audience it deserves.

I bought the 4 graphic novels that make up the entirety of the Gotham Central series and read the whole lot over the course of a week. The premise appealed to me as it is one of those ideas that is obvious once someone explains it to you: a police procedural set in the world of Gotham City with its rogues gallery of the finest villains in comics.

The series is a mix of crime noir but what makes it stand out are the characters, no not the villains but rather the police officers. The cops are 3-dimensional and well rounded, they have their faults and issues but that's what makes them believable. The characters talk about real-world problems and I guess that's why I liked the series. For a series that's set in Gotham Batman features veryoccasionally and from the cops point of view is a nuisance, a vigilante who works in mysterious ways but can on occasion be a useful ally in times of great need.

As a fan of superhero comics it's wonderful to take a break from the norm and read a series that is unpredictable and requires some grey matter. I don't watch many cop shows or read many crime books, although I do have a soft spot for Columbo and Diagnosis Murder, but this series had me hooked with several standout stories.

In the first graphic novel In the Line of Duty, Mr Freeze is front and centre in a powerful tale in which one of the detectives gets frozen, his ear ripped off initially and then smashed into pieces as the villian leads an audacious plot to kill most of the GCPD.  This is gritty noir with a cold- calculating Freeze that sets the tone for the series.

The series is pretty violent at times.

In novel 2 there's Daydreams and Believers, the story about Stacy, the civilian who operates the Bat signal but has romantic fantasies about Batman. This is a great story that delves into the life and motivations of Gothams finest, all brought to life from the point of view of a civilian.

The characters are well drawn out.

In novel 3 the corruption within the GCPD and how good cops deal with it comes to the fore. The character of Corrigan and his corrupt practices within the force are a rich vein that is tapped throughout the rest of the series.

In novel 4 the 3 parter Dead Robin looks at the mystery of Boy Wonders turning up killed across Gotham.

The Dead Robins story is a pretty interesting one.

Across all the books is the theme of corruption within the GCPD and it is this fight against the enemy within that provides much of the heart for the story. It ends on a cliffhanger with Corrigan II and it is such a shame that after 40 comics it was cut short as I really enjoyed the stories and world that Rucka and Brubaker had created. Do yourself a favour and pick up the 4 graphic novels as they are amazing and worthy of the Eisner and Harvey Awards showered upon them.

Females and Diversity in Mainstream Comics

There was a charge leveled against most mainstream comics that they are white men power fantasies. Looking over the Marvel and DC universe of old, most of the heroes were indeed Caucasian males.  However I feel that this is too harsh a judgement for many reasons; many of the superheroes were created in the 60's when diversity wasn't such a big thing and the comics were aimed at the youth audience, who were traditionally white. So the comics mostly dealt with young white males given or gaining extraordinary powers. This worked for many years but as the story canon has become more obtuse and conflicted it has been difficult for a younger, newer and more diverse audience to access comics.
In a day and age of billion dollar grossing movies the comics industry is trying to branch out and appeal to the diverse audience who access and appreciate these films globally and why shouldn't it? If comics continued on the traditional path they would die a slow death.

When I went to comic shops in the 90's it was mostly older white folk ( which was surprising as I lived in a very culturally diverse town in East London, a melting pot of ethnicities) only really diversifying with the explosion in Marvel Flair '95 and '96 cards due to the popularity of the X Men animated series. But now with Kaboom, Image and small publishing prints it's much more diverse. A large amount of younger female readers have joined the comics wave, either writing, drawing or reading the new versions of classic characters.
Sensing this new audience demographic Marvel and DC have attempted to diversify their cast. The success of comics like the soft rebooted Ms Marvel and She Hulk have led to DC broadening their target audience with comics such as Batgirl and Black Canary (both reboots which don't negate what happened before).

I bought these trades a couple of weeks ago and am enjoying the storylines, artwork and general empowerment of females.

I'm a British Asian male and I love the traditional comics but the newer more diverse comics speak to me (as I mentioned in my article about how Ms Marvel is changing the world). I'm really enjoying the new wave of diversity in comics and long may it continue. Reading the recent trades of She Hulk by Soule and Pulido I came to the 'Legal briefs' page at the back, where the creators come together to share their views, ideas and opinions. A piece written by the editor Jeanine Schaefer really spoke to me as a recent father to a daughter. Women are represented in mainstream comics but only recently are they really getting their due in my opinion.

Jeanine Schaefers editorial to the fans is heartfelt and really struck a cord with me