Thought Bubble 2015 – All the Swag!

We always enjoy going to Thought Bubble, as it’s one of the most diverse comic cons on the calendar. Lots of creators we know and lots of new talent on display too.

This year (as usual) we got carried away buying fab stuff…

Saturday started by bumping into comics bud Terry Wiley in the queue and then seeking out Lydia Wysocki’s Applied Comics Etc. stall. Special thanks to Lydia for letting us dump our coats with her and lending me her chair for a sit down later in the day.

Terry & Lydia have recently been involved in a project with the University of Newcastle Special Collections (WW1 archive – see Thomas Baker Brown below).

The rest of the day was spent making the rounds of New Dock Hall and the marquee tent. Chatting to old friends and meeting new people.

I made an unexpected impulse buy of this lovely hand-painted stone by Dominika Tomczyk. Dominika’s day job is as a mannequin make-up artist – who knew there was such a job! Those in London will have seen her mannequin work in various Xmas shop displays (e.g. Selfridges). We also caught up with Cliodhna Lyons, who was table sharing with Dominika and Benedict Bowen (storyboard artist & Phoenix Comic creator).

Jay’s impulse art purchase was this lovely print by Sonya Hallett, as the dog reminded us of our dog Loki (who does like eating orange things!).

We spent a lot of the Saturday and the Sunday chatting to the various people we bought comics/books from, as well as Andy Waterfield (who was involved in the British Comic Awards this year), Rachael Smith, Leah Moore & John Reppion, Antony Johnston and lots more.

Saturday night we went for a lovely Italian meal and catch-up with Matt Brooker, Jenni Scott & Richard Buck. Walking around the halls had worn us out, so afterwards we headed back to our hotel to watch Doctor Who.

Sunday saw us finally get to Armouries hall for more chat and swag. We also went along to meet up with some of the creators from the ‘Women in Comics’ FB group. It was lovely to catch up with Maura McHugh, Sally Jane Thompson, Karen Rubins and to meet Tammy Taylor, Julie Nick, Kerrie Smith, Edward Brophy and Sarah Louise Elliott. Jay wants to apologise to Sarah for almost cutting her out of the photo. That’s not how it looked on the phone, honest!