Showing posts with label Nostalgia And Comics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nostalgia And Comics. Show all posts
Monday, September 13, 2010
Monday, July 27, 2009
Friends who just got their big break: ladies and gentlemen, it's Ben McCool.....
Once upon a time back in the days when I used to work at Nostalgia & Comics in Birmingham, I worked with one young Ben McCool; manic, effervescent, incredibly personable, an amazing drinker and a spectacular character who could instantly control a room with the sheer force of his personality. When Ben flows into anecdote mode, the room listens and then laughs so hard that it hurts. He'd long had dreams of turning his talent for entertaining storytelling to writing comics and eventually set about the slow and steady process of making it in the business.
Years passed and Ben eventually made the huge step of leaving to seek fame and fortune in the US. He's been very busy over there, making a name for himself as one of the nicest guys so many people will have met. And also one of the greatest drinkers they'll ever have supped with.
Well now Ben has his first major series scheduled. Couldn't happen to a nicer bloke.
Choker: by Ben McCool and Ben Templesmith.
6 issues from Image Comics starting early 2010.
There's a nice interview with both Bens at CBR here. From which this basic series description comes from Mr McCool:
In a nutshell, it's a hard boiled noir fable set on an unconventional backdrop: Johnny "Choker" Jackson, an ex-Shotgun City police detective who lives in his own rendition of hell. His case of Alien Hand Syndrome has manifested into the most psychotic entity on the planet, he's stuck working at a deadbeat detective agency, and he's engaged in a squalid and involuntary amour with an otherworldly creature that dwells beneath his bathtub. That, believe it or not, is just for starters.
But there's prospective light at the end of the tunnel: a high-profile con Johnny once put behind bars is at large, and not even the city's elite has been able to track the sleazebag down. The police department has offered Johnny a deal: put the rogue back in his below regulation-sized cell and he's got a job for life. However, it comes at a price, and it's one nobody will see coming. But if you want something, and want it real bad, what would you be willing to do to get it?
There's more preview images over at Templesmith's website and, once he sobers up from San Diego, I'm sure McCool's blog will be full of news about Choker as well.
Ben McCool. Not just a good friend, not just a genuinely nice guy, teller of great stories and hard-core drinking machine. I've always thought he had the potential to make some really excellent comics and Choker looks like being a fine start to a long, inglorious career.
Saturday, April 04, 2009
Comics vs merchandise. I think comics are winning - reflections on a modern comic shop.
A while ago I went back to Birmingham and visited my old workplace Nostalgia & Comics. As usual it was lovely to catch up with folks, pick up some comics and books to review over at PROPAGANDA at the FPIblog & it's always nice to get myself back into the retail environment again to have a look around.
With Nostalgia & Comics it was more than just feeling part of the store as a customer. It was the sense of family that came through working there. Of course, despite still thinking of it as my store, that sense of ownership, being part of the family and having a hand in shaping where a great comic shop was going has passed. Nostalgia & Comics is no longer "mine" and quite rightly it is changing and moving forwards. The big fear with N&C is that one day I'll walk in there and know no-one behind the counter. I'll just be another customer, rather than Richard; the guy who did 19 years there and helped shape the store for many years.
Anyway, melancholy over with; the most interesting thing about N&C is that it's been changing in a way I think is reflecting a positive change for comic shops as a whole. I know the credit crunch is biting and that sales all over are down and that the economic climate has meant that Diamond Distributors have increased their prices due to a stronger dollar. But the change is still a positive one and makes me quietly confident for the future.
You see, Nostalgia & Comics is, relatively speaking, a big store. Certainly big for comic shops. It's also part of the Forbidden Planet International chain. And over the years the size of the store and it's membership of a comics chain have meant that we've had to adapt to changing mores of comic retailing. Hence, a few years back, when we were first inducted into the fpi family, we saw the amount of merchandise increase incredibly fast. The product mix changed radically and that scared us all. Because, we were, are and always will be a comics store. It's what Nostalgia & Comics does best. So when staff at Nostalgia & Comics, all of us dearly loving comics and graphic novels, saw the space for comics shrink and the merchandise increase we didn't like it, even if we understood that financially it was a good policy for the time. But none of us wanted to turn into a pop culture store. None of us wanted that and we all did anything we could to keep Nostalgia & Comics as a comic shop. Mostly this involved getting out there and selling, selling, selling the comics, selling the graphic novels and making sure our comic shop was as good as we could make it. And we made it work. Our comic and graphic novel sales have always been great and held up far better than other neo-pop culture stores in relation to merchandise.
The irony of all this is that after leaving the store I got more involved with FPI and started reviewing over on the FPI blog. Getting to know the folks there; people like Joe & Kenny, has shown me that we weren't alone in all this. There's an awful lot of folks at FPI that really still see the company as a comic shop company rather than a merchandise store. It's been a nice eye-opener.
But on visiting N&C over the last couple of years I noticed an important change. It looks like comic shops have seen the peak of the merchandising boom. There's merchandise still on the shelves, but crucially, there aren't the guaranteed money spinning core lines that we used to have.
Back in the height of the merchandising boom I could look at the shelves and the stocks downstairs and point out several core lines that were guaranteed pots of money; Star Wars, Buffy, Simpsons, MacFarlane Toys, Marvel Legends. But every one of those lines has either finished or stalled. And nothing is replacing them. Sure the Doctor Who toys have taken up a bit of the slack, but nowhere near the levels of the aforementioned core lines - and the Doctor Who merchandise is ubiquitous. The great financial benefit of the Buffy toys or the early Marvel Legends is that we were the only place you could get them.
But as the popularity of the merchandise increased, we found that suddenly we weren't the only place in town to get that Wolverine figure. Whether it was Woolworth's (when it was still around), ToysRUs or Argos you could pick up these lines easily everywhere, often at prices less than we were able to sell them at (economies of scale and all that). Marvel Legends figures used to disappear from the shelves in big £15 a time chunks. Now Woolies, Tesco, Asda and Argos are pumping them out cheap and suddenly, the pile of unsold second rate Marvel figures grows to heights where oxygen is recommended.
And once that happens, the comic shops lose every time. We just can't compete with them on volume, discounts, profit or availability.
It happened to us before with anime dvds. For a long time many years ago, when manga and anime was a relatively niche market we stocked a lot of anime and sold it really well to the growing numbers of manga fans that flocked to us as the only game in town. But as soon as manga and anime hit big and reached a mainstream recognition, HMV started stocking them in depth, with discounts that they could absorb due to their greater buying power and killed our sales dead practically overnight. Over the years we clawed some of the sales back, through careful manga marketing and building up our customer base through being the only store in town that gave a large amount of shelf space to manga graphic novels and genuinely caring about what we sold. These manga fans gave us their custom and loyally bought anime from us as well.
So merchandise sales are changing. No longer driven by a couple of core best sellers, the merchandise seems to be far more thinly spread, with lots of different lines, all selling less.
But we always felt we were a comic shop first and stocked merchandise as an extra line. And this is what will see us through; the belief that comics and graphic novels are our core market. Like we always used to say: Nostalgia & Comics, because it's what we do best.
(And obviously, this is just my thoughts on the shop I used to work at, not backed up by anything other than observational evidence and certainly shouldn't be seen as anything officially connected with Nostalgia & Comics or FPI. So there.)
And once that happens, the comic shops lose every time. We just can't compete with them on volume, discounts, profit or availability.
It happened to us before with anime dvds. For a long time many years ago, when manga and anime was a relatively niche market we stocked a lot of anime and sold it really well to the growing numbers of manga fans that flocked to us as the only game in town. But as soon as manga and anime hit big and reached a mainstream recognition, HMV started stocking them in depth, with discounts that they could absorb due to their greater buying power and killed our sales dead practically overnight. Over the years we clawed some of the sales back, through careful manga marketing and building up our customer base through being the only store in town that gave a large amount of shelf space to manga graphic novels and genuinely caring about what we sold. These manga fans gave us their custom and loyally bought anime from us as well.
So merchandise sales are changing. No longer driven by a couple of core best sellers, the merchandise seems to be far more thinly spread, with lots of different lines, all selling less.
But we always felt we were a comic shop first and stocked merchandise as an extra line. And this is what will see us through; the belief that comics and graphic novels are our core market. Like we always used to say: Nostalgia & Comics, because it's what we do best.
(And obviously, this is just my thoughts on the shop I used to work at, not backed up by anything other than observational evidence and certainly shouldn't be seen as anything officially connected with Nostalgia & Comics or FPI. So there.)
Friday, May 30, 2008
Birmingham thoughts
Last weekend was our first trip to Birmingham in 2008. Essentially it was all about a family party we had to get to, but we did spend a little time around the city.
I've written about going back to Birmingham before and how it seems strange to return to the city we called home for many, many years.
In fact, looking over the previous posts, I've realised it's all still relevant; go to the Birmingham category first and then back to here.
This time, on returning to it, it was everything we'd felt before but more so. Bigger, noisier, too many people and not very much like home at all. Which is exactly how it should be. After all, Pocklington is our home now and has been for nearly 2 years now. But it's still slightly sad to lose touch with the city you called home for much of your life.
Even worse, for me at least, is the feeling I get when going into Nostalgia & Comics. You have to remember that this place was part of my life for over 20 years. Whether it was as a young child shopping there or growing up whilst working there, it was very important to me all the same. Yet I go into it now and every time it seems like there are fewer and fewer staff I really know working there. Of course, the staff are all very nice but they're not the staff I knew, not my friends, not very much like family, which is what I felt about a lot of previous staff members.
It was still nice to see Dave and everyone, but it's not the same. It's not my Nostalgia & Comics. Not in the same way that it used to be. Even the layout and the stock mix has changed. It's in little things like not really knowing what is on the shelves anymore that really hits hard. Makes me realise I'm not part of it anymore.
There used to be a time when I worked there that I knew 90% or more of everything we had in stock. That was because a big part of my day's work involved sorting the shelves of comics and graphic novels out and making sure we had everything in stock that we needed to. Now I stare at the shelves in blank dismay. There's too much stock available now and it's all stuff that I don't recognise. So each time I go in there I find myself browsing just a small section of the shelves and looking at my small list of things I'm after.
But it's not the same as really being part of the furniture.
Of course, as I sit here enjoying the Pocklington sunshine, looking around outside my window at the quiet surroundings and contemplating going to pick Molly up from Pickering and the prospect of an enjoyable evening ahead of me, none of the above makes me in any way want to live anywhere else.
I've written about going back to Birmingham before and how it seems strange to return to the city we called home for many, many years.
In fact, looking over the previous posts, I've realised it's all still relevant; go to the Birmingham category first and then back to here.
This time, on returning to it, it was everything we'd felt before but more so. Bigger, noisier, too many people and not very much like home at all. Which is exactly how it should be. After all, Pocklington is our home now and has been for nearly 2 years now. But it's still slightly sad to lose touch with the city you called home for much of your life.
Even worse, for me at least, is the feeling I get when going into Nostalgia & Comics. You have to remember that this place was part of my life for over 20 years. Whether it was as a young child shopping there or growing up whilst working there, it was very important to me all the same. Yet I go into it now and every time it seems like there are fewer and fewer staff I really know working there. Of course, the staff are all very nice but they're not the staff I knew, not my friends, not very much like family, which is what I felt about a lot of previous staff members.
It was still nice to see Dave and everyone, but it's not the same. It's not my Nostalgia & Comics. Not in the same way that it used to be. Even the layout and the stock mix has changed. It's in little things like not really knowing what is on the shelves anymore that really hits hard. Makes me realise I'm not part of it anymore.
There used to be a time when I worked there that I knew 90% or more of everything we had in stock. That was because a big part of my day's work involved sorting the shelves of comics and graphic novels out and making sure we had everything in stock that we needed to. Now I stare at the shelves in blank dismay. There's too much stock available now and it's all stuff that I don't recognise. So each time I go in there I find myself browsing just a small section of the shelves and looking at my small list of things I'm after.
But it's not the same as really being part of the furniture.
Of course, as I sit here enjoying the Pocklington sunshine, looking around outside my window at the quiet surroundings and contemplating going to pick Molly up from Pickering and the prospect of an enjoyable evening ahead of me, none of the above makes me in any way want to live anywhere else.
Maxwell The Magic Cat - I could have retired on these!
A recent review of Maxwell The Magic Cat at Sequart made me think about these old examples of the strip Alan Moore started out doing. This was before Watchmen, before success, before fame. They were written under the pen name Jill De Rey and if you happen to have a lot of them under your bed, I would suggest heading over to ebay because they're selling well for at least £20 a copy.
Way, way back, when the old boss at Nostalgia & Comics used to regularly get huge stocks of magazines and comics from some distributor or another. And all four volumes of Maxwell The Magic Cat were in there as well. As I recalled in my posts on my time at Nostalgia & Comics we were giving all of these away at some point in time. If I had any bloody sense I would have bought a few bundles of these and been using them as a pension fund right now.
However, it's a really good review of a very rare bit of Alan Moore nostalgia.
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Free Comic Book Day at Nostalgia & Comics, well done the Birmingham Post for a really bad article.
Actually, it's not really bad, just really, really disinterested. Did they send the retiring reporter along as a punishment? The entire text of the article reads:
SUPERGIRL flew into Birmingham to help the city’s oldest comic shop celebrate an international event of epic proportions.Still, nice to see Nostalgia in the news for whatever reason. Would have been nice to get a little more information in about the idea of Free Comic Book Day though wouldn't it?
Fans were at the Nostalgia and Comics shop on Smallbrook Queensway, which opened 31 years ago, to snap up special editions of their favourite characters, including the X-men, Iron Man, Simpsons and Dan Dare. The shop celebrated international Free Comic Book Day in a bid to draw in new fans and reward their regular customers. Among them was assistant Tash Wharrad, from Four Oaks, who got into the spirit of the occasion as Supergirl.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Page 45 Eddie Campbell signing.
Sunday 3rd August 2008
I found about this a while back, when Eddie mentioned it on his blog, but no-one else seemed to be mentioning it and out of respect for dear Stephen at Page 45 decided to let him announce it in his own time.
So, here's the my space announcement: Eddie Campbell signing. Sunday 3rd August. 1:30-3:30. Meet in Page 45.
Then, as Stephen is known to be partial to alcohol (Preferably red, but he's not that fussy really), they're all off down the pub. And so could you. Turn up at Page 45 for the signing and be let in on the secret pub location for a night of revelry with Eddie (who's also partial to a drop of the good stuff so I'm told).
I may get around to going. I hope so. I still owe Holland a drink from many years ago.
For those of you who don't know Page 45 is one of the best comic shops I've ever been into. In fact, purely on shops I've visited; the top three are Nostalgia & Comics, Page 45 and GOSH. I know I'm biased about Nostalgia & Comics but I really believe we are a fantastic shop, passionate, great stock and continually striving to get better.
In terms of other UK shops I really mean to visit but haven't yet; OK Comics at Leeds is meant to be really good, as are various FPI stores around the country (Edinburgh, Glasgow et al). Again, I know I may be seen as biased about FPI, but just talking to some og the folks at FPI about the business has proven to me thatFPI, despite it's flirtation with being a pop culture store is predominantly a Comic Shop.
Like we always used to say at Nostalgia & Comics: It's what we do best. And if, as reported by those who should know, other FPI stores are doing the same as Nostalgia & Comics; putting comics and graphic novels right at the heart of everything we do, then the future looks bright.
And with stores of the caliber of GOSH, N&C and Page 45, the future does indeed look extremely bright indeed.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Coheed and Cambria's Claudio Sanchez at Nostalgia & Comics
Dave at Nostalgia and Comics in Birmingham sends me word that their recent C&C signing was an absolute, total, wonderful success. Fans queued, had stuff signed and generally had a great time.
Claudio was a true gent, very laid back and happy to sign and chat.
Photos of said event:
Claudio was a true gent, very laid back and happy to sign and chat.
Photos of said event:
Monday, January 28, 2008
Birmingham Weekend ...... Captain Jack in Panto...
This last weekend the Bruton family took a trip to see Birmingham again.
Louise and Molly were particularly excited as they were off to the panto to see...
Aladdin this year starred John Barrowman, and not only featured a 3D genie but also had Daleks, the Grumbleweeds and Don Maclean.
(I don't recall the Daleks showing up in my memories of the Aladdin, but maybe it's just my memory at fault.)
To be honest I really don't know who was more excited at seeing the panto, Louise or Molly. I do know that they both came out of the show as flushed as schoolgirls with Louise particularly enthusing about John Barrowman, who is, I am told, absolutely gorgeous....
The adulation and schoolgirl giggling only got worse when we headed round the corner into the throng by the stage door where Captain Jack was signing autographs. Louise did the classic parent thing and thrust Molly through the crowd to get her ticket signed...
Afterwards they both came running out of the crowd, almost visibly shaking and both said how lovely he was. But I think they meant it in very different ways.
And yes, we're all aware that I have more chance of bagging the Captain than Louise does.
But it was a good pantomime.
Whilst they were at the panto I headed off to good old Nostalgia & Comics for a look round and to pick up some comics and books. Rich is still talking to me, despite what I said about The Sword. It was lovely to see the place again and chat to everyone. Of course, the staff are mostly new faces to me now and I still shudder to think of the day I head through the doors and don't actually recognise anyone working there. That will be a cold knife to the heart.
Then off to the pub for a drinky with Dave, (shop manager on his day off) & his lovely wife Debbie. Much talk of Yorkshire, holidays, comics and comic shops and then it was time to meet Louise and Molly.
Saturday evening was spent dropping Molly round at her sleepover. Ever since she started Nursery at 5 months old she's known Ellen and Louise and I have become good friends with the family. It was always one of the contacts we intended to keep up when we left for the North and we're doing very well.
Dinner at Mandy & Ellens (and a very rich but absolutely lovely Vanilla Custard and Raspberry Sauce) was followed by a night out in Birmingham with good friends Mark and Vicki.
Sunday was spent wishing Happy 17th Birthday to Louise's cousin Rachel (Happy Birthday Rachel)
Then home and back to lovely Yorkshire.
Tired now, off to bed.
Louise and Molly were particularly excited as they were off to the panto to see...
Aladdin this year starred John Barrowman, and not only featured a 3D genie but also had Daleks, the Grumbleweeds and Don Maclean.(I don't recall the Daleks showing up in my memories of the Aladdin, but maybe it's just my memory at fault.)
To be honest I really don't know who was more excited at seeing the panto, Louise or Molly. I do know that they both came out of the show as flushed as schoolgirls with Louise particularly enthusing about John Barrowman, who is, I am told, absolutely gorgeous....
The adulation and schoolgirl giggling only got worse when we headed round the corner into the throng by the stage door where Captain Jack was signing autographs. Louise did the classic parent thing and thrust Molly through the crowd to get her ticket signed...
Afterwards they both came running out of the crowd, almost visibly shaking and both said how lovely he was. But I think they meant it in very different ways.
And yes, we're all aware that I have more chance of bagging the Captain than Louise does.
But it was a good pantomime.
Whilst they were at the panto I headed off to good old Nostalgia & Comics for a look round and to pick up some comics and books. Rich is still talking to me, despite what I said about The Sword. It was lovely to see the place again and chat to everyone. Of course, the staff are mostly new faces to me now and I still shudder to think of the day I head through the doors and don't actually recognise anyone working there. That will be a cold knife to the heart.
Then off to the pub for a drinky with Dave, (shop manager on his day off) & his lovely wife Debbie. Much talk of Yorkshire, holidays, comics and comic shops and then it was time to meet Louise and Molly.
Saturday evening was spent dropping Molly round at her sleepover. Ever since she started Nursery at 5 months old she's known Ellen and Louise and I have become good friends with the family. It was always one of the contacts we intended to keep up when we left for the North and we're doing very well.
Dinner at Mandy & Ellens (and a very rich but absolutely lovely Vanilla Custard and Raspberry Sauce) was followed by a night out in Birmingham with good friends Mark and Vicki.
Sunday was spent wishing Happy 17th Birthday to Louise's cousin Rachel (Happy Birthday Rachel)
Then home and back to lovely Yorkshire.
Tired now, off to bed.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Paul Grist interview @ FPI
The lovely Paul Grist has a nice interview by Matthew Badham over at the FPI weblog here.
Most interesting bit - or the most scary bit really:
I went and printed out… I think I ended up printing 3000 copies of the first issue. Then I decided to try and sell them. That was a matter of sending out a sample copy to all the comic shops in the UK and selling it directly to them. And from that I found that, out of the hundreds of comic shops in the UK, there were about 15 willing to sell something like that.That would be me and Nostalgia & Comics then. But that's just bloody scary - about 15? Actually it's not scary, just sadly realistic.What you do is you find the shops that are going to support you. The shops that have people there that will work at building up sales and show an interest in what you’re doing, rather than just being one more comic that they can have that week.
(Thanks to Joe for the mention as well, but I hasten to add my questions were rushed, short, crap and crap, Matthew made a silk purse out of the sow's ear with them and added them to his much bigger and more impressive list of questions.)
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Justice League Unlimited 40 by Ben McCool
I remember him when he were just a baby etc etc
Out recently, the DC debut from ex Nostalgia & Comics staffer, friend and beer monkey; Mr Ben McCool
Nice one Ben.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Tara Garnett - back in the comics biz!!!
Tara, ex of Nostalgia & Comics just emailed to let me know that she's taking the brave step of moving to London. But the great news is that she's landed a job in Mega City Comics in Camden.
Good for you girl. Tara will be mortally embarrassed by me saying this, but she's one of the bravest and strongest people I've ever met and for her life to be working out so well is a great thing.
If you're in London, please pop in and say hello to her.
And go look at her Live Journal and video blogging.
Good for you girl. Tara will be mortally embarrassed by me saying this, but she's one of the bravest and strongest people I've ever met and for her life to be working out so well is a great thing.
If you're in London, please pop in and say hello to her.
And go look at her Live Journal and video blogging.
Monday, September 03, 2007
Nostalgia & Comics : 30 years of the greatest comic shop.
Nostalgia & Comics is 30 years old in 2007.But I've had the link and this post sat on the hard drive for ages. About time I got around to posting it really.
As most of you know I spent many, many happy hours at the shop, from July 1987 to September 2006. 19 years. Not the longest serving member of staff - that one goes to Dave Hopkins, manager extraordinaire for 24 years, but certainly the longest serving Saturday boy.
I've waffled on about how much the place means to me, even now, nearly a year after leaving, so I wont repeat it. Here's the first post of Nostalgia & Comics & Me instead.
So Happy Birthday Nostalgia & Comics. Here's to many, many more.
Dave Hopkins & David Dearn, who honestly do many other thingsbesides propping up shelves and reading the stock.
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Make your own Simpsons Avatar....
Make your own Simpsons character from the very nice Simpsons movie site, via Stu - owner of Second City Stu(mbler)Stu's another Nostalgia & Comics blogger:
see also Building A Better Geek, Over the (Comic Book Store) Counter Culture, Geekgal1980 and Hard Boiled Wonderland.
One comic shop with all these blogs - it's a virus.
Monday, April 09, 2007
Nostalgia & Comics & Me - Part 20
and that's me done for now....
After 19 posts and various extras in the Nostalgia & Comics & Me series I'm calling it a day for now.
I'm sure there are more things I'll want to say, but those things can wait for now.
Hopefully I've given you all a little taste of what a wonderful time I had in my 19 years at the greatest comic shop in the country.
The good news for me is that the friendships I've made over the years are friendships that will last and my reviewing for the FPI weblog means I'm still connected with the shop in at least a minor way. After all, I have to go down fairly regularly to pick up those comics to review.
But for now, that's it. Nostalgia & Comics & Me is done. 19 main posts for 19 years. I hadn't noticed the synchronicity until now, but that's nice.
(Click here to get back to the beginning post)
I'm sure there are more things I'll want to say, but those things can wait for now.
Hopefully I've given you all a little taste of what a wonderful time I had in my 19 years at the greatest comic shop in the country.
The good news for me is that the friendships I've made over the years are friendships that will last and my reviewing for the FPI weblog means I'm still connected with the shop in at least a minor way. After all, I have to go down fairly regularly to pick up those comics to review.
But for now, that's it. Nostalgia & Comics & Me is done. 19 main posts for 19 years. I hadn't noticed the synchronicity until now, but that's nice.
(Click here to get back to the beginning post)
Nostalgia & Comics & Me - The photos part 4
No convention or signing stuff now, just wonderful shots of the shop in all it's glory. Just looking at these fills me with all sorts of weird nostalgic feelings.......
First up, a lovely view of the shopfloor and the main comics wall. Judging from the comics on display, this would be around 1987/8 and may even be around the time of the Watchmen signings.
My eyes immediately drawn to the central column and those wonderful flying Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers wall plaques. They were a feature of the shop for decades.
Then you have the shelves absolutely sagging with the weight of comics. None of them full face at this stage, we just didn't have the room for that luxury.
First up, a lovely view of the shopfloor and the main comics wall. Judging from the comics on display, this would be around 1987/8 and may even be around the time of the Watchmen signings.
My eyes immediately drawn to the central column and those wonderful flying Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers wall plaques. They were a feature of the shop for decades.
Then you have the shelves absolutely sagging with the weight of comics. None of them full face at this stage, we just didn't have the room for that luxury.
Another shot of the shopfloor below, this time looking down at the back issue section in the corner. This was the time when back issues were at their height and to be honest Paul really should get off his arse, stop reading the comics and put some of those back issues away.
Different view of the shop, different time. The long haired rock thing stalking the aisles in the photo below is Jason, who introduced me to the hilarious treat that was Edwards #8. Judging from the bottom left of the picture this would be around the time that the Turtles hit really big on the TV, as we've got some of the merchandise on the shelves....
And next, the wall. This was a big feature of the shop from very early on. Personally I think Phil just didn't want the expense of painting the walls so just wallpapered with some posters he had lying around. From this photo you don't really get an idea of the scale, but this is a two storey high wall of posters we're looking at.
Later on it was at least partially covered over with absolutely huge posters of Batman, Terminator and Indiana Jones. As far as I recall when we were having the refit after being taken over by FPI, there was talk of removing the posters and giving us a really nice iconic wall display complete with huge panel and character blow ups. It would have looked absolutely spectacular. But it never happened, partly I think because they realised that the posters were actually more structurally sound than the plaster and taking the posters off the wall would have brought the plaster down as well....
And to end with, more recent shots of the shop: A nice exterior shot
The Propaganda shelf with a Cerebus display and the view towards the tills. This was where I would regularly highlight everything I thought you should all be reading, something I was always very proud of and something I'm carrying on (in name if not in shelf presence) at the FPI weblog by doing the Propaganda reviews:
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Nostalgia & Comics & Me - the photos part 3
More photos from various Nostalgia & Comics signings.
First a couple from a Cerebus signing tour. Probably circa 1986/7 based on the comics I can make out in the photo. Gerhard on the left, Dave Sim on the right:
Dave & Ger in full flow. Again, interesting to me because of what's in the background. An entire wall full of MAD magazine. How times change.
Howard Chaykin & fan dressed as American Flagg. God knows who the fan is. If you know, or if it was you, please let me know.
First a couple from a Cerebus signing tour. Probably circa 1986/7 based on the comics I can make out in the photo. Gerhard on the left, Dave Sim on the right:
Dave & Ger in full flow. Again, interesting to me because of what's in the background. An entire wall full of MAD magazine. How times change.
Howard Chaykin & fan dressed as American Flagg. God knows who the fan is. If you know, or if it was you, please let me know.
Jim Shooter, posed carefully against the main wall of comics just to show how bloody tall he is I'm guessing. No idea of the date again, maybe 1985/6 based on some of the comics....
Nostalgia & Comics & Me - the photos part 2
More photos provided by Dave at Nostalgia & Comics.
Of note in the photo below of Alan Moore doing his meet & greet is the gent in the check shirt with the beard. That's Steve Pugh, noted artist. Also in the white jumper looking nonchalantly off-photo is my good friend Simon.
One wonderful anecdote from the Watchmen signings. Firstly it was possibly the best signing session i've ever worked - possibly because it was my first at the shop - I was only 16 at the time and had just started reading Watchmen and was loving it. But the best thing was after the signing. Alan and Dave finished the signing, we ushered the last people out the doors and locked up. Then Alan and Dave started wandering round the shop, picking stuff up from the shelves and amassing a big pile of stuff they wanted. But at some point it became obvious that etiquette for the tour had been set at some previous signing date on the tour. It appears that somewhere they'd been told to just take their pick of what they wanted and take it for free. Sadly, no-one had bothered to inform Phil (the owner of Nostalgia & Comics at the time) about this. So to see his face blanch as realisation dawned was a very funny sight.
These Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons signings happened around the time of the Watchmen finale in 1987.
Of particular interest to me in all these old photos is looking at the stock we carried back then. For example; in the first shot with Alan Moore talking to his fans, we have a shelf full of Asterix and Tintin in the background and Garfield in the foreground. We haven't carried them in years. Interesting perhaps only to me.
Of note in the photo below of Alan Moore doing his meet & greet is the gent in the check shirt with the beard. That's Steve Pugh, noted artist. Also in the white jumper looking nonchalantly off-photo is my good friend Simon. One wonderful anecdote from the Watchmen signings. Firstly it was possibly the best signing session i've ever worked - possibly because it was my first at the shop - I was only 16 at the time and had just started reading Watchmen and was loving it. But the best thing was after the signing. Alan and Dave finished the signing, we ushered the last people out the doors and locked up. Then Alan and Dave started wandering round the shop, picking stuff up from the shelves and amassing a big pile of stuff they wanted. But at some point it became obvious that etiquette for the tour had been set at some previous signing date on the tour. It appears that somewhere they'd been told to just take their pick of what they wanted and take it for free. Sadly, no-one had bothered to inform Phil (the owner of Nostalgia & Comics at the time) about this. So to see his face blanch as realisation dawned was a very funny sight.This wonderfully photo comes from the special DC Comics 50th birthday party we hosted in 1988. Given Alan's continual fallings out with DC over the years, his threatening stance with the knife looks like he's just looked deep into the future......
And finally, two from a London convention. The first is Alan Moore in his famous white suit, a very young Neil Gaiman (still a journalist back then) & Dave Gibbons. Circa 1988/9?
And judging by the insipid grey background this is from the same convention, this time it's Frank Miller & Lynn Varley:
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Nostalgia & Comics & Me ...... the photos part 1
On a recent trip to Birmingham, lovely Mr Dave, boss at Nostalgia & Comics handed me a pile of convention and signing photos - presented here as some form of interesting historical record.
Of course, seeing as he gave them to me in the pub, we don't really have any confirmed dates. Hell, you're lucky I remembered to bring them home.
(DAVE - If you're reading this, please let me know if I've got the names or dates wrong so I can amend as necessary!)
Lets start with a couple of early Birmingham convention shots. Nostalgia & Comics held the first comic convention in the country back in 1968, organised by my old boss at Nostalgia & Comics, Phil Clarke.
These would be from the Birmingham Comic Art Show sometime in the mid 80s possibly.... (Classic X-Men #1 in the second picture, Art Adams signing)
Brian Bolland:
Of course, seeing as he gave them to me in the pub, we don't really have any confirmed dates. Hell, you're lucky I remembered to bring them home.
(DAVE - If you're reading this, please let me know if I've got the names or dates wrong so I can amend as necessary!)
Lets start with a couple of early Birmingham convention shots. Nostalgia & Comics held the first comic convention in the country back in 1968, organised by my old boss at Nostalgia & Comics, Phil Clarke.
These would be from the Birmingham Comic Art Show sometime in the mid 80s possibly.... (Classic X-Men #1 in the second picture, Art Adams signing)
In the last one, if my memory serves me right, the ginger haired , blue shirted gentleman is Art Adams, a famously slow comics artist before it became the norm.
Art is also seen below in deep conversation with Paul Gambacinni.
(I think it's the same convention):
Brian Bolland:Brian Bolland, Art Adams, Mark Farmer, Kev O'Neil:
Charles Vess, Bryan Talbot, Mike Kaluta (we think!), John Ridgway & Hunt Emerson:
Friday, April 06, 2007
Nostalgia & Comics & Me part 19
the staff
One thing I should mention is all the members of staff who've made the work at Nostalgia & Comics absolutely nothing like work. Without whom etc etc........
Apologies to all I've forgotten, I'm old and the brain doesn't work that well any more.
Firstly to Dave; a manager and a friend.
Phil Clarke (for hiring me in the first place)
Sue Williams (for being so nice on that first day)
It's always been the staff that have made Nostalgia & Comics the most wonderful place to both work at and to shop at. I'm lucky enough to have worked there long enough to have met, worked with and become friends with many of them......
so, in no particular order:
Mark, David, Ted, Martin, Jason, Carl, Jeff, Casey, Beckitt, Frodo, Lisa, Beth, Dan, Sarah, Kay, Morgan, Mikey, Jeff, Paul H, Ben, Dennis, Cat, Stuart, Rich, Gemma, David Wells, Perry, Jon, (add your name here or add it in the comments and I'll edit it in)
& finally, a belated mention to three people who I should have previously mentioned in all my posts on the basement.
Paul Slater
Roy
Tara.
Obviously, I didn't work completely in isolation down there and every member of staff has helped out down in the basement at some stage, for which I thank them all.
But throughout my entire career there, trapped in that underground hell, those three very special people have, at various times, laughed, cried, sweated (or in Tara's case perspired), swore, kicked / punched the stock into place (mostly Paul it should be said) and generally been totally supportive of me down there.
Thank you to them for being my special basement friends.
Apologies to all I've forgotten, I'm old and the brain doesn't work that well any more.
Firstly to Dave; a manager and a friend.
Phil Clarke (for hiring me in the first place)
Sue Williams (for being so nice on that first day)
It's always been the staff that have made Nostalgia & Comics the most wonderful place to both work at and to shop at. I'm lucky enough to have worked there long enough to have met, worked with and become friends with many of them......
so, in no particular order:
Mark, David, Ted, Martin, Jason, Carl, Jeff, Casey, Beckitt, Frodo, Lisa, Beth, Dan, Sarah, Kay, Morgan, Mikey, Jeff, Paul H, Ben, Dennis, Cat, Stuart, Rich, Gemma, David Wells, Perry, Jon, (add your name here or add it in the comments and I'll edit it in)
& finally, a belated mention to three people who I should have previously mentioned in all my posts on the basement.
Paul Slater
Roy
Tara.
Obviously, I didn't work completely in isolation down there and every member of staff has helped out down in the basement at some stage, for which I thank them all.
But throughout my entire career there, trapped in that underground hell, those three very special people have, at various times, laughed, cried, sweated (or in Tara's case perspired), swore, kicked / punched the stock into place (mostly Paul it should be said) and generally been totally supportive of me down there.
Thank you to them for being my special basement friends.
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