Back from Birmingham.

Hey guys and gals.

It was the first (hopefully) annual Comics Launchpad last weekend in Birmingham. The event was focused on established pros sharing their wealth of skills and knowledge with the next generation of comic book pros such as myself.

It was great to meet certain creators for the first time and others for the sixth or seventh (insert name dropping list here). The turnout was impressive and served to prove that Britain has a whole lot of talent coming up the comic book ranks very soon. Trust me readers, there’s some good things on the horizon.

Launchpad was also another chance for me to catch up with my Comic Book Alliance pals to help spread the word about The Spirit of Hope. If you haven’t heard about the book yet, shame on you.

The Spirit of Hope is an anthology of donated art from over 90 of the top international creators in the comic book industry.

The brainchild of the Comic Book Alliance it is hoped that with all proceeds being donated to support the survivors of the Tsunami and Earthquakes in Japan and New Zealand we can raise over £30,000.

Creators on this project include Alan Cowsill, Jimmy Broxton, Mike Allred, Natalie Abadzis, Nick Abadzis, Adrian Bamforth, Jasper Bark, Donna Barr, Jordie Bellaire, Paul H Birch, Bolt-01, Dan Boultwood, Mark Buckingham, Jim Campbell, Richmond Clements, Jason Cobley, Simon Coleby, Mike Collins, Martin Conaghan, Gary Crutchley, Glenn Dakin, Al Davison, Brandon DeStefano, Benjamin Dickson, Martin Eden, Mats Engesten, Gary Erskine, Al Ewing, Glenn B Flemming, Emma Flint, Henry Flint, Leigh Gallagher, Matt Gibbs, Gary Gilbert, Alan Grant, Jon Haward, Peter Hogan, Kev Hopgood, Graeme Howard, Inko, Rich Johnston, Ant Jones, GM Jordan, Jessica Kemp, David Leach, Tony Lee, Nigel Lowrey, Ciaran Lucas, Paul McLaren, Gary Spencer Millidge, Michiru Morikawa, Alex Moore, Leonie O’Moore, Michiru Morkawa, Eva Perkins, Grant Perkins, Martyn Pick, Maria Pickering, David Pugh, James Reekie, Regan, Neil Roberts, Darick Roberston, John Robbins, John Ross, Declan Shalvey, Liam Sharp, Akiko Shimojima, Si Spencer, Vicky Stonebridge, Lew Stringer, Steve Tanner, Archie Templar, S Thompson, Geoffrey D. Wessel, Chris Western, Andrew Wildman, WJC, Ant Williams, Rob Williams, Sean Michael Wilson and Yel Zamor.

Wow, looks like I managed to squeeze a name-dropping list in after all.

In other news, eagle eyed readers might notice that this blog is looking a little sparce right about now. Somewhat white even. That’s due to a site revamp that’s on its way. Stick with me; things will start to look cool again soon.

Trust me.

G.