Bristol Comic Expo

For the past few years we have attended the Bristol Comic Expo and this years event took place this past weekend. The show normally takes place in a large (ish) exhibition hall although for whatever reason this years show had been downsized and as such took place in the function suite (and a couple of smaller rooms) of a hotel in the city.

We arrived at the hotel at around 9am - about an hour or so before the start of the show - and were surprised to find we were one of the first there: in previous years there had been a couple of long queues forming around this time. At half past nine the ticket collection desk opened and by 9.45am we were in the function room.

My first thought was the fairly obvious one - 'crikey, it's a lot smaller this year'. Twenty minutes later and having done my first 'lap' I was quite happy: yes it was (obviously) a smaller event this year but there was still plenty of see and plenty of room to move around.

Half an hour later and my mood had changed a bit - it was starting to get pretty crowded, loads of people were stood around talking (not in itself a problem but why do they have to stand in the middle of an isle blocking other people?) and it was becoming difficult to get to the comic longboxes without having a wrestling match with the people either side of me.

Another change this year, enforced no doubt by the size of the facilities, was separating the 'small press' (independent publishers) into a different - smaller - room. In the past I've enjoyed seeing the different exhibitors alongside one another - on more than one occasion in the past I've unearthed an unknown gem after looking for something a little more mainstream.

It was good to see three or four large dealers at the show with their large stocks of new and old titles - both single issues and trades - and the usual mix of toys, statues and clothing.

Despite the show being smaller this year we did enjoy our day out - I think we managed to spend more money than in any previous year! I'm pretty sure we will go again next year but, assuming the venue and size stay the same, we'll need another 6am start to be there for when the doors open.