UPDATED: Nostalgia & Comics

My post the other day about the adverts for Dark they were and golden eyed (here) made me think about comics advertising for other shops...and then boom! this pops up on eBay. 

It's for sale here and is Trevor Goring's original artwork for  Birmingham's Nostalgia & Comics shop. I'd love to see other adverts for the shop.

Update (Mar 2026) I recently came across this advert in Escape #15 (May 1989). I'm assuming the signature 'Ormston' is that of comics artist Dean Ormston.

Update: the last post produced further examples of adverts so I'm just adding them to the post...

Lew Stringer sent me this

this was also c/o Lew

as was this - the first mention of the shop (in Comic Media News)

this was from Mark Warby

Update: friend of the blog Sam Farnworth has provided this image by artist Simon Parkes. Thanks! Plus I've found a Hunt Emerson advert.

this advert is taken from Alter Image #4 (November 1987)

Birmingham comic art show - Watchmen

I've looked before at many of the brochures that were produced over the years to accompany various comics conventions (check out all the reference to "convention" here on the blog)

What I didn't realise until very recently was how interesting this particular programme was in relation to the history of Watchmen. I'll let ace ebay seller Ewan Brownlow (check out his shop here) explain...

BIRMINGHAM COMIC ART SHOW UK no.3

Original vintage 28pg convention booklet, May 1986

Super-rare - print run <200

Featuring unpublished elsewhere art & features

Dave Gibbons "Watchmen: Doctor Manhattan, Black Freighter skull & cross-bones, Silk Spectre, Nite Owl, Rorschach, Smiley, Radio-active symbol, The Comedian, Ozymandias" 9-panel art

1st full appearance Watchmen

1st Watchmen Smiley

1st "9 panel" format

This very early black & white promotional art by Dave Gibbons (first published in this booklet) was used many years later for the cover of the Watchmen "Deluxe Edition" albeit in an amended form with the "Smiley" panel removed (see comparison in 2nd pic, book not included)

Early timeline

1). Mar 1985 - Speakeasy no.50 fanzine (1st "Watch Out For The Watchmen" news feature)

2). Aug 1985 - KOOKS no.2 fanzine (features 3 images of Dave Gibbons' "photocopied pencils" showing Rorschach, Doctor Manhattan and Nite Owl)

3). Sep 1985 - DC Spotlight no.1 (Watchmen Preview)

4). May 1986 - Birmingham Comic Art Show no.3 (1st full appearance of all Watchmen)

5). May 1986 - Speakeasy no.62 fanzine (The Comedian cover and "30 Seconds To Doomsday" feature)

6). Sep 1986 - Watchmen no.1 published

Obviously this booklet is literally hundreds of times rarer than the DC Spotlight comic!

Plus...

Brian Bolland art

Kevin O'Neill "Metalzoic" art

Alan Davis / Paul Neary "Batman" art

Lew Stringer "Brickman Saves the Day!" strip

Forbidden Planet 1 & 2 advert with Brian Bolland photo

"Friends Of The Comic Art Show" listing feature including Neil Gaiman (very early mention)

Mark Farmer art

John Bolton art

Julius Schwartz feature

"Timetable" schedule mentioning "Due to the ever present threat of Libyan terrorism Dick Giordano & Julie Schwartz have been advised to pull out" & "Sunday includes plans for a Watchmen panel with Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons"

John Ridgway art

UPDATED: Nostalgia & Comics

My post the other day about the adverts for Dark they were and golden eyed (here) made me think about comics advertising for other shops...and then boom! this pops up on eBay. 

It's for sale here and is Trevor Goring's original artwork for  Birmingham's Nostalgia & Comics shop. I'd love to see other adverts for the shop.

Update: the last post produced further examples of adverts so I'm just adding them to the post...

Lew Stringer sent me this

this was also c/o Lew

as was this - the first mention of the shop (in Comic Media News)

this was from Mark Warby

Update: friend of the blog Sam Farnworth has provided this image by artist Simon Parkes. Thanks! Plus I've found a Hunt Emerson advert.

this advert is taken from Alter Image #4 (November 1987)

Comic conventions - a miscellany

I've looked a few different conventions before....

Bristol comic expo (2004-2014) is here

London comic festival 2003 is here
Kev Sutherland festival original art is here
A 'Lawless 2019' miscellany is here
Boys and Girls exhibitions of the 1950s and '60s is here
Glasgow comic art convention is here
Edinburgh art convention is here
Hi-Ex convention is here

UKCAC - part 1 - is here
UKCAC - part 2 - is here

UKCAC - part 3 - is here

BICS convention is here

Glasgow comic con is here

Kapow! comic con is here

British comic conventions 1970-76 is here 

British comic conventions 1977-81 is here 

And I've now got a few miscellaneous examples to go through...

First up is this from the 3rd Birmingham comic art show - I'd love to see examples of the programmes for show 1 & 2 (and were there further shows???) 

Cover art by Mike Higgs

Interior art by Lew Stringer (a Brickman strip), Mark Farmer, John Bolton, Kev O'Neill, Alan Davis, Paul Neary, Brian Bolland, John Ridgway, Dave Gibbons

So, a great selection of artists there - I highly recommend trying to track this down.

Lew Stringer also provided this update...

There was a '4th' comic art show (in 1988 - see advert in issue 4 of Heartbreak Hotel) but I'm unclear if there was a convention booklet produced for that.

The booklet was produced by Hassan Yusuf, Guy Lawley and Paul Hudson. Comics Showcase was a (great) comic shop in London. Interior art by David Lloyd (a 'V for Vendetta' image) and an Alan Davis image (of Captain Britain, Marvelman & Harry (from 'Harry 20 on the highrock').

Interesting to speculate if 'Comics Showcase' produced any other similar booklets...UPDATE - there weren't any others...

From the 2nd (and last) Konvention of alternative Komix (or KAK) for short - 500 copies printed. Cover art by Hunt Emerson.

Interior art by Bonk, Pokketz, Bid, Steve Bell, Bryan Talbot, Sue Varty, Mike Weller, Kavanagh, David Noon