Thank You Everybody.

Hey everybody, much like last year I’ve needed to take a few days off after the convention just to recharge my batteries. 12 hours sleep in 4 days does not make for healthy living. But just like the last 2 years it was, at least in my opinion. Well worth it.

Each year the spotlight gets thrown on me as the main person behind the con, but this year, far more than others that’s really not the case. The credit primarily goes to Dave and everyone listed below. Yeah sure I’m generally the man on hand during the set up and the event. But Dublin City Comic Con’s far more people than me and couldn’t happen without the help and support of a wide selection of people who travel at their own expense, stay in Dublin at their own cost and give up their time and energy for nothing other than a thanks from me and Dave.

So here goes, I really, really hope I don’t forget anyone in particular and if I do please forgive me and let me know so I can amend this piece to include everyone that helped get us through the weekend.

First and foremost I want to thank the con’s crew. Without these guys the con would just be a massive mess. So to our event planning crew Gar Cummins, Mark Hall, Bruno Batista, Peter Marry and especially Tamsin Isles for not making me go mad at each and any stage. I really want to say thank you. Without you guys I think I would have blown a gasket on this.

To all the volunteers that looked after the pro’s, traders and small press alike on the day, thanks a million. I’d never be able to be in all places at once and these guys did an amazing job. James Dodsworth, Mark and Sabrina Peyton, Carlos Fraile, Mike F, Peter Noble, Graham Holbrook and Dave Williams and Josh. Thanks for being there all weekend from Friday to help with even the littlest jobs that made my life easier.

To our ever competent and amazing door staff that greeted every attendee and helped everyone be where they wanted to be at the right time thanks a million. Thanks Aoifa and Fiona Connelly, Anne-Marie and Paul Monaghan. You guys are the business and I love that you’re all so eager and willing to give up your weekends for this. Thank You.

To our super talented photographer Nick Carroll, a big thanks goes out to you especially. One of these days I’m really going to have to sit down with you and go through every single photo from the last three years.

Next up I want to thank the traders who came and supported the event. I know these things are a big risk to take and I appreciate everyone that attended and had faith in the con despite the fact that a million and one things can and do go wrong at these things. It’s so nice of you to put your faith in the con as a brand and turn up with your wares. So to all of you thank you. Any feedback from this year would be really appreciated from you guys especially about how we can improve the con experience for you all. Really.

To all the small press and independent publishers that came along I really want to thank you guys especially. If the traders at a convention are the flesh of a con, then all the small press and independents are the bones of it. I was really glad that so many of you were there and was gutted I couldn’t see the Launch Pad panel hosted by liam Sharp and Johnathan Hickman highlighting all of the new books and talent that were there this year. I hope you all have great careers in this industry.

Last but not least I want to thank all of our featured guests who accepted our invitations to come to this years convention. So in no particular order I want to say a special thank you for putting in so much hard work, time and effort over the course of the weekend to meet and chat with fans, as well as sketch for them.

First of the bunch I want to thank the one and only Liam Sharp who’s a Dublin City Comic Con fixture at this stage. Liam’s a true gentleman and was as gracious as ever to all of his fans over the weekend. Recently Liam’s work on Gears of War had us all blown away but it was really lovely to see his original artwork as well as see copies of his new novel God Killers (which I promise I will read Liam) there at the con. I don’t think we’d ever want to do a con without Liam Sharp no matter what. Liam, you’re a true friend and an amazing talent. Thanks so much for coming matey.

Second of the bunch is the truly hilarious Dan Slott. I had never met Dan before so I had no idea what to expect but this man was one of the nicest and smartest men I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet. Throw in the fact that he’s one of the most passionate people into comic books that I’ve ever met and you could chat to Dan for hours about characters and stories no end. It was great to see Dan talking to all of the con attendees and his panels were one of the highlights of the show this year. So Dan, thank you so much sir. It’s great to see my childhood heroes are in really safe hands!

One of the convention highlights was the colouring workshop that Matt Hollingsworth presented. People who were at it found it really interesting. I didn’t get to go but one of the highlights of the weekend for me was meeting Matt and getting to chat to him over a beer. (or 10) Matt’s a really nice, smart, informed guy with a great sense of humour. And as far as I can tell as keen an interest in history as colouring. Walking around Dublin with everyone showing them the sites on Monday was a lot of fun for me, but I think out of us all matt was the one who enjoyed it the most. Matt, thanks for coming man, and thank you for the nice things you said about the con in the pub on Monday. I truly appreciate it and hope to see you in Croatia in May man.

A big, big thank you goes out to Johnathan Hickman. This guy’s amazing. Johnatha was not only a great convention guest, a great member of every single panel he was on but he signed and sketched for each and every attendee who wanted to talk to him. Johnathan you’re a top bloke and chatting to you over the weekend was a real highlight and listening to him talk about his stuff was great. I still can’t believe that every panel in the Nightly News was an individual piece of art that you put into Illustrator. That’s really impressive man, and I think neither me, Adi Granov or Olivier Coipiel could believe it. I’m really looking forward to Secret Warriors and whatever else you produce next. Thank you for coming Johnathan.

Next up is the ever amazing Paul Cornell. Again, like Liam Sharp, paul’s a Dublin Con veteran. What I love though is that each year he comes back there’s more and more of his work out there. He’s been brilliant on books like Wisdom and Captain Britain and is most definitely going to be back to us with more and more work each year. Not only that Paul’s always been there helping to promote the convention with other guests and I truly, truly appreciate that Paul. You’re a true friend, and a great con guest. So much so that Paul had to leave his taxi to the airport waiting outside while he finished signing some Dr Who merchandise for a fan. Paul you’re a class act.

Seaking of class acts I really, really want to thank Adi Granov for coming and working so hard. Adi part of Dublin Con family now and i love that he's as popular at the con as he is as popular an artist. Adi's a really funny guy and we're very lucky to ahve him attend the show each year. We hope to see a lot more of him in the future. Thanks Adi.

I really want to thank Michael Lark for coming along all the way from the States to set up shop here at the con. Michael’s art is truly amazing and to see so much of it in real life was fantastic. His con sketches as well were equally impressive. Taking his time for everyone that approached him for one. It’s no wonder this guy’s on a roll with Marvel pencilling Daredevil in what I believe will truly become to known as one of the books seminal runs. Thanks a lot for coming Michael.

A big, big thank you goes out to one of the con’s great highlight each year he attends. The amazingly talented and funny Rob Reilly, who flew to Dublin just to spend the two days at the convention sketching non stop for convention attendees. For those of you who don’t know Rob’s work go check it out. He’s a huge talent and is one of those people who can whip up something amazing in a few minutes. Rob, the convention door is always open to you here in Dublin whenever you want it man. Thanks a lot.

I really want to thank our resident Nick Roche who as ever sketched and sketched the weekend away. From the sketches I saw as well as the artwork Nick brought to show fans it’s evident that Nick’s just one of those guys whose going to be a big, big name in a few years. The pencils he showed me just proved that each year Nick attends he’s getting better and better with every page and that Cap Vs Iron Man piece he showed me at the bar blew me away. Nick brought along a lot of his original pages from the various Transformers books from IDW Publishing he’s working on but by far the best piece was a splash from Transformers Maximum Dinobots that left this fan clamouring for more. Nick, as ever, thanks so much for coming along.

A big Thanks goes to Declan Shalvey, who worked his ass off all weekend and was a great, great guest to have. I’ve known Dec for years and I really love that he’s at every con sketching away for everyone that asks. Myself included. Dec, I’m really happy that all of the books you brought along sold so well. Everyone should check out dec’s work on books like Frankenstein, Blood-Psi, Hero Killers, Tim Skinner and Freak Show. Dec’s going to be a huuugggggeeeee name in this industry very, very soon and deserves it no end. ..hanks for coming and thanks for my Batman sketch too. I was well chuffed.

Another one of the home team who helped us make it a great con was Stephen Mooney, who worked all weekend long sketching and signing for anyone that asked him too. Steve’s work just keeps getting better and what is great is that when you say it to him he’s genuinely appreciative and modest. He’s a great guest at any con and I hope that we see plenty more of Stephen in the coming years at Dublin Con. He was a real crowd pleaser and his work just keeps blowing people away, and deservedly so. Stephen’s worked really hard to be in this business and I hope he’s here for many more years to come.

The same can be said for the talented and amazing Stephen Thompson
, he was just as nice and amenable to every attendee and just like all of his fellow artist worked really, really hard. Stephen’s art last year at the con was great, but this year he was amazing. A tru talent that’s worked hard to get where he is and I really love that he’s just on the cusp of the biggest boost in his career. I’m still not sure if that was announced yet so I’m going to stay really quiet. But Steve, congratulations on that man and I hope we see much, much more from you soon. Thanks for working so hard all weekend.

To David Lafuente I just want to say a huge thank you for all the time and effort you put in here in Dublin over the weekend. You’re con sketches that you drew for people were anything but sketches, they were damn near finished pieces and everyone that got one from! you were amazed at the sheer amount of effort and detail you put into it. I wish I had have had time to get one for myself, but I will next year hopefully. Until then I’ll have to make do with my copies of Patsy Walker Hellcat and Ultimate Spider-Man annual for a dose of Dave goodness. Wait, that came out wrong!!!

One of the most impressive things I saw all weekend was watching Olivier Coipiel draw for fans. I say draw because anything this guy drew at the convention could not be classed as a sketch. He produced works of art for everyone that waited in line for him and he was as great a guest as he is an artist. A truly funny bloke who was always up for a load of fun and work at the exact same time. I seriously hope anyone that was lucky enough to get a sketch from Olivier cherishes it for what it is. Olivier, I promise that the next year you come back here I’m going to show you around for a day. I’m sorry you missed that this year. But it just means you’re going to have to come back to us. Thank you so much man.

Another great highlight of the convention was getting to meet Tommy Lee Edwards. Tommy’s a man whose art I really admired for a long time, whether it was Bullet Points or Marvel’s 1985 or any of the film work I’ve see that you’ve produced it’s always been obvious that Tommy’s an amazing talent. But after meeting him I can tell you that I really admire Tommy as a person far, far more than I even admire his work. (no offence Tommy but you know what I mean right?) I’m really glad you had a nice time here and that you’ve stayed on in Ireland to see a bit more of it. But I’m over the moon we convinced you to pop your cherry and get your first Tattoo here in Classic Ink. It looks great man, and remember. Once you get one. You end up getting another haha. Thank you for all of the work you did and all the time you put in. We really appreciate it.

Next up I want to thank one of the nicest, friendliest and most talented people I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet. Mr C.B. Cebulski. Chester, you’re tha man. You always, without question go above and beyond the call of duty at Dublin and are very, very gracious with your time. Whether it be signing books, doing Portfolio Reviews, or presenting panels you’re one of the best guests any convention could ever hope to get. I swear man, as God is my witness there’ll always be a spot for you at the Dublin Con. That and you’re an ace drinking buddy helps out a lot too. Thanks C.B. I’ll see you in New York in February.

Gah, this things gotten really long so I’m going to mad brief for the next part. I want to thank Rich Johnston for working so hard at the con and presenting both Have I Got Feuds For You and Live-Ing In The Gutters. The man worked really hard during that panel and although I saw only a portion of it, everybody who attended only had good things to say about it. Thanks a lot Rich. We all really appreciate it.


Last but most certainly not least is one Mr Esad Ribic, I purposely left Esad until the end because I can’t say enough good things about this man so I limited the amount of space I could talk about him here. Quite simply, Esad was the surprise highlight of the con for me, and most people that had any interaction with him at all. He is the funniest person you could ever meet, truly professional in everything he does at a convention. Excellent at doing signings and sketches for all of the fans and the one man I hope I never have to match drink for drink in a bar. The man is as much a gent as he is a talent in this business. And trust me, comic’s are far better for having Esad in them. If you’ve not checked out Sub-Mariner or Loki than you’re missing out. Go look them up. Esad, the offer’s always there for you to come over mate. See you in May.

I think that’s it for our guests, so I’d just like to thank one or two more people here and then thankfully, I can go home to bed. I’d really like to thank Joe Quesada, Jim McCann and EVERYBODY in the Marvel Bullpen for supporting this convention as much as they have in the last few years. We really appreciate it and I know we owe you a load of drinks for everything you’ve done for us. I’ll start paying you all back in February.

I want to thank everyone who came along and queued up and bought books and toys and got sketches and went to panels and hung out and talked to us all about something we love so much. We put on a con. You guys are the business and we really, really couldn’t do it without you.

So thank you.

One last thing I want to add is this. The one thing me and Dave are the most proud of about this whole monster that we call Dublin City Comic Con. Is that some people who’ve come along and shown their work to editors have either gotten work in this industry, or are one step closer. It’s a nice thing to be able to say that the event you’ve organised has helped gotten people’s work seen or helped them along the way. But to all of you folks who came up and said thanks to us over the weekend for this chance.

Please don’t worry.

We love seeing it happen more than you.

Trust us.

THANK YOU EVERYONE!
Right, I’m off to sleep for a week.

See you all next year.

Cheers,

The Dublin City Comic Con 2008 crew.