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Where's the Essential Comic Book websites link?!!

It's now located in it's natural home 'Growler on Comic Books'

Go take a look.

For those of you who've just wandered in, what took you so long!

Just explaining the slight change to the right hand menu of Growlersworld.com

The artist for the upcoming Neil Gaiman The Eternals series from Marvel Comics will be announced today.

It's all taking place at the New York Comic Convention. Sweet.

Bitterly cold in London at the moment. Just when you thought Spring had reared it's head.

A few mates leaving work next month for pastures new.

In case you were wondering, I'm currently a civil servant. Previously worked in retail sales. Stationery, toys & comics.

Love travelling, natural landscapes and historic sites.

And you can't beat a bit of karaoke and having a laugh!

Now, where was I...?

In case you were wondering, the current front page picture of Growlersworld.com is in a brand new luxury housing complex in TangXia, China that was still being built when I visited it.

Loads of these exclusive living quarters are springing up all over China and it looks all very 'South of France'.

Nice.

I'll keep this picture up for a while, this one. Quite like it.

Ok, I'd like to take you back to 1993.

Why?

Because that was the year I won a prize draw in my local comic shop at the time (Acme Comics, Brixton) which sadly is no longer around.

It was the first time I had ever won anything and the prize was a 5 day trip to New York and a tour of the Marvel Comics offices. I wrote an article about it which was published in Comics International magazine in December 1993 (issue 38).

Here is the article for you to read now in it's entirety. Please excuse the utter innocence of a fanboy. It was the first time I'd ever been published. I've calmed down much since then. ;)

Ehem...

Comic Shop Prize Winner Sends A Letter From America

America!

Everyone wants to visit it at one point in their lives.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered I had won a five day, all expenses paid, trip to Manhattan, New York, USA and a guided tour of Marvel Comics' offices, courtesy of a prize draw at Acme Comic shop!

I arrived in New York on Monday 25th October (1993) and and stayed at the Riverside Tower hotel in Manhattan.

As it was my first time there, I was very overawed at the at the general size of the city and discovered it was a very exciting and busy place.

I visited most of the tourist attractions including the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, Empire State Building and the World Trade Centre.

The highlight of the trip was the tour of Marvel Comics offices where my guide was none other than Richard Ashford, writer of Excalibur and editor of Marvel Comics Presents.

As a comic collector of eight years this was a dream come true for me as Marvel will always be my favourite publisher.

Seeing most of the editors in their individual offices discussing future plans of the X-Men titles, Avengers titles etc, made me feel like a child again and throughout the visit there was a tingle down my spine saying "I can't believe I'm actually here!"

The only complaint was that the days passed too quickly!

To finish, I'd just like to thank Acme Comic shop for helping me to fulfil a dream of a lifetime.

What's that you say? A second entry on the same day?! I'm spoiling you.

Just like London Buses, you wait for one for ages then two come along at once.

I had two articles published in the UK's finest, Comics International in 2000. (http://www.comicsinternational.com)

Before the JoeQ (Joe Quesada) juggernaut changed comics history for the better.

I was on a roll that year...

Just came back from Manchester yesterday. Had a great time and all to promote Chinatown magazine (http://www.chinatownthemagazine.com) and support the Wai Yin Chinese women society.

Travelled up from Euston via Virgin Trains on a roughly two hour journey (good job, Branson!) and stayed in the Britannia Hotel.

The restaurant was nice with live performances and excellent food. A great night was had by all. First time I'd been there in over ten years. Had a sausage and egg barmcake the following morning which I found out was a kind of large bread roll. Tasty.

Never knew Manchester has been twinned with the Chinese city of Wuhan for the last 18 years.

On the comics front, Marvel is on a bit of a roll these days with two of their most beloved characters tying the knot.

Storm of the X-Men (http://www.marveldirectory.com/individuals/s/storm.htm) and Black Panther (http://www.marveldirectory.com/individuals/b/blackpanther.htm) are getting hitched and a major event.

As the two most prominent black characters in the Marvel Universe and the stronger union of the X-Men and Avengers franchises, the scope for future stories is immense. Can't wait.

It's written by Reginald Hudlin (who directed the original House Party film) and Eric Jerome Dickey (celebrated author).

Look for the trades of 'Who is the Black Panther?' and the X-Men/Black Panther crossover 'Wild Kingdom' for an introduction on Amazon.com

Marvel's also following up on the epic House of M storyline with Civil War. This storyline, penned by mark Millar, will pit many of Marvel's top characters against each other. For more on both, go to Marvel's site (http://www.marvel.com)

I have a pile of trades to catch up on and will look to get some reviews in the can before posting.

This picture was just too good to pass up. It looks even better in real life and though this was a touristy pose it just captures that classic Chinese feel.

On the website front you've probably noticed that no new content has been posted for a while on Growlerworld.com.

New stuff is being prepared and you'll hear about it here first!

Stay tuned.

Have to say congrats to Steve Fossett, backed by Sir Richard Branson, on breaking the record for the longest solo flight.

Great to see the spirit of adventure is not dead. ;)

This weeks picture (the front page of Growlersworld.com) is outside one of the oldest restaurants in China.

It's in Wuhan city, Hubei province.

Again taken from the 2004 collection.

They do great food there too!

Updated the front page pic.

This was a cool water mill (for want of a better word!) I saw on a tour of the area around the Three Gorges dam in Yichang, Hubei, China.

You may be able to just make me out towards the centre, in blue...

Attended the London Chinese New Year Event in Trafalgar Square.

As I was taking pictures for Chinatown Magazine I got a press pass so was behind the scenes and got up close and personal.

There was a lot more performers from Mainland China this year and the standard was excellent.

Loads of people turned up to watch the show and braved the bitter cold winds at the same time.

Great stuff!

Just had to comment on the final of Big Brother.

Chantelle won.

The underdog came through.

Best TV I've seen in ages!

It's been a busy few old days.

Wednesday, I went to the annual Toy Fair at Excel Centre in London for research and contacts for Growlersworld Toys.

My first journey on the Docklands Light Railway DLR (don't ask) and also my first time at the Excel Centre. :)

Alot of the big boys were there like Hasbro, all showing off their wares. It was a great opportunity to to see the latest and upcoming toys coming to market.

Learnt a lot and even met Danny Bamping, the creator of the Bedlam Cube and who was featured on Dragon's Den.

Check out http://www.bedlampuzzles.com

I went straight from there to an advance screening of Seven Swords the latest Chinese film by Tsui Hark. Courtesy of The Associates, it was at the Vue cinema in Leicester Square.

What a film! Better than Crouching Tiger in my opinion and that's saying a lot because I adored that film.

Sweeping in epic and scale and a joy to watch unfold. Look out for my review soon.

It's out February 2nd here in the UK so please go and see it!

Thursday, I attended a seminar on Trading with China in Bethanal Green, London with my good friend Naomi. There was a panel of four speakers and was an interesting evening.

Hearing one of the guys talking about his China experience brought back fond memories of my time there.

This was all the more relevant after hearing the news on Tuesday that China has now surpassed the UK by becoming the world's 4th largest economy.

Read more; http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4645874.stm

China's growth is accelerating at breakneck speed and there's opportunities for all.

On the website front I've added a site map to make it even easier for people to find their way around Growlersworld.com

Chinese New Year celebrations this Sunday 29th in London's Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square. If you're in the area come and have a look. It's a great day out and free!

Welcoming the Year of the Dog. Gou nian da ji!

Ok.

This weeks front page picture of Growlersworld.com was taken in 2004 along the banks of the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) in Yichang, Hubei, China.

Love this kind of scenery and will share others with you as time goes on.

It's the kind of place where everywhere you look is just stunningly beautiful.

You can see more of my photos in the Pictures of China link at;

http://www.growlersworld.com/growleronchina.htm

Enjoy.

Maybe it's time to rack comics by genre rather than simply alphabetical.

If you go into a comic shop (store) you'll see that's how they're arranged.

I mean Planetary (serious, science fiction adventure) is a million miles away from Plastic Man (wacky comedy) in concept but you'll find them side by side in most shops.

I don't agree with the current thinking that superheroes are a genre in themselves. They are simply crime fiction, science fiction, fantasy, etc covered in spandex.

If all comics were separated into, for example, a crime fiction section then why couldn't Batman be grouped with Sin City and 100 Bullets? This way, Batman fans could be exposed to more diverse works in a similar vein.

Of course, the age ratings would be a major issue to overcome but then there could be further classification to accommodate this.

I'm sure some stores must have tried this. Is the current system the end result of years of research and experience? Or simply inertia?

I'm finding the more advice I get the more things change with regards to the business.

So, rather than post progress updates on the site and then constantly change them, I'll wait until everything's finalised.

Therefore I've removed all mention of Growlersworld Toys in the Growlersworld Group section of the site.

Any major updates regarding this venture will be announced here.

It's a learning process and one I'm happy to go through.

You are witnessing the birth of Growlersworld branded businesses.

Who said an entrepreneur's life was dull?

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