July 2025
Surrounded by the green mountain tops of the Peak District, the town of Macclesfield hosts a vibrant comic art festival called MACC-POW. This year I was there on Saturday 28th of June and found that Macclesfield town hall was packed with cartoonists exhibiting their work. Basically this comic conference meant a lot to me because 1. I saw people making work they seem to love 2. I never expected someone to pitch me their story as I passed by their table but I absolutely loved it when they did and so, of course, now I practice pitching my stories. 3. there were people with that entrepreneurial attitude that is so necessary and yet so difficult to cultivate when you spend your life hoping that being good at things will be enough to make a living.
Also I loved the fun touches like the comic chat show with the specially commissioned chat show music and the comic quiz. The MACC-POW festival is organised by Marc Jackson who ended the day by awarding Lew Stringer a custom made small toy in the image of Lew as a mark of appreciation for his support and talent.
Other nice memories are: Joshua J Knowles with an easel behind his exhibitors table showing pencilled intricately piped worlds, kids with tote bags stuffed with brightly coloured comics and at the very end of the day the cartoonists with their wheeled bags heading for the train station and knowing that each bag was full of their unique work that might to anybody else look like just any other wheelie bag.
It is my dream beyond a dream to have a table at such an event and share my comic wares, but all in good time. That is what these notes and this website are about: making that dream real, getting practical and making comics that I love.