Comic Cuts — 7 May 2021

Not that this is going to have any impact on their sales, but Specsavers really are crap. It has now been 18 days since my eye test and there's still no news on when I will be getting my new glasses through — paid for in full up front, let's not forget.

My eye strain is getting worse, some days developing into headaches. As a life-long wearer of glasses, I've always taken a break mid-day to give my eyes a rest from computer screens, but Monday was almost entirely lost after I dozed off at about 1:30 in the afternoon, after lunch, and didn't wake up until 6:30 in the evening. I'm a firm believer in letting your body tell you what it needs, and I must have needed sleep, although I don't remember having a rough night. I think it must have been the eye strain.

My sight for mid and distant objects hasn't changed much, so I'm still enjoying our walks and I can watch TV without any problems; but I have been dragging my heels about work for over a month... not just the time I have been waiting since my eye test appointment but the two weeks wait I had after booking it. Mind you, I began noticing the strain months ago, and should have done something about it in January rather than waiting until I'd had my first dose of the vaccine.

Hopefully there will be happier news by next week.

Talking of which, on Saturday week — the 15th of May — I will be on a panel as part of this year's Lawless comic convention, streaming live on Youtube. I'm part of the History of British Comics panel alongside David Roach, Paul Gravett and John Freeman, with Tony Foster of ComicScene fame and the recently launched History of Comics series as host.

You will be able to watch Lawless: The Bunker on Youtube and Twitch; there will be supporting podcasts. There isn't a schedule yet (I'm writing this Thursday evening), but you can find the full guest list here. To give you a taste... guests will include John Wagner, Pat Mills, Ian Kennedy, Mike Collins, Glen Fabry, Greg Staples, Ian Gibson, Steve MacManus and Simon Furman.

I think this will be the first virtual British comic convention of the year, but I'm guessing it won't be the last. There have been a few in the US (including the San Diego Comic Con) where pre-recorded panels have been streamed. It will be interesting to see if this works. It'll be just as interesting to see if my set-up works, as I'm hoping to broadcast from my office so that I have access to my own computer and files, should anyone want to ask any tricky questions.

If you have any, we should be on for 90 minutes from mid-day.

I'll try to include various links next week.