So long Steve!

Pretty much ever since I started going there regularly since it moved to it's current location on Berwick Street in Soho, Steve Walsh has been working behind the counter at Gosh! Comics. And now he's left and moved to Ireland. It feels like the end of an era.

As well as working at the shop and having an encyclopedic knowledge for comics, Steve also played a large part in building a community around the shop, and in recent years ran the Capers superhero discussion group and, along with Oliver O'Keefe, the monthly comic book reading group Reads. When it became clear that Steve was leaving, Ollie had the idea of commissioning me to draw an illustration that we could give to Steve as a present featuring the various members of the group. I thought it would be a good idea to do it as a homage to a classic comic book cover. Ollie wanted to reference Crisis on Infinite Earths #1, but I suggested Uncanny X-men #138 instead.

Here's the finished piece:



And here's a photo of Steve after we gave it to him:



Good luck in Ireland Steve. And to quote the classic X-men cover-line: "Hope you survive the experience"!