London Film & Comic Con (sort of) report!

Now for the show that wasn't, the London Film and Comic Con! Accent UK didn't have a table for the show but Scott wanted to visit it and I was intrigued to see a show from the punter's side, something I've not done for gosh, maybe 12+ years!.  Well I'm sorry that I can't tell you anything about the show as we didn't get in! This is despite setting off at 7 in the morning from Manchester, and queueing at the Earl's Court venue for 3.5 hours!

The LFCC queue about 2 hours in! The folk on the left are in the same queue!

The same queue looking behind us - snaking all the way behind Earls Court and back again, don't forget that the folk on the right are in the same queue and theres more people behind them yet! 

There were huge, huge queue's and with the advance pre-paid tickets the venue was virtually full as soon as the doors opened. Of course there was no information to tell you this it was only after 2.5 hours or so that rumours started to spread that the venue had closed its doors for health & safety reasons and were now operating on a "one in one out" policy! The organisers had gone to ground and there was no way of confirming the rumour and in the meantime the queue behind us had grown to gargantuan proportions, all of this in the baking heat of one of the hottest days of the year!

2 1/2 hrs in, towards the front of Earls Court but not even 1/2 way in the queue - note folks still arriving on the left!

Well, Scott zipped off for some much needed water and did some investigating to discover that we were no better that maybe halfway in the queue and likely faced another 2 hours to maybe get in, that was enough for us so we finally did the sensible thing and gave up. Not before I should add, our very good friend Chris, (who was helping at Lucky Target's table inside) collecting and coming outside to deliver Scott's pre-ordered Stan Lee funko figure which was one of our main reasons for visiting.
 

The Q around 2pm just as we'd had enough

The same Q behind us and stretching at least 2 1/2 hrs behind!

The show was attended by Excelsior himself, Mr Stan Lee, in his last European show and this together with a huge list of Dr Who and media stars had caused the huge turnout and apparently caught the organisers on the hop, not helped by their own website encouraging people to turn up on the day as tickets would be available!

And it was one of the hottest days of the year with no refreshments available !

There's already been quite a bit of reportage on this with Bleeding Cool having a video report of the queue and chaos and The Beat having their own report and there are numerous horror stories if you search online. Needless to say there's definite lessons to be learned and although I didn't get to experience the show I can now sympathise with punters who have queued at shows we've exhibited at in the past and hope all was worth it once you got inside.

Photo of Scott to prove we were there

Having said that, Scott and I were determined not to let it spoil our day too much and in between catching up with Chris, made a wee visit to the nearby Natural History Museum and back into town to visit Accent UK comic stockists Orbital Comics, chatting with Camila and Chris and a wizz round a few other places before having a well deserved burger n pint before travelling home.

Happy to see Chris and head off for a cup of tea, 3 1/2 hrs in and not setting foot in the venue!

Thankfully there's not much travelling involved for us next week, making our third appearance at the extended MCM Manchester Comic-Con, which promises to be another well attended event. Its just been previewed in a full page spread in our local Manchester Evening News paper and online, so we'll see. Hopefully the queues will be manageable for all concerned and like our trips to Belfast and Glasgow be a worthwhile one for comics?

LSCC Moments 2013

 

 

Well that was fun, the Accent UK crew are now rested after attending last weekend's second London Super Comic Convention or LSCC to you and me! 

 

The event was held at the huge Excel Centre in London's Docklands and do you know what, it was pretty good, great guest list, plenty of attendees, well organised and even better than last year's sales. Although it didn't feel quite as busy as the inaugural show this may have been as the hall seemed bigger and there were many more dealers and exhibitors, obviously attracted by the positive reports from last year's amazing show.
  

Zombies 2 Cosplayer Undead Mousey!

And maybe that was the only problem, last year of course had the wonderful showman Stan Lee in attendance and his presence, energy and enthusiasm infected everyone to such a level that there was a palpable excitement in the air, something that I (and most other UK comic veterans) had never felt at a show before and that buzz had heightened expectation this year to unrealistic levels.

The result, for me anyway, was that the show was perfectly good and decent in every way except that nagging feeling that something was missing, which it was after all, in that there was no central focus or sustained buzz. Whereas in the first year, Stan's charisma and the crowd's positive reaction to him rose to fill the sometimes cavernous space of the large hall, this time sadly it often just felt that you were in a rather large hall. This should though not be seen as a criticism of the LSCC organisers as in the 12 months since the first show, I've had many conversations with various comic-related people and not one could come up with a credible suggestion as to who on earth could possibly follow Stan? Now we know the answer was what we had all sadly suspected, no-one can.

Scott & Dave spot Colin's new hat under the table  

Our Accent UK blog has our good friend Chris D's take on things but I will add that while the show was perhaps missing that magic spark, it was still one of the, if not the best guest-lists of comic creators assembled in the UK for a long, long time. I can't list them all but they included, legends Neal Adams, George Perez, Roy Thomas, Herb Trimpe, Bill Sienkiewicz, Bob Layton and current hot contemporaries Simone Bianchi, Mark Buckingham, David Finch, Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie, Dan Slott (who happily signed for hours and hours both days with queues that would have done Stan proud!) delightful table neighbour Lee Garbett, together with UK legends Brian Bolland, Alan Grant (who I congratulated on his work on The Loxleys and The War of 1812 - which made my best of year list - and he said there may be a sequel which I'm excited about), David Lloyd and John Wagner (who I discovered is a fellow Manchester United fan!). Check out the LSCC's own website and other reports for the awesome full list of guests and spot your own favourites.

Happy Cosplayers bag Westernoir for birthday present! 

The event staff I spoke with all seemed happy enough too and were fairly confident that LSCC would return in 2014 and that is really great news for everyone connected with UK comics. While it may not have had the razzmatazz of the first show, the event has quickly become an important and welcome addition to the UK calender and what better way of starting the year's schedule!

I'll follow this event overview with my own personal LSCC highlights tomorrow!


Colin & Tripwire's Joel Meadows show Dave how many hours the slow train home takes!
(or of course it may have something to do with Tripwire's deserving  kickstarter campaign!)

London - Bring it On!

 

Only a couple of days to go until this year's London Super Comic Convention and if its anything like the inaugural show it promises to be a blast! Thinking back there was actually a lot of doubt over last year's show and whether it would be a success or not, being first-time organisers, aiming high with their guest list and clashing dates with another established show, but those fears were blown out of the water as soon as a certain sprightly 89 year old made his bold entrance, arms aloft, smiling that famous cheesy grin with a war cry of "Bring it On!".

Stan Lee is in a class of his own and this year's guest list, strong as it is, cannot compete with the whole razzmatazz that Stan brought, but what better way to have announced the shows arrival as a serious player on the UK comic scene. I have never before felt such a warm feelgood vibe at any show amongst everyone in attendance, punters, exhibitors, guests, staff and volunteers, it really was something special and I'm chuffed to bits that I was able to experience it with Scott and Chris, who along with Dave are all returning this year.

The guest list is still first class, a nice mix between old-school super-hero, Neal Adams, George Perez, Roy Thomas, Bob Layton and lots, lots more plus 'newer' creators like our good friend Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie and Dan Slott that Scott tells me writes the new Spider-Man series, check out the guest list for yourself it is very long and very impressive (no wonder Thought Bubble has already upped its own impressive game for 2013!).

The one guest I'm most looking froward to though isn't really a big name, Jeremy Bastian produces a wonderful quirky comic called Cursed Pirate Girl which has just been collected by Archaia Entertainment. I only managed to pick up the first issue a couple of years ago so but was blown away by his intricate artwork so delighted the story has been completed and collected, can't wait.

Oh, there is a table plan for the show and I know we're on D107 which I think is kind of top left in the 'yellow' section but my eyesight can't quite make out the numbers that clearly! Don't worry though, just look for the Accent UK banner and our smiling faces and you'll find us, (I won't though be making the mistake of wearing the same bright yellow t-shirt as the volunteers, for obvious reasons!). I think we've some five new books since last year so should be something new for you, - Bring it On!