London Comic Con – Review

The dark water below promised a painful death should the cable snap. The gentleman making faces at us during the five minute cable car ride from one side of the river to the other was only the beginning.

I turned up to the usual manic rush of the convention crowd rushing around me; cosplayers roleplaying for people taking pictures, press looking totally out of place, the odd person carrying around a gigantic sword looking ready to chop someone’s head off if they passed comment on their kimono…that was London Comic Con and it was only the beginning.

Every year ComicCon is an excitement for anyone, and by anyone, I really do mean anyone, you wouldn’t even need to be “into” anime, comics, or cosplay. The atmosphere is usually enough to entice the child in all of us to come out and explore every corner of the convention hall with unbridled enthusiasm. Having been to the convention four times in a row, I would say (or like to think) that I have some understanding of the event.

If you are thinking of going yourself, do not be put off by the welcome of the three mile (ok, not quite three miles but it did certainly feel it) long queue. I would suggest pre-booking tickets online. My friend didn’t. I had to wait over two hours for them to get in. After finally reaching the hall, I first made my way to the Yogscast booth. Sadly, due to the queuing system ComicCon creates for their signing booths you are shoved here, there and everywhere by staff making sure you are not run down by the life-sized Pikachu. Thanks to this a few of us where sent away and told to come back after twenty minutes.

During the wait I decided to have a look through the art work supplied by some fantastic and unknown creators. They were selling posters, cards, t-shirts, calendars. I was tempted by a few. There were other stalls selling handmade jewellery, which was equally nice and drew a lot of attention. A lot of it was TV, anime and movie based – perfect for the souvenir hunter.

Twenty minutes, or so, later and I was back in the queue. The Yogscast is a popular group of video game players who have multiple YouTube channels. Their videos mainly consist of Minecraft. They also ran a series called Shadow of Israphel, although it has now apparently stopped. There is some speculation whether or not they are going to combine some previous Minecraft series and carry the story forward. Shadow of Israphel, if you have not seen it, is a partially scripted, partially improvised adventure where the Yogcast crew are the heroes of the ever-evolving story.

Daniel Radcliffe was at the event. He took part in a panel promoting his new film Horns, meeting fans and answering questions. The film, a dark fantasy, is based on Joe Hill’s novel of the same name. It was released on 31st October (in America) and though critics have so far been divided on aspects of the film the story at least promises to be interesting.

My lasting impression of this ComicCon compared to previous years is one of fun, excitement but lacking in something. I went on the Sunday, a day with fewer attendees and perhaps that is the ‘something’ it lacked – a little atmosphere.

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