The Long Over-due Comic-con Report

   Saturday the 21^st of July was the day of the MCM expo, Manchester’s very own comic-con. It’s only in its second year but already attracts huge crowds, so much so that I was glad for our early entry tickets. We had to wait in line but it’s worth noting that there was still a large queue when we left for lunch. So it's just the lesser of two evils I guess.

   The most famous event of this type has to be the San Diego comic-con. It’s now the place to be for big films or TV studios to make announcements, preview footage and hold signings for cast and crew.

   It’s a place for fans of anime, comics, movies, manga and TV. This year the cast of the much-loved Firefly re-gathered for the show’s tenth anniversary. Marvel announced their plans for “phase 2” of their cinematic universe and Peter Jackson came along with some cast and crew from the Hobbit.

   Sadly the MCM expo in Manchester isn’t quite on that scale. There were a few signings, a voice actor, the cast of “Young Dracula” and some sports personalities. Warwick Davis was down as a guest but I didn’t spot him, so I can’t be sure if he was absent or simply due to arrive later in the day.

   There was plenty of film promoting going on, more specifically a screen for showing trailers but no big announcements or anything like that. So it’s nowhere near the scale seen in San Diego or a number of other places. But to be fair to it, it is only a baby still.

  Set to one side was a battle arena for a Robot Wars style show. Whilst stood near it I overheard one of those comments one could only hear at an event like this. "I'm so bored of fighting robots". Clearly it was time for her to move on to something else.

   There is no doubt that the other people there were extremely glad just to have an event like the expo to go to. I know I was. For many people it was a chance to dress up and surround themselves with like-minded people. It made me regret worrying about money and not buying that Ms Marvel outfit. Though I did walk away with a lovely set of steampunk style goggles. (I've always wanted a piar of them).

   For my friends and I most of the fun was in spotting costumes for various characters from the well known to the more obscure. We were still talking about them than evening. My personal favourites were a very sweet Ponyo and a double team of Black Widow and Tony Stark, complete with Black Sabbath t-shirt. Then were was Sucker Punch’s Babydoll, a whole host of Finn’s from Adventure Time and a flock of Pikachus.

   Set up around the venue were lots of stalls selling merchandise for films and anime as well as a Japanese food stall. At the centre were rows of comic artists, sitting amongst their hard work. Some were okay and others were utterly amazing. I think this was my favourite aspect by far, a chance to discover something completely new.

Click here to head to the home of Widdershins

   One comic artist gave me a very good pitch of her comic “Widdershins”, so good in fact that I soon returned with cash to purchase a copy, (in case you were wondering, it was brilliant). She even offered to sign it for me and I felt happy knowing that I was giving a little support to an independent artist.

   All in all this Manchester Comic-con may be a let down for those used to something bigger but I certainly had a lot of fun. I really believe it’s the fans that make these things great and with the people there that day MCM expo can only get better as the years go on.

Extra Note: Missed the Manchester, Birmingham and London MCM? Head to the MCM Buzz website  here to tide you over until next year.