MCM Comic Con London – May 2016
It was a gloriously sunny weekend as I strolled along the side of the Thames towards the Excel Centre in London, heading, for the first time, for 3 days of Comic Book, TV, Film and Cosplay fun at MCM Comic Con London. I’ve done the Birmingham MCM Comic Con a number of times, but this was my first experience of the London version. Whilst Birmingham is usually huge and extremely good, the London Con is even bigger and more spectacular. I ended up staying across the river, which meant a cable car ride to reach the venue. An entertaining experience when you see the odd looks from people not ‘in the know’ having to share a 10min trip over the thames with people dressed as various Anime characters, or a huge bearded man in an Alice in Wonderland dress!
The venue is split into 2 giant halls, filled with various signing tables, displays, and merchandise. Separating the 2 halves is a corridor with food stands, where people tended to hang out, and there were 3 large theatre halls, plus the smaller ‘inflatable dome’ theatre, which Birmingham visitors would be familiar with. There’s also a large outdoor area, which not only served as a place for people to hang out (with puzzled looks from passers by!), but was also home to ‘MCM Fringe’, a music event featuring various DJs, and performances from people such as Japanese rock group Band-Maid, and various Kpop bands.
The thing I love about the MCM events is how friendly and sociable they are. People in cosplay, just hanging out, posing for photos, and checking out each other’s costumes. It’s a lovely, fun, and family friendly environment.
The Guests
Willa Holland
As you’d expect from MCM Comic Con, the guests were plentiful, and with 3 massive halls to fill, there was a constant stream of people to sit and watch. Due to the large number of press events on the Saturday, I missed a lot of the panels, however, that does mean I got to have a special sit down with a number of the stars at the show.
The YouTube playlist below includes the full press interviews with:
- Cast of Agents of SHIELD – Elizabeth Henstridge, Nick Blood & Luke Mitchell
- Cast Of Arrow – Willa Holland & Katrina Law
- Sleepy Hollow’s Tom Mison
- Warwick Davis
- Cast Of Dark Matter – Roger Cross, Jodelle Ferland, Melissa O’Neil & Zoie Palmer
- The Shannara Chronicles’ Poppy Drayton
Also included is Sunday’s Lex vs Big Bang panel, with appearances from Jesse Eisenberg, Kunal Nayyar & Melissa Rauch. If you’re thinking that’s a slightly odd mix, it’s because Jesse Eisenberg & Kunal Nayyar are currently have a play in the West End called The Spoils, which also stars Alfie Allen.
The Comics
Despite it being Comic Con, I struggled to get a good look at the indie comic stalls with everything that was going on this weekend. I would like to give a quick mention to our friends over at Subversive Comics, and Jeremy Biggs who was there with the excellent Bearlands, and Metal Made Flesh, which is going down fantastically well. I also had a long chat with Bex Trista who was working with Subversive on their stand. She is an up-and-coming YouTube star, and you can check out her channel Trista Bytes here.
The Cosplay
Deadpools Everywhere!
Lots of Harleys
As always, cosplay is a massive part of any MCM Comic Con, and London was no exception. Whilst there was a huge mix of characters, from some excellent Ghostbusters cosplay, to Belle from Beauty and the Beast, and Morrigan from Dragon Age, two particular character dominated this year.
For the girls, as always, it was Harley Quinn. The interesting thing this year though was the range. From the traditional Bruce Timm Harley through Arkham games Harley, to Margot Robbie’s Suicide Squad Harley, all variations were represented.
For guys it was Deadpool. You really couldn’t walk three feet without tripping over one… Just Deadpool’s everywhere! Ryan Reynolds, you have created (or rather, popularised) a monster. At one point on Saturday someone gathered them all on the steps outside for a group photo, and they filled the entire concourse – sadly I was inside a press room at the time, but i’m sure there are pictures out there online. Below is a selection of some of the best cosplay I spotted.
For my first experience of a Comic Con that big, it went extremely smoothly. The guys at MCM do an amazing job, organising great great guests and running things like clockwork. Looking forward to the next one. For more info on MCM Comic Cons, click here.
