Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, creators, entertainment, jonathan ross, jonny vegas, london super comic con, lscc

London Super Comic Con 2015 – From New York To Vegas

As ever, rival London ExCel show MCM Expo covered the local DLR stations in ads for their shows… though the London Super Comic Con felt secure with their ads on Syfy TV instead…. here's a look at the show, with cosplay to follow.

I wanted to give special praise to the Press Room at the show, which was a recreation of the Daily Planet offices.

British comedian Johnny Vegas, star of Ideal and Benidorm, popped by and made a friend at Bleeding Cool's publisher Avatar Press. Who also had Kieron Gillen, Max Brooks, Si Spurrier and Garth Ennis signing. And at the front of Kieron's line, those who had waited 90 minutes, as Kieron has suffered a rather late Friday night, got free The Wicked + The Divine T-shirts…

Other crowds were generated by Jonathan Ross and Ian Churchill, who were signing books, posters and comics from the opening of the show to its end with minimal break. It is likely that they signed more comic books than anyone else at the show, and the line kept stretching and stretching.

Though Neal Adams seemed to challenge that! And had some Gotham-inspired art to share. He also told a wonderful tale about meeting a mystical stranger in a Chicago alleyway with glowing eyes who told him that if he would stand up for fellow creators, get credit, royalties and returned artwork for as many of his peers as possible, then in return he would be able to keep his hair…

From those I talked to the show was a big success for both punter and vendor. Bob Layton told me that the only show to rival this in terms of cash on the table is Dubai, and creators seemed to be filling their boots. Not every vendor saw and uptick in sales on last year, but they all seemed very satisfied. There were plenty of sellouts – both of newly launched comics, and older work, and by the end of Saturday, some folk were wondering exactly what they were going to be able to sell on Sunday. Fans talked up the accessibility of creators, with effective management of tickets and lines so they all seemed to get to see who they wanted to see, if they organised it in advance.

The show emphasises comic books over other media, as opposed to MCM, as this seemed to be the most attractive draw for attendees, and the appearance of big name US comic creators brought out old time fans and old time chequebooks. And while no one had quite the draw of Stan Lee two years ago, there was a lot more love to spread around.

And as for other media, there was basically just Syfy, with a cosplay FanCam Matrix-style camera shoot. Here is my rather risible attempt….

The only critique I heard was the leaking of sound from the panel "rooms" of that those inside the rooms were drowned out by the vendors – and vice versa. Future shows would benefit from isolating the panels more effectively.

Oh and everyone wanted to be Valiant's friend after a certain announcement last week…

Here's a look at some of the other comic book publishers and creators on display… from New York's Midtown Comics setting up show, to John Romita Jr, Art Adams, Bill Sienkiewicz to Charlie Adlard drawing the crowds.

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