Fun and Games at MCM Comic Con
- 49 minutes ago
- 5 min read
It was fun and games all the way at MCM Comic Con held at the Birmingham NEC recently. Around 8,000 visitors attended many dressed as their favourite character. Also, with 110 exhibitors it was the ideal shopping opportunity – the place to buy unique gifts or keepsakes. Clothing, steampunk, hats, T-shirts, replica fantasy and sci-fi weapons and accessories, unique ornaments, original artwork, jewellery, books – you name it, someone was selling it.
Book lovers could enjoy exploring the Writers’ Block which was an area dedicated for self-published authors to showcase their books. Over the 3-day event a panel of authors took to the Writers Block stage, for a discussion on Self Publishing: The Highs and the Lows. Speakers talked about their careers sharing practical advice about the realities of publishing via non-traditional avenues.
It seemed as if the skills of Cosplayers know no bounds. Make-up, costumes and accessories just get better and better, Many make their own outfits – so appreciated talks by The Chloe Corner, Kerberos Cosplay and Newland Cosplay who shared tips on how adopting a ‘slow cosplay’ mindset can make the craft of cosplay more sustainable. This included using second-hand materials, reworking old costumes, joining scrap store memberships and going to charity craft shops. The MCM Cosplay Team also shared their insights at the All About Cosplay sessions, offering guidance and answering audience questions.
Many of the special guests were voice-over actors for games and animee. These included Britt Baron, John Eric Bentley, Suzie Yeung, Dave B. Mitchell and Kirk Thornton from 007 First Light, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Genshin Impact, Wuthering Waves. A panel of voice over actors took to the stage to talk about the Sound Booth and for anyone interested in game design, they could attend the talk on: So You Want to Make Games?
Lots of visitors tested their gaming knowledge by taking part in The Big Video Gaming Quiz on the Side Quest Stage. And you could head off to the Family Gaming Zones and try out new games. Also Imagination Gaming offered free to play tabletop board games.
Another highlight was Go Go Power Rangers! Russell Curry and Hunter Deno shared stories from their time as Rangers and what it meant to them to carry on a decade’s long tradition. Throwing their weight around was UKPW – pro wrestling, which took place every day. Loud and dramatic with big characters and fast-paced bouts of action, this was great family entertainment. You could even learn the art of sword fighting in the Forest Glade area; and Swordcraft with Silver Sabre Combat Academy.
With over a hundred stands the innovation of small independent businesses is amazing. Some that caught our eye were: (no pun intended) Galax Eye, Iris Photography which as the name suggests focuses on people’s eyes. From photos of eyes, images can be made into eye-catching jewellery – yes, that was an intended pun!
The founder of Galax Eye is Conor Moorey. He explained that while on a bus tour in New Zealand, playing around with a macro lens he took a close-up shot of his friend’s eye. He felt as if he’d discovered a whole new world. “It was raw and beautiful and completely unique,” said Conor. “Back home, I began experimenting – using different cameras, different lighting setups, different editing techniques and different print formats. His company Galax Eye, Iris Photography was born from this obsession. Discover the whole story: https://www.galaxeye.co.uk
At one point we thought we were at the Good Food Show coming across Horton’s Artisan Spirits. This small independent company based in the seaside town of Prestatyn, North Wales specialise in blending premium vodka and Caribbean rums with natural flavours to create distinctive smooth spirit drinks. The company is owned by Caroline and Andy Horton. Caroline said, “We bring in beautiful flavours combining traditional techniques with a creative approach to flavour.” Plus, their branding was very much in the Comic Con style. Discover more on their website: https://hortonsartisanspirits.co.uk/
Another quirky stand was Pam’s Happy Hats. Pam crochets hats and character dolls, designing and creating patterns, paying great attention to the colours and the details. It all started with one black cat hat without a face, then she made a panda and began making little character dolls. Pam and husband Darren said that the black cat hat was item 001 – and they recently hit their 666th character.
Darren said, “As it’s 666, Pam had to make Regan from the Exorcist. Her head turns round, and one view has her vomiting! I was privileged to present the actor Linda Blair with one of these dolls recently.”
Discover more including their limited edition dolls on their website: https://www.pamshappyhats.com/
Displaying a fabulous range of limited-edition art works and prints was Sol, of SM-Artworks based in the West Midlands. This is Sol’s 30th year as an artist, self-taught designing and painting incredible sci-fi scenes and characters from Star Wars, Star Trek, musical legends and more. Sol told me he left school having failed his art exam with the art teacher’s words ringing in his ears that he couldn’t draw! Sadly those comments put Sol off painting for many years, before he found inspiration again. Since then, he hasn’t looked back. See more of his beautiful work: https://www.sm-artworks.co.uk/
The increasingly popular interest in Steampunk was very well represented with a great display by the Ministry of Steampunk. Here there was everything from fashion to ornaments, steampunk daleks and even steampunk motorcycles.
As always UK Garrison were in attendance, bringing their army of Star Wars ‘baddies’ such as Darth Vader, Stormtroopers and those annoying little Jawas! Determined to combat them was the Rebel Legion, with their heroes – Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia and the Wookiee amongst others. (Lead photo).
Definitely something for everyone at the MCM Comic Con, and I’m already looking forward to the next one. https://www.mcmcomiccon.com/
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