Friday 11 November 2016

Comic Cons 2016

Unknown 21:34:00

Recently I went to two comic cons that I don't usually go to. MCM ComicCon and ThoughtBubble.
How did it go?

MCM Comic Con

I've always known that MCM has drawn large crowds historically but I wasn't prepared for how packed it would be. I only went to the Sunday but friends who attended all three days had told me that the Saturday had sold out and that it was almost impossible to walk around with the crowds.

MCM in London is typically held in the Excel Centre. But whereas London Super ComicCon (held in the same venue) takes up 3 or 4 halls, MCM took up practically all the halls, both sides!

Of course MCM is not just about comics or manga, it has merchandise stalls, film, game, food and even karaoke areas! Halls on both sides of the main corridor were used, all filled with cosplayers who had traveled from all over Europe.

Although enjoyable with lots to see and do, I prefer cons that are solely focused on comics.

ThoughtBubble 2016

Now here is an interesting convention. ThoughtBubble has always been held in the city of Leeds, something that had always put me off from attending as its a good 4 hour car journey from London.

However I did not realize that some amazing writers and artists have been attending for years! In times past Adam Hughes has attended (an artist I've always wanted to meet and chat to).

This year saw Mike Mignola, Neil Gaiman and Kim Jung Ji as well as many others attend. The event is spread around the Royal Armories Museum. The benefit of this venue is that panels can be held in nice theater auditoriums where panelists can be heard clearly (unlike at the Excel Center). I attended one panel on how to make money from comics where the panelists shared their own experience which was very helpful.

Watching Kim Jung Gi was a treat, transforming a huge blank canvas into a an amazingly detailed picture before a crowd of onlookers. How he manages to do these pictures, without reference and planning will always amaze me.

I got to buy some sketch books and a piece of original art from artists in artist alley, include Dean Beattie, Dave Stokes and also got to speak to some creators including Chris Lewis who I met at Kapow Comic Con years ago when he first self published Drones before IDW picked it up.

I had entered the yearly art competition, from which the top three entries get published in a ThoughtBubble anthology published by Image comics. Unfortunately I didn't come in the top three but it was a good experience to complete a one page comic within a finite period, something I often struggle with.

On the bright side I put the comic into a format that would be suitable to Tapastic and I think it will be an ongoing series of short 'slice-of-life' strips.

Check it out in the link below! Tapastic also has an Android and IOS app for you to enjoy comics. Search for 'Sebastian Chow' or 'Art Imitates Life' and subscribe and like the comic. Alternatively you can view it on their site without an account by clicking the link.

https://tapastic.com/series/Art-Imit

Leeds was also a lovely city to visit and in the main shopping center there was a replica of the 1989 Batman Batmobile (my favorite look of all the films). Needless to say I took some snaps.

I would love to go back to ThoughtBubble and even hire a table for commissions and selling art however I know this can be difficult with many being turned away due to the high volume of requests and limited space.

Onward to LSCC 2016 which now has a new venue and new dates...

MCM Comic Con