Day One – Saturday 23 February
Having arrived to collect our press passes we skipped the queues and entered with the first arrivals into the main exhibition hall, which sadly seemed a little underwhelming. The hall itself was of a medium size and only two thirds was taken up with exhibition stands, with the other third left for ticket processing and the Panel Room; leaving a lot of dead space.
Having a quick browse round the hall to see what was on offer to the attendees, it came quickly apparent that if you are simply a fan of comic books or an avid collector this is the place for you. With an entire third of the room dedicated to artists and producers and another third dedicated to selling everything comic book related, I thought to myself this was going to be a good weekend!
The day started off slowly as the staff busily worked away in letting the attendees enter in batches but this however gave me a chance to quickly meet Ron Marz (Artifacts and Witchblade) before it got busier….
Ron advised that although he has been to the United Kingdom before, it was his first time at LSCC for himself and Top Cow. Ron was a pleasant man who confirmed he likes it here but that doing conventions is not his first choice of pastime, preferring couch surfing like most other men. However, when doing conventions he definitely prefers traveling abroad than simply going from state to state.
There was a large number of stands, most offering discounted merchandise and some publishers like; Top Cow, Avatar, Zenescope, AAM/Markosia and 2000 AD, offering limited edition LSCC variant covers. As the day wore on, stands like J. Scott Campbell and Rob Layton, to name a few, held a high presence in the hall.
If you are either looking to complete your comic book collection, for that special item or simply after a bargain, then LSCC seemed like the place to be; something a patron we met, Mike, could attest to….
Events and Panels
Next up was presentations on ‘Daredevil through the Ages’ and ‘Dredd and Beyond: the whole wide world of 2000AD‘ which although I did not attend, many of the attendees were suitably impressed.
The writers talked about working with some of the top illustrators in the world and how the creative freedom (due to creative ownership and control) allows the artists to be the best they can. It was also good to see Ron and David talk about other projects that they are working on that are not Top Cow published. Matt did not have a problem with this and actively encouraged them to continue.
Matt was proud to announce that ‘Darkness’ the game was the most successful comic book computer game that was or had not been a movie. He advised that they have had a number of offers to make Darkness a film over the years but is expecting a script to be landing immanently that should hopefully be good enough. Matt also boasted about the fact that they have the highest rated TNT show to ever be cancelled (due to Yancy Butlers alcohol problem, her entering rehab during mid second season, before failing to return) in ‘Witchblade’. They had also been offered to make a number of Witchblade games, but these were going to be ‘plug and play’ developments and this was something Top Cow was not happy about doing. Finally Matt rubbed it into Marvel by announcing that they entered the Anime market years before them. All in all, the Top Cow boys were more than happy with their product and creativity, but knew their place within the market at this time.
Cosplay
There was a distinct lack of cosplayers in the morning, with many of the better known arriving towards midday; much to Matts dismay, as that was the main reason he was here in the first place, as well as following me around taking pictures; but I digress. There was a broad spectrum of quality in the cosplayers, ranging from those who simply bought a costume from a shop, or even onesies, to those who spent a lot of money sourcing items, labouring for months, and creating their own; with different levels of success ( you cannot fault the effort though). A prime example of the ‘cream of the crop’ would Iconic Legion whose costumes were unsurprisingly faultless and who were there raising money for charity.
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As with all such events no Con is worth its salt without Cosplay Competition and LSCC was no different, with there Mascaraed starting at 3:15pm, this was open to everyone who wished to participate and had created their own costumes.
Firstly the contenders were lined up outside the panel room for the public to see and given a number. The organisers then opened the panel room where the contestants where marched in one by one, asked their name, number and character (Some contestants really did need to explain their characters, but for the most, the characters were quite obvious).
Up next was the adult’s category, with costumes that ranged from the excellent to the down right ridiculous (but in great humour). Opening up was a group playing as the crew of serenity, and to end we had the fabulous, if slightly surreal, Gingerbread Punisher and Gingerbread Wonder Woman (both male). The adult’s competition was won by the hairiest member of the Green Lantern Corps; whose charm, cheekiness and likability won it in the end with an almost unanimous decision.
During the day all the cosplayers, both those who bought event tickets and those who didn’t, were always accommodating to photographers ranging from professionals to families, and often found outside the hall in the general public area.
And so ended a very popular and busy day one. I would like to say I didn’t spend any money, but I weakened, and in the final minutes bought the trade editions of The Darkness: Rebirth vol.1 and Witchblade: Rebirth vol.1 & 2.
After dropping my stuff of at the hotel it was then a short walk to a local bar for drinks with the attendees, Cosplayers, artists and publishers
Day Two – Sunday 24 February
When arriving at the hall, as expected, the Sunday crowd was not as big but the same artists were once again ‘drawing’ the crowds. (see what I did there) With the throng of comic geeks thinned I took my opportunity to ask Matt Hawkins a question that I didn’t have time to the today before, during the panel show. Given the current issues over the contents of meat products throughout the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe I asked Matt if he, as the Chief Operating Officer, could confirm if Top Cow was 100% Cow and contained no horse? He confirmed with a laugh “Yes our Cow is all beef, we have no horse and you can quote me on that.” (A bad joke I know, you had to be there I guess but at least Matt enjoyed it and I doubt he’d ever be asked such a question again) Matt then took the time to sign a copy of ‘Think Tank’.
“Yes our Cow is all beef, we have no horse and you can quote me on that.”
– Matt Hawkins, Chief Operating Officer of Top Cow
Moving on I then spoke to independent illustrator Matt Dixon, which can be found here. Matt was also gracious enough to sign for us an A4 print and 6 Artist proof World of Warcraft Trading Cards for a competition. Then finally Ian Sharman of Orang Utan Comics, which can be found here. Both were again very pleasant, taking the time to talk to me about themselves and their work (I tell myself that it’s because I’m such a great fella and it has nothing to do with the fact they don’t want to damage their businesses and like all artist love free promotion).
A quick stop at David Mack’s booth to get a signed copy of ‘Kabuki: The Alchemy’ for my collection (Mack is in my opinion on of the greatest inkers in the industry, with his inking having such depth of texture and his layouts being an art in itself).
The highlight of day two, and the item everyone had been waiting to see, was Tabitha Lyons’ Rogue’s (classic X-men) with sentinel head made by her own hands ( Tabitha, is not only a Cosplayers, but also a keen LARPer and has a company that manufactures LARP weapons / items called Artyfakes.) Once again, iconic legion were on show with a meticulous yet understated Robin (Dark Knight Rises) who had sourced a full Gotham/Los Angeles police uniform complete with Gotham City PD badges.
With the time getting to about 4:30pm and the event winding down it was time to leave and make the four-hour journey home.
Reflecting back on the two days, I can say that despite my initial underwhelming feelings on day one, the weekend turned out to be a great one As a lover of comic books and the art on offer, it was a great event to attend, as this was purely a comic book convention. Granted it will not have the same pull as MCM, simply because there are no film, TV or gaming booths containing actors/actresses and so appealing to the wider demographic but I don’t think LSCC needs to compete; It is what it is and it did what it said on the tin.
If asked what I would do differently, not much, but I would have taken the open / unused space and turned it into two areas. Firstly, a well-lit area with lighting and a clean clear backdrop for somewhere were photographers; both professional and amateur could take photographs of willing cosplayers. This would have stopped many of the cosplayers leaving the hall with the photographers who wanted better and more natural light. Secondly, I would have had an area where members of the press and the professional photographers could sit down with their computers and work, with power supplied and wi-fi use. This would allow more instant access for the days events to be posted and updated throughout the day without any delay.
Apart from that, I think LSCC can only go from strength to strength and I for one will definitely be looking to attend once again next year.
If you want to see more pictures of the LSCC by Matt Geary then you can find lots more over at his facebook site. and you can check out a small video he made below:
