It's hard to believe how quickly its come round, but London Super Comic-Con is once again just round the corner. Since it first burst onto the comic-book scene just three years ago, the show has become one of the biggest pop culture conventions in the UK - and it's still growing! I attended the convention for the first time last year, and I'm excited to return a second time in 2015. The convention is returning to the same venue it has always had, London's ExCel Centre, and also to the mid-March date that it moved to last year. This means that those of you wanting to attend still have a while to get your tickets, and if (for some strange reason) you're still on the fence about going, here's four reasons you should get excited for LSCC 2015.
1) There Are Awesome Creators To Meet!
One of my favourite things about conventions is the awesome experience of meeting the creators that have produced my most beloved comic-books, and LSCC certainly delivers on this front. There are many creators attending this year that I'm excited about, starting with two veteran artists John Romita Jr. and Dave Gibbons. Romita Jr. is one of the biggest artists working in comics today, with influential runs on Iron Man, The Amazing Spider-Man, and Uncanny X-Men. My personal favourite work of his has to be the explosive run on Wolverine he carried out with superstar writer Mark Millar. The run, titled Enemy of the State is a very fun read and one I highly recommend to anyone looking to get into some Wolverine comic books.
Another iconic creator attending LSCC this year is Dave Gibbons, aka the co-creator of Watchmen. While some have said that Watchmen isn't as great as it's made out to be, I maintain the long-held view that it is one of the best comic-books ever made. I actually got my copy of the book signed by Gibbons last year when he attended, and so I'm not sure whether or not I'll swing by his table again as it was very busy. Although having said that I do have some Rogue Trooper comics hanging around that could use a signature...
Another talent I'm excited to see attending this year is writer Tim Seeley, as I think he's doing a great job co-writing DC's new series Grayson with Tom King. There is also of course his excellent Image title Revival but I'll talk about that later. Marvel also has plenty of faces at this year's con, with artist Lee Garbett among the creators I aim to see on the day. Garbett came to my attention doing the artwork on Al Ewing's Loki: Agent of Asgard, as well as early issues of Valiant's X-O Manowar. With some of the most fun and energetic artwork in the business, he's definitely one of my top creators right now so I hope to get a chance to talk to him over the course of the convention. There's also a whole load of other Marvel artists attending this year including Mahmud Asrar (working on All-New X-Men with Brian Michael Bendis), Ed McGuinness (working on art for upcoming crossover The Black Vortex) and Yildiray Cinar (artist on Marvel's controversial new series Superior Iron Man).
Just before I move on to some of the other things I'm excited to do at this year's show, I thought it would be important to spotlight some of the indie creators as that's what Comic Bastards is primarily all about. As I've already mentioned, I'm a big fan of Tim Seeley and Mike Norton's Image Comics series Revival, and so I'm excited to see that not just Seeley but Norton too are both attending this year's show! It's also exciting to see Michael Avon Oeming in attendance this year; while I'm yet to read Powers it's certainly on my to-do list, especially with the TV show coming up fast. While you can hardly call the juggernaut that is The Walking Dead an indie comic at this point, long-time artist for the book Charlie Adlard will also be attending LSCC for the second year. I tried to get one of my Walking Dead trades signed last year to no avail - word of advice to Adlard fans, get in their early!
Believe it or not there are many more creators I would love to write about, but I fear I'm running out of room to do so. Instead, why not click here to see the full guest list, and be sure to come back and let us know who you're most excited to see!
2) Cosplay Experts!
Cosplay is becoming more and more popular every year, and is something that I personally would love to get into! People who can make truly great costumes are genuine idols to me because they just look so darn cool, and I know that that is the result of a lot of hard work. Sadly my first attempt at cosplay was a Loki costume that looked so bad there are literally no words to describe it. So rather than dwell on that mistake of my past, let's discuss the cosplay geniuses that will be attending London Super Comic-Con 2015.
The cosplayer I'm probably most excited for this year is Annshella, and that's because she has cosplayed as characters from one of my favourite video game series' of all time: Soul Calibur! I love Soul Calibur for so many reasons; the game itself is very accessible, the lore is nonsensical yet very engaging, and having first played the game when I was about eight years old I feel an almost sentimental connection with the series. But as much as I love these games I'm yet to see any Soul Calibur cosplayers in the flesh, something that could change by the time LSCC rolls around. Annshella has cosplayed as several characters from the series including Sophitia and Hilde, and I would love to see one of her Soul Calibur costumes make an appearance at the convention. That being said, Annshella has plenty of other great costumes too with another highlight being her awesome Black Cat cosplay.
Probably the most well-known cosplayer attending this year is Yaya Han, with over one million likes on Facebook she is an established name in her field - and rightly so! Han has cosplayed as numerous comic-book characters over the years including Catwoman, Batgirl, and Sue Storm and all of her costumes look phenomenal. Although not all of them are comic-book themed, even the one's I don't understand I'm still impressed by leaving me excited to see what she comes out with on the day.
But it's not just the professionals who get to dress up, with many regular attendees showing up in some equally impressive costumes! In fact, researching this year's attending cosplayers has once again got me enthusiastic about giving it a go myself! My current idea is Beast Boy because that might not be too difficult - just some green body paint and purple clothes, right? I have a bad feeling it probably wouldn't work out for me, but cosplay is something I really want to try some day soon! Moral support needed!
3) Panels!
The best thing about the panels at London Super Comic-Con is that they are actually about comic-books. While you may not see the cast of The Maze Runner talking about the next entry in the series that few people care deeply for, you'll get plenty of people who love comics talking about comics - and that's what comic-con should be about in my opinion. This year's panels are seemingly yet to be announced, but last year's panels saw Miracleman artists talking about the (then upcoming) series relaunch, the Editor-in-Chief of BOOM! Studios and IDW Publishing talking about the future of their respective publishers, and Dan Slott speaking out about his runs on Spider-Man and Silver Surfer. My dark secret of last year's LSCC is due to time constraints and lack of con-experience I didn't attend a single panel - that's something that I won't be repeating in my second year. If 2015's panel topics interest me as much as 2014's do right now, then I'm going to be spending a lot of time in panel rooms this year...
4) You Get To Buy Cool Shit!
Ultimately, the thing I enjoyed most about last year's LSCC was all the awesome stuff I walked away with. Most of my convention purchases were trades and hardcovers I'd been looking to buy for a while, that I'd managed to snag at a discounted price. However, there were plenty of other truly unique exhibitors at last year's convention too. Original art, figures, jewellery, key rings, badges and lots of other awesome things stick out in my memory of walking the convention floor last year. There was so much to buy last year in fact that I found myself annoyed I hadn't saved more for the event, which has led to me already putting money aside for this year's convention with the aim of leaving with an even cooler haul. I'll be sure to let everyone know what I got come March!
These are just four reasons that I'm excited about this year's London Super Comic-Con. The show will be taking place on the weekend of Saturday 14th March to Sunday 15th March at the ExCel Centre in London. If this article has piqued your interest, there are tickets available on their website right now! I hope I see you there!