Filed under: Events | Tags: Adi Granov, Brian Bolland, Carlos Ezquerra, Dan Slott, David Finch, Gary Frank, J. Scott Campbell, John Wagner, Judge Minty, Limited Edition, LSCC 2013, Neal Adams
Who knew that a year could flash passed so quickly and with the hyped memories of last years LSCC still fresh it was a lessened attendance from the Comic Anon gang with just me (G-Man) making the journey down to our capital for this years show. Post bus journey BUT post-hotel upgrade…..I was all set for this years event.
The same format was taken, with panels, signings and queues all intermingled but the first major improvement seemed to be the layout – with wider pathways between the dealer tables and less wasted space than last years event. This all helped ease congestion and take away the claustrophobic feeling that had been so evident from 2012. Thankful again to the organizers for supplying the team with a Press Pass for the event and with no real interest in attending the queue-fest we saw last year – I meandered into the show for it opening around 10am…….blissfully easy after what seemed like a slight breakdown in communication on where press passes were being held. Strolling in and immediately spying the MASSIVE line of people trying to catch Dan Slott/Adi Granov for signing the LSCC variant of Superior Spider-Man #1 – although Mr Slott was more than happy to sign anything that you brought with you……I got several of my own issues signed thankfully….so that was already a successful trip. In fact, there was several LSCC variants on offer which made this a much more unique Con from that point of view:
You then had top artists like Lee Bermejo, Simone Bianchi, Brian Bolland, Gabrielle Dell’Otto, David Finch, Gary Frank and more tending their queues as the commissions and sketch requests came pouring in. Only later on would I find out that a last minute change to layout had meant that the stampeding masses who had already thought out their plan of attack were left bumbling around trying to find where they needed to go. For the rest of us, their was a much more laidback feel to this years event and that’s maybe down to, at least for me, the lack of a significant stand-out guest…..or at least not one that I would hold in the same regard as Stan Lee but the guests that were there seemed to bring much more to the show. I guess taking the focus away from one person and sharing the glory made that much more evident but with that being said there was still some stellar writers/artists in attendance.
These top writers/artists were pretty well spread out but since the layout had improved so much from last year there was a better chance to chat with a creator as you check out their latest artwork or the latest issue they have with them. There was a much more significant presence around the artists though as the scramble for sketches seem to have jumped up in the importance for many fans – perhaps a shift I’ve not noticed before as I’ve never really considered that side although I did notice that the prices for sketches from the big names were significantly higher than one’s I’ve noticed before – maybe the shift in their popularity has driven this up but we’ll keep an eye on that at future cons in 2013.
The panels in general didn’t grab my attention over the course of the weekend with the exception of the ‘Batman Through the Ages’ panel and the screening of Fan-Made film Judge Minty – sort of fitting given that John Wagner and Alan Grant were attending the con – unfortunately Carlos Ezquerra didn’t make it due to airline strikes in Spain but there is good news as he’s attending the Glasgow Comic Con in July this year 😀 The Batman panel was pretty much full as David Finch, Brian Bolland, Neal Adams and Gary Frank all dropped in their own opinions on what Batman is, how he’s developed over the years and why he remains as popular as he does – Craig form Comics Anonymous would have been in his element at this panel. Some good points made, although Adams didn’t do himself any favours by having a pop at the artwork of Bob Kane but he had a fairly well-rounded approach to the audience and some funny quirks…..he opened the panel with a song…..that’s the first I’ve ever seen that for sure. It’s also the first time I’ve seen the panel stumped by some of the obscure questions coming from the audience and there was an interesting shift towards the popularity of the villains in the Batman comics as much as the central hero……much to Adams’ dismay.
The Judge Minty fan-film was a great way to end the Con I thought and it’s just a pity that this wasn’t better attended. The film itself is about 30 minutes long and the 4-year long project costing between 5 & 10 thousand pounds is a true success. It brings that 2000AD vibe to the small screen and will be due for release in May this year. A Q&A afterwards would show just how much the crowd that had gathered to see it really appreciated the effort that had gone into it – with most already asking for more. Check out more on that through at their website:
All in all it was a successful second year for the London Super Comic Con as it took a step closer to the laidback approach to comic cons that we’ve enjoyed at Thought Bubble (one of the Comics Anon favourites) and it got the mix just about right this year – with the small press getting just as much attention as those recognized publishers and dealers. A con about comics while still managing to have a high-calibre of guest made it an overall improvement, even without one standout name…..although that could be down to my own personal choice of who I consider to be a “big name” or at least someone that I’d queue to see. Can’t please all the people all of the time I guess but the 2013 Con has made me much more likely to return in 2014 – so there’s less of an air of doubt on that compared with my thoughts from last year (LSCC 2012)
Roll-on 2014….although no more bus journeys to London methinks!
G-Man
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