London Film & Comic Con 2010!
8th August 2010
So, it’s been a year since our last expedition to London Film and Comic Con– and this time there was one major difference. Did we go to mooch around and oggle celebs? Nope. Did we go to get some great artwork and buy tons of stuff? Nope.
This year, we attended under the Feran banner- our first convention appearance and we enjoyed every moment. At first I wasn’t sure how much I’d enjoy the weekend, Donna was even more unsure. Not because of the people, or anything else- but there is a big difference between mooching around a convention and meeting amazing artists etc. and manning a booth all day.
I have to admit, arriving on the Saturday morning, the hall practically empty, I was incredibly nervous. There was a moment of panic when we couldn’t find our table and were informed by the staff that we weren’t on the list. Thankfully we got everything sorted and our table was set up and ready to go as the other artists began filtering in.
There were a few familiar faces, people we’d met last year such as Naniiebim and Will Kirkby, the guys (and girl) manning the Fetishman booth were lovely and we even got a free poster from them that now hangs proudly in our kitchen due to helping them out with a mixed up delivery of books. It was great to put a face to the voice we’d heard on the phone so often in the form of Jo, one of the leading ladies at Fallen Angel Media who did a great job of printing up the first issue of Fera and we had a few chats with her over the weekend.
We also had Nikki Hunter come to our booth to say “Hi” when she managed to get away from commissions for a second or two- both her and her husband are really nice and it’s always nice to see someone from last year who recognises you. In fact I think Naniiebim’s first words to me this year were “you’re that furry guy aren’t you?”
We also ran into Henry Davies (artist for the Beano, Dandy and several others including working on Marvel titles)- who not only remembered us from last year but chatted with us whenever he got the chance. Apparently he liked my description of him in the blog post from last year. He was very enthusiatic about Fera and seemed to genuinely enjoy flicking through the comic- and his offer of help and tips for those things that I had mentioned that I was unsure of was very generous. He did make several comments about me and Donna not being married yet and as we packed up on the Sunday he invited us along to the pub with him, Greg Rucka (Superman/Batwoman/Stumptown) and Lee Townsend (Marvel/DC/200AD)… which I really wish now that I hadn’t gone back to the hotel to drop our bags off, because sadly I ended up crashing and getting some sleep rather than heading back along to meet up with them (stupid T III). Well perhaps next year.
I also finally got to go and chat with Ian Sharman, who I had seen last year and only realised who he was after leaving. So I made a point of going to say hello. Another person who gave us some great advice and we got on well with, there are many mistakes that we all make on our first convention and the best thing about it is that you meet people like Ian, Henry and others who genuinely want to help, and you all get to compare with “oh, how’d you do that- wow, thats better than this, why not try this next time… etc.”
New faces this year included Al Davison (aritst for the Doctor Who comic and fellow northerner) and Alice de ste Croix – both great artists and we were really lucky to have all of these amazing people sat around us at our table. My favourite thing about the whole experience was the feeling of being part of something, all of these artists and creators, whatever their medium or ability were all in the same boat and their was a family atmosphere where everyone helped each other out that I really hadn’t been expecting.
Over the course of the weekend, I was ecstatic when the first Fera comic sold, people who wanted to do webcomics came and asked ME of all people for advice- genuinely showing me their portfolio’s. I even had one guy ask if I’d like to work with him as an artist on a project he wanted to write. There is a massive difference between me sitting here right now, communicating with readers from screen to screen, to having people approach you and love what you do. Its a shock to the system, and certainly bolsters your confidence a little. That said there were also a lot of people asking “where’s the toilet?” or “where’s the Cyanide and Happiness table?”
As for the latter, I’m fairly certain that I was complimented by one of the guys from the C+H booth at one point… I could be wrong but Donna seems very sure that it was him.
All in all it was a fantastic weekend, we got to see Wonder Woman and friends face off against Darth Vadar, Storm Troopers taken by surprise by a crafty Dalek and other things so bizarre that you had to be there to appreciate them.
For more pictures please feel free to visit the Fera fanpage on facebook, we have an album there filled with all of the pictures we manage to take over the weekend. We’re really looking forward to next year, and hope to see you guys again. I’ll keep you all updated on when our next convention appearance is, both myself and Donna have been bitten by the convention bug so you can expect us to be attending a few more next year.
Thanks to everyone who came to LFCC 2010, and to the organisers for a great event- even if I did have to stare painfully across the table at William Shatners booth after realising I couldn’t get his autograph.