A fitting introduction.
I am afraid to admit that
this was my first comic book convention. But what better way to pop
my comic-con cherry, than by going to my local Melksham Comic-Con
2012. I honestly had little idea of what to expect and I was
expecting the worst. That's sounds awful, sorry. What I mean is I
expected a room full of clique-y people sneering at my lack of
knowledge of Doctor Who, or the fact that I have no idea what the
whole DC New 52 is all about (I know, you'll probably stop reading
this now.) Luckily and perhaps surprisingly, these topics never came
up in conversation; suprising because everybody was chatty.
It was a very relaxed and
jovial atmosphere. All the exhibitors and guests were more than happy
to spend a few minutes chatting about what they do and it was clear
to see that everybody was very comfortable in the close environment,
which I believe was a testament to the organisation and the staff at
the event (all wearing very professional “staff” t-shirts and
inexplicably wearing nametags emblazoned “Hello my name is Brian”).
As well as the main hall in
which the various stalls were selling everything from Sony
Playstation 3, to marshmallow daleks, there was a neat little side
room set-up for the various panels and guest talks of the day. Alas,
I missed the first, but was so glad I didn't miss the second. Sonia
Leong's “What is Manga?” talk and demo was an absolute whirlwind
of one crazy artist, very opinionated and very successful, running
through the basics and intricacies of a misunderstood art-form, which
I had previously dismissed as “not for me.” Shame on me. I can
honestly say that due to Sonia Leong, I now desperately want to buy a
manga book about wine tasting, something I had no idea I would ever
be saying.
Next up was the delight that
was Paul Cornell. This highly successful writer of comic books is the
most affable, likeable and self-deprecating man. His honesty about
how he got into comic book writing (basically Grant Morrison called
him and asked him to write a comic book after seeing an episode of
Doctor Who he had written) gave an insight into the amount of sheer
luck that it takes to make it big in the comic book industry. It was
an odd talk because even though Cornell pulled no punches when saying
it was near impossible to get your comic book published by the big
companies, he also instilled a sense of hope in describing publishing
your own comic book as a “noble” endeavour (which is not as
sarcastic as it sounds). He definitely inspired me to get on and
write that one good idea I had for that comic book that one time...
I had the pleasure, during
the course of the day, of chatting to both Nich Angell and John Lock,
two independent comic book creators with very exciting and innovative
ideas. So, when they stepped up for the next panel of the day, I had
an idea of what to expect and was not disappointed – rather than
just a shameless plug of their own comic books (which, of course, at
times it was), it was more like watching a couple of friends talk
about things they love doing. Seeing two creators talk about the
thing they love doing, while they are doing it, was inspirational.
They should definitely be booked for next year, if only to check out
how they have progressed.
The final panel was
thoroughly entertaining. Three delightful Star Wars actors relating
anecdotes of their days on set on Star Wars and a myriad of other
films seemed like a very fitting end to the day. At times it was
like listening to your grandparents relate old stories of their life,
instilling that fascination of a past which we would have loved to be
a part of. The whole room was laughing at times and there was great
feeling in the room as everyone was grateful to be there. Hats off to
the staff of Brians that were very witty and professional during all
the panels and did an excellent job of keeping the conversation alive
and flowing!
It's going to be a hard act
to top next year. But I have a feeling they'll manage it! Did I
mention the free goodie bags – FREE GOODIE BAGS! Next year is a
must.
