It was a bit of a drive for us, but the kids have wanted to go to a comic con for a while, so it was worth it for them. Never having been before, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect, but costume planning was rife in our household and I went as Tauriel from The Hobbit films; Rain went as Hay Lin from W.I.T.C.H. and Jude went as Harley Quinn from Batman. (Chris won’t dress up, but did at least wear a Star Wars t-shirt.) And we did look pretty good even if I do say so myself!
If you’re not sure whether to dress up or not, then do it! Most people were. Though I’m too out of touch with the comic and manga world to recognise who most of them were supposed to be. Though you really could be anyone from film, telly or anywhere – you aren’t restricted to comics just because it’s called Comic Con! Half the fun of the event is looking at everyone else’s costumes. It’s even better when people are entirely in character and shuffle around if they’re a zombie, for example.
We spent the whole time wandering around the stalls as none of us were particularly interested in the people doing the Q&A sessions in the theatre bit and were definitely not going to spend £15 – £20 on an autograph. The calibre of the celebrities varied somewhat from Cheryl Ferguson from Eastenders to Tom Mison from Sleepy Hollow. In fact they really need to cut down on the number of has-been celebrities – particularly the ones that
The stalls were surprisingly reasonably priced and there was plenty of places for old and new comics; fluffy toys; classic toys and lots of art. Disappointingly low on quality clothes and costumes though. I also thought they should encourage more hand-crafted stalls for better variety.
I also think that the organisers should change the layout to include a central walkway and
At £10 each for the ticket, it was a good day out for all of us, and something a bit different too. Would recommend, but would probably only go again myself if there was someone doing a Q & A session that I particularly wanted to see.