London Film & Comic-Con summer 2023 a review

 

I only attended the sat/Sunday of the event so can’t comment on the Friday.

 

Prior to the event I haven’t but been overly excited. After all the cancellations i had only a handful of guests that I wanted to meet and the 3 of the 4 photos I had booked were carried over from previous events and I was on tenterhooks waiting for them to postpone once more . Ironically it was the 4th photo shoot - Olivia Cooke that cancelled 8pm the night before the con.

 

I arrived about an hour before the opening on Saturday so that I could get to the Virtual Queue tickets (VQ)

Everything opened on time. Which feels like a novelty to have an event door open when it is supposed to.

 

Frustratingly the guests were at the other side of the hall and upstairs so was a bit if a rush to get there and the valuable Lower VQs

 

I managed to get mine and then had time to stop and asses the situation.

 

My first feeling was how empty the signing hall was. I’ve attended every LFCC and this felt more like a spring/ winter event and not their flagship event.

 

I started to queue for my guests and get autos for my friends and I

 

David Wenham (lord of the rings ) - I really appreciated that he took time to look at the poster he was signing and asking how big others had signed so he could match to theirs

 

Kristin Baker ( Friday the 13th)  - I said a brief hello and got her auto in a Friday the 13th image, was very brief and although got a selfie there was barely any interaction.

 

Leo Ashton- ( house of the dragon ) he was and enjoying himself . Discussed about how long it takes to put on the face prosthetics etc

 

Evie Allen & Shani Smethurst (house of the dragon ) both were kind and accommodating with selfies and asking what to write on autographs and where to put them on posters etc

 

Amanda Tapping - ( stargate ) had a brief chat about how she had put online about wanting to meet Matt smith and how he has given her a hug backstage and made her day . A very sweet lady and takes time with fans - although there were no decent SG1 shots

 

lochlyn Munroe ( scary movie )- really great , I don’t think I ever saw him sit down , was always at the front of his desk interacting with fans. We spoke about his movies and about this mouth thing he does in a movie ( like a clicking sound ) how I can do it to .. and after 3 failed meets with him to show him … I couldn’t do it so urgh. I asked how inappropriate we could be in the photo shoot and he said go for it so I made a funny sign pic

 

Clark Greg ( Agents of shield )finally after many years he was here, although the interaction was brief he made sure to talk and interact with you

 

Mike colter ( Luke cage) another I had waited many years to meet , spoke

About the show and if ever see him return , he said the didn’t think so as under Disney the show wouldn’t be adult enough for the themes.

 

Dolph Lundgren ( expendables) a brief meet but engaging , talked about being excited for expendables 4 and aquaman 2

 

Cynthia Rothrock - I don’t really know who she was as met for a friend but she was nice

 

Dileep Ro ( Avatar ) lovely guy , chatted about drag me to hell and workout with both Sam Rami and James Cameron and how old he was when he started the Avatar movies and how old he will be when they end.

 

Ingvild Delia - ( Star Wars Rogue One) was only a brief meet but she was nice

 

Dan Slott - ( Spider-Man comic writer ) it’s always lovely catching up with Dan, managed to get my Spider-Man comics signed - this was the second time after he signed them back in 2015 and they were all stolen at the con .

 

Simon willilams ( comic artist) great fella who I’ve known many years and deserves so much more recognition then he’s had

 

George Kambadais ( comic artist ) got a sketch for a friend , brief chat a great talent

 

Overall Saturday was ok but it felt very quiet  and more like a Sunday. There was no issues at fall for me regarding photo shoots overrunning or any other of the usual problems Showmasters have had in the past.

 

But overall event I had good interactions with the guests , there was a lot of down time and the day just felt meh.

 

Sunday

 

I arrived shortly after the doors opened and walked straight in, due to there now being an extra Lego event taking place within the venue they had changed things around in the autograph area.

 

Where it has been one larger hall with 99% the guests in, it now has a handful of the headliners with all the rest outside in the walk way.

 

This worked so much better as there was less dead space and made it feel busier. There was more of the usual Comic-Con vibe.

 

I met a couple more guests

 

Natalia Tena ( Harry Potter) - brief but nice chat about how it took longer for her to get into costume on Harry Potter then star wars

 

George Georgiou ( game of thrones ) nice brief chat about the show and the nature of collecting signed posters etc

 

Eric Walker - ( Star Wars ) he was friendly

 

Madeline smith -( bond) really sweet and taking time with all, asking where to sign , what to sign etc and more happy when people were choosing various images and not the same ones over and over

 

Carole Ashby (Bond) nice and friendly and a bit hungover . Was really enjoying the fan meets

 

Naomi J Ogawa  ( Wednesday ) nice brief meet, she was enjoying the con

 

Oliver Watson ( Wednesday) really a wonderful meet, his first event and was spending so much time with everyone . Really engaging with everyone and having a wonderful time

 

Morgan Beale ( Wednesday) another nice meet and friendly .

 

I had one last guest to get - Scott Adkins but after 2 hours of waiting he just never seemed to come back to his table so I had it leave and have a friend get the auto for me

 

There were so many first timers and they were all really nice and asking questions about what to sign; where and how l. Making sure they were giving the best experiences that they could give and receive

 

The Sunday felt alot busier than Saturday, it had more of the buzz you get at an event. I think this was partly due to the change of the lay out. Instead of having dead empty space on the walk way leading into the signing hall , it was filled with guests and gave more of an atmosphere.

 

Overall, even tho all the guests were great and I got a lot of selfies. A day after event there I don’t have any con blues I don’t have much of a sense of wow I’ve been at an event. It really hasn’t left much of an impact on me.

 

Is it event fatigue ? Or is it that the event just wasn’t as strong as it used to be and feels like a step backwards for their growth. With so many events appearing and adapting after each event has LFCC fallen behind and can it regain its momentum ?

 

I give the event a 6/10 for me

 

Not good , not bad but just average