London Film & Comic Con, Sunday, 19th July 2009

July 21st, in News by Craig Randall

We set out early to beat the traffic as we made our way to the London Film and Comic convention in Earls Court, London. When we first arrived we were wondering if we were in the right place, but then Storm Troopers walked past, we’re in the right place!

The hall was huge, maybe the same size as the London Expo and instantly we were faced with the familiar form of the yellow Bumblebee car from the Transformers movie. This was also at the London Expo a few months back and is becoming a regular sight at these conventions.

As we wandered further in we were able to see the actors from the Twilight movies, Peter Facinelli (Dr Cullen), Alex Meraz (Paul) and Justin Chon (Eric) and as you’d expect were swamped with adoring fans. Also present were Heroes’ stars Sendhill Ramamurthy (Dr Suresh), Jimmy Jean Louis (Haitian). Oliver and James Phelps, the Weasley Twins from the Harry Potter movies were there too signing autographs and enjoying themselves.

Alex Meraz signing autographs at the con

The cast from the Star Wars movies were there. I had to pinch myself when I saw Jake Llyod, the young Anakin Skywalker all grown up. Time goes so fast! The ever present Kenny Baker who played R2 D2 was seated there alongside Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) and David Prowse (Darth Vadar). How cool is it to see these guys there signing autographs, I mean these were the guys that launched the phenomenon that is Star Wars… I think I may need a drink and a sit down! phew!

So with the actors out the way myself and Steven wandered around to see what else the convention had on display. You had a great big hall with a lot of stalls selling the same stuff so it got a bit samey after a little while so we thought let’s check out the area in which we find interesting the most – the artist avenue for comic books.

We came upon a few artist here, like Hal Laren who self published: BEX, Diba & Rock and The Elementals from Reaper Comics. Hal was very pleasant to talk to and told us about how he works and his hopes for the future. His comic books are an interesting combination of 3D graphics with heavy Photoshop coloring creating a futuristic style to his work.

We also had the opportunity to talk to John-Paul Bove who is an upcoming colorist who spoke to us about some interesting experiences he had on his journey to become a full time professional comic artist. Wanting to be a comic book writer but decided to make a mark in the industry found that becoming a comic book colorist was easier to get your foot in the door.

Phil Jimenez sketching non-stop at the con

We also got a chance to get a glimpse of artist Phil Jimenez who was incredibly popular with the fans. He’s done pencilling for X-Men, Wonder Woman, Invisibles and Amazing Spider-Man and has won him a renowned fan base across the country.

And finally we got the chance to briefly speak to inker Lee Townsend who was busy sketching for fans. His inking on popular titles such as Spiderman, Batman and World of Warcraft has kept this guy busy over the years. We were really impressed with his quality of work as we browsed his portfolio of work.

Overall it was a pleasant venue, not as good as the London Expo but still neat and a nice day out. The cast of actors on display were pretty decent whilst some were legendary. We came away from the show feeling pretty content with what we’ve seen so having grabbed a few souvenirs, had one last look around we headed home. Till the next convention.