MCM Expo London 2011

Spider-man, a Predator and Sonic the Hedgehog walk into a crowded room…

You may be thinking this is the setup for some bizarre joke, or the opening line of a truly terrible piece of fan fiction, and to be honest it very well could be. However, this group of mismatched characters are actually cosplayers. They’ve come from all over the country to join thousands of others at London’s ExCeL for a truly unique day out at the MCM Expo.

Hailed as London’s very own comic convention, the MCM Expo is a bi-annual gathering for everything entertainment. The show has been running for many years, constantly evolving to provide visitors with the most diverse, yet complete convention experience available in this country. It traditionally runs in May and October for an entire weekend, although this year it was also open on Friday for anyone who purchased a weekend-long pass.

Many consider the event an opportunity to shop for unusual, often imported items unavailable here. Even more think of it as a chance to socialise and showcase their incredibly intricate costumes to onlookers.

Special guests from all forms of media are always present for those seeking to meet their heroes and discussion panels are also scheduled throughout the weekend.

Combine this with previews of the hottest new shows, movies and games and you get a sense of the scale of what is being accomplished by the show’s organisers.

This past weekend had fans meeting voice actors from Futurama, writers on the upcoming movie X-Men First Class, and the usual mass of television and film personalities. The artist’s alley was also once again crammed full of some of the hottest talent currently working in the British independent comic scene.

Some of the special comic book writers and illustrators who attended included Warren Ellis (Transmetropolitan, The Authority, Fell); Jamie McKelive (The Uncanny X-Men: Heroic Age, Phonogram, Iron Man); Gary Erskine (Judge Dredd, Knights Of Pengragon); and Becky Cloonan (Demo, Northlanders and American Virgin)

There was also some great movie exclusives including…

A special panel featuring the director and special effects make-up team of the forthcoming British Horror movie, Stormhouse
A world exclusive first look at the new Green Lantern movie, and a first look at footage from Universal’s upcoming fantasy-action blockbuster Immortals (this looks awesome!) see trailer below.. Directed by Tarsem Singh and starring Henry Cavill, Freida Pinto, and Mickey Rourke.

To further bolster an already impressive line-up, numerous game developers such as Nintendo were in attendance, giving fans the chance to try out upcoming titles due to be released later this year. So too was a playable version of the latest Gears of War game.

The event was busy, especially after noon, so if you are heading down to a future MCM Expo purchase early-entry tickets in advance from the website and arrive as early as possible! It will get you into the event long before attendance spikes at noon, you’ll appreciate the shorter line and being able to shop at your leisure.

There was so much to see and do it was impossible to fit everything in, even with 3 days to do it. The next Expo is scheduled for October, so keep your eyes on the MCM Expo website for further details.

See you there! – Words by Guy Hodge

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