Comic Con Report: May 2015 - With Added Nerds and Melniboneans.

I know this is a little bit late, but here it is now: my review of the first MCM Comic Con of 2015. 

And what a con this was. For the first time ever I embraced full on cosplay of my all time favourite fantasy character: Elric of Melniboné. This included a DIY costume which stood out in the crowd, for not that many fantasy buffs in this country have heard of the works of Michael Moorcock, nor of the exploits of the Eternal Champion. 

At my side was Caroline, this time cosplaying as Enid, the cynical teenage outcast from noughties cult comic book classic: Ghost World. Complete with t-shirt and a very well fitting wig.

So without further ado, here are a few snaps of the many wonders we laid eyes upon that day.

A geek and a Melnibonean take on London.

My not so Little Pony.

Admiring Big Hero Six.

I am the Dragonlord!

Elsa and Cinderella exploring their similarities.

Natalie Portman in her Leon days.

Kawaii!

Kawaii!

Cat Ears! Never leave a con without them!

Being tempted by the Black Blade.

Take up the sword!

Taming the dragons.

Bought myself an Evenstar.

Ain't he cute!

A magnificent turnout – though it wasn’t as busy or wide as the October one. This was because only one half of the Excel had been used for the con, unlike the autumn one.

As well as the brilliant costumes which included people from many animes and several of my favourite tv shows like Firefly, we saw some exhibits of up and coming movies. One was the very impressive Batmobile from the new DC flick.

Plus a guest appearance was made by one of the many vehicles in the new Mad Max film: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_Max:_Fury_RoadFury Road. Caroline and I watched that sci-fi action flick last week, and I can safely say, that it is the most feminist science fiction film I’ve seen in a very long time. I won’t spoil it for those of you who haven’t seen it yet, but it’s nice that Max isn’t the protagonist.

Plus, for anyone wondering about the feminist aspects of the film, I’ll just say that that is my opinion. Above all, it’s a science fiction movie, and how you interpret it is up to you. For me, I can’t think of anything more pro-women in the action movie canon.

 Cosplay: A World Without Prejudice?

Now one new thing I noticed about the cosplayers this year, was the number of disabled cosplayers who didn’t let their physical feats get in the way of their expression of fandom.

I remember seeing several boys in wheelchairs dressed as Spider Man and Deadpool, which I was certainly impressed with. As well as the gender fluidity of cosplay, no other form of prejudice seems to come into the world of ultra fanboy/girl-ing

.

The great thing about cosplay – and the main reason I do it – is because it’s a world where anyone can be whoever or whatever they want to be regardless of who they are. Anyone can be a fan of anime, comics, science fiction, movies, video games, etc. and when we all congregate every year to share our love of all these things – nobody looks down upon us.

However, that does not excuse the problems of harassment and male privileges that exist in many circles of fandom, namely video games as we’ve seen in the past – but with all the right people getting together to share their love of all cultural products, we can certainly make progress.

I like to think that Mad Max: Fury Road will help break down the tropes we see in many science fiction and action movies in the near future. And if you’ve read my past posts on cosplay and MCM, you’ll see that I have praised cosplay many times. But that does not mean I am not aware of problems facing certain fans, namely female fans – but I do know that progress can be made and I am one of those people helping to tell the world about how sharing a fanatical love of pop culture can help bring people together.

The reason I do these reports is because I want to show the whole world how cosplay is a good tool for peace and equality in the world of popular culture. In cosplay there are no problems with race as anyone can be a fan and dress like their favourite characters. Think of the big number of westerners who always dress as Japanese animated characters without doing anything stupid like make their eyes look Asian.

Being able to share your fandom is what I love about cons and cosplay. It feels like you’re in a world devoid of prejudice for a limited time only. 

MCM never ceases to amaze. Keep up the good work all you kids who make it worth going.

Return to MCM With Added Blades and Anime

I know this is a few weeks late, but due to university work I’ve only just got round to covering this.

If you’ve followed my exploits of the past year, you will know I attended MCM Expo at the Excel in London last year where I met a childhood hero and observed the glory of cross dressing in cosplayers.

Well, as I promised last year, I did indeed return. This time in full costume and accompanied by Caroline and fellow comic/film/TV nerd, Ricky Manson.

Firstly, the queues had to be the longest I’ve ever been in, but that certainly built up the ‘Delayed Gratification’ of the con. Something which we all look up to the mighty Tom Hiddleston for teaching us.

Anyhoo, back to the con.

As I mentioned last year, the con was full to the brim with people of all walks of life exhibiting their love for movies, comics, sci-fi, horror and costume roleplay. On this occasion, Caroline and I felt it would be appropriate to go as Sweeney Todd and Mrs Lovett, to show our love for the Tim Burton movie – and because it was Halloween the week after.

This was the first time I’d put any coloring in my hair for several years and the Sweeney Todd streak certainly went well with the pseudo-steampunk outfit I threw together. Caroline though looked immaculate as she always does and Ricky, while not in full cosplay, introduced us to several cosplay friends whom we got along with very well.

One thing Ricky did keep up throughout our time there was his game of ‘Spot the Deadpool.’ Because he wore a t-shirt with the anti-hero’s face on it. He came to a conclusion of 39 by the time we left.

And here are just a few shots Caroline snapped of all the amazing people we saw on our trip:

 

 Pink Lady Darth Vader

 

Khal & Daenerys awaiting their first Dragon hatchling

                                                           The Greendale Human Being!

                                                 Guardians of the Galaxy complete with mini-Groot

                                              Who says you can't have more than one Harley Quinn?

                                                                     Toy Story Soldiers

Now Rick slacked off Maleficent...

Who in all her power got him arrested by NYPD Blue....

But we saved him and brought him home to keep.

One thing that was different from last year, was my ability to recognise more of the anime characters people chose to dress as. 2014 has been the ‘Year of Anime’ for me. (That’s a little something I have planned for an end-of-the-year post). Seeing people dressed as characters from Bleach, Black Butler, Haruhi Suzumiya and Clannad was simply awesome. It brought back many good feelings of when I first started following Metal and how you would almost immediately become friends with someone if you saw them wearing a shirt bearing a band you love.

Most of all though, was how the con exhibited some knowledge of the few Animes I’ve falled head over heels in love with in the last year. Ricky, I must thank for introducing me to Angel Beats, my second favourite anime behind Claymore. Sadly I saw nobody dressed as Claymore characters but I did find this beautiful figurine of Angel Beats’s KannadeTachibanna – aka Angel.

I’m still banking on Ricky offering to buy Kannade off me at some point as Angel Beats is the one TV series he has become so emotionally drawn into in recent history. I think it’ll take a lot of persuasion if so, but I think a reasonable price will suffice my friend.

I’ll just mention as well, that plenty of cross dressing was exhibited at this con. My favourites were the male takes on Elsa of Frozen. Caroline recently showed me that movie and I praise it for having some strong willed female leads who do not fall into tropes typical of other Disney Princesses; ie: damsels in distress or women in refrigerators. 

And finally, I shall just throw in that we left said con carrying a number of replica swords Ricky purchased. One was Sting, which he’d bought for his LOTR obsessed sister, the sword carried by Michonne of TheWalking Dead, and a lovely blue steel number not endorsed by Derek Zoolander.

MCM never fails to amaze and delight. See you all again soon – I plan to go again in May and see if it’ll be as heavily attended as this time.