Comic Con St. Albans 2018

I attended my first Comic Con at St Albans in 2018. for the uninitiated  a Comic con is short for Comic Conference. This was another bucket list moment.

Because this was a local Comic Con I didn’t have great expectations for the day. I had seen lots of Comic Con’s UK and USA on YouTube and the costumes On YouTube are very extravagant and very well authentic. To my surprise the costumes were amazing and I can honestly say I had a smile on my face from the moment I stepped in to the conference to the moment I left. the comment was made that no one had seen me so happy in a long time.

In this Blog I just want to share some memories and moments with my readers.

Red Dwarf

One of the nicest people you could wish to meet was Chris Barrie, Rimmer from Red Dwarf. He was a popular actor at the Comic Con with a lot of people wanting to chat with him. Sometimes you expect actors to be a bit unapproachable and not really wanting to talk But Chris was very friendly and very approachable.

One thing I was very impressed with was unlike other actors who were there from show such as Primeval and Games of Thrones who were charging between ten and 15 pounds for a selfie All Chris Barrie asked was to make a donation to a Royal Air Force charity. He kept no money for himself.

We chatted about Red Dwarf and yes to my embarrassment I did do the Rimmer salute (quite badly) and Chris was kind enough to say I had done well. One thing I did forget to ask and I wish I had was “Did he enjoy working with Angelina Jolie in the Lara Croft film. His last words to me as we moved on was “Keep practicing the salute”

Cosplayers

Many of my readers may be familiar with the word Cosplayers. Cosplayers could be described as performers in their own right and are normally in abundance at Comic Cons. Cosplayers are not people who think they are are the characters they are playing but fans of all things film, TV, books and comics. they tend to focus on SCI-Fi and Fantasy from DC and marvel comics to films such as Hunger Games, Beauty and the Beast and Twilight. 

At the St Albans Comic Con there were people from Batwoman, Harley Quinn and even the Disney character Snow White. Unfortunately the seven Dwarves were not present.

The Joker

One of the most extrovert characters at the Comic Con was the the DC character Joker from Batman. The guy was wearing the most amazing makeup and clothes. Also he appeared to be the master of ceremonies there. Having seen him relaxing with other Cosplayers he was naturally extrovert and playing the part of the Joker.

The Batman

You cannot mention the Joker without talking about the Batman. Of course at the St Albans Comic con there were many ‘Batmen’ and they did a good job on their costumes. There was one that stood out for me and he was the Batman that appeared the Tim Burton film Batman played by Michael Keaton.

This Batman had made the costume himself and the detail was fantastic. His cape appeared to be made of leather and the suit itself was sculptured to show the muscles of Batman. as you can see from the picture I was extremely happy to meet him.

DC Characters

There were many many character there that I didn’t know or couldn’t identify. maybe you can? if you can let me know in the comments who you think they are I would appreciate it.

Marvel or DC?

Marvel Cosplayers

Marvel would not be outdone by DC and there were many Marvel characters there too.

Spiderman

Spiderman, well one of many made an appearance at the Comic con. This one came prepared for a selfie including special effects.

Deadpool

No Marvel event would be complete now without the appearance of Deadpool. This Deadpool was based on the graphic novels rather than the movie Deadpool with his Unicorn.

Multitudes of Cosplayers

There were many Cosplayers at the Comic con and to be honest even as a self confessed comic lover I didn’t recognise everyone. For your viewing pleasure here are some of the other Cosplayers.

Stars of TV Shows

BBC 3 Class

Just a few weeks before I went to the Comic con at St. Albans I binged watched a program on BBC Iplayer called “Class” if you don’t watch BBC 3 online then you might have missed it. It is an offshoot of the popular Doctor Who and is based in Coal Hill School (renamed Coal Hill Academy). The significance of the school is that the granddaughter, Susan, of the first Doctor played by William Hartnell attended the school.

At the Comic con there were three actors from the Class there chatting and having pictures taken with fans. I had a brief chat with Greg Austin, who played Charlie Smith (another nod to Doctor Who, The Doctor sometimes went by the name John Smith).

I told Greg about binge watching the first series and asked about another series but he told me that the series had been cancelled by the BBc. The shame was that Class was an excellent Tv show for adults. The series did include adult themes. I found Greg to be a nice genuine guy. I would recommend anyone to catch the first and only series of Class. I hope that one day Netflix might pick it up.

Games of Thrones

It may come as a big shock to some readers but I have never seen one episode of Games of Thrones. I know it is a big thing with many people but I have never had the urge to watch it. So for fans of Games of Thrones here is a couple of pictures take in the hall. I hope you recognise them. If you do let me know who they are wand what roles they played in Games of Thrones.

Primeval

Primeval the ITV series was also represented by a cast member, Hannah Spearritt. I didn’t chat with Hannah as i never watched the series really, ok i might have watched one or two episodes at some point.

I have to say the actors from both Games of Thrones and Primeval looked pretty bored throughout the time I was at the Comicon. Maybe they weren’t as popular as Chris Barrie who had lots of people chatting with him.

Star Wars

Of course no self respecting Comic Con would be complete with out a representation from Star Wars and there were a lot of Cosplayers there dressed up as star wars characters. Here is just a few.

Knight Rider

Before I forget we were greeted on arrival at the Comic Con by KITT the car with a personality from the 1980’s show Knight Rider.

Bucket List

I had a fantastic time at the St. Albans Comic con and would recommend it to anyone, it was another tick off my bucket list as I have wanted to attend one for years. If you get chance go your nearest Comic con. Here is one site that you may find a Comic Con near you https://sites.google.com/site/ukconventions

If you have read my Blog before you will have seen my review of Thor Ragnarok and also my post on Marvel or DC. If not have a look now and leave a comment.

If you have a local Comic con near you then leave me a comment telling me where it is and what your thoughts are.