Nottingham Comic Con Event Review

I arrived at 8am on Saturday the 4th of October. It was early. I was tired and still slightly drunk, even if the crisp Nottingham air had cured me of that, along with several enthusiastic bear hugs from NCC runner Kev Brett.

Having been to the con last year when it was known as 'Nerd Fest' it was a different feel. Not only was the venue different, bigger and more modern than last years. Not only did it have elevators with northern accents (that my friend Steve and I rode up and down to endless amazement). But TheCultDen was there as not only visitors but participants on the day itself!

But that wasn't my task on the day- mine was to walk the event checking out all the things that I though were cool, chatting to artists and in general getting a feel for the place. In other worlds I was in heaven- and what better event?

Make no mistake- this was a big venue and there were so many people in attendance. From the cosplayers who were queuing up outside the door about an hour before the venue opened, to the amount of artists, many of them producing their first works. Not that you would know it- the standard was pretty much universally high all round and with so many different forms of expression. It wasn't just comics we saw- there were skate decks, stickers, hand crafted jewelry, face painting...all in all an absolutely great mix that meant there was something for everyone no matter the age.

That was something that was nice and unexpected too. There's been a lot of talk of late about how the comics industry needs to be more inclusive, or at least recognize the amount of talented people being ignored because their work doesn't appeal to the middle aged white guy. Nottingham Comic Con certainly put paid to the idea of there being 'no women in comics'. The mix was about 50/50 men to women of exhibitors and the people attending were the same too- from five year old kids to 80 year olds, a real mix of people turned out to see the people who are helping shape and define the UK comics industry.

I met so many people in the space of a few hours... I wish I wasn't so poor at remembering names. Everyone was unanimously friendly, funny and were able to put up with me stumbling over my words as I failed to express how great their work was. To apologize, let me link you to the floor plan of the day (here) - remember these artists and studios, because in 10 years time they will be some of the biggest things in comics.

My only slight critique of the day would be that the layout was a bit odd - though it was clearly designed to make it so the talks and bands didn't drown out the artists area, its positioning meant that some of the people I talked to weren't even aware there was a separate artists area! Still, these things happen and with the event runners moving to such a bigger venue than last year means there would be some problems. I'm sure they ill be fixed next year.

All in all it was a great day- I'll be back next year guaranteed. With the controversies that have gripped the comics industry in the past year, it's hard to forget that outside of the big studios and the internet fights exists a whole group of people that want to read comics that they, their kids and their partners can enjoy. Nottingham Comic Con is the kind of event that promotes those sort of comics, so I'll do everything I can to help.

Roll on next year.