London Film and Comic Con - July 2014

July brought Showmasters' biggest convention back to London and it was their biggest and best yet with the one of the best line ups of guests they had ever had. It was also the busiest, with queues heading around Earl's Court for a good ten minute walk! Sadly, many people complained for many reasons and despite how busy it was and the typical "let's randomly stand in the middle of the aisle" people in attendance, we had an amazing time both days we attended.

Over the weekend, we met: Adjoa Andoh, John Hurt, Billy Dee Williams, Michael Madsen, Jenna Coleman, Jemma Redgrave, Summer Glau, Bernard Cribbins, Jason Mewes, Juliet Landau, Stan Lee, Lena Headey, TJ Thyne, George A Romero, Colin Baker, Jason Narvy and Paul Schrier. Considering how busy it was, I am amazed we managed to meet so many of the guests we wanted to over the weekend. While all of them were amazing, there were definitely some stand outs!

Jenna Coleman was definitely a must meet guest for us, after having missed a number of opportunities to do so. I found out after the convention that Jenna had not been feeling well the day she attended but kept going despite this. She was our first photo shoot of the day and she obliged to pose with our Captain America bear (she had a minor part in the first movie). Took us a couple of attempts to get her autograph due to her being at lunch and us being given the wrong time that she would be back, but eventually we got her. She was lovely, a little quiet and sweet enough to a cheeky little photo with Rachael. 

Summer Glau and Lena Heady were both lovely. Mattie thought they both pretty and wanted to be one who had the photos with them and not me! Lena actually got upset when he ran past her at the photoshoot as she wanted a cuddle with him! Mattie was very pleased to be able to see them again when we got their autographs!

A very cool guest to meet was Jason Mewes! I am a huge fan of Dogma so it was absolute honour to meet Jason. He was very approachable and was fantastic with the kids. I have to admit I was worried he might swear or say something naughty! He encouraged Rachael to be in the photo with us, despite her having no idea who he was! What I loved most though was the fact he refused to sit behind the table and instead be in front of it so he was able to interact with the fans better!

A surprise fave guest was TJ Thyne. He is best known for his role in Bones, but I have to admit I have never seen it and chose to meet him for his minor role in Charmed. He was fantastic to meet and hugged everyone who came to get his autograph and willingly posed for photos as well. He wrote a fab autograph for me, referencing how his character got eaten by the Charmed ones!

Despite having met him in Cardiff a few months before, I chose to get a professional photo taken with Bernard Cribbins. I had only paid for one photo but ended up with two with both Mattie and Rachael in the shot. Whenever I have a photo, I always get the kids to stand the other side while I have it done, but this time Bernard encouraged them to be in the shot. No crew member or even the photographer argued with him about! He was fab with the kids and we ended up with two funny shots, one with him pulling Mattie's ears and the other with his hands on Mattie's head!

The last amazing guest of the weekend had to be the legend that is Stan Lee, who was appearing at his final ever European convention. He was the main reason why the convention was so busy. We were very lucky in comparison to many of those who attended as we had a photo booked and we were able to get his autograph which we had authenticated. We didn't have much interaction with him due to the number of people having photos and autographs, but I did manage to thank him for the autograph. 

The weekend was manic, busy and so amazing! Definitely the best convention we have attended so far. I shall be attending next year as always, though I doubt I will spending as much as I did this year!