Kapow! Comic Con - Part Three

Despite not really wanting to get anything signed myself, the 9th April was Dave's birthday so myself and Georgie queued for 10 minutes in the IGN arena to surprise him with a personalised birthday message for him from Joe Cornish and some of the cast of Attack the Block. While Joe was scrawling away, I told him I was a disappointment to Black Squadron as I'd missed his and Adam Buxton's BBC6 radio show earlier in the day because of Kapow. He jokily got up, pretended to hit me and asked me while I was still here! Despite it being Joe Cornish and quite playful, it was rather unnerving...he is quite tall and intimidating! The postcard we got signed for Dave was great though:


(If you look closely it reads: Happy Dave-day!)

Another panel I attended on the Saturday with Georgie and Charlie was An Audience with Mark Gatiss, this turned out to be quite interesting and at one point I almost squeeled with delight when he neither denied or confirmed anything when someone asked if Lucifer Box would find his way onto our screens anytime soon. I love his books and Lucifer Box is one of my favourite literary characters! At the end of the panel I went to speak with Mr Gatiss and despite coming across as a massive fangirl and blabbering on about Lucifer Box for a bit and then coyly handing him an Unlocked postcard, I managed to walk away with grace and dignity intact.



I throughly enjoyed the Millarworld Panel and it was great to hear that some exciting collaborations are on the cards...Millar and Quitely for one! Also, Dave Gibbons is working on a project with Mark too! This panel was definitely one the the funniest panels, lots of friendly banter. It summed up the convention for me, the level of comraderie and friendliness of everyone around was evident everywhere, from the guests, the exhibitors, the people helping with crowd control and even the fans in the queues. I felt at home.

Day Two of the convention was pretty much dominated by the Mystery Film! It was one thing that most of us wanted to see. There was a lot of speculation about it and the secret was kept right up until the opening credits began. A few people walked out and there was a lot of disgruntled sounds in the auditorium but overall, everyone seemed pleased. It turned out to be Super starring Rainn Wilson and Ellen Page. Many tried to compare it to Kick-Ass negatively but Kick-Ass is about a teenage boy becoming a super hero in "real life" whereas this was about a guy, losing his wife and suffering from a midlife crisis, it was also wrapped before Kick-Ass. It was certainly entertaining but the violence was too real and too stark a contrast to the twee-ness of some of the scenes and I'm quite the lover of gore! It's released in May, I'd recommend it but it's not going to be one for the weak-stomached. However a cameo from Nathan Fillion does make it awesome!



The Cosplay parade happened during the mystery screening and I'm a little disappointed I didn't make it as there were some great costumes. A guy dressed at Bane came 1st and he totally deserved it! There was one point during the day when Georgie turned around and he burped in her face (accidentally, of course!) this made us giggle and I remarked how funny it was that "Bane just burped in your face!", he apologised and was surprised I knew who he was, needless to say we gave him a postcard! I think 2nd place went to Black Cat...and oh my, what a Black Cat she was - it was as if she'd stepped off the pages of a comic, her figure was unreal and her costue was perfect. If you search Black Cat in Google Images, you'll know which one I'm talking about! I should have taken more cosplay pictures really. The only on I have is this group shot outside:


Oh, and the Candy Overlord from Cybercandy:



Everyone I met at Kapow was lovely and incredibly supportive of one another. I was quite overwhelmed by their generosity too. RetroGT were really excited about Unlocked and even hinted at sponsorship for the series. I left with a free t-shirt from InsertCoinTees, some free merchandise from Genki Gear and a few free comics and business cards from various creators. The guys from Tomy UK were cool too and we shared stories about World of Warcraft and online gaming. Next year, I will save up before hand though, these people are lovely and all deserve my hard earned monies!

Kapow had a lot on offer for it's first year - it included not only comics but film and TV panels, signings, an IGN arena for gaming and the presentation of the first Stan Lee Awards! (I've a blog up soon about that - watch this space!) I'm thankful to Mr Millar and all those that made it possible. See you next year Kapow!