Live Event: Wales Comic Con – November 29th 2015
The other members of 60 Minutes With, Dave and Tina, have been to Wales Comic Con before but this was my first time so I was really excited to see if it lived up to my expectation.
The venue was Glyndwr University, Wrexham and as such there were different areas for each of the events on show. The main hall held some of the more popular stars from movies & TV shows including Game of Thrones, Doctor Who and Lord of the Rings. This isn’t a criticism, more of an observation, but it did seem like the majority of the hall was taken up by Game of Thrones actors. I can totally understand that they would be a massive draw for people to attend but it would have been good to see a bit more variety. Saying that there were plenty of other celebrities on show. One word of warning and I’m sure that people who read this will already know, but expect to pay upwards of £20 for a signed photo of your favourite star.
Tina really hit it off with Kate Dickie and hopefully we’ll be able to speak to her on the show soon. I managed to shake the hand of David Prowse and Dave spent some time chatting to Robert Watts. Robert was the producer on the Star Wars and Indiana Jones movies and again, will hopefully be a future guest.
The Gaming Arena and Gamerbus were situated a short walk from the main hall. Inside were all manner of consoles from retro gems such as the Sega Megadrive with Sonic the Hedgehog to 4 player Guitar Hero on the PS3. All consoles were available to the public to play and there was a really nice vibe amongst the people who were present. The Gaming Arena was where I experienced one of my highlights of the day. Tina, Dave and I saw Doug Cockle and as soon as Tina and Doug locked eyes they were hugging and giggling like small children. Having spoken to Doug on the show I can confirm that he is as much of a gentleman in person as he was when we chatted to him. Doug was so generous with his time and is a genuinely nice guy. He signed a number of items for us including posters, books, and even Tina’s Unicorn. No that is not a euphemism! I personally feel that Doug should have been in the main hall but I totally appreciate that this is because I am a big fan of him and his work. The Gaming Arena was basically a big tent and the bad weather meant it was blowing a gale and I thought we were going to fly off at one point. This didn’t take away from the experience and we had a fantastic time.
After speaking to Doug we moved onto one of the lecture halls for a Star Wars Q&A with Robert Watts, Brian Muir and Alan Tomkins. Listening to these three gentleman recount stories of their time working on one of the biggest movies in cinema history was a real treat. I could have spent a whole afternoon listening to them let alone 25 minutes. There were a number of Q&A sessions during the day including The Hobbit, The Flash, Game of Thrones, Doctor Who and Torchwood.
A chance meeting with Game of Thrones stars Ian Beattie and Ian McElhinney set Tina’s heart racing and they were two really wonderful gentlemen, who despite not being in the main hall at the time shared a wonderful story about Charles Dance.
Next up we went to another Q&A session with Sam Jones and Melody Anderson from Flash Gordon. Whilst waiting for Sam and Melody to appear we happened to start chatting to the host of this Q&A who turned out to be a man called Rhys Jones. Rhys was a lovely guy who is a celebrity in his own right having his own television shows called Rhys to the Rescue and Rhys Jones Wildlife Patrol. He was telling us that one of his shows is all about traveling to places where he brings the poachers of endangered animals to justice. Rhys also hosts the Royal Welsh Show and it was a real pleasure chatting with him.
Sam and Melody arrived shortly afterwards and we were lucky enough to speak with them before the other members of the public arrived. Tina grabbed kisses and hugs with them as she did with most of the people we met. This was a theme that ran though the day. Sam is a larger than life character not only in his stature but also in his personality. He has a movie star quality about him but also seemed really down to earth. I felt really star struck by him but also really charmed at the same time. Sam and Melody were hilarious and bounced off each other as they told stories about their time making Flash Gordon including how crazy Brian Blessed was. Sam also told us about the new documentary called Life After Flash which is due for release soon. It’s not everyday that you get a fist bump from Sam Jones and let me tell you, it was great!
As this was a Comic Con there were lots of people dressed in Cosplay. There was even a 4 month old baby dressed as Darth Vader! There were some amazing costumes and I tip my hat to anyone who takes the time and effort to dress up as their favourite character. Tina was taken with a brilliant Ciri from The Witcher.
Outside there were a number of vehicles from famous movies such as Kitt from Knight Rider and the DeLorean from Back to the Future. You were free to take photos next to the cars which was a nice touch. There were also loads of merchandise stands selling your favourite items from movies, video games and TV shows.
In terms of the venue there was free parking and everything seemed very well organised. One observation was that because it was based on a university campus it did feel a little bit like you were running from one lecture to another, with things being a little disjointed rather than being under one roof, but at least it did split up the crowds.
It is impossible to write about everything as one day just wasn’t enough to experience all the things that Wales Comic Con had to offer, but overall I had a brilliant time. There was a nice friendly relaxed atmosphere with no egos amongst the stars we met or saw, plus a nice mixture of young and old and everyone seemed to have a great time. I’m already looking forward to the 2016 event!
Review by Chris (co-host of 60 Minutes With and The Same Coin).