Live Event: Comic Con Manchester, BEC, July 29th-30th 2023
After finally being able to get out and about again and covering Monopoly Events Liverpool Comic Con back in April, it was great to be back in the BEC Arena for another Manchester Comic Con.
Upon arriving I was greeted by the sight of a huge marquee outside the arena containing even more merchandise stalls that you could peruse before making your way into the main show area. There were also more food options outside too than I remember from being at earlier events here.
The stalls both inside the marquee and in the main show area were the usual wallet tempting eclectic selection of art, comics, figures, food, t-shirts, and so much more, each stall well worth spending some time with and chatting to the friendly stall holders.
I picked up a couple of coasters from Space-O-Matic (see 1st pic below) and chose the Hellraiser and Dawn of the Dead coasters, though I was tempted by many more but wanted to save some ££ for all the other goodies I knew would be waiting on other stalls…like the Tim Tam fingers I spotted on a food stall which lasted until I got home and made my 1st cup of tea!
As well as the multitude of stalls, Monopoly Events always give you some superb FREE photo opportunities, and it’s always a lovely surprise to see just what they have in store for you.
Upon walking into the main hall I was greeted by a selection of vehicles, which included (but not limited to) a Batmobile, The Inbetweeners Fiat Cinquecento, The Trotters Reliant Robin, plus Sherrif Hopper’s (Stranger Things) 1980 Chevrolet K5 Blazer…complete with Spider-man in front of it when I took my photo.
I of course couldn’t help but fuel my zombie obsession by taking a photo outside the classic doors shown below, though I stopped short sprawling myself out seductively in front of Jabba the Hutt…that photo would have been more in place at the upcoming For the Love of Horror event!
As well as the free photo opportunities spread around everywhere, Monopoly Events also were giving away LOADS of photos, posters, lanyards, cups and programs from previous events. A veritable cornucopia of goodies for you to help yourself to.
Events such as this are always great for meeting up with friends, so it was great to once again have a chat with Dean and taste (and of course buy) some more of his awesome hot sauces. Telling me that he’d now got some new even hotter ones since we last met, I couldn’t turn down the chance to try them out. This ended up with Dean passing me a can of “Liquid Death” to calm the flames in my throat. I immediately bought some of that sauce as it was bloody lovely…despite the instant hiccups!
Make sure to bookmark his website and go say hello to him whenever you see him at events.
While I’m speaking of meeting up with friends, it was an absolute joy to have a quick catch-up with Khary Payton, whom I hadn’t seen since I was in Romania for a week in 2002 filming Hellraiser: Hellworld. A week where any non-filming time was spent playing pool and drinking Pálinka in the hotel sports bar with him, Henry Cavill and Victor McGuire (with the odd appearance by Lance Henriksen…ooh, what a name dropping sentence this is!). The full story of that experience can be heard here.
Khary was excitedly surprised when I showed him some of the photos I took of us all those years ago, and he was an absolute pleasure to have a chat with, kindly posing for a 21 year reunion photo together…a little bit blurred as I was hugely excited to see him again and din’t take the photo properly!
I would also like to thank the professionalism and thoughtfulness of the Monopoly Events staff who made this happen. Taking the time to listen to my story when I approached them, contact Khary at his desk and allow me to meet him. I’ve forgotten your names (sorry!) but what you did is very much appreciated.
Khary was of course just one of many guests at Comic Con Manchester, and since covering Monopoly Events conventions since 2018, it’s been great to see them not only continue to grow in size, but also to attract more and more amazing guests for people to meet/have photos with/get autographs from.
The allocation of photo passes etc means that you’re never stuck in a line for too long, and in-between waiting to meet whoever you’ve been looking forward to having a chat with, there are entertaining and informative Q&A sessions to watch (and listen to as well as the audio is piped across the event so you don’t miss out even if you’re not in the main hall) and cosplay competitions onstage…of which there were some superb cosplayers again, all of whom are more than happy for you to have photos of/with should you want to….which really sums up the whole friendly vibe of these events, with everyone there for similar reasons and similar passions, it makes walking around and talking to complete strangers something completely natural and a hugely enjoyable experience.
Please bookmark the Monopoly Events website, as there are links to their social media outlets, as well as news of all their upcoming events…which are expanding all the time.
If you’re ever at one of the events that we cover, please come and say hello!
