The MCM London Comic Con (formerly known as the London Movies, Comics, and Media Expo and London MCM Expo) is a

speculative fiction Speculative fiction is a term that has been used with a variety of (sometimes contradictory) meanings. The broadest interpretation is as a category of fiction encompassing genres with elements that do not exist in reality, recorded history, na ...

fan convention Fan convention (also known as con or fan meeting), a term that predates 1942, is an event in which fans of a particular topic gather to participate and hold programs and other events, and to meet experts, famous personalities, and each other. Some ...

held in the

London Borough of Newham The London Borough of Newham is a London borough created in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. It covers an area previously administered by the Essex county boroughs of West Ham and East Ham, authorities that were both abolished by the s ...

twice yearly since 2002, usually on the last weekend in May and October. The convention mainly focuses on

video games Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

sci-fi Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universe ...

cosplay Cosplay, a portmanteau of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent a specific character. Cosplayers often interact to create a subculture, ...

and popular media from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and elsewhere.

History and organisation

The London Movies, Comics, and Media Expo was founded in early 2001 by Paul Miley (ScifiShows) and Bryan Cooney (Wolf Events). The convention is held twice each year, usually on the last full weekend of May and October. There have occasionally been exceptions to this, such as May 2009. The event started as a single day and expanded to run across three days, attracting attendance and involvement of representatives from

Universal Studios Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

Twentieth Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film studio, film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm o ...

MVM Entertainment MVM Entertainment, also known as MVM and MVM Films, is a British licensor and distributor of Japanese animation. The company also sub-licenses anime titles from US anime companies such as Media Blasters, Geneon, Nozomi Entertainment, Urban Visi ...

Manga Entertainment Manga Entertainment was a producer, licensee, and distributor of anime in the United States and the United Kingdom. Originally founded in the UK in 1987, the UK branch became Funimation UK and Ireland in 2021, also currently known as Crunchyro ...

, All the Anime,

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

, and '' NEO'' magazine. The Movie Comic Media (MCM) Expo Group organises the London, Birmingham, the Midlands, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Belfast, Manchester, Scotland, Stockholm, Malmö, Copenhagen, Belgium, and Hannover MCM Comic Cons. On 23 October 2017,

ReedPop RELX plc (pronounced "Rel-ex") is a British multinational information and analytics company headquartered in London, England. Its businesses provide scientific, technical and medical information and analytics; legal information and analytics; ...

acquired MCM and all of its events throughout the UK. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the October 2020 MCM London Comic Con was cancelled. However, it returned on 22-24 October 2021 with new safety measures in place.

Show features

Exhibit hall

The MCM London Comic Con has a large floor-space for dealer stands and exhibitors which include

media companies Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets. Broadcast media transmit information e ...

such as

film studios A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company or motion picture company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to make films, which is handled by the productio ...

and

TV stations A television channel is a terrestrial frequency or virtual number over which a television station or television network is distributed. For example, in North America, "channel 2" refers to the terrestrial or cable band of 54 to 60 MHz, with ...

. There is also a

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

space that includes a large stage with projection monitors on either side and seating for approximately 1,000.

Guests

Guests from popular media are commonly invited to the show. They take part for a variety of reasons. Often, this is to promote their latest product or production whether it be movie, TV or print. Sometimes it can be to raise awareness and funds for a charity or cause important to them. It is common to see television and film personalities selling autographs and interacting with their fans both in person and on stage during question and answer sessions. Along with panels, seminars and workshops with comic book professionals, there are previews of upcoming television and feature films, and portfolio review sessions with video game companies.

Autographs

The event also includes an autograph area where big names in movies and TV sign items for the public.

Cosplay

Ticket holders are allowed, and in many cases encouraged, to take part in

. Cosplaying has become one of the most popular parts of the show. This can be to show off the costumer's latest work, to show devotion to their favourite characters or engage in

role-play Role-playing or roleplaying is the changing of one's behaviour to assume a role, either unconsciously to fill a social role, or consciously to act out an adopted role. While the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' offers a definition of role-playing a ...

with other cosplayers in the same series, as well as to meet new people with mutual interests. The show also hosts the EuroCosplay championships which take place every October with one of the UK qualifying entries being decided at the May event.

Comic Village

Comic Village is an area of the show that is co-ordinated by Gary "Wheels" Howe, a member of the MCM Expo Group. This area has approximately 200 tables, where amateur as well as professional artists, writers and publishers sell their

comics a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...

as well as prints. It also has a signing area where big names in the comic industry come and sign for members of the public. Previous guests include

Gail Simone Gail Simone (aka Gladys Simonetti) is an American writer best known for her work in comics on DC's ''Birds of Prey'', ''Batgirl'', Dynamite Entertainment's Red Sonja, and for being the longest running female writer on Wonder Woman to date. Other ...

Kevin Eastman Kevin Brooks Eastman (born May 30, 1962) is an American comics artist, comic book artist and writer best known for co-creating the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with Peter Laird. Eastman was also formerly the editor and publisher of the magazine ...

Frazer Irving Frazer Irving (born 1970) is a British comic book artist known for the series '' Necronauts'', published by the British magazine '' 2000 AD''. After breaking into the American market he has worked on a number of superhero titles, including a s ...

and

Antony Johnston Antony may refer to: * Antony (name), a masculine given name and a surname * Antony, Belarus, a village in the Hrodna Voblast of Belarus * Antony, Cornwall, a village in Cornwall, United Kingdom ** Antony House, Cornwall, United Kingdom * Antony, ...

MCM Fringe Festival

In 2010, MCM Fringe Festival was re-vamped and given a new logo. The main purpose of Fringe is to allow cosplayers to organise photoshoots, meet-ups, picnics and get-togethers. Organisers are more easily able to create their own event within the Expo and broadcast it. At the same time, the rest of the Expo attenders can search the website and decide to go to it. Photoshoots will be more successful and likely to attract more people from the same anime or game to take part. Previous events have included picnics, dances and video gaming tournaments.

Eagle Awards for Comics

The

Eagle Awards The Eagle Awards were a series of awards for comic book titles and creators. They were awarded by United Kingdom, UK fans voting for work produced during the previous year. Named after the UK's ''Eagle (British comics), Eagle'' comic, they were l ...

were founded in 1977 and were the longest-running fan-voted awards for the comic industry. They were held at the MCM London Comic Con each May from 2010 until 2012, after which they were renamed the MCM Award in 2013.
- In the following year, 2014, the Eagle Award was presented under its new name — first The Stan Lee Eagle Award and then the True Believer Comic Awards — at the

London Film and Comic Con London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major se ...

."True Believers Comic Awards announce 2014 winners"
by Kevin Melrose, at CBR, 14 July 2014 They have not been awarded since.

VidfestUK

VidfestUK is an area of the expo dedicated to online visual media, such as animations, vlogs and various web series. Notable guests include YouTube partners such as

TomSka Thomas James Ridgewell (born 27 June 1990), known online as TomSka, is a British filmmaker, actor, content creator, and vlogger. He is known for writing, directing, producing, and starring in his live-action sketch comedy YouTube videos and an ...

and MrWeebl.

MyM magazine

Now defunct MyM magazine does not have a presence at the event.

Location and dates

MCM BUZZ

MCM BUZZ is a website in association with MCM, bringing all the latest media-related news from movies, comics, interviews with celebrities and a live podcast.

References

External links

*
Official MCM Comic Con website

Official MCM Expo Group website

MyM on MCM Buzz

event site website

SyFy.co.uk - London MCM Expo Review 2009

Forbidden Planet review & MCM Expo Pics and round up... 2010
{{DEFAULTSORT:MCM London Comic Con Comics conventions Multigenre conventions British fan conventions Recurring events established in 2002 Events in London