Kapow! Comic Con 2011

It always seemed somewhat odd to me that Britain has produced so many great comic book writers and artists yet we never really had our own big convention, like San Diego or WonderCon.

This is clearly the same thinking that led some clever souls to throw Kapow! Comic Con together. With the aim of making it into the UK's biggest comic book convention, it would open its doors for the first time in London on April 9th, 2011, and feature many talented guests, fun panels, and super-secret film footage, the likes of which our cousins across the Atlantic have enjoyed for years.

Needless to say, I was Londonbound from the second I heard about it.

Like many Brits, I had only ever experienced a proper comic book convention via Internet media, and was delighted when, last Saturday morning, I arrived in the scorching weather at the Business Design Centre in Islington and came face-to-face with my first con trademark: a bastard-big queue.

But, there is another con trademark that may have evolved out of the first, and that is queue banter. Kept amused by my fellow comic book enthusiasts surrounding me, I would eventually learn that social awkwardness was but one of the many stereotypes that is unfairly applied to "nerds".

Honestly, I'm all for tearing down social prejudices and misconceptions, and for increasing awareness and acceptance of comics, but I was amazed by the sheer amount of... well... attractive people there. In fact, I instantly recalled (con head honcho) Mark Millar's The Ultimates in which beautiful people are hired to pretend to be fans of superheroes, and wondered if something similar was occuring here.

Regardless, after a few etertaining minutes in line, I was through the doors and into my own personal Wonderland. It was exactly as I had imagined: Colourful costumes, exciting booths, and an ever-moving, almost sentient crowd on the main floor. This was my World Cup, my T in the Park, my Alton Towers. My Blue Heaven.

The T in the Park comparison is perhaps the most apt. I finally understood the main gripe of those who attended T -- wanting to be in two places at once. With so many writer and artist signings, panels, and events going on, there was some overlap, and I am but one man.

The first order of business on Saturday was a "Fans vs. Pros" gameshow hosted by talk show host-turned-comics writer Jonathan Ross. It was a pretty funny, somewhat slapdash (Ross forgot to bring the questions) affair that pitted comic pros John Romita Jr., Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons against a team of fans from the audience led by comedian Stewart Lee. I don't actually remember who won, but that was the spirit of the event: It was all in good fun, and even featured a midget in a Bat-Mite costume.

Discovering that the occupancy had increased dramatically since the gameshow began, I decided to try for the signings, which were the biggest reason I was there after all. There's just something about an artist's signature on his/her own work (beyond the resale value, you greedy vultures out there).

I had brought a stack of books with me, but in the end I only managed to get Green Arrow: Year One signed by artist Jock and the first volume of JMS's Thor run signed by artist Olivier Coipel. Both great (and very nice in person) artists, both great books.

Somehow finding the time to eat during all this excitement, I missed the "DC Superstars" panel, and the audience with the fantastic Mr. Mark Gatiss. This is what I meant by needing to be in two places at once. Which brings me to the Green Lantern panel.

I was in line for one of my favourite artists Bryan Hitch, to get his pen on my copy of the aforementioned The Ultimates when I met up with some of my friends who told me they were already fairly ahead in the GL panel queue. Deciding to ditch Hitch, I joined them.

Now, I should warn you that the auditorium that hosted the GL panel was unbelievably warm, and this may colour (no pun intended) my experience. I found out later that the organisers had forgotten to turn on the air conditioning, and it felt like I was part of a sociology experiment to see at which point we left. This theory was further cemented by obligatory "technical difficulties" dragging out the event.

We were eventually treated to a 30 second trailer for the Green Lantern video game based on the film. I'm not much one for gaming, nor did the trailer include any actual gameplay, so I could have happily lived the rest of my life without having seen it.

Then we got the UK premier of Emerald Knights an animated tie-in with the live-action movie. I'm a huge advocate of getting more DC animation released over here, so I was quite glad to see this even if the heat did make it seem to last forever.

Finally, the moment we had all been waiting for, actual film footage. Specifically, the footage shown at this year's WonderCon, four minutes of which is publicly viewable. I must say, it did make me feel a little more confident about the rocky film, and the music was a big part of that.

To attend the Green Lantern panel, I had to miss the "Kapow Surprise Panel" and still have no idea what that actually was. Anyone?

Due to various circumstances (gigantic queues, mostly) I also missed out on the Stan Lee Awards and the Thor panel, both of which I was eager to attend.

Sunday turned out to be a much lighter day. Sacrificing the Millarworld panel in exchange for a lie-in, I did some casual shopping (a Captain America t-shirt and Black Lantern Ring -- now I just need red), got Coipel's autograph and started queueing mega-early for the "Movie X" screening.

Movie X was the big one; the main attraction. Speculation about its true identity was bountiful all over the con. The programme teased a "UK premier of a Summer superhero movie" and that the main character "wears a cape" and has "a kind of weird name". Most were guessing Thor, which excited me muchly, but a few had ventured Super, an indie comedy starring Rainn Wilson and Ellen Page.

With my honed queueing skills, I got in no problem, and found to my surprise that the auditorium was now pleasantly cool after Saturday's sauna. The lights dimmed and a hushed silence fell over the hungry crowd.

It was Super.

I'll admit -- I wanted it to be Thor. I really did. But I found Super to be absolutely hysterical. It was one of the funniest (and heartwarming) films I've seen in a while, and it quickly dissolved my disappointment.

Unfortunately, after the film we were sheperded out of the con, unable to get any more signatures or memorabilia. Without warning, my first ever con experience was cut short.

Do I have regrets? Yes. I regret not attending the Stan Lee Awards. I regret not working up the nerve to ask one of the excellent cosplayers for a photograph. I regret not getting to meet Bryan Hitch or Paul Cornell or Frank Quitely up close.

In future I shall have to learn to prioritise matters. Signings should come first, as you never know when that particular writer or artists will come again. Film panels may seen awesome at the time, but I feel that after Green Lantern comes out, I will be unable to justify standing in line for so long to be stuffed into a hotbox for under two hours of footage.

But experience comes from poor decisions. And you wold be way off the mark to say that I didn't enjoy my weekend. I still got to be in the audience of a gameshow I would love to see as a regular TV occurrence. I still got to meet Jock and Olivier Coipel. I still got to chat with some like-minded and interesting people as we waited and waited and waited.

Next year, I'll be ready. And twice as eager.

Special thanks to the writers of iFanboy for their videos and articles about what to expect for first-time cons. Without them, I would have been even less prepared.