Intro to MCM Comic Con London 2023

MCM Comic Con London – May 26th, 2023

Our second time attending this particular event and already a step up from a press perspective. Last time we attended in 2019 there was no priority access for press or a press room and now both are on offer. So already a win in my book but that’s irrelevant to most of you. What about the public experience? Well it’s mostly the same, which is of course a good thing. Similar to other trade shows of this sort, MCM Comic Con London 2023 is a celebration of nerd culture. It’s a place to share our passion, a place to release our nerdiest selves and this MCM CC London is all of that and more. The squeals and excitement from kids on the train ride alone was enough to prove that. 

The Experience

All adorned in cosplay with phones at the ready, the atmosphere was intoxicating. After following the queues into the venue. We collected our badges and proceeded to the first hall where we ran into Mayamada’s Nigel at an interesting booth – Do I look Like a Gamer. If you ask me, a great way to start your Con experience. Do I look Like a Gamer is a inclusivity campaign which intends to challenge the negative and limited stereotypes of the word “Gamer”. Through showcasing different faces, genders, ages, abilities, interests and experiences they hope to make change in our industry. Adorned on the wall of their boot were photos of 40 Gamers with their controller/ handheld of choice who best represented the campaign.

From there we were flooded with an assortment of merch boots, Japanese food stands, Arcade cabinets and so much more. If I tried to cover it all here this would be my longest entry to date and you don’t want that.

Here’s our sort of Highlight reel of my favourite boots thus far:

• Starting with Figigo – Figigo offers fully Bespoke figurines, designed to your liking with close contact with their highly talented Graphic Designers, all being printed with state of the art 3D Printers and intricate painters; giving life to your model. Speaking to CEO Charlie Peberdy at their boot we couldn’t help but be impressed. They  offer creators and brand access to such high quality unique figures at a reasonable cost and with all the creative input/ revisions one could need. We plan on sitting down to discuss their product more this week so feel free to circle back for that during this week. 
  
• What am I rolling Podcast – A twice monthly RPG one-shot podcast, hosted by gamesmaster, Fiona. We got to have a chat with the wonderful Fiona about her podcast but there are still more we wish to know. So guess what’s already loaded up on my for listening this weekend?
  
• Backwater Bastards Podcast – A team of artists telling THE GREATEST BEST FRIEND STORY that the galaxy has ever seen! The excitement and energy from the three individuals behind the podcast was exceptional. Hopefully we’ll connect again this weekend to discuss podcasts from the creator perspective.
  
• Sovereign Comics – An educational focused comic publisher with an inspirational mission: To transform and grow comic-based media, utilizing cutting edge animation technology in education and revolutionizing virtual learning environments. Cultivating diversity, entrepreneurship, creative skills training and promoting social mobility. To dominate VR, and augmented reality in online education in the UK, whilst becoming a major force in animated family entertainment on streaming platforms. We’ve not yet had a chance to speak with them due to how busy their boot was when we passed by but we’ll be sure to attempt arranging a meeting before the event is over.

Now there are a few more that I’d love to include in here but this list is getting rather long so we’ll put a pin in it for now. But rest assured that we have a lot more interesting creatives to introduce during the coming week.

All MCM Comic Con London 2023 beautiful nerdy stuff aside, we all need to eat.

As you know of course, we at Simply Binge love our food and MCM doesn’t disappoint in that department either. A bit on the expensive side for most of it but the share variety and ease of access makes up for that. Personally we had food at a Jamaican food truck and bubble tea from Costa. Food stalls are littered all along the outskirts of the halls so finding a bit is a piece of cake.

Okay that’s as much as we can muster in one article so onwards to day two. As mentioned before, we got to meet a lot of interesting creatives so stay tuned for video, written and audio content about all of them in the coming days. 

Finally a question for you oh valued reader: What is your favourite thing about Conventions?