MCM London Comic Con has just enjoyed its most successful weekend ever, with a record-breaking 133,156 people attending the three-day pop culture fest.
The record attendance further cements the show’s status as Europe’s leading comic con and the third largest event of its kind in the world. The figure tops previous records set at last year’s events (October’s 130,560 and May’s 122,600).
Alongside an excitingly eclectic mix of sci-fi, film, TV, online video, comic book, gaming, anime and cosplay content, last weekend’s Comic Con also played host to its strongest ever special guest line-up, headlined by Jesse Eisenberg (Lex Luthor in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network) and Big Bang Theory stars Kunal Nayyar (Raj) and Melissa Rauch (Bernadette).
Joining them were cast from a legion of sci-fi, superhero and fantasy franchises, from Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D, Agent Carter, 12 Monkeys, Red Dwarf and Arrow to Game of Thrones, Lost Girl, Sleepy Hollow, Being Human and Fringe …not to mention new shows such as Outcast, Preacher, Colony and Dark Matter. There was a strong crime contingent too, with stars from NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles and Murdoch Mysteries all on the case.
Guests from the world of animation included Adventure Time‘s Jeremy Shada, Venture Bros. creator Jackson Publick, anime director Michael Arias and staff from Mobile Suit Gundam The Origin III, whose European premiere was held at Comic Con. Meanwhile, the show’s Comic Village was home to over 200 talented creators — including Dave Gibbons, Bob Layton, John McCrea, Gary Erskine, Yishan Li, Lee Townsend and John-Paul Bove.
Other attractions included a bustling online video zone featuring top YouTubers such as The Yogscast, Tomska and Meg Turney; the UK qualifiers for the World Cosplay Summit; a packed roster of eSports tournaments; leading videogame publishers and anime distributors; an MCM Fringe Festival and, of course, hundreds of retailers and exhibitors.
MCM London Comic Con returns to Excel on 28-30 October 2016
MCM Comic Con has won ‘Best Consumer Show’ at the Exhibition News Awards in both 2015 and 2016 mcmcomiccon.com
Photos: Gilly Riddington