MCM London May 2023 – Day Two
We headed back into the madness for day two of MCM London May 2023, and what a glorious wonderland it was! Visitor numbers were huge today, with people a lot more packed into the aisles than yesterday, and a ton more cosplay on display.
Show floor
We finally ventured over to the other side of the main corridor today, to check out what was on offer, and as with yesterday, MCM did not disappoint! With a huge area dedicated to food from around the world, a massive gaming area – complete with retro arcade! – and booth upon booth of goodies to choose from, this was far and away the busiest area of the day.
The Paramount+ Star Trek booth was great fun, with visitors being filmed on one side and then stepping around the corner and seeing themselves beaming into a transporter! There were Quidditch try-outs available, and even axe throwing for any The Vikings fans in attendance!
Artists Alley was heaving all day, which meant that it was harder to see the amazing cosplay on display, but everyone was willing to make way for a photo! I treated myself to a fair number of new art prints, because frankly the level of talent on display was too big not to, despite my lack of empty wall space…
Panels
There was a massive selection to choose from today, and we checked out the biggest of them all! The Our Flag Means Death panel was filled to the brim with fans of Ed, Stede and their crews, to the point that there was a queue out of the door for the entirety of the panel! After building the crowd up the moderator brought on Con O’Neill (Izzy Hands), Nathan Foad (Lucius) and Kristian Nairn (Wee John Feeney), to the sound of more screaming than I’ve heard outside of a boyband concert! The three were clearly blown away by their reception, and did their absolute best to give the crowd the panel that they deserved!
We also dropped by the Christian Ward panel ‘From School Teacher to Comics Creator’, in which he and Jazzlyn Stone had a great chat about his career, and his self-deprecation and clear desire to share his knowledge shone through to the audience – albeit a much smaller one than the OFMD lads pulled!
Finally we attended another standing room only panel, this time on the Creator Stage, where Adrian Tchaikovsky, Dr Gareth Worthington and Alexander Darwin talked through ‘Science Fact vs Fiction’. Subjects covered included talking through ideas with subject specialists before writing, the differences in scfi-fi and fantasy, and how the future of technology looks. Trust me on the last one, you probably don’t want to know their answers…
Up next…
One last day tomorrow, and we have a feeling it’s only going to get better! Friday and Saturday have both been filled with awesome costumes, great art, and reminders that comic con people are the best people! I’ll be seeing as much more of the con as I can, whilst making the most of having a friend who has a table that I can hide behind to drink coffee! Bring on Sunday!
