Hey there guys and gals, Clare here, your roving (sort of) UK convention reporter. I was lucky enough to hit up Wales Comic Con in Wrexham at the end of April and what follows is my report from the event.
FRIDAY
Friday morning I was picked up by my con buddy Kim and we set off for North Wales, a little bit odd as she was made up to look like Vampire Willow from Buffy. While the convention takes place in Wrexham we first of all went to Chester to meet up with the lovely Julia Noller. Julia is a cosplayer and photogapher and we had a whole lot of fun as she photographed Kim in her Vampire Willow cosplay (which is bloody brilliant I might add). You can see a couple of pics of the shoot below, for more, head over to Julia’s facebook page
Credit: Julia Noller Photography
Credit: Julia Noller Photography
Credit: Julia Noller Photography
I also got a cuddle from a boa constrictor called Mercury which was pretty amazing. After that we headed off to check in to our hotel so Kim could change back into her human form and then met up with some of my friends for dinner.
There was a considerable amount of teasing at dinner as they all knew how excited I was to meet Mr Matt Ryan after missing him at the same event last year (cos of starting my PCT thru-hike the same day). After dinner it was back to the hotel to crash, we both decided we needed an early night to prepare for the big day.
SATURDAY
Originally Matt was booked to attend both days of Wales Comic Con but due to filming commitments on The Halcyon, he had to cancel the Sunday. This meant that when we woke up on Saturday Kim got dressed in her Edward Kenway cosplay (the character Matt did the voice and motion-capture for in the game Assassins Creed: Black Flag) and I was doing my best promo in my Armistice t-shirt (more about that later).
We got to Glyndwr University in Wrexham and joined the early bird queue – surrounded by loads of awesome cosplay – some seriously talented folks were at this con! After a while in the sunshine in the queue we got let in, got our weekend wristbands and then, as per our pre-arranged plan of attack, we headed straight for the main hall. I was getting multiple autographs from Matt (7 in total, not all for me) and so we wanted to have some time with him before things got too busy.
Now, those of you who follow me on social media might know I also run @ArmisticeArmy, an account dedicated to supporting the works of M&R Films Ltd a production company set up by Matt Ryan and several of his friends. I’ve been running this account a couple of years now and so I was stupidly hyped to meet Matt. He was wonderful. He chatted with us for ages and, while I didn’t talk as much as I would normally due to being painfully nervous, the interactions I did get were amazing.
He loved Kim’s cosplay and talked to her about the replica guns she had, and signed a Kenway quotation for her on one of her autographs.
Then it was my turn. First of all I handed over two Constantine bags that our lovely Jenn had found for him and asked me to pass on. He was blown away and couldn’t believe they were actually for him at first.
I’d written post-its with names on for the autographs I was getting for my friends, as well as little notes about which pictures they wanted to get signed, he read the little notes (which I really should have scribbled out), one of which said ‘idjit’ and then looked up at me with a smirk and asked why. I explained that it was my friend’s description of the look on his face in the picture and he laughed. After he signed the autographs for all of my friends I produced my Armistice blu-rays for him to sign and told him who I was, that I run the account on twitter and that I had missed him last year because of the PCT. He remembered the letter I had sent him via a friend and actually enquired about my hike which was amazing. He then noticed my t-shirt and after a few moments of looking he complained that his name isn’t on any of the merchandise for the movie. I agreed it wasn’t fair, especially given that without his character Joseph Morgan’s would be completely screwed! He signed my blu-rays (one of which I gave to Kim) which he was very excited to see and then he wrote a lovely message in my copper journal. Then Kim and I took pictures with him at the table, and I’ll be damned if this shot isn’t one of my very favourite convention pictures ever.
Credit: Clare Hemsworth
After all this time with Matt Kim and I needed some air so after a lap around the main hall we went back to the main building to queue up for the Constantine panel.
As you’ll know if you follow our social media channels, I live tweeted the panel and Kim recorded a couple of videos of Matt answering questions
(Huge thanks to Kim for letting me use her vids)
After the panel Kim went off for some photo ops so I met up with a friend for lunch and a chat before Kim and I met up again. We did some shopping in the main hall, I bought a Constantine mug from ByCandlelight and the most adorable little Constantine cosplay dragon from a company called Goblin Dreams. Kim bought another of the little dragons to give to Matt.
Seriously, isn’t this just the cutest thing you’ve ever seen?
After a quick chat with Mark Ryan (Black Sails/Transformers) we went to queue for our professional photo ops with Matt. I went first and as I walked up he said hello darling, gave me a squeezy side hug and then thanked me and told me to have a good day. I stopped and waited for Kim who handed Matt one of her cosplay guns and told him to hold her hostage, so he did!
Credit: Kim Beacham
Next up we needed food, we sacked out on the lawn outside hall with our chips and then we spotted Matt coming back from his photo op. Kim got his attention and offered him a chip which he politely declined and went up to the green room, leaving the pair of us in fangirly hysterics on the grass.
After we had eaten Kim wanted to give Matt his little dragon so we went back, he had no queue at his table so we went straight up. He opened it straight away and thought it was awesome, he told us that he’s going to put it on his mantelpiece next to his Constantine lighter. We chatted a bit more and he told us he also has one of John’s trenchcoats (heart eyes emoji) until we realised a queue had formed behind us so we left him alone.
Next on our list was the Once Upon a Time panel with Michael Socha (Will Scarlet) and Amy Manson (Merida). They were absolutely hilarious and Michael was my surprise highlight of the weekend. It all got very silly, culminating with Michael deciding he’d like a Will Scarlet spin off, set in Aladdin’s Agraba, with Buzz Lightyear as a sidekick. Yes. Really.
After he made our sides ache from laughing at the panel we had to go see him and get autographs and he took selfies with us at the table.
Credit: Clare Hemsworth
After seeing Michael we noticed that Matt was just about to leave, he had his SDCC Constantine bag over his shoulder with all the gifts he’d been given in it. Kim and I ran over to say goodbye and thank him and he pulled us both into a double armed hug. There may have been a tear or two shed as we walked away from his table that time.
After catching the end of James Marsters and Amber Benson’s Buffy The Vampire Slayer panel we went to see if our prints of our photos with Matt were back but we were told there had been a technical issue so instead we trooped back to the hotel to change ready for the after party…which I’ll tell you all about in part 2…coming soon!
