Gloucester Comic Con 2017 - A Detailed Review

Guests met and discussed in this review (with the franchise(s) I most associate them with personally) :-

• Damien Puckler (Meisner from “Grimm”)

• Jayson Warner Smith (Gavin from “The Walking Dead”)

• Joshua Mikel (Jared from “The Walking Dead”)

• Zach Galligan (Billy Peltzer from “Gremlins”)

• Michael Winslow (Larvell Jones from “Police Academy”)

• Hannah Spearritt (Abby from “Primeval”)

• Ross Mullan (White Walkers from “Game Of Thrones” & Silent/Teller/Wraith from “Doctor Who”)

• Ross O’Hennessy (Lord of Bones from “Game Of Thrones” & Locke from “The Bastard Executioner”)

• James Mackenzie (Raven from “Raven”)

• Norman Lovett (Holly from “Red Dwarf”)

• Paul Blake (Greedo from “Star Wars”)

• Pam Rose (Leesub Sirln from “Star Wars”)

• Honky Tonk Man (Wrestler)

Two quick notes before we get started...

1) If this is your first time on "Shangel's Reviews", I'm currently reviewing every single episode of "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" and "Angel" in depth. A list of all the reviews I've written so far can be located here. Yes, I haven’t written one in a while due to my Master’s degree, but I am starting up again really soon now that the Master’s degree is over.

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With that being said, let’s dive in...

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome back to yet another convention review by your friendly, neighbourhood host, Shangel. Those of you that read my review of last year’s “Gloucester Comic Con” may well remember that I helped out with the event. I was the head of the crew, I ensured that all the guests got to their Q&A on time, and I helped setup GL1 Leisure Centre so that everything was ready for opening on Saturday morning. This year was no exception and I was once again back working with Geeks as the head of the crew. Due to this, my review of the 2017 edition will be vastly different to most of my convention reviews. It won’t be as intricately detailed. It won’t be a step-by-step guide through my day quite as much. Instead, what it’ll be is more of an overview of the event. It’ll highlight some of the issues that organisers and crew face that are usually invisible to the general public. It’ll show you the life of a convention organiser and senior crew member through my eyes. My beautiful, one-slightly-higher-than-the-other eyes.

Before we get started, some links!

Most of the panel videos in this review come from Michael The Lunatic. Please check out his YouTube channel here. It has lots of ‘Gloucester Comic Con’ videos as well as other cool shit! Secondly, please check out Dave Scoffin’s photography page on Facebook. A lot of the Cosplay and portrait shots come from Dave and he’s a phenomenally talented photographer. Finally, please check out ‘The Superheroes Cosplay’ on Facebook. Paul and his team do a tremendous job time and time again at conventions all around the UK.

“Gloucester Comic Con” took place over the weekend of the 9^th and 10^th of September at the new location of Kingsholm Stadium in Gloucester, as opposed to GL1 Leisure Centre where it was held the previous year. I’m not entirely sure as to why the venue was changed, but I would imagine it had something to do with the fact that it would allow for an extra capacity, plus, more importantly, we would have the venue to ourselves. At GL1 last year, we only had half the venue, so the regular leisure centre traffic would try to sneak into the Comic Con for free. It was a bit of a pain last year trying to man various points so that nobody could sneak in, while also trying to control all the usual headaches, hassles, and horseshit that come with organising a convention. The change of venue seems to have been well received overall. Some people complained about narrower aisleways around the merchandise areas, etc., but overall I’d say it was a successful change of venue as improvements can always be made to the layout for 2018.

One of the more memorable things that happened over “Gloucester Comic Con” Saturday was that the outside marquee that was hosting The Superheroes Cosplay props, such as some Iron Man suits and a Speeder Bike from “Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi”, got flooded. Evidently, the “Gloucester Comic Con” organisers were under the impression that they had purchased a waterproof marquee, but in actuality it wasn’t waterproof – which was discovered when it started pissing down in Gloucester! The props had to quickly be relocated as the marquee began to sink. Over the course of Saturday, I heard the story of the marquee flooding many times. It started off as a story that simply explained that the marquee had flooded. It then transitioned to flooded and collapsed. Finally, it was described as flooded, collapsed, destroyed, and with a crew member having to fight their way out while almost drowning, clutching the Cosplay Competition sign-up sheets as they did so. Hyperbole at its best, ladies and gentlemen! Other normal, everyday convention problems that regular attendees might not realise is that two different studio photo schedules were floating around – one put on the social media accounts and one revised one at the venue. This is pretty normal for a convention and all convention organisers always advise that the schedule is subject to change, so it wasn’t really an issue for the attendees. The problem was that nobody informed me, my crew, or the photographers (the amazing “Doctor Bell’s Magical Mirrorless Picture Box” on Facebook – check them out here!) that the schedule had changed, which meant that I had to try and bodge both schedules together to keep things running smoothly, which was challenging, but fun. I actually get a kick out of solving problems like that. There was also the more generic problems that are associated with convention organising – an afternoon dash to Asda to get more coffee for the green room, an early morning dash to a stationary shop to pick up some gold and silver Sharpies – it’s something that I always took for granted as an attendee or a member of the press at a convention before, but even the basics need to be remembered and thought about. It’s a challenging job to organise a convention! 

Something that I thought was really cool at ‘Gloucester Comic Con’ was that a handful of Cosplay “actors” had been hired for the weekend. So, for instance, you had three gentlemen running around all weekend dressed as Apes from “Planet Of The Apes”, interacting with attendees, dancing with them, and generally making sure everyone was having a good time. You also had Stormtroopers running around doing similar, while ‘Michael The Lunatic’ was dressed in full Deadpool Cosplay, filming attendees and having a laugh. Not only does this keep attendees from getting bored while waiting for doors to open, but it sets the stage for the rest of the day. People are already smiling and in the convention spirit long before they step inside the venue! Kudos to all involved, you all did phenomenally well.

In addition to the above, of course, there was also everything you’d expect from a Comic Con. The staples of the Comic Con diet, if you will – professional photos with the celebrity guests, Q&A panels, autograph signings, comic artists, and merchandise stalls. One of the interesting changes about switching from GL1 to Kingsholm was that Kingsholm allowed the convention to be spread over three floors – the ground floor, the first floor, and the third floor. I can already hear my fellow O.C.D. sufferers (it should really be called ‘C.D.O.’, Compulsive Disorder for Obsessives, as that would be in alphabetical order!) begging me to answer why the convention wasn’t also on the 2^nd floor. Alas, I don’t know. It just wasn’t. The ground floor and the first floor were dedicated to merchandise stalls, props, attractions, and the comic artists. In this particular instance, “comic artists” refers to my two favourite comic artists on the UK convention scene, Grant Perkins (plus Eva!) and Lee Bradley. Both are tremendous human beings, both are supremely talented, and I personally own artwork created by both of them. You really can’t go wrong with hiring either of them to attend your Comic Con. In the case of Grant, not only was he great for Gloucester, but Gloucester was great for him too, as I believe that ‘Gloucester Comic Con’ was his most successful ‘Geeks’ event to date. You did me proud, my fellow Gloucestershirians!

Unfortunately, due to me running around like a crazy person all weekend, I didn’t get to personally watch any Q&A panel over ‘Gloucester Comic Con’ weekend! Thankfully, Michael The Lunatic (and someone else, I’m not sure who, in the case of the Michael Winslow video) had my back and recorded some of the panels. So, gentle readers, settle in for the evening and watch three of the very best from the weekend – Zach Galligan’s panel, Michael Winslow’s panel, and “The Walking Grimm” panel, which consisted of “Grimm” actor Damien Puckler, plus “The Walking Dead” actors Jayson Warner Smith and Joshua Mikel.

During the Saturday of ‘Gloucester Comic Con’, Dave Scoffin attended the event as an attendee. During his time at the event, he took some portrait shots of some of the guests. It later transpired that he was supposed to specifically requested a pass for this, which he didn’t have, but by the time we found out, the photographs had already been taken. However, the end results were fantastic and Dave has very kindly allowed me to share them in this review and has also allowed the actors themselves to use the portraits for commercial use. Don’t be surprised to find some of them at the guests’ autograph tables in the future! Beautiful work!

Now that we’ve discussed the event itself, let’s look at the guest line-up, shall we? As most of you reading this will know, I attend conventions largely for the guests. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Cosplay element to Comic Cons. I love the atmosphere and the sense of belonging, and the merchandise stalls, but for me personally, it’s all about the guests. The interactions with them, the stories they have to tell. I’ve collected many, many autographs at conventions over the past decade (thousands), but for me, ultimately, it’s a squiggle on an 8” x 10”. I don’t go to the autograph table for an autograph, I go for the experience. The opportunity to talk to someone I admire. The opportunity to ask questions that I’ve always wanted to. The opportunity to be inspired by someone who has succeeded. It’s one of the reasons why I pretty much always skip autographs that cost more than £30. If a guest is really, really popular, ala Benedict Cumberbatch at LFCC 2017, you will get a handful of seconds with the guest at most. Is 5 seconds and a squiggle worth £70? £80? Not to me, unless it’s someone that I really, really love. I’m not ragging on people who spend hundreds on individual autographs whatsoever, I’m just saying that it’s not the reason I go to an autograph table.

One of the coolest things about being the head of the crew for this event was that I got to spend an inordinate amount of time with the guests, both at their autograph tables and in a more intimate setting. I consider myself to be truly blessed; getting to do something that I love so much as a secondary living. Earning money through an industry that I (largely) adore so much. For ‘Gloucester Comic Con’ 2017, the Geeks team went all out with the guest line-up, particularly for an independent organisation. As per the lead-in for this review, the line-up consisted of :-

• Damien Puckler (Meisner from “Grimm”)

• Jayson Warner Smith (Gavin from “The Walking Dead”)

• Joshua Mikel (Jared from “The Walking Dead”)

• Zach Galligan (Billy Peltzer from “Gremlins”)

• Michael Winslow (Larvell Jones from “Police Academy”)

• Hannah Spearritt (Abby from “Primeval”)

• Ross Mullan (White Walkers from “Game Of Thrones” & Silent/Teller/Wraith from “Doctor Who”)

• Ross O’Hennessy (Lord of Bones from “Game Of Thrones” & Locke from “The Bastard Executioner”)

• James Mackenzie (Raven from “Raven”)

• Norman Lovett (Holly from “Red Dwarf”)

• Paul Blake (Greedo from “Star Wars”)

• Pam Rose (Leesub Sirln from “Star Wars”)

• Honky Tonk Man (Wrestler)

For an independent company running in the relatively small city of Gloucester, that line-up is fantastic, it really is. It’s the perfect blend of new and old. Of fresh faces and established faces. For people like Damien, Jayson, and Joshua, this was their first UK cons (some of the American actors did a couple of other events for Geeks and their partners while over in the UK), while names like Hannah Spearritt, Norman Lovett, Ross Mullan and Ross O’Hennessy are regular convention attendees in the UK and people I see on a regular basis. In fact, at the time of writing this (October 1^st), I’ve seen Ross O’Hennessy for three out of the past four weekends! We should start carpooling! As an aside, due to a change in career and job now that my Master’s degree is finished, I’m ridiculously behind on...well...everything! I still have to write my review of last weekend’s “Film & Comic Con Cardiff” and my review of this weekend’s “Coventry Comic Con”. I’ll get to them as soon as possible and both should be up by the end of the week!

Ordinarily, when I attend a convention as press or as a regular attendee, I give a breakdown of the guests I meet. I talk about my experiences with them and I give them something of a grade, the criteria for which I created. Guests are put into one of the following three categories :-

·       The Responder: This type of guest is often polite and friendly. If you ask them a question, they’ll happily answer. If you comment on something, they’ll respond or smile gratefully. However, they won’t carry the conversation forward, you have to. These are the most common type of guest, and this is what you expect when meeting someone at a convention. This is a great category to be a part of.

·       The Groucho/Big Guest: There are two aspects to this category. Firstly, you have the groucho. The groucho is there for monetary purposes or is generally just having a bad day, or is a bit of an ass. If you meet enough people, one of them is bound to be an ass! The grouchos aren’t interested in conversations above a few words. They’ll say ‘hi’ (sometimes they don’t bother with that), sign, say ‘bye’ (sometimes), and you’re on your merry way. Of course, in certain situations this is relevant and expected, which brings me to the second part of this category, the ‘big guest’. Some guests are going to be insanely popular. Such as Stan Lee at LFCC ‘14, who had an entire building to himself basically. When you get a huge queue like that, the guest can’t take a lot of time with everyone. If they did, many people would go home disappointed at not getting to meet them at all. Therefore, the convention company and the guest want to get through as many people as possible. You cannot have a huge guest and expect to get above a minute with them, which is perfectly fair.

·       The Conversationalist: This is easily my favourite type of guest. They’ll answer your questions with a smile, ask you questions in return, and are happy to chat for an extended period of time (extended = above 2-3 minutes), regardless of where the conversation leads or how long you’ve been talking. Obviously, there has to be some cut-off point if there is a queue behind you, but you leave the experience feeling euphoric and like you gained a lot more than just the autograph you queued for.

Obviously, as I was “behind the curtain” so to speak for this event, I won’t divulge anything that was said as it would be unprofessional to do so. However, I shall give an overview of my time with the guests, the impressions they left, and the categories as to which they fell into for me personally. Remember, different people can have different experiences with guests, even on the same day. Someone could be grumpy in the morning, but positively lovely after a coffee. Other people may be having an “off moment” when you meet them. Hence, I don’t judge people based on what I’ve heard, I judge people based on how they treat me and the people around me while I’m there. That goes for everyone in my life, not just guests at conventions. Treat people how you wish to be treated, gentle readers #ALessonFromShangel

Damien Puckler: Damien was an interesting one for me because I’ve been trying to get Damien over to the UK for the better part of two years. I’ve had a back-and-forth email thread with his agent/brother, Bjorn, and I’ve tried to get Damien booked for a multitude of conventions over here, Gloucester included. Alas, Grimm guests are a rarity over here. Due to this, many convention organisers don’t want to take a chance on a Grimm guest because they may not sell well. I first mentioned Damien to Geeks at the first ‘Gloucester Comic Con’ event. A couple of months before this year’s edition, there was a teaser for a Grimm guest coming to Gloucester. I immediately messaged Mark and enquired as to whether it was Damien. Turns out, it was! I was so excited for this announcement, I really was. By this point, I had known Damien for about two years. We’d spoken many times, I’d been trying hard to get him over to the UK, and it had finally come to fruition! Another reason why meeting Damien was different to meeting other guests at conventions was that I basically considered Damien a friend by this point, if I may take such liberties. On the Friday night before the event, I met Damien at the hotel he was staying in, and we proceeded to grab a drink together and chat for a couple of hours. The conversation was varied and got pretty fucking deep at times. We talked about Grimm and the process of how he was hired. We talked about his time living in Thailand and fighting for a living. We talked about my recent change in career. We talked about conventions, martial arts, living in Los Angeles, the times when both of us respectively had no money and could barely afford food, we talked about depression...it was a whirlwind! A few things about Damien struck me right from the offset. Firstly, he has zero ego. Obviously, he has self-confidence, but he doesn’t act like he’s better than you because he’s been on a successful television show! He’s totally grounded, which was both awesome and not always the case when meeting celebrities. Secondly, Damien has a great outlook on life in general. He spends a lot of time outdoors, he likes to concentrate on the positive as much as possible, and he barely watches television at all. He owns a TV, but that’s largely so that he can keep the radio going during the day for his dog/child, Roxy. I mentioned earlier that I largely meet guests at conventions for the experience, to be inspired by someone who has succeeded. This is how I felt after meeting Damien for three days: inspired. His outlook on life, his attitude and work-ethic. I see a lot of similarities between myself and Damien from an outlook and work-ethic point of view, but spending quite a lot of time with Damien definitely helped me want to push myself even further.

Over the course of ‘Gloucester Comic Con’, with Friday included, I spent more time with Damien than I did anyone else – my crew included. He couldn’t have been more engaging to everyone I saw him meet – from crew to people getting his autograph, to people who just happened to walk past his desk. You tend to find that guests who are newbies to conventions go one of two ways – deer-in-headlights or the best experiences of your day because they’ve yet to create a convention persona. An invisible - but real - barrier between the attendees and themselves. Damien was certainly the latter. It was so cool to finally meet Damien face-to-face, to get to know him personally, and to spend a decent amount of time with him. He’s someone I’m happy to call a ‘friend’ and I look forward to getting Damien back over to the UK for a convention as soon as possible. Tremendous guest and tremendous human being in general. Guest Type = Conversationalist.

Jayson Warner Smith & Joshua Mikel: The Saviors of ‘Gloucester Comic Con’, so to speak. I actually saw Jayson briefly on the Friday evening while chatting to Damien at their hotel, but I didn’t have the chance to speak to him. Both Jayson and Joshua were tremendous convention guests. Having both of them together and sat next to each other was the perfect blend. It combined Jayson’s natural charm and personality with Joshua’s natural energy and hyperactivity. I’m sure they’d be terrific convention guests in their own right, but having the two of them together definitely brought something special. I didn’t see one person leave their autograph table doing anything other than smile. Not only were they engaging, talkative, and interesting, but they also made a point of getting the names of all my orange shirt crew (who shall henceforth be referred to as the ‘Army of Orange’) and – totally unpressured and in lieu of nothing – gave each of them an autograph personalised to them at the end of the convention on Sunday! Total class-acts through and through. Whether it’s Walker Stalker, Wales, or a return to Geeks, I can’t see it being too long before Jayson and Joshua are back over in the UK for a convention, so if you get the opportunity to meet them, do yourself a favour and do so. You won’t be disappointed. Oh! Another funny trivia fact for those of you that attended on the Saturday of ‘Gloucester Comic Con’....while all the other guests had been to lunch and returned, Joshua forgot. It wasn’t until about 2:30pm, when Joshua happened to mention to me that he’d forgotten about lunch and was getting hungry, that I walked Joshua to the green room and told him to eat. In typical Joshua fashion, he grabbed something little to eat, and returned to his autograph table within about two minutes. Bless him. Guest Type = Conversationalist x2. Out of the guests I’d never met before ‘Gloucester Comic Con’, Damien, Jayson, and Joshua were definitely my favourites and the ones I thought most fondly of after all was said and done.

I’ll try and get through the rest of the guests at a more rapid-fire pace now...

Ross Mullan: I’ve met Ross many times before. Three or four by this point – and I’ll be seeing Ross again in three weeks at Loughborough Comic Con. Ross is always a pleasure to meet and was a Sunday-only guest on this particular occasion. He’s a natural-born storyteller, he’s ridiculously witty, he’s a joy to be around...and he’s probably the sassiest guest on the convention circuit in the UK. You can tell he watches a lot of “Real Housewives of Orange County” because the sass has certainly been absorbed. Now, ‘Gloucester Comic Con’ transpired at around the sound time that Hurricane Irma was scheduled to hit Florida. At some point just before ‘Gloucester Comic Con’, Ross had seen a picture where someone had spray-painted on their garage door, “Irma Gerd” (meaning ‘Oh my God’). This was stuck in Ross’ head all day. It became something of an in-joke between Ross, Clare (his crew assistant for the day), and myself. An in-joke that continued for days after Gloucester Comic Con was finished. Ross is simply amazing. He’s got lots of unique stories – from being stuck inside prosthetic suits while needing to pee, to being dressed up in full White Walker gear and falling off a horse! Go meet Ross when you’re at a convention with him! Guest Type = Conversationalist.

I’ll be honest, I didn’t get to spend a huge amount of time with the other nine guests. I talked to them all, I walked all of them to their Q&A panels and chatted to them at their autograph tables, but it was much more limited than the four mentioned above. So, I’ll just say a few words about each. I hadn’t seen Ross O’Hennessy in two years before ‘Gloucester Comic Con’. In fact, the first and only time I’d met Ross before this was during his first ever convention, Wales Comic Con, in late 2015! Catching up with Ross after two years was really nice. He’s got a child at home now, his career has only gone from strength-to-strength, and he’s become something of a familiar face on the convention scene now. He’s definitely an asset to it because he’s got a lot of time for everyone who goes near his autograph table (“Conversationalist”). James Mackenzie was equally lovely. Unlike many of the guests at ‘Gloucester Comic Con’, I’d never met James before. He’s so down-to-Earth, so approachable, and was pretty busy for the entire weekend! I’ve stayed in contact with James since the event finished and I’m looking forward to working with him again in the future (“Conversationalist”). It’s always great to see Hannah Spearritt, Norman Lovett, and Paul Blake. I’d never met Pam Rose before this weekend, but she was absolutely delightful too. So approachable, chatting to everyone, dashing off to take photos with Stormtroopers, showing us photos of an albino squirrel that likes to venture into her garden – what a legend she is! The Honky Tonk Man (wrestling legend) as his usual outspoken self. Never afraid to give an opinion, another natural-born storyteller....my word some of the stories he has are worthy of a book in themselves! I’ve never laughed harder. Some of his off-the-cuff remarks also had me in stitches throughout the weekend. Michael Winslow is as crazy as you’d expect – I mean that in the most positive of ways. He was, as expected, performing voices and sounds all weekend and thoroughly entertaining everyone, both on and off stage. Finally, there was Zach Galligan. I didn’t know what to make of Zach at first because he seemed to be grumpy during the Saturday of the event. Thankfully, on the Sunday, he was the life and soul of the event – laughing at the nicknames of the rugby players adorning the halls of level three as I walked him to the green room, desperately searching for “Frazzles” that someone had recommended he try, and trying to remove some glitter than had inexplicably landed on his fingers. I sat Hatty – by far the most outgoing and bonkers of my crew members – next to Zach on Sunday and I think that Hatty’s craziness was enough to coax Zach out of his shell!

Finally, while wrapping up the review, I’d like to personally thank my Army of Orange, all of whom did a tremendous job under the most stressful of circumstances (you all know what I mean). You each held yourself together well, were an asset to the event, and did me proud. So, kudos to Hannah (best friend extraordinaire), Hayley, John, Dom, Heather, David, Katy, Morgan, Hatty, Clare, Tash, Bethan, and Ruby (so great to finally meet you in real life, dear friend!)! Army of Orange fo’ life <3

Well, ladies and germs, this brings us to the end of another fantastic edition of “Gloucester Comic Con”. The event will be returning to Kingsholm over the weekend of the 30^th of June/1^st of July 2018, so I hope to see you there! In the meantime, my reviews of “Film & Comic Con Cardiff” and “Coventry Comic Con” will be up in a matter of days! I shall also be attending “Loughborough Comic Con”, “Reading Comic Con”, and, finally, “Wales Comic Con” to close out the year in style. If you see me around, don’t be afraid to say “hi”! Stay strong, stay safe, and stay happy!

-        Your Friendly Neighbourhood Shangel

FINAL SCORE: BIASED SO LEAVING CLEAR