From superheroes to sci-fi: Why Comic Con is a breath of fresh air

I talked about hobbies a while ago in my column, and I touched on Comic Con.

The other week I went up to Manchester for another one of their fantastic events. If you’ve never been, they are packed every time.

Andy Kleek puts them on. Apart from passionate collectors, the audience and people who visit can be weird and wonderful, and use the event to escape real life.

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First of all the atmosphere is electric, and you feel totally safe there. People of all ages come in the most wonderful outfits – from Disney characters and space icons to famous monsters and horror movie characters. The list is endless.

And they will come dressed in these wonderful outfits on the train and the bus. The events are always filled with love.

You can meet and greet your favourite movie icons. You do have to pay for the privilege – sometimes it’s expensive.

But there is much more to do at these conventions, so you don’t have to spend a lot of money. They are a breath of fresh air.

How did they start? Well, with comics.

It started in America in San Diego, in 1970, when a small group of comic fans, led by Shel Dorf, put it together. It quickly grew beyond comics, adding science fiction, fantasy, films and TV.

Now, it’s a massive pop culture event, and they happen all over the world. It has some of the world’s biggest stars, meet and greets, cosplay, stalls and fans trading and celebrating everything geeky (to use a great word).

The biggest organiser of this in the UK is Monopoly Events. They launched in 2015 because the CEO had a passion for all things 80s, vintage toys and prop building.

Andy Kleek’s dream is now a thriving, very successful business. The key to Monopoly’s success is it stays true to its core beliefs of giving fans, who they respect, an unforgettable experience at every show.

That’s why people now travel from all over the world. They are always thinking ahead going into new territory.

There’s another side to the Comic Con experience. It brings together friendships, self confidence and creates lifetime memories.

I went on Sunday just gone to their Telford event, called ‘For the Love of Retro’. Their guest list of stars was awesome.

Stars from TV classics like ‘Allo ‘Allo! and Breaking Bad – the list was so impressive. Seeing Ricky Tomlinson, who is a mate, I had a welcome I’ll never forget, as well as two Hollywood stars: Lindsay Wagner from The Bionic Woman, and the amazing Jane Seymour from the Bond film Live and Let Die and Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.

The next Comic Con is in Liverpool on October 10 and 11 at LEX Liverpool Experience Campus. Always worth a trip.