CBR: KAPOW Day 1: Mark Millar and Chums Get It 'Con!'

[CBR News]

Kapow Comic Con, the newest kid on the convention block, hit London this weekend. Organized by Mark Millar, who promised a San Diego experience over two days, Kapow has the big names, the exclusives and plenty of surprises in store.


Full article here.

[Clem]

While it was a good excuse for a day out and to buy some comics, I found the convention itself to be underwhelming, and dare I say disappointing.

The thing I will always remember about my Saturday there - the queues.

I had to wait half an hour to get in, half an hour to get food, 45 minutes before both Marvel panels and finally, a whopping hour and a half for both Green Lantern and Thor, neither of which I got into! As those panels were pretty much my main reason for being there, I left the Con seriously pissed off.

People took absolutely no notice of the rules prohibiting early queuing. It was a shambles. By the time I thought to line up for Thor (at 5 o'clock, when the panel didn't even start until 6.30), the queue stretched back around the majority of the upper level, already with double the amount of people who would be allowed into the panel. I'm convinced that most of the people who got into Thor originally started queuing before Attack the Block and then blatantly avoided going in.

Even worse, the staff were actually pretty rude about it all. They'd walk up and down the back of the line trying to disuade people, forever shouting "YOU'RE WASTING YOUR TIME! IT'S NOT WORTH IT! YOU'RE NOT GETTING IN!".

The only time I ever saw the Auditorium the entire day was when I got home and saw a picture online! Unless you had a VIP ticket or cheated the line, you weren't going to see a damn thing. Why exactly they let all the least popular panels in the 750 seat room THAT THEY COULD NEVER FILL and yet all the most popular panels in the 500 seat room that they could fill three times over, I don't have a bloody clue.

I'd hope Mark Millar would learn from his mistakes next year, but I honestly don't want to go after seeing this year.

[harrylike]

While it was a good excuse for a day out and to buy some comics, I found the convention itself to be underwhelming, and dare I say disappointing.

The thing I will always remember about my Saturday there - the queues.

I had to wait half an hour to get in, half an hour to get food, 45 minutes before both Marvel panels and finally, a whopping hour and a half for both Green Lantern and Thor, neither of which I got into! As those panels were pretty much my main reason for being there, I left the Con seriously pissed off.

People took absolutely no notice of the rules prohibiting early queuing. It was a shambles. By the time I thought to line up for Thor (at 5 o'clock, when the panel didn't even start until 6.30), the queue stretched back around the majority of the upper level, already with double the amount of people who would be allowed into the panel. I'm convinced that most of the people who got into Thor originally started queuing before Attack the Block and then blatantly avoided going in.

Even worse, the staff were actually pretty rude about it all. They'd walk up and down the back of the line trying to disuade people, forever shouting "YOU'RE WASTING YOUR TIME! IT'S NOT WORTH IT! YOU'RE NOT GETTING IN!".

The only time I ever saw the Auditorium the entire day was when I got home and saw a picture online! Unless you had a VIP ticket or cheated the line, you weren't going to see a damn thing. Why exactly they let all the least popular panels in the 750 seat room THAT THEY COULD NEVER FILL and yet all the most popular panels in the 500 seat room that they could fill three times over, I don't have a bloody clue.

I'd hope Mark Millar would learn from his mistakes next year, but I honestly don't want to go after seeing this year.

On the other side of the coin, I got into every panel I wanted to in the auditorium with no fuss whatsoever. Turned up 45 minutes before each, queued and strolled in when the doors opened. The timetables had the 45 minute wait written down for gods sake, did you just assume that actually they put this in for fun ?

Also, you can't really complain about not getting in for Thor, and then also complain about the stewards telling you that you weren't going to get in for Thor (stewards who were friendly throughout the weekend, especially the Irish chap outside the Auditorium).

So, no VIP, no line cheating, just reading to what was written and listening to what was advised. A happy con experience was had and I'll gladly go along next year !

[geordiesteve]

There are some factual errors in the story. This was not John Romita Junior's first UK signing or appearance.

He appeared last year at the Thought Bubble convention in Leeds, UK, in November 2010. He was a great guy, spent a lot of time sketching, signing and he was on several panels, including one about comic book movie adaptations alongside Richard Starkings, Andy Diggle, one gentleman who's name escapes me at the moment who worked on Harry Potter and Captain America.

[Clem]

On the other side of the coin, I got into every panel I wanted to in the auditorium with no fuss whatsoever. Turned up 45 minutes before each, queued and strolled in when the doors opened. The timetables had the 45 minute wait written down for gods sake, did you just assume that actually they put this in for fun ?

Also, you can't really complain about not getting in for Thor, and then also complain about the stewards telling you that you weren't going to get in for Thor (stewards who were friendly throughout the weekend, especially the Irish chap outside the Auditorium).

So, no VIP, no line cheating, just reading to what was written and listening to what was advised. A happy con experience was had and I'll gladly go along next year !

Dude, I tried both the Green Lantern and Thor lines, which were in effect WELL before 45 minutes and I couldn't get in. They stretched from one side's staircase to the other side's staircase HOURS beforehand and there was no getting around them.

The idea of you "strolling in" is an insult which makes my blood boil.

[harrylike]

Dude, I tried both the Green Lantern and Thor lines, which were in effect WELL before 45 minutes and I couldn't get in. They stretched from one side's staircase to the other side's staircase HOURS beforehand and there was no getting around them.

The idea of you "strolling in" is an insult which makes my blood boil.

I tried Thor, got told I wouldn't be able to get in so left after 5 minutes. I know it said no queuing 45 minutes prior, but it was incredibly optimistic to think this would happen for Thor and Green Lantern. I chanced it, loused it up, and went and did something else.

End of the day, you didn't see some footage, it's not blood boil worthy chap !

[Clem]

I tried Thor, got told I wouldn't be able to get in so left after 5 minutes. I know it said no queuing 45 minutes prior, but it was incredibly optimistic to think this would happen for Thor and Green Lantern. I chanced it, loused it up, and went and did something else.

End of the day, you didn't see some footage, it's not blood boil worthy chap !

Sorry, I'm just a big geek and I had high hopes for this event, but by the end, I hadn't done much of anything and paid a ton for the privilege.

I saw all I needed to on the convention floor within about an hour. Bought a handful of comics, played some computer games, took some pictures, sniggered at the cosplayers (the tall Poison Ivy and the makeup-less Harley Quinn were seriously HOT) and after that all I really needed to see were the panels.

Not getting into the later panels was devastating, as we couldn't catch our train until after 8pm, so we just had to wander around, looking at the same booths time after time, getting increasingly bored. There wasn't nearly as much stuff to do as Mark Millar would have everyone believe.

Also, the earlier panels I DID get to see "Breaking into Comics the Marvel way" and "Pint o' CB" were all the same guys, telling the same jokes, no useful advice and not pimping their product as much as you'd expect. I mean, the upcoming Big Shot relaunches of Daredevil, Moon Knight and Punisher were barely mentioned. You'd think Wacker would talk about how Daredevil is trying to redeem himself for Shadowland or Moon Knight has developed new split personalities or whatever new take they've got for Punisher Vol 1,000,000. Instead it was a love in for Captain Britain, a book that has been cancelled for like a year now, and SHIELD, which is so bizarre it more often than not goes over my head.

I like the idea of the con, but the whole thing just pissed me off.

[Dangerous]

I like the idea of the con, but the whole thing just pissed me off.

Sheesh there's no pleasing some people!

I expected to queue, but one thing that did suck was that some artists would not do quick sketches even for the first few people in a queue line.

The only panel I got into was pint of CB, I thought SW was funny, heh.
Too hot in those rooms tho.

Overall I'm glad I went and will hit it next year.

[invasionforce]

The comments from the people who attended Kapow Con are interesting. It sounds like the organizers should have reserved a bigger venue. As far as I have seen, it's only been this year that movie stars have begun to promote comic related movies outside of San Diego in cities like Chicago, San Francisco and London. Obviously, there is a market for American style comic cons in the U.K. I wonder if the market extends into continental Europe? I chatted with a Belgian guy at a New York City con who said there was nothing like the convention we attended in Europe, and how much he enjoyed it. On the other hand, it seems that comic creators and editors may be experiencing comic convention fatigue given how more and more cities have cons, and how big some of these events have become. I was amused by how the British fans wanted more Captain Britain. (Having Captain Britain join the Avengers might actually be interesting, though.) I have attended cons in Toronto where the fans are similarly nationalistic, and very interested in seeing more Alpha Flight.

[Kick-Ass]

Sounds like they pulled off the con of all cons!

[Brock]

There are some factual errors in the story. This was not John Romita Junior's first UK signing or appearance.

He appeared last year at the Thought Bubble convention in Leeds, UK, in November 2010. .

And he also attended the UKCAC (UK Comic Art Convention) way back in 1992.

In the end my Kapow experience was about 90% queing, but worthwhile all the same. It was fantastic getting to meet Pat Mills and Kev O'Neill, Steve Dillon, Glenn Fabry, John Mcrea (really nice guy), David Lloyd, Peter Milligan, Sean Phillips and Frank Quitely.

It looked like some of the people in other ques had a tougher time than I did. (It turns out that Brian Bolland is more popular than Twlight and the ipad 2 combined).

I'm not sorry that I missed most of the panels, although the quiz looked like fun. If they use the same venue next year, then hopefully they will have learned from all the crowd management issues that occured this time. I compeltely agree with that idea about switching around the screening halls.

[geordiesteve]

The comments from the people who attended Kapow Con are interesting. It sounds like the organizers should have reserved a bigger venue. As far as I have seen, it's only been this year that movie stars have begun to promote comic related movies outside of San Diego in cities like Chicago, San Francisco and London. Obviously, there is a market for American style comic cons in the U.K. I wonder if the market extends into continental Europe? I chatted with a Belgian guy at a New York City con who said there was nothing like the convention we attended in Europe, and how much he enjoyed it. On the other hand, it seems that comic creators and editors may be experiencing comic convention fatigue given how more and more cities have cons, and how big some of these events have become. I was amused by how the British fans wanted more Captain Britain. (Having Captain Britain join the Avengers might actually be interesting, though.) I have attended cons in Toronto where the fans are similarly nationalistic, and very interested in seeing more Alpha Flight.

I think for a first con they wanted to keep it small and see how it went. I had no doubt they would fill the venue and sell all the tickets.

This is not the biggest con in the UK of course, only the most recent, the London Film and Comic Con (London Expo) has about 40k visitors over the weekend and Kapow was a 5k venue I believe.

In a recent interview Millar said he wanted to keep it small, although he might of course change his mind, which I hope he will as making it a small and elitist con is totally counterproductive if they want to grow the monthly comics buying audience which is constantly shrinking.

[Kid Impulse]

I don't like the way this con was promoted, Millar acts like its God's gifts to UK comics fans, and ignores the success of great cons like London's MCM, and Leed's excellent ThoughtBubble.

[Karl O'Neill]

I heard The Green Lantern footage stole the show again.

[Dangerous]

The comments from the people who attended Kapow Con are interesting. It sounds like the organizers should have reserved a bigger venue. As far as I have seen, it's only been this year that movie stars have begun to promote comic related movies outside of San Diego in cities like Chicago, San Francisco and London. Obviously, there is a market for American style comic cons in the U.K. I wonder if the market extends into continental Europe? I chatted with a Belgian guy at a New York City con who said there was nothing like the convention we attended in Europe, and how much he enjoyed it. On the other hand, it seems that comic creators and editors may be experiencing comic convention fatigue given how more and more cities have cons, and how big some of these events have become. I was amused by how the British fans wanted more Captain Britain. (Having Captain Britain join the Avengers might actually be interesting, though.) I have attended cons in Toronto where the fans are similarly nationalistic, and very interested in seeing more Alpha Flight.

I think you may be right about some comic creators getting convention fatigue. Romita Jr & Millar, they're queue lines were ridiculous - 2 hours plus. As a result JRJR could not do sketches which is fully understandable, and he's very professional / workmanlike just like he is as an artist and quickly get's through the crowd. I managed to get my Kick Ass HC signed by em both tho, just by bumping into Millar on the floor so it's all good.

Basically they need a bigger venue next year, and the panel rooms need air con, another problem was that essentially you have to make a choice between panels/screenings or queuing to meet creators. I did not get any sketches on sat, so sunday was dedicated to this goal and I did ok but unfortunately it meant I could not go to the Spidey panel.

Missed out on Steve Dillon which sucked. There's definitely a huge market for this in the UK so I hope next year it's improved. Gotta do the costume thing next year too.