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Another year has rolled around and, after the successful turnouts for both 2018 and 2019, Liverpool Comic Con has come and gone for 2020.
Despite the situation around the world, fans of pop culture and entertainment were not discouraged from attending what is quickly becoming a mainstay for Liverpool city centre by Monopoly Events.
Once again taking place in the Exhibition Centre Liverpool, the event ran from 6th to the 8th March and saw fans from all over the North West and beyond coming in to see the events held and the plethora of special guest visitors and did this years convention certainly have a lot of special guests.
From the likes of Elijah Wood and David Harbour to Jason David Frank and Brian Blessed, this year’s event has been the biggest one in its budding history.
From the crowds lining up outside to the multitude of guests inside, the creativity of cosplayers and visitors alike is always impressive. The convention layout is similar in format to previous years, with special guests inhabiting one end of the hall and a variety of merchandise and independent stalls covering the other.
Upon entering the hall, there were numerous props and iconic set pieces from popular media like Doctor Who’s TARDIS and Optimus Prime himself. With the large list of guests, some had their meeting points set up near the entrance, while the others were held along the far wall.
In the case of guests from Only Fools and Horses and Never Ending Story, special sets were created in the style of Boycie’s house and the Swamp of Sadness featuring Falkor. Some lucky visitors had the opportunity to take pictures with the guests as part of these sets.
As is customary with conventions of this kind, visitors had the chance to meet a variety of special guests across the big and small screen. Fans of stars like the aforementioned Elijah Wood and Melissa Joan Hart, were able to meet their favourite stars either at their signing table or in the photography booth that had been set up in the middle of the room.
Over among the retail stalls, Funko Pops had a huge presence across the different sellers. Some of the more limited-edition pops, alongside special signed pops were available to visitors. What these conventions do well is their promotion of artists and more independent businesses. Many of the stalls that featured at this year’s convention were local artists and creators of unique, pop culture inspired trinkets and items like pyrography pieces and inventive interior garden Pokéballs.
Interestingly, some spaces that occupied the floor was for Dogs Trust and Cats Protection. The volunteers present even had information for the local branches.
The more traditional stall that featured comic books, apparel and other merchandise had a heavy presence, but some guests took issue with the apparent focus on toys with one visitor commenting “Considering its comic con, its all toys”. Other difficulties guests had, along with our own experience, was just how confined the whole area felt. Stalls were placed in an organised fashion across the room but left very little room between them for visitors to move comfortably around the room.
This was especially true when the general admission ticket holders arrived, causing the total number of visitors to rise significantly. Add to this some of the more eccentric and detailed costumes requiring a little more room to manoeuvre and you have even less room to get around. Going forward, it may be best if the event organisers hired out a bigger section of the building or brought in fewer stalls.
Overall, Liverpool Comic Con 2020 is another great event to have taken place in Liverpool. Monopoly Events has once again brought a significant level of tourism to the city and prepared a worthwhile convention that brings together people and fans of all ages together to express love and admiration for all things pop culture.
The high calibre special guest list is to be celebrated and will no doubt make people pay attention when it comes to the 2021 event that has already been announced.