LFCC Comic Zone To Be Relaunched As The London Comic Festival
by Olly MacNamee
The London Film and Comics Con (LFCC) is going through something of a rebrand ahead of its annual big summer show. Opening up twenty years ago and situated in the impressing Olympia, the show has seen the likes of Kevin Eastman, Marv Wolfman, Torunn Grønbekk, Dan SloC, Sara Pichelli, Stan Lee, Dave Gibbons, Brian Bolland and Claudia Christian invited as guests. A veritable who’s who of comic book legends. And all organised by Mike Conroy, Tim Pilcher and – once more – Tony Lee, along with Amy McGarry-Thickitt.
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Having expanded the Comics Zone with initiatives such as presenting the winner of the yearly Caliburn Prize (a £2,500 grant for unpublished UK comic creators), and the relaunch of the LFCC Symposium to Artist Alley exhibitors, Lee and company felt it was time for an even bigger change, and so the London Comic Festival was born. As Lee tells it:
“At the winter show, the team spoke with the comic guests attending, as well as respected creators like Dave Elliott, who’s been a mainstay since the UKCAC days. We were getting tired of being compared to pop culture conventions that did nothing for the comic industry, and the one thing that came back, time and time again was how we could look back to the UK’s comic festival and convention past to shape our future. And over that weekend, the London Comic Festival was created.”
Think a standalone event rather than an additional zone, and you’re there…
“Rebranding as the London Comic Festival takes us out of these comparison conversations and gives us an opportunity to expand in ways I could only dream of when I took over in 2017. It’s something that’ll continue on, even after I step down as Festival Curator. The multiple-time Eisner Awards nominee Rian Hughes came on board to redesign us a logo worthy of a festival, and we’re looking to bring in more school-based educational panels, the Symposium for the Artists Alley will be returning – as well as the Artists Alley itself, we have more Hall of Fame announcements, the Caliburn Prize Award and much more, with other ideas still in discussion with a variety of companies and publishers. With new branding and promotions, this will be unlike any previous comic zone, and not just because of the name. We couldn’t have done this without Showmasters believing in our vision, however, so this rebranding owes everything to Jason and his team.” – Tony Lee
Look out for more news and announcements ahead of the new rebranded festival happening over the weekend of Friday July 5th – Sunday 7th, 2024.
