Wales Comic Con big success with celebrities and fans alike
Celebrities rubbed shoulders with excited sci-fi fans at the long-awaited return of Wales Comic Con at Telford International Centre.
Thousands of people – many wearing the costumes of their favourite animation and movie characters – flocked to the the two-day convention which featured popular actors including Danny John-Jules of Red Dwarf and Death in Paradise fame, soap stars Michelle Collins and Will Mellor.
Characters ranged from the instantly recognisable Stormtroopers from Star Wars, Disney and Marvel to relative newcomers such as the Japanese series Madoka Magica which is popular among young fans.
Among the popular draws was former Strictly Come Dancing contestant Danny John-Jules whose autograph stand attracted some of the longest queues.
He said: “I’ve been here for two days and it’s been great.” I’ve been doing sci-fi conventions all over the world for 30 years when they weren’t mainstream and I’ve been doing Wales Comic Con for 12 years now when no other celebrities would attend and there’d only be 100 people there.
“It goes without saying that I’m really pleased to be here in Telford and seeing all these people. Some of them have shown me photos of themselves as children posing for pictures with me and have now brought their own children to meet me.
“I’ve been for two days and sci-fi fans are the best. There’s been no trouble and everyone is happy and smiling and glad to be here after the last year we’ve had. Everybody is interested in science fiction these days and the scientists are talking about sending electric cars into space.
“When we talked about that in Red Dwarf people thought those ideas were ridiculous and now the explorers are playing catch-up,” Danny said.
Michelle Collins of EastEnders, Coronation Street and Doctor Who fame, said: “It’s been great. People have been asking me about Doctor Who. It’s been great to be here.”
Telford residents Sue Brown, 55, and Sean Rubenis, 42, of Burnside, Brookside, were resplendent as Disney’s Maleficient and Braveheart’s Sir William Wallace. “I used to attend when the show was held in Wrexham. It’s been really good. We met Darth Vader and got our photo taken with him which has been the highlight for us,” said Sue, a retired factory worker.
“This is the first time I’ve done anything like this. I was really nervous this morning while I was getting ready, but once I got here it’s been fab. A lot of people have been shouting ‘freedom’ to me,” said Sean.
