What do the people of Cardiff think of no comic artists being advertised for this week-end’s Cardiff Film & Comic Con (CFCC) event?
San Diego Comic-Con proves the success of conventions, every year, as it grows annually, attracting press and fan attention from all over the world. However, you don’t have to travel half way across the world to enjoy conventions. There are some right here on your door step. One of them is Cardiff Film & Comic Con, run by Showmasters twice a year, the next one which is this week-end. You can meet your favourite actors, ask them questions at talks, get some fandom bargains from exhibitors and meet comic artists… usually… Perhaps just not this year.
The convention which attracts thousands every year starts tomorrow and if you visited their website last night, you will have seen that they still had no comic artists advertised as attending. What do convention-goers on the streets of Cardiff, the people who make these events possible, think of this?
Daffyd Stevens, 21, Sales Advisor
Daffyd Stevens, 21, Sales Advisor finds it “quite strange” that there would be no comic artists and is “not going this time just because I don’t really know who’s there.”
Dante O’ Connor
Dante O’ Connor, Student in his 20s says about this situation “It’s been going downhill for a while for comics. The comic alley has dropped. That’s part of my main reasons for avoiding it ‘cause it’s become just a money grab rather than supporting local artists and UK artists.”
Tasha Lawrence, Carer
Tasha Lawrence, carer, thinks “It’s very sad, ‘cause in this day and age, artists are very rarely recognised for their artwork. People just share things without giving credit and this is an opportunity for [the artists] to publicise themselves and it’s sad that they’re not being able to.”
Dan Taylor, 27, IT Technician
Dan Taylor, 27, IT Technician, believes “there’s “comic” in title but it should be a celebration of all geek culture.” Other than meeting actors and autographs, “there doesn’t seem to be a lot happening, which is a crying shame.”
Sophie Hawulok, 21, Student
Sophie Hawulok, 21, student says “I don’t like that. I always looked at that section in Comic Con, so if there’s not gonna be anyone there, there’s probably no point me going.”
CFCC runs Saturday 29th October until Sunday 30th October, clashing with MCM Expo’s London Comic Con 28-29th October. It is possible “quite a lot of people will go, as it’s a Comic-Con,” as Daffyd Stevens told InterCardiff, but it remains pretty clear that Showmasters’ decision to further exclude Comic Artists from being publicised on their CFCC website, will affect not only this event’s attendance but others they hold across the UK.
