Akroview

4 years. 4 whole years it’s been. And every year the bar has been pushed higher and higher for the one and only Dublin Comic Con. Although this year I am only able to attend the Saturday date, you guys, my readers, have been so kind as to fill me in on the details of Sunday so I won’t leave any juicy bits out! So without any further adieu let’s jump right into this shall we?!

Held in the National Convention Center in the heart of the city, there was no change to that of last year, which is fine, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it! But! If you can improve it, then by all means go right ahead and DCC did just that by opening more floors for attendees to roam. Massive improvement from earlier years as it allowed more attendees to enter the building and gave us a look and a chance to attend panels and talks in the auditorium! Aside from that change, there is no major difference from last year.

As I’ve mentioned in previous reviews DCC is a different kind of convention, it’s a convention for showcasing all things film and sci-fi and allowing the attendee to get photos with prop, costumes, sets and actors! By far the most popular events that I picked up on were the Emerald Garrison’s photo op, the Iron Throne Experience, the Wasteland Karnival (which I’ll talk about shortly) and the Predators Ireland photo ops.

For full disclosure, yes, I am a part of Predators Ireland, but I remain fully professional and unbiased when it comes to my reviews, what I say in this review is based on the evidence from the days and is no way glorified to raise the reputation of friends or colleagues.

Anyways!

There was a lot of interactive props and sets for the attendees to jump right in and be a part of this year and it was always great to see people crowding around to get their spine ripped out by a Predator, or their body left part of the wall of an Alien ship, how about some gaming, be it video or board game, you had both to choose from at DCC, you could even battle the creator of Doom himself to his own game 1v1 or perhaps they would want to do something a bit more fun and family friendly, how about a carnival…..sorry…..a Karnival!

The guys from Dublin City Comics set up their famous Wasteland Karnival right in the back corner of the second floor artist alley, and I’m pretty sure the line was longer for them than some of the guests at one point! That’s not bad mouthing the guests, all of them went down a treat but that’s for another paragraph! The Karnival was a host of wasteland parlor games and tricks that keeps the spirits of wanderers high, entry was 1€ and you gained Wasteland currency in the form of bottle-caps! These can then be used to play the games, win more caps and then bring them to the desk to claim your prize. With a bigger space you’d think they would feel more comfortable than last year, but after talking with Karnival boss Doc, he estimates that if things keep going as they are then they are well on their way to surpassing last years amount raised. All of which is going to their charity sponsor!

Last year some outlets complained of lack of maps or layouts of the convention, thus leading them to miss out on certain events and that hindered their opinion of the con. Although last year there were plenty of maps and guides around and I even posted them on Akroview’s Facebook page beforehand. The guys at DCC didn’t want this to happen again, so they decided to try their hands at making an app for smartphones, this app contains every single bit of info that you need about the con and even allowed you to sign up for events and competitions ahead of the queues! They also had 3 different types of floor layout plans so nobody can complain of not knowing there was another floor they missed out on.

Next big thing that I need to address is the amount of panels that were on over the weekend. Ranging from workshops, guest interviews and even a reading from an unpublished Superman script performed by the lovely folk over at Story Breakers alongside the hosts of the weekend, the infamous Pubcast. The boys were run of their feet this year so if you appreciated what they did then head over to their Facebook page and give them an aul like.

Guest wise it was a success, granted some of the guests had to cancel last minute due to schedule conflicts but it didn’t stop the crowds from flocking in to meet stars of The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, and Supernatural to name just a few. I’ve never seen such a wide range of guests at an Irish con. With the exception of a voice actor (sadly John DiMaggio had to cancel last minute) there would have been something for every fandom. And that is exactly what I like to see. Photos and signatures were a little of the steep side but before you jump at my throat and the convention organizer’s throats let me remind you, prices are not set by the convention, they are set by the agents of these guests. Only under certain circumstances can a convention have a guest do everything for free, but it is an unbelievably massive undertaking!

Right, it’s never an Akroview review without a little bit of controversy so here goes! Dublin Comic Con is a family event. I repeat A FAMILY EVENT. This means there will be children present and enjoying the convention, the last thing a parent wants is to do is find the need to avert their children’s glare away from a cosplayer who may be deemed as wearing almost nothing or in a costume that can be deemed “over sexualised”. Dublin Comic Con are aware that this is an issue for family events and went out of their way to addressing this problem. There were signs that had the “Cosplay is not Consent” and I was informed that some members of the staff were reminding people throughout the day to be respectful and this is a major plus for the con. My only problem is that while it was mentioned in the app that it wasn’t printed on the leaflets too, it would’ve been better to have it in print to on the day. Maybe next year!

There was so much to say about this con but I feel I’ve overdone my usual word count already! The last thing I have to say is a massive thank you to the crew, the staff, the vendors (which I actually couldn’t count how many and just for your information, DCC had the widest range of vendors I have seen to date), the cosplayers (you were all fantastic this year) and of of course, you!! Without you attending the con and reading this piece we wouldn’t be where we are today.

To sum it up in a nutshell, the best DCC to date. Plenty of things to keep the little ones occupied, amazing sets for them to go to school and say “I was in the Walking Dead!” or “I’m really the king of Westeros, I’m even on the Iron Throne!” The atmosphere was friendly and they actually pulled off a true family friendly event which I hope they do pass their expectation of 20k visitors!

Thank you for reading, and I shall see you at DCC 2017!

Adam.

(Sadly no video from Grahamedia this year since he is living it up in Singapore right now, but fret not another amazing photographer is stepping up to the plate and I will add the music video in soon!)