Back after an 18 month hiatus, Leamington Comic Con returned to the UK convention calendar with a new venue and a line up promising, comics, cosplay and plenty of fun for all the family. Having finally recovered from last week’s MCM Birmingham, our roving reporter Olly MacNamee broke out his press pass to give us all the news from this year’s event.

A third Leamington Comic Con and a new, sun-kissed venue too! The move to the Royal Spa Centre was definitely worth it from a fan’s point of view as the upper floor, where the Kids’ Zone and the cosplayers were, was flooded with the beautiful Spring sunlight that has finally arrived. I assume God must be a comic book fan, as I seem to remember the sun being out at their last event, back in the Autumn of 2015.

This division of cosplayers, kids and comic book creators (the latter group who were situated on the ground floor) worked well at True Believers and worked well here. Those that chilled out at the front of the building also helped encourage people to pop in I dare say too. And, with a bar on site too, you couldn’t want for much more.

Dan Mallier, Lisa-Marie Nelson and the rest of the gang should be really pleased with the overall event as there was a steady stream of paying guests on the door throughout the day, and many of the indie comic book creators told us they did better at this family-friendly event than at the previous week’s MCM Comic Con in Birmingham. Which shows that a smaller con focusing more on comics and local comic book creators can introduce you to new readers and potentially new fans.

Alongside convention regulars like TPub (whose Neil Gibson presented a panel on the TPub model of storytelling), there were the likes of Dead Canary Comics, Vince Hunt, Jon Laight, Attic Studios, and many others (including our very own Alex Thomas with The Pull List). There were also new kids on the block, Dave Jones, Jay and Liam Frettingham. Showcasing this year’s Small Press Factor winning comic, King Legacy, at only their third comic con! (Leamington being the furthest North they’d been. So far!) As one of the judges on this year’s panel, I can only attest to it being a worthy winner and a fun read. Look out for them, and others, across the breadth of the comic-con season.

The day flew by, with barely time to say hello to everyone, especially when I had to factor in hosting duties on a panel alongside The Kill Screen’s Mike Garley and Andy Clift, (who produce a weekly web comic Sgt. Steel: Allied Avenger which is a wonderful retro-styled mock newspaper strip straight out of the golden age of such Sunday funnies), but judging by the faces of fans and families, this was another successful con in a rural town that suggests there’s still a love for comics wherever you are. Not to mention, a desire for comic cons, even in an ever growing calendar of cons in the local Midlands area.

Ed’s note: Look out later in the week for another Behind The Table column from our editor Alex Thomas