Stan Lee At London Film & Comic-Con 2014

I thought the day after seeing Eminem at Wembley Arena with Lewis and Kurt, would be the highlight of my nerdy, comic-book knowledge and most of all MARVEL life. Turned out it to be a let down (in some way) thanks to that crushing moment when you meet a hero/ icon or famous person who you idolised and looked up to for many years turns out to be a very limited moment and you don't get to do much and your hero isn't the same as you imagined. Here I'm explaining why meeting Stan Lee at London Film & Comic-Con was disappointing for me and Kurt while the rest of our time there was good in it's own way.

You see, on Saturday 12th July (the day after our night of seeing Eminem), we made our way to Earl's Court in London to go to London Film & Comic-Con for the first time, thanks to discovering back in mid April that Stan Lee (Creator Of MARVEL) was making his last ever European visit so this was our last chance to meet him and see if we could get an autograph or a photo with him. Unfortunately it turned out to be really difficult and frustrating but don't get me wrong, Kurt and I got something signed each but at the cost of £45. But was it really worth it?

The day turned out rather hot  on Saturday 12th July, I went there dressed as Iron Man (Iron Man-Armour t-shirt, with red chinos and a Helmet I bought off eBay) while Kurt went as Spider-Man (Spider-Man uniform Jersey and trousers). After we made our way there to Earl's Court, we realised we both hadn't got any money out and all the ATM machines had a queue of around 25 people... Wa-Wa-Waaah. So we backtracked to London Victoria on the tube, got the money and then returned, what a drag. Anyway, once we returned and finally entered the actual convention, we took a small browse around at all the stalls that sold memorabilia, t-shirts, small items, comics, posters, figures, weaponry, props, you name it! Anything related to Anime, Films, TV-Series, Comic books, Doctor Who, Star Wars, Marvel, DC Comics, so it was heaven haha. But our purpose was to head upstairs and look for the queue to see Stan Lee.
Once we entered the queue, we noticed a banner on the side explaining "It's £45 per autograph, and please NO MOBILE PHONES, NO VIDEO CAMERA, NO SELFIES AND NO PERSONALISATIONS!" So they basically took away all the fun and made this all strictly business... >_>
So when our time came, Kurt went first and got his A1 MARVEL "The Avengers" Poster signed by Stan and as for me, I got my A1 MARVEL "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" Poster signed that I bought with me thanks to how a special friend bought it to me back on my 21st birthday. So after Kurt went, I came up to Stan (my heart was beating heavily) and I said "It's an Honor to meet you, Sir" To which I got no response and only watched Stan slowly sign my poster and the security guards next to him shouted "Next" So there you have it!

Notice, the signature on the left!
Thank you very much, Mills for the poster from my 21st birthday! :3

But you see despite Stan not acknowledging Kurt and my polite comments, we still had an alright time. Of course at the time we were a bit bummed down and gutted because we paid the money and Stan didn't really turn out to be the "full quid" in some way. We couldn't get a selfie or even just take a picture while in the queue from the distance (without the flash as we wouldn't know what that would do to him) because that way it would have made more of a memory or proof that we were there and we just didn't understand why this special and unforgettable day was too demeaning and restricted.
But anyway, as the day went on I tried my best to make the most of it, shop around a little and maybe even get a few (actually I took hundreds) of photos and some with some talented and pretty ladies.

Me with the lovely lady, Andrea Tamme! (The girl who was selling the posters)

After Stan Lee, my biggest highlight of the Saturday was meeting a very pretty lady at a Poster stand that had such beautifully detailed and well thought-out fan-made design posters of most Animes, TV-Series, Games and Films I all recognised, I was astonished by the detail and creativity. Anyway I ended up chatting to her for a good 15 mins after seeing a "The Land Before Time" poster that I was super tempted to buy but sadly chose not to as it was too childish, we both spoke about our feelings and why we both enjoyed the film series. To be a good sport, I bought 3 posters from her for £20 as the 3rd was free. And because I really enjoyed her company and really liked her, I asked her if she wouldn't mind sharing a photo with me. She happily obliged and I got a lovely photo with her and soon found her Facebook page after receiving a contact card as I headed off with Kurt. Nothing else really happened on the Saturday after that so we just headed home and I explained everything to my parents who were astonished at how Stan Lee acted and how much money I had to spend to get something precious signed by him.
I even took a funny picture on the train home of me wearing my Iron Man helmet and wrote up on Facebook next to the picture, "Have you ever seen Iron Man take the Southern Railway before?"

Some Funko Pop Figurines

The following day, Sunday 13th July was the last day of LFCC so we ventured back up there (only this time we both agreed not to get another item signed as it wasn't worth it especially in value and how Stan Lee really was). So before that, Kurt had to head to The Emirates Stadium to buy his new Arsenal "Alexis" t-shirt. Now me being a Chelsea fan, this was going against everything and my dad would have hated me if I set one foot on the grounds haha (of course I didn't I just sat across the road from the stadium, patiently waiting for Kurt who sadly couldn't get his shirt in his size).
So we made our way to Earl's Court again but around 2.45pm, and we just did the same thing as yesterday, shopped around and took a look at the stalls. Kurt was buying several FUNKO POP Figurines (little bobble-head figures that he likes to collect specifically MARVEL ones). I was undoubtedly tempted to buy the Deadpool and Amazing Spider-Man ones but they were £75 each and were rare editions, so nope.

As I took photos of some of the impressive props that were at LFCC such as a HUGE Dragon Skull Head from Game Of Thrones and some of the Transformers cars along with the beautiful and amazing cosplayers who were all having a "whale of a time" (that's a weird phrase, right?!)
Kurt and I noticed many actors, directors and famous celebrities who had turned up for the weekend and were doing autographs like Stan Lee but they were all charging too and several were allowing no photographs too, for f*** sake. Some guests there were: George A. Romero (director of Dawn of The Dead and all the other films), Brooke and Lita (famous female wrestlers), Adam Brown (plays Ori from The Hobbit films), Kenny Baker and Billy Dee Williams (who play R2-D2 and Lando Calrissian from the Star Wars films) along with Colin Baker (who played the Sixth Doctor in Doctor Who, too bad Tom Baker wasn't there) and Vincent Ward (The Walking Dead). I even heard rumours that the actors who physically played Boba Fett and Darth Vader (Star Wars) were there too but I couldn't find them, damn it.

But the real highlight of the Sunday was getting several photos with some very famous and talented cosplays who turn up to many conventions across the world. I first encountered Kelly Jean at a stand who was dressed as "Marvel Girl" and I had a small chat with her as I asked her to sign an A4 poster print of her cosplaying "Poison" from the Mortal Kombat games. She was very lovely and polite and a real talented lady. I even got a photo with her too (Y)












I also noticed 2 more famous cosplayers there too who were both cosplaying 2 characters from the famous Vocaloid (singing voice synthesizer computer software) that use Anime girls as humanoid personas or just character icons/ mascots. They were "Luka Megurine" (the pink haired lady) and the main girl "Miku Hatsune" (the aquamarine/ turquoise haired lady) who both turned out to be the cosplayers Masubi and Nethicite that I later discovered through their facebook pages on a picture on their stands. They were both very pretty and I'm happy they allowed me to have a photo with them both together.
So Sunday was another good day for meeting new acquaintances, taking some really cool photos and just gaining the courage to meet some really nice people, have a chat and maybe even have a photo with them (it's the safe atmosphere as MCM Comic-Con is on in May and October every year).
So despite the expensive demand for someone's autograph and the neglection and the photograph restriction with the man that would have been the highlight of my comic-book life I did have a good time. But something important slapped me in the face a week ago which was a very important fact that someone told me.

The other day (back on Tuesday 16th), I spoke to a work colleague who I discovered went to LFCC too on the Sunday and got a photo with Stan Lee through the £35 Photo shoot. However after I told him my story, it was thanks to his "eye-opening" and "wake-up call" that I was reminded that the man is 91 years old and he was probably suffering from an illness or most likely Jet Lag!  But he was most happy about walking away that day with something that he will treasure forever. Now why couldn't I and maybe Kurt have felt the same way so easily? Was it because of the restrictive atmosphere that us and the other fans were suffering at the time? The excessive cost that it was for getting Stan's autograph? Or the fact he didn't say a word when I got him and said "It's an honour to meet you, sir!"? I reckon its all of the above, but my friend is right. We did walk away with something (at a terrible cost that's for sure) but surely we are lucky to have been there and saw him in person, it's just unfortunate that it wasn't his and our best moment and most likely because he's been doing this for years. It's just too crushing to accept right away seeing as our only moment in our lifetime was downright depressive. Another thing my friend pointed out was the fact that Stan had been touring most of the United States of America for a couple months (he had found this out on Stan Lee's facebook page) so that would also explain why he was so tired and bummed down himself.

But then why is it from some of the pictures of the girls/ famous cosplayers I met first time at LFCC that when they had their photo with him, that he smiled and put on such a good picture? The answer may be clear as daylight but hey, we got something at the end of the day, and that's the most important thing to remember forever. I just hope that in my future Cons and experiences that if I meet other heroes/ actors or most of all The Avengers or even "Agent Coulson" from MARVEL: Agents Of Shield that they will be more good sports and turn out to be very polite for the fans (especially for me and whoever else comes with me) and won't turn out to be completely different people, my expectations seem a little high but it would be sensational to meet Robert Downey, Jr or Chris Hemsworth!!! I mean who wouldn't?!