Shirt...

...Is Very Patriotic.

Having briefly attended MCM London Expo in May to meet Alastair Duncan (Dr. Mortimer in the Granada HOUND), the announcement of two of the voice actors from the English dub of ‘Moriarty: The Patriot’, an anime series based on the Manga series of the same name, meant that Shirt booked for the Friday of the October event (as that day had not been as busy when he attended earlier in the year). Shirt had watched half on the ‘MTP’ episodes online before his free trial ran out.

Having paid for standard entry, Shirt did not have to get to the Excel Centre until 12pm. On arrival (at around 12.15pm), he was ushered through the queuing lines to a short queue to pick up his entry pass, then pick up a lanyard for it, on his way to the main halls. Making his way to the main signing area, he found only Aaron Dismuke at his table. Aaron plays the series’ main protagonist, William James Moriarty. Shirt therefore joined a queue of anime fans, who seemed to be mainly meeting Aaron for his appearances in ‘Fullmetal Alchemist’ and ‘My Hero Academia’. On reaching the front, and paying the steward, Shirt produced a still of Moriarty, which Aaron seemed excited to see, particularly when Shirt praised his portrayal of the character.

“Shall I put ‘You’ll never catch me, Mr. Holmes’ ?”, he asked Shirt, who unsurprisingly agreed.

Aaron then posed for a photo taken by his steward.

Having chatted about the series for a few minutes, Shirt moved off. Unfortunately, Ryan Colt Levy, who plays Dr. Watson in ‘MTP’ was still not at his table. However, Shirt was aware that ‘Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK’ alumnus, Blu Hydrangea, was doing a meet and greet at the other end of the massive hall. He therefore slowly made his way over, getting an idea of the layout of the hall. On arrival, he found a short queue, which moved slowly due to Blu speaking to each person at length. However, after around 15 minutes, Shirt was stepping forward for a slightly awkward chat about the show, before they posed for a photo. This was taken by Blu’s assistant, and involved him holding Shirt’s phone in one hand and a light in the other to ensure the best result [Tigger was very impressed by the resulting photo, being a big Blu fan].

Moving back to the main signing area, Shirt was pleased that Ryan was now at his table, with a slightly longer queue than the one for Aaron. Ryan was currently starring in ‘Chainsaw Man’, and with several other stars also at the con, this seemed to be what everyone was getting him to sign merchandise from (one fan was even cosplaying as the main character with a chainsaw for a head). On reaching the front, Shirt paid his money, and produced a still of Watson, which Ryan also seemed excited to see. Ryan was charging for quotes, so Shirt decided to forego this, but he did spend a long time on adding his character name to his signature (which for most of the other attendees had included a chainsaw drawing). He then posed with Ryan for a photo.

Shirt then made his way to the Naughty Asteroid ‘Doctor Who’ pop-up shop, which had a large amount of Diamond Anniversary merchandise, some of which was not supposed to be out yet. Deciding to be restrained, Shirt bought only the MDW ’60 Moments in Time’ Special, and ‘Whotopia: The Ultimate Guide to the Whoniverse’, the 60th Anniversary celebratory coffee-table book from BBC Books. He then made his way to the other event hall where he was aware that a signing by Una McCormack, one of the authors of ‘Whotopia’, had just started.

Finding the signing area at the other end of the massive hall, Shirt produced the book from its bag, to Una’s surprise.

“I didn’t think that was out yet”, she told him.

“There’s loads of copies in the Naughty Asteroid DW shop in the other hall”, Shirt replied, aware that this signing was being run by Naughty Asteroid at their main stall. However, it seemed that there had been no communication between the two halls (not even a sign stating that Una was signing in the other hall by the large pile of the book).

Having signed his book, leaving space for the other two authors, Simon Guerrier and Jonathan Morris, Una stated that once this signing was complete, she would pop over to the other stall and sign some copies.

Shirt then made his way to the comics area, finding where Mariano Laclaustra, artist on some of the Twelfth Doctor comics, was sitting. Mariano was pleased when Shirt produced his copy of ‘The Twist’ graphic novel, which he had got Rachael Stott to sign at the May event, signing alongside her on the title page.

Moving off, Shirt reached the stall for Blue Fox Comics, who he had supported on Kickstarter for a comic series and graphic novel both featuring Arthur Conan Doyle. The stall was staffed by the publisher, Simon Birks, who happily signed Shirt’s comics and graphic novel, giving him several promotional bookmarks.

Shirt then spent around an hour-and-a-half, browsing the stalls in both halls. He briefly considered joining a queue for a ‘Disney Lorcana’ artist for a signature and promo card, but it seemed to be moving very slowly. Not finding anything that he wanted to buy, Shirt decided to leave the event, and see if he could find a the Sixth Doctor ‘Ultimate Adventure’ TARDIS at a nearby M&B Giveaways.

Having had no luck, Shirt made his way to the Southwark Playhouse’s new venue in Elephant and Castle, where his evening’s entertainment was ‘Lizzie’, described as a True Crime Punk Rock Musical exploring the life of Lizzie Borden. [Shirt’s view – ‘Six’-lite].

[PL]