Comic Con and Have a go if you think you’re hard enough

In a Galaxy Far Far away...from Exeter, heroes young and old, brave and bold, assembled in a sports hall come-conferencing
centre for the feel-good event of Devon’s nerd year.

This is the fourth year of UKCGF being at Plymouth Life and over the weekend of 5th and 6th November, thousands of fans
of sci-fi and fantasy piled through the halls of the converted gymnasium.

Stalls selling homemade products emblazoned with characters from Marvel comics, the Star Wars universe and other iconic
franchises were interspersed with stands offering to tutor children (of all ages) in lightsaber fighting.

They rubbed shoulders with real life sci-fi icon Danny John Jules, the star of Red Dwarf. John Jules is a veteran of conventions from around the world, since his first one in Chicago in 1994.

The popularity of the sitcom had exploded in America and the rush surprised him.

“I didn’t even get recognised in England!” he told The Moorlander.

He went on to say: “It’s nice to be back in Plymouth. I first came here in 1979 to do pantomime with Norman Wisdom and Alvin Stardust at the Palace Theatre.”

A major feature of the day was the costume competitions, where people of all ages get to dress up. One of the veterans
of various conventions, Lee, talked us through the appeal of the day: “It’s all about the look’s on the kid’s faces,” he
commented.

One woman had adapted her wheelchair into a StarGate and was attending with her boyfriend.

There were a variety of awards given throughout the day. The award for Best Craftpersonship was won by Woody, dressed
like Moondrop, a character from Five Nights at Freddy’s. The costume was made by his father Tim, a design engineer, who
used all of his professional skills to build an eerily accurate costume out of a quality street box and a yoga mat,
augmented with some lights he wired himself.

His prowess won him an award on the day and previous efforts have led to him being nicknamed “Cosplay Dad”. When asked
why he enjoys the conventions he said: “It’s the way it makes my son feel.”

He said his son had been shy - “He was incredibly insular but when he began wearing the mask and acting he really came
out of his shell.” His son now has friends and a community that revolves around the convention - a key feature of the day.

In the words of Tim, the Cosplay Dad - “Sure there’s a lot of oddballs here, but we’re all oddballs.”