MCM London May 2026
Summer has arrived and I am melting. This month marked my latest adventure to London for MCM Comic Con. This marks my 20th trip to the convention and while I have witnessed a lot of change over the years, it is still a show that I thoroughly enjoy every time.
Having mostly conquered my fear of flying thanks to the power of Xanax, I was able to fly to London this time and make the most of my arrival day. Strangely we had monitors on the flight with loads of movies available - strange for a 1-hour flight to London. I really enjoyed playing knock-off Trivial Pursuit with the other passengers and a bit of Sudoku as well. It made for a very chill flight. I also saw someone speed-watching Pirates of the Caribbean on 2x speed which gave me a good, confused laugh. I guess they were very excited to watch the next movie?
The heat was intense, so I headed straight for my hotel to freshen up and apply plenty of sun cream. From there I visited the usual haunts in Forbidden Planet, the LEGO store, GAME and Waterstones for some browsing. I also visited the London Graphic Centre for the first time - this was a fabulous shop for stationary, stickers, paints and notepads of all sorts. I really loved wandering around here and will make sure to visit again in the future. They make these lovely, personalised journals that I'd love to get next time!
I had a little bit of free time (and a huge pile of tokens from our Edinburgh trip) so I headed to NQ64 Soho with one objective in mind. Firstly, I grabbed a coke with extra ice which was so refreshing on such a hot day. Then I went straight to the Time Crisis cabinet. I've always had a lot of love for Time Crisis going back to the PS1 era. The original released on the PS1 in 1995 so I was very young playing it and never got to see the credits. Today, with a pocket weighed down with tokens, I was going to see the end. I blew through the familiar first 2 stages on easily enough, not having to touch any extra tokens. The final stage really did burn through a good few tokens though...a mixture of unfamiliarity and a degree of bullshit that I assume is designed to eat your quarters. I really did have fun with it though, it's just such a bast playing these old light gun games. Next time we'll see credits in Time Crisis 2, my absolute favourite of the bunch!
I grabbed some katsu at Marugame which is fast becoming a tradition. Very tasty stuff! From there, it was off to the Prince Charles Cinema for another edition of Solve-a-long-a-Murder-She-Wrote.
This evening's episode was "Menace, anyone?", a tennis themed episode that featured Bryan Cranston and Linda Hamilton. I was very excited to recognise some of the big names this time. The host, Tim, was as delightful as ever and I highly recommend the show to anyone. He travels all over for it now so there are plenty of opportunities to see the show across the UK and Ireland. I had a lovely chat with Tim after the show and he signed my programme which was delightful.
Onto the con itself, the Elizabeth line has been so wonderful for getting to and from the centre. They moved the VIP chill space to near the entrance which made for nice, quiet mornings while I waited for doors to open. I really enjoyed sitting with my Starbucks and ticking off spots on the map I wanted to visit.
The artist alley was cramped which isn't ideal, but it was also a result of the artist alley just being huge. There was a lot of super cute Pokéopia merchandise that I loved, and artists continue to add new types of products to their repertoire. I adore the soft pins, pin banners and socks that I picked up this time. I also really liked that more artists are designing their own Pokémon cards or painting over real cards - I just think they are so unique in my binder. I had some really nice conversations with Matthew Harrower who designed some fabulous Gundam proxy cards and Ricardo Bessa who has done some Pride themed art for Wizards of the Coast. Their talent is immeasurable.
The guest list was plenty big this time around, but I ultimately met fewer guests than before. The Clone Wars cast were charging a lot for autographs, and I decided on the day that it wasn't worth the cost. I was very happy to meet Resident Evil Requiems Angela Sant'Albano and meeting the actors who play Bulk and Skull in Power Rangers means that my copy of MMPR #1 has essentially run out of space for more autographs. Those two were also incredibly kind, two of the nicest guests I have ever met. Lastly, I got a few signatures on a Death Note print that had me feeling nostalgic for times long past. Death Note is the first anime I ever watched that wasn't something picked up by cartoon network or Nickelodeon. The art is fabulous so I'm excited to get this one up on the wall.
MCM have also added a specific section for drag queens which is wonderful. I don't think I'm a big enough fan to go to Drag Con, but I was really happy to meet two of my favourite queens in Tia Kofi and Blu Hydrangea. I think sometimes I am a little bit socially awkward, but I just found them both to be incredibly kind and welcoming. I hope that all the queens had a good experience and that they'll keep this section going in future.
Brandon Sanderson was definitely the highlight guest for many people at this con, bringing with him a whole booth with Dragonsteel to sell beautfiul hardback copies of his books and various other bits of merch. His signing sessions moved really quickly and the professionalism of the whole team there made my time felt so valued. They even gave out little pamphlets with guests to go and meet other authors and artists at the con. I walked away thinking so highly of Sanderson as a person. He just came across as such a class act.
Connected with that, The Broken Binding made their first appearance at MCM with some absolutely gorgeous hardbacks. I spent a little bit too much here on the Murderbot set, the new Witcher book and a few other little bits. They absolutely bombarded me with free art prints, bookmarks and pins and I had a lovely chat with the lady who was doing a few workshops over the weekend. They were all a pleasure to speak to, and I definitely left as a fan of the publisher.
One of the things about MCM for me is that the best things I find there are rarely what I expected them to be. Kayou made their European convention debut at the show. They are a brand I'd never really heard about but they are based out of Asia and have been releasing My Little Pony cards in China and are, hopefully, going to be bringing more of these to the West alongside their playable card game. I ADORE these cards. The art is so good and varied and Kayou were offering loads of promos and freebies throughout the weekend. The pack prices were also very reasonable, so I picked up loads of cards. Andy Price even did some art for them and he is far and away my favourite Pony artist of all time. Am I a little bit obsessed? Absolutely. Did I get Brandon Sanderson to sign one of them for fun? Yes sir!
My 1/1 Brandon Sanderson autographed AppleJack
Sunday was HOT and I didn't stick around at the convention for too long. I had originally planned to visit the Natural History Museum again but I just didn't have the willpower to walk so much in the heat. I went back to the hotel after lunch and napped for an hour or two. The aircon dried out my throat, so I went for a nice stroll in the late afternoon sun to get an ice-cream near St. Pauls Cathedral which was very beautiful. A few years ago, I saw Totoro at the Barbican, and I found myself nearby, so I decided to have a little look around. I bought some water paints and a nice notebook before taking a seat in the shade outside. It was a really beautiful spot to listen to an audiobook and put my feet up. I watched some pelicans enjoying the water, grabbed a cool drink and some popcorn before heading home to end my trip.
With wedding plans in full swing and the cost of these trips constantly rising, I think this will be my last MCM for a while. It might be October 2027 before I can travel over again. MCM has been like a second home for me for all of my adult life, every time I leave the Excel it is with some sadness. I'm very grateful for every event I've been able to attend, and despite the ups and downs, I still always walk away with plenty of highlights and good memories every time.