Comic Con Wales 2022 Hosted By Monopoly Events

Comic Con Wales 2022 took place over the weekend of 6th & 7th August and I had the pleasure of attending as press.

Ahead of the event there were some phenomenal guest announcements, especially for Superman and DC fans that included; Tyler Hoechlin, John Cena, Bitsie Tulloch, Alex Garfin and Dylan Sprayberry. Of course, with announcements like that – I’d purchased a fair few autograph sessions!

This was my first comic convention since Covid, so of course like many I was extremely excited but also a little apprehensive as to what to expect. Especially after seeing videos on social media from a few badly organised comic cons prior to this.  

Right from the get go I could tell that Comic Con Wales 2022 wasn’t going to be a repeat of that. I was let in almost instantly after bag checks and queueing for less than 5 minutes. On entry I instantly saw how huge the venue was, with one hall focused on trading and stalls, the auditorium focusing on Q&As and the meeting rooms focusing on numerous signing groups and photo ops. There were four in total, John Cena’s area, James Masters area, the Cobra Kai area and then the Teen Wolf/Superman & Lois area.

I went straight up to the Superman & Lois area and whilst two of the three guests I had on my list to meet, only Tyler was there and there was no queue at all to meet him. I went up for my autograph and upgraded to a selfie combo, which was a great touch and much cheaper than having a separate photo op and autograph session. 

He was lovely, he complimented my hoodie (which was Superman vs Muhammad Ali) and was great at making conversation. I was with him for a good few minutes before I noticed there was now a queue of other fans. 

I then went off to hit the stalls and get a look at some of the awesome cosplayers of the day. There was a good variety of stalls and something for everyone. Some great comic book stalls, which was great to see.

The cosplayers were great! There were plenty of Batman’s (as usual) but there was a great variety and really accurate ones too! Here’s a look at some of them:

Once I’d done the rounds of the show floor, I went back up to the Superman & Lois room to get the rest of my autograph sessions done. 

Bitsie was first up and again there was hardly any queue, I walked straight up and was second in line. I think this is because of how spread out the celebrities are in the building which was a great idea. The person in front of me was a little boy who had just ran up to her and started telling her how much of a fan he was. It was THE cutest thing I’d seen and the way that she reacted to him was great. He even taught her a bit of Welsh. 

When she got to me she was so kind. All out with the compliments and general chit chat. Again like I did with Tyler I upgraded to get a selfie… I had to it’s Lois Lane! She seemed really down to Earth and seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say when I told her about the site.

Next up was Alex Garfin who is just THE biggest character! He literally was running up to people in the exhibition centre to encourage people to go to the meeting rooms. It was great to see someone so enthusiastic about being a con guest. 

Again there was no queue so I went straight up to him and he got up and came around the table to sign the autograph. He helped me pick out one of the images for him to sign and was great with his chit chat. He really went a long way to personalise my autograph where he wrote ‘To Tasmin, thank you for coming all the way from Woster (he spelled my hometown of Worcester incorrectly, but I’ll forgive him), which is by Birmingham, which I passed from Manchester to Newport, which is in Wales, UK, Europe, Earth.’ That just goes to show how elaborate of a character he is. He really put a smile on my face and his energy was infectious.

Because the whole process was so slick, I got my autographs in no time and then had a long wait for the Superman & Lois panel. To kill time I got myself a bite to eat, a beer and then headed back to the comic stalls to make my final purchases. I then headed to the auditorium to get a good seat for the panel and I was so impressed with the set up. It was a purpose built stage and rowed seating for such an event, compared to some of the make shift stages I’ve seen, this really blew that out of the water.

Here is the entrance of the cast of Superman & Lois:

Unfortunately I didn’t record the entire panel, sorry I didn’t want sore arms and wanted to enjoy it as much as possible. Though some key moments that I took away from the panel: Tyler originally auditioned for the role of Superman/Clark Kent in Man Of Steel, there were hints towards Alex Garfin’s character (Jordan Kent) getting his very own super-suit, and Bitsie expressed her interest in having one final Arrowverse crossover before the final series of The Flash. Another cute moment was when a young boy got up to ask Tyler a question, the boy was dressed as Thor and was wielding Mjölnir. He asked if Tyler could lift his hammer, to which Bitsie replied ‘no’ for him, the boy let out a sigh as if he was disappointed that Superman himself couldn’t lift it.

That brought my time at Comic Con Wales 2022 to an end, but I have to say that it was one that I won’t forget. I had a great time meeting some of my heroes and the event itself was so well planned and well spaced out. Sometimes conventions like this can get a little crowded, but there were plenty of quiet places to go off too, not to mention the stunning grounds of The ICC itself.

One thing that Monopoly Events really nail on the head is the fact that they let you purchase the autographs ahead of the show. That means that on opening morning there isn’t a uncontrollable stampede to get to the celebrities signing tables, the whole event just felt so much more relaxed than other conventions that I’ve been to previously.

Comic Con Wales 2023 will take place on 12th & 13th August 2023, and I will most definitely be attending again.