On the first
weekend of December, with my wife, Sian, and two friends, Anthony and Ben, I
attended the For the Love of Sci-Fi Comic Con at the Bowler’s Exhibition Centre
in Manchester. It’s been a pretty busy year for me, with my wedding in February,
followed by a three-month trip (aka “greedy honeymoon”) around the world, but it
might surprise you to learn that my weekend in Manchester is quite easily one
of the most memorable of the year. I have to be careful when saying such
things, though, but if you’re reading this, Sian, just remember - we got
married on a Friday!
The event took
place over the weekend and was a huge turn-out. And though I
knew it had sold-out beforehand, I hadn’t anticipated that it would be so
incredibly busy. But for me, this simply heightened the atmosphere of it all,
helping to generate a buzz in the air stronger than The Force of any Jedi.
Movie props occupied the main hall area and included the Batwing from Tim
Burton’s Batman, the Loader from Aliens, an X-Wing from the Star
Wars films, Hagrid’s Hut from the Harry
Potter franchise, and none other than the Ecto-1 from the Ghostbusters films.
Ever seen me and Bruce Wayne together? Exactly
We weren't told to get away from her, so all was well
Someone called..?
The guest
line-up was equally colourful: William Shatner, David Hasselhoff, Ian MacDiarmid,
Billy Dee Williams, Dolph Lundgren, to name but a few, as well as two in
particular whose attendance had drawn us to the event in the first place – Ghostbuster
Winston Zeddemore himself, Ernie Hudson, and Jennifer Runyon, who played the unforgettably-beautiful
college student at the beginning of Ghostbusters
(1984), with whom Bill Murray’s Peter Venkman is flirting while he spitefully
electrocutes the student he’s trying to get rid of.
In fact, besides
the venue’s line-up and its fair share of retro merchandise - which made me feel
like a child lost in a toy store’s warehouse on Christmas in the 80s - even more
nostalgic was spending time with the likes of those whose respective action
figures I actually owned as a child. Not that I've ever recovered my
He-Man or Winston Ghostbusters action figures, for example, but now I feel
much-less guilty having actually seen Dolph Lundgren on-stage and in the flesh during his
Q&A, and having actually spent an evening with Ernie Hudson, along with the
wonderful Jennifer Runyon...
The Cantina Bar: Who had a shot first?
Go home, Sian. You're drunk
Glass of Prosecco? WE GOT ONE!
Yes, we enjoyed
an evening with both Ernie and Jennifer on the Friday before the Comic Con
event had even started! Consisting of some twenty fans, the “VIP” experience, run by the same organiser, took place at the same location, specifically
at the centre’s very own “Cantina Bar”. If you’re not familiar with Star Wars, the
name probably won’t mean much to you, but to add some context, it’s the galactically-diverse
bar where we first meet Han Solo in the original film. Lifelike alien props
occupied the booths and the bar, though it’s already obvious that we were far
more interested in its more animated and more human patrons, Ernie and
Jennifer.
But before the
champagne and the special screening of the original Ghostbusters, both actors were chauffeured into the venue in the Ecto-1 itself, with its iconic siren blaring while escorted
by American police cars. When it pulled to a stop, and the two exited the car,
I felt my hair raise more than it would have had a free-floating, full-torso,
vaporous apparition phased right through me. Simply put, it was very surreal. Sian and I
had already met Ernie two years before at the Optimus Comic Convention in
Torquay, but this time around I was no less star-struck – not to mention he was joined by Jennifer Runyon! After greetings and selfies, we all made our way up to the bar where we were given free champagne
and the opportunity to mingle with the two.
"Is it a star?" Yes - it's the amazing Jennifer Runyon
How has this guy just turned 72?!
We arrived in style
Quite
hilariously, Ernie managed to spoil his TV show, Oz, for Ben. Not that Ben complained.
After all, who else would you call for such a spoiler? Ernie was as relaxed and
as down-to-earth as ever, echoing the loveable qualities of his on-screen,
ghost-busting counterpart. It was also great to hear how Jennifer is very good
friends with the equally-wonderful Robin Shelby, who played Slimer in Ghostbusters II and Mrs Slimer in the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot, and who Sian and I also met
at the Optimus Comic Con back in 2015. Jennifer was simply wonderful, warm and exuded so much positivity.
On that note, perhaps they could have done with her in the 1989 sequel to
fend-off all that negatively-charged ectoplasm that was flowing beneath
Manhattan!
The weekend
event itself was, of course, just as Ghostbusters-heavy. Not only did the Ecto-1
remain in the main hall for photo shoots, both Ernie and Jennifer returned for
a Q&A session on-stage with the director and producer of upcoming documentary,
Cleanin’ Up the Town: Remembering Ghostbusters, Anthony and Claire Bueno, both of whom we also had the absolute
pleasure of meeting the following day in the middle of the crowds! With a full rough
cut of the film now in existence, it’s only a matter of time before it comes
stomping along with as much presence as a certain 112-and-a-half foot anthropomorphic
marshmallow did back in 1984.
Anthony, Jennifer, Ernie and Claire take to the stage
Cleanin' Up the Town - but this time it's not by The Bus Boys
The wonderful Anthony and Claire Bueno
With an
opportunity for questions during the Ghostbusters Q&A, the microphone was
passed around the audience. However, I suddenly found myself too nervous to ask
anything. Not that it had anything to do with being star-struck (after all, I had
not long spent an evening in the company of both the actors), but it was more to
do with standing up in the middle of a large crowd. It’s never been my forte. That
said, my question would have just been around the stars' hopes for the future of the
franchise.
On reflection, though, it doesn’t really matter. The answer was already staring me in the face: the franchise is now stronger than ever, with
thanks to the likes of Ernie and Jennifer’s presence on the Comic Con circuit, and Anthony and Claire Bueno’s enormous dedication in producing what will undoubtedly
be a documentary of biblical proportions. That, and I’m sure all of our streams will cross again soon…
Another star in my eyes
Did they want me to take this picture, because they look kinda miffed
I hope someone moved that car...
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