Two death threats made at London Film & Comic Con

And the award for Weirdest Thing to Happen at LFCC goes to…

It’s been an interesting weekend of highs and lows at London’s Olympia. On the one hand, I got to meet one of my heroes in the form of John Cleese; on the other, the organization of the photoshoots with him ended up going so badly askew that Showmasters had to arrange a third session at the end of the day, everybody could get their pictures. I got to meet two more comedy heroes in the shapes of Matt Lucas and Mark Williams; but Christopher Lloyd was so slow at signing autographs that I never got more than a hundred yards near him.

And then there’s this little shocker. While guest-starring on Kevin Smith’s panel-cum-recording session for his Fatman on Batman podcast, Bleeding Cool boss Rich Johnston informed us all of two death threats made against relatively well-known members of geek culture, the day before, at the convention.

The first incident was witnessed by Bleeding Cool writer and comic creator Joe Glass. A man approached Glass, manning a stand and minding Johnston’s daughters. He was described by Glass as white, clean-shaven, around 5 feet 9 inches tall, overweight, in his 20s and wearing a flat cap. After dismissing the artwork in Glass’s comic as “Tumblr art”, the man asked if he knew Garth Ennis. Before Glass could react, the man stated that the Preacher creator was “an arsehole” and claimed to have sent him a letter bomb. He then elaborated, saying that said bomb had been returned and “blew up in [his] face”, which was the reason for him wearing the hat. The man then wandered away, leaving Glass and Johnston to report the matter to show security.

The second incident is somewhat more troubling. Actor, comic creator and comedian Dan Fogler, probably best known for his turn as no-mag Jacob in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, made an impromptu appearance at the Heavy Metal comic stand on Saturday. A long queue soon formed and Fogler spent most of the afternoon signing sketch comics and prints for the assembled fans. One fan, however, quickly began to stand out. He told anyone who cared to listen that he was convinced Fogler was actually the evil wizard Grindlewald from the Potterverse; that he had disguised himself as Jacob using polyjuice potion; and that he was going to save everyone by strangling “Grindlewald” with his bare hands. Word soon reached Tony Lee, manager of the Comics Zone area, who proceeded to talk the man down. After talking to him extensively, Lee convinced the man that he was wrong. Eventually allowing that Fogler was “probably” Jacob’s grandson, the man decided that he was going to find Benedict Cumberbatch and left the queue. Showmasters’ security people quickly took him away from the other attendees as soon as he was away from the stall.

The security people hired by organisers Showmasters have been exemplary over the weekend and handled any problems quickly and professionally. Unfortunately, things like this happen. And they do seem to be happening lately. Two months ago, a man dressed as The Punisher entered Phoenix Comic Con in Arizona, loaded up with what organisers assumed were replica prop weapons. In fact, they were real guns loaded with live ammo and the man stated his intent to shoot guest attendee Jason David Frank, the original Green Power Ranger, before turning the guns on any law enforcement officials who tried to stop him. Luckily for all involved, nothing has come of any of these incidents and Garth Ennis has been warned to check his mail, regardless of the implausibility of a letter bomb having a return address attached. Still, if anyone does have any information on the possible bomber, please contact the Metropolitan Police on 020 7230 1212.

Source: Bleeding Cool