OH!CONs long gone

This year's OH!CON is on Saturday 12 October. If you didn't make it to the previous ones, read on to find out what you missed! OH!CON 2024 will very probably be something like these.

OH!CON 2023

In the run up to OH!CON, both UHI and An Lanntair ran themed workshops.

On Friday evening, 14 teams pitted their geekiest knowledge against each other in The Big OH!CON Quiz, held in the Town Hall. It was a hard-fought contest, but the team of OH!CON special guests emerged victorious.

Saturday was a packed day – just see the 2023 programme (pdf) to see what we mean!

We had a fantastic line-up of guests:

• Ben Aaronovitch, best-selling author of ‘The Rivers of London’ series (his second visit to OH!CON - thanks, Ben!)
• Catriona Lexy Campbell: author, actor, film-maker
• Rik Carranza: comedian and geek
• Gary Erskine: artist (Marvel, DC, 2000AD)
• Tom Foster: artist (2000AD)
• Tom Humberstone:  comic artist and illustrator
• G.R. Jordan: author
• Dr Christopher MacLeod: scientist
• Ken MacLeod: sci-fi author
• Sha Nazir: publisher, BHP comics
• Hereward L.M. Proops: author
• Irina Richards: comics and manga artist

There were drawing workshops, writing workshops, talks on role playing games, alien life and graphic novels.

Both the art competition (such fabulous artwork!) and the cosplay competition (so many glorious costumes!) attracted twice as many entries as the previous year. We’ll be running both again this year, so start getting your entries ready!

Drop-in activities included LEGO, animation, VR and video gaming, a pop-up comics library, and green-screen photography.

Gateway Nerds ran gaming sessions and displays all day long.

OH!CON 2022: the Outer Hebrides' first comic con!

What a fantastic day! Superheroes, robots, mighty adventurers and strange creatures roamed through the streets of Stornoway. We saw hundreds of people through the door to enjoy talks, workshops, gaming sessions and more.

In the run up, there were cosplay workshops at the library and An Lanntair ran character design and superhero emblem workshops.  A screening of 'The Earth Dies Screaming' with a special introduction by Hereward Proops kicked off OH!CON on Thursday.

On Friday, twelve teams pitted their geekiest knowledge against each other in The Big OH!CON Quiz, held at Stornoway Library. A big nerdy well done to Quizzilatiop Over-Thruster – the first OH!CON quiz champions!

And on the day there were workshops and talks covering topics from writing and drawing comics, to creating robotics, to the business of games, and the history of the Beano.

Activities included Nerf, LEGO, VR, figurine painting, a pop-up comics library, and green-screen photography.

Gateway Nerds and Western Isles Wargamers ran gaming sessions all day, and UHI designed and provided a unique arcade machine especially for OH!CON.

And there were tons of fabulous costumes – we saw imperial stormtroopers, federation star fleet officers, superheroes, supervillains, hobbits, Daleks, and more.

We were blessed with an extraordinary set of guests for our first OH!CON – writers, artists, game designers and more. They delivered brilliant talks, workshops, panels and interviews throughout the day.

• Ben Aaronovitch, best-selling author of The Rivers of London series.
• Chaz Elliott, game industry legend ( Games Workshop, WotC, Warhammer, Magic the Gathering)
• David Powell, Archives Manager, DC Thomson & Co Ltd.
• Etienne Kubwabo, film maker  and comic creator (Beats of War).
• Gary Chudleigh, comic writer (LEGO, Ninjago, Avengers, Jurassic World)
• Jason Quinn, editor, Panini UK (Batman, Spiderman, Ben10)
• Paul Bristow, Magic Torch Comics
• Tanya Roberts, artist (2000AD, Disney, Dreamworks, Netflix)
• Hereward Proops, author (The Sound of Shiant, The Degeneration of Hortensia Phrigg)