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Kevin Eastman Joins Comic Publishing Summit At MCM London Comic Con

Kevin Eastman joins the Comic Publishing Summit for comic book retailers at MCM London Comic Con this month, with Rebellion and ComicsPRO

Published Fri, 08 May 2026 10:57:08 -0500

by Rich Johnston

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This year, the ComicsPRO Comic Publishing Summit for comic book professionals, retailers, creators, and publishers at MCM London Comic Con, held on the Friday the 23rd of May, the first day of MCM, is hosted by ComicsPRO, Kevin Eastman, co-creator of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He will attend a Q&A and a retailer-only signing, followed by Rebellion Publishing attending to talk about their 2000AD publishing plans in the light of the upcoming Rogue Trooper film.

Kevin Eastman Joins Comic Publishing Summit At MCM London Comic Con — By Kevin_Eastman_and_Steve_Barron.jpg: Rubenstein derivative work: Tabercil CC BY 2.0, Link

"Join us for a day of education, networking, and fun starting with a Q&A and exclusive paid retailer-only signing with Kevin Eastman (to beat the queue)! Later in the day, the team from Rebellion will be on-site to talk about their upcoming slate. We will also have some exclusive comics and swag to give away. Plus, retailer panels and trainings throughout the day with ComicsPRO."

It starts at 10 am on Friday, and those who qualify can apply for Industry Passes now and pick them up from 8am that day. Thanks to the Elizabeth Line, it's a lot easier to get there on time these days, and it opens up a lot more places to stay (and eat and drink) afterwards.

10.00 – opening welcome (will we have coffee and snacks)
10:30 – Kevin Eastman Q&A
11:10 – Kevin Eastman signing
12:00 – Break
12:10 – ComicsPRO panel
13:10 – Beyond Big Two Panel
14:10 – Networking
14:45 – Rebellion Publishing presentation
15:20 – ComicsPRO panel

I was at the ComicsPRO programming at MCM London Comic Con last year, which would have been great if all the retailers hadn't just joined Diamond UK in the pub. In the end, it was just me and Dean Simmons from Publisher's Weekly/The Beat, and then Dean left, leaving me to film two of Dave Elliott's presentations to ComicsPRO in an empty room for Bleeding Cool… I get the feeling this will be a very different story this year. You can apply for industry passes here and sign up to the Comic Publishing Summit here. And you never know, at some point over the weekend, I may be dragged on stage to interview someone like last year as well…

When I Was Called On To Moderate Chip Zdarsky Panel At MCM Comic Con — Photo from Neil Gibson

Around the corner in ICC Capital Suite – Room 3 is the Popcultr Marketing Summit as well, promising "A single focused day. No parallel tracks, no breakout rooms. Everyone in one room, following one thread." Dubbed The Fandom Advantage, it is aimed at "any marketers or comms professionals who have an interest in pop culture marketing or how to connect to audiences or consumers in the worlds of pop culture or pop culture fandom"

9:00 Doors Open & Registration
10:15 The Data Drop, Chris Whittle
10:30 Keynote #1 (TBA)
11:00 Fandom Fluency Panel
11:30 Morning Break
11:45 The Popcultr Edit Panel, Recurring format
12:15 Reading The Room Panel
12:45 The Dark Arts Panel, Sponsorship available
13:15 Lunch, MCM Exploration & Networking
14:15 The Tabletop Renaissance Panel
14:45 Lost In Translation Panel
15:15 Afternoon Break
15:30 Culture Shock Panel
16:00 Closing Session (TBA)
16:30 Closing Remarks
17:30 Networking Drinks

And there's also an Indie Games Summit, with talks, roundtables and indie developers, plus networking opportunities in the video games industry hosted by Game Republic in ICC Capital Suite – Room 1.

12:30-12:35 – Welcome to the Indie Games Summit!
12:35-13:15 – Keynote: James Schall, Co-Founder, Secret Mode interviewed by Chris Dring, Editor-in-Chief, The Game Business
12:30-14.00- Funding Options for Game Developers with Oliver Jenkinson, Co-Founder, Finstock Capital
14.00-14:30 – Super Rare Games: Why Physical Media Isn't Dying with George Perkins, Head of Doing Stuff, Super Rare Games
14:30-15:15 – The Games Investment Panel – hosted by Jon Hicks, Editorial Director, GamesIndustry.biz with Nick Button-Brown, Founder, The Games Angels, HaZ Dulull, Founder, Beyond the Pixels, Dr Gina Jackson OBE, Co-Founder, Pitchify, Sarah Burns, Head of Production & Operations, Marvelous Europe Ltd
15:30-15:55 – BFI session with Chris Filip, International Business Development Fund Manager, UK Global Screen Fund
16.00-16:25 – Xsolla Partner Network Session
16.30-17.00 – TikTok for Indie Games by Molly Holmes, Social Media Manager, Panda Cat Games

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