Amy McGarry-Thickitt
Amy began helping with the Comic Zone in 2018 and quickly became the go-to person for ensuring everyone had everything they needed and were where they were meant to be.
Amy began the Birds of Geek podcast in 2006, when the show ended in 2011 she joined the Geek Syndicate team where she has been a semi-regular contributor to the show ever since.
Her people management and organisation skills come from 15 years as a teacher and now subject leader for nine schools. The threat of Amy’s “teacher voice” is a threat that has been thrown around more than once, for creators that don’t take regular breaks.
“I love working in the Comic Zone, every year more creators join our family and I love seeing them interact with their fans. The new working group is going to allow us to bring changes that make our zone a must-go area for everyone. I’m happiest when our guests and visitors have a great weekend and look forward to the show”
Antony McGarry-Thickitt
Antony has been in and around Comic Conventions since joining the Geek Syndicate team in 2008. He was a regular writer and editor for the former Geek Syndicate website as well as both contributor to, editor and designer of the Geek Syndicate digital magazine which ran for three years. He still appears on the Geek Syndicate podcasts as a reviewer and in 2018 hosted the “I am the Doctor!” (Doctor Who in other media) panel at London Film & Comic Con.
A mild-mannered Software Engineer by day, Antony is an amateur artist and graphic designer with a love of understanding the process of creation. It was this that made him an excellent fit for the Comic Zone crew in 2018 and 2019’s London Film & Comic Con where he spent time with the Artist Alley and Small Press members and helped manage the Symposium Masterclass sessions that the convention offered.
This year, Antony is back and will be the Comic Zone Working Group’s primary liaison with Artist’s Alley, organising the Symposium sessions with the zone’s guests to help pay forward the vast wealth of knowledge and experience present. Antony will be around the convention floor throughout the weekend … except when he sneaks into the odd Symposium session himself of course!
“Organising and running the Symposium this year is going to be an exciting challenge. I have a passion for process and the sharing of knowledge and an interest in art and writing myself, which is why I’m back this year. These sessions with some industry greats are something that I think really makes the Comic Zone stand out from other conventions.”
Michael Mastakin
Michael has been actively involved in comics since the nineties, has worked closely with organiser Tony Lee in various roles for close to three decades, and over the last twenty years has been a mainstay of conventions across the UK since the Bristol Expos of the early 2000s. He’s been part of the LFCC Comic Zone since 2018, and has helped run the Spring and Winter shows since 2020.
Rich Johnston
Rich is a British comics creator and columnist who founded, and is now head writer for, the comics news site Bleeding Cool – one of the largest pop-culture and comic websites in the world. The Comics Journal once described him as having claimed to be “the oldest extant comics news reporter on the Internet,” having worked in comic news reporting since 1994 on Usenet.
His past columns include “All The Rage” (for Silver Bullet Comic Books), and “Lying in the Gutters” (for Comic Book Resources).
Within comics, Rich has written Doctor Who for IDW and The Many Murders of Miss Craybourne for Dark Horse, among many others. He is best known in comics for his BOOM Studios parody comics of Marvel Studios films.
Tony Lee
New York Times Bestseller and Eagle Award winner Tony Lee has worked professionally as a writer for over thirty-five years, and has written licences including X-Men, Spider Man, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Doctor Who, Superboy, Starship Troopers and MacGyver. In addition, he’s worked on books with musicians such as Joe Satriani, Ozzy Osbourne, Pantera, Beartooth and Megadeth.
Outside of comics he has written several novels aimed at reluctant readers, as well as full-cast audio dramas, and now writes thriller and crime novels as Jack Gatland.
He’s written for BBC One, ITV Studios, and has films and TV in development in both the US and UK. In 2020, he founded Hooded Man Media.
“Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!”
Zoe Finch
Zoe has over 15 years of event experience and has been part of the successful YALC (Young Adult Literature Convention) working group for the past 7 years. She is an Event Director for Showmasters Events and can always be found buzzing around the show floor.
As a lifelong member of Girlguiding, she tries to always ‘Be Prepared’ but knows that life sometimes throws you curveballs so it’s always good to be able to think on your feet.
“I’m really looking forward to the new dynamic of the Comic Zone team. These people are experts in their field, I’m there to make sure things happen from an event perspective and help deliver what they need for a truly awesome event.”