Lawless Convention Cancelled, returns in 2021

By John Freeman on March 19, 2020

The organisers of the annual Lawless convention in Bristol, planned as the launch event for The77 comic anthology, have reluctantly this year’s event in response to the Coronavirus Pandemic.

The cancellation comes alongside the postponement of Portsmouth Comic Con until August, closure of galleries and museums, and the cancellation of other events planned for early 2020 such as Stoke-Con Trent that was to have taken place on 5th April.

The full statement from Su Hadrell about Lawless follows, posted to their Facebook group page.

“It is with great regret that we have decided to cancel this years Lawless Comic Convention.

We were hoping to continue or wait out the situation to see if we can still go ahead, but in light of the amount of shows that are not going ahead, the financial difficulties that folk are facing day to day, as well as the ongoing ‘Unknown’ of how this Plague is going to pan out, it seems sensible to put a stop on it now.

“The next stage is as follows. I’m waiting on confirmation from the Doubletree that we can move the date of the show to Saturday 15th May 2021. I’m also waiting on confirmation that they will refund hotel bookings regardless as to whether or not they’re ‘non-refundable’. There may also be the option of moving the date for those as well. So hold your horses on hotel stuff until I come back on that one.

“Secondly – in the interest of simplicity, the event will be cancelled on Ticketlight and you will all receive refunds. The tickets will go live again in January 2021 as per the usual process. This just makes it easier than cancelling or not cancelling individual tickets for 250 odd attendees and traders who may or may not be able to make it next year.

“Thirdly – I will be messaging all Guests and Traders individually via messenger and email to advise them of the above situation. We will re-invite them again for next year, but obviously this may chop and change with people’s plans, so a new guest list will be announced in the New Year (with a bit if luck, it’ll be pretty much the same!)

“Lastly – You are all still welcome to gather if you wish. We’re not making any plans that far ahead, but may be up for a trip down to Bristol for and afternoon/evening drink or something – feel free to organise yourselves or someone set up an FB event to that effect.

I will post again once the hotel have confirmed the rooms are sorted and once I’ve canceled the Ticketlight site. Feel free to ask any questions and spread this message far and wide.

“Again – so sorry to have to cancel this, it sucks.

“Be excellent to each other and look out for one another. And don’t stock pile!”

• The Lawless Comic Convention Facebook Group Page is here

• You can pre-order The77 now. Message the team via the title’s Facebook page or email – the77comic@gmail.com to place an order. Payment by PayPal

• Join The77 on Facebook and Twitter @77Comic and Instagram @The77 comic

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.