Editor's note: Only the first paragraph of this article was published at 10h46 (Mountain time)on August 28th. The rest of the article was written after the author attended the first day of the event. Our software only shows the original posting time of an artcle and not the subsequent updates. We are sorry for the inconvenient it may have caused.
Patrick Bérubé
Live from the 2009 Toronto FanExpo, The Comic Book Bin is covering the largest comic book convention in Canada. FanExpo is sponsored by Toronto-based Hobby Star which in 1995 begin promoting the annual event in the Queen City. The FanExpo includes the Comic Book Expo, the Science Fiction Expo, the Festival of Fear, the Animé Expo and the Gaming Expo. Watch this space for updates throughout the day and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/comicbookbin
Day One at the Toronto FanExpo was crowded as to be expected. I felt that there were less costumed fans than other shows I've attended, but the costumes on display were of course interesting. One thing which I noticed about Fan Expo is the lack of families, kids and strollers. I'm not sure I even saw teenagers at the show. The crowd was the usual middle age men crowd with a few women here and there. I guess that I tend to favour shows where families attend as it shows promises for a future comic book industry.
The organization of the show so far has been very good, although the press room lacks any free WI-FI which means it's difficult for the crew of the Bin to update you, our readers on the spot. I can't even use Twitter. I hope that in future shows, this issue will be addressed. At conventions like the San Diego Con, the WI-FI network was crucial to putting news out there quickly without having to go back to my hotel room all the time.
I've heard rumours that the Calgary Comic-Con may be becoming the biggest comic book convention in Canada and I seriously think that this could happen. FanExpo will still have more names and actual publishers on site, but there were more artists at the Calgary convention of the last three years than the one in FanExpo 2009. As for Hollywood actors, it seems to me that both shows have equal numbers.
Yet, the FanExpo is the major Canadian comic book convention and is held in Canada's major city and one of the biggest in North America. Toronto really feels like a big city when you walk in its streets and its downtown core is more lively than what I remembered from past years. It might actually have a bar scene that matches' Montreal's infamous party culture.
The folks at the FanExpo have a lot of work ahead of them, now that Wizard World has bought their local competitor. I feel that the Wizard World is more like a Six Flags to the homegrown Canada Wonder Land that is the FanExpo. FanExpo is truly an event set up by local Torontonians and not a formula tested in several other markets. FanExpo did try to open a branch in Montreal in 2004, but the local dealers did not support the event in drove.
That Toronto's economy, built on car manufacturing has been hurt by the current recession may not have helped the organizers of this show, but it may have helped them attract all Canadians visitors that would normally would have flown to San Diego or Chicago instead. Being Canadian is always a good thing.
Hey, just wanted to drop you a line after reading your article. I saw you a few times around the con and unfortunately we only had a few times to nod at one another, but we have spoken on a few occasions. I see that this was posted before the event opened, so I wonder how you could provide such clear observational reports before the event had even opened. But honestly, were we together at the same event? The only person starting rumours about Calgary outshining Toronto is apparently you, as I've never heard that before, and while I enjoyed Calgary immensely it was a fraction of the size and attendance of our event that just wrapped up on Sunday and is hardly even comparable. I honestly do not wish to offer any slight to Calgary, but even that show's organizers will have a hard time believing that hype. More artists at Calgary than Toronto? I must have missed a few hundred artists that were hiding at the Calgary event. No kids or families and very few teenagers? Wizard doing a better job than Fan Expo? Have you been to a Wizard show recently? Guess we didn't have enough old wrestlers at the event for your liking. And Toronto's economy hasn't been reliant on car manufacturing for decades.
