Comics / Comics News

Fan Expo Canada 2012- RE Holmes Creative Communications

By Hervé St-Louis
August 24, 2012 - 03:13

Update August 24, 2012, 20:18

This is an update to the previous story published about how Holmes Creative Communications’ carelessness in handling media registration for ComicBookBin. Holmes Creative Communications is a Toronto-based public relations and events management contracted by Hobbystar, Fan Expo Canada’s promoters.

Holmes Creative Communications contacted me after seeing the original version of this story and attempted to help me with a renewable one day press pass. They clearly indicated that they did not like the original article and refused to accept any blame. Let's move beyond them and look at Fan Expo 2012.

This year’s Fan Expo continues the same formula they’ve used in the past with separate but related mini cons for comic books, gaming, science fiction, horror and anime. Although ultimately each genre is related, it helps attract theoretically a wider audience. At the core is of course comic books and Fan Expo Canada’s artist alley has a new layout that differs from other comic book convention this year. Instead of just pushing them at the back of the room, the folks at Fan Expo have used a L-shaped layout which plugs the comic book creators right into the busy leftward lane of the show which means that they feed into the show. Facing the top-billed artists are more comic book creators and smaller studios. Maybe it’s because it was a Friday, but it was easier to navigate through this layout than the usual one I’ve witnessed in other comic book shows.

Of course, there are many celebrities on hand, including Stan Lee and Elijah Wood. The event is held at the huge Toronto Convention Center downtown and connects with all of the nearby transit lines, malls and amenities of the underground city. That’s a plus. If you are visiting from Toronto, just use transit or ride your bike there, like I did. If you are from out of town, there are many hotels in the area and walking by the main venue is a breeze.

This year the show was extended to Thursday as well as Friday. Saturday is expected to be the craziest day of all. Fan Expo is celebrating its 16th anniversary in 2012 and just like the city of Toronto, it is a show that has nothing to envy from the other big ones in North America. Given Toronto’s ease of access and the nearby world-famous Toronto Film Festival, Fan Expo Canada is a great proposition for geeks and non geeks. The show runs from August 23 to August 26 2012.

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12