Toronto ComiCon Report

I was in Toronto last week for ComiCon, which I will admit was my first of its kind, to objectively report what it is and how everything happens.

For those who have never heard of ComiCon before, it’s a convention held in various cities around the world at differing times of the year and is centered around comic books, superheroes, science fiction, manga, and much more! (but it’s still far from the excitement the French may have for Japanese creations).

Let’s face it, ComiCon is, above all, a big market for geeks. Superhero fans will fawn over the action figures while comic book fans excavate, list in hand, hundreds of boxes containing thousands of comics in search of those rare treasures missing from their home collections. Cosplay-obsessed SciFi fanatics come in droves, dressed as stormtroopers or their favorite Dr. Who characters. And manga fans do all they can to empty their wallets for all types of anime-inspired goodies.

Certainly, the great auction room is filled with professionals, but places are also given for amateurs who present their creations, hoping to be discovered. From the 1$ Darth Vader sticker to the steel-forged SteamPunk-styled helmet valued at several hundreds of dollars there is certainly something to satisfy all tastes and budgets.
Amongst these “amateurs” are many illustrators whose amazing works can be custom-made for those who ask for varying prices.

ComiCon is also and especially an opportunity for fans to meet their idols. In Toronto, the main characters from Star Trek: The New Generationwere present. So, if you wanted an autograph from Capt. Jean-Luc Picard (or Professor Charles Xavier), all you needed to do was show up and be patient. Ditto if it’s a picture you wanted, but you’d have needed to break your piggy bank.

There are also many events organized in smaller venues, such as Japanese animation games, Q&A sessions with different personalities, or comic drawing duels by some of the biggest names in illustration.

A nice event, in any case, but an event that has a price – $20-25 per day (+15% tax).
And when you see the Hyrule book with its price tag of $50 proudly displayed when the list price is $39, one must note that it’s hardly economical.
Nevertheless, presented in a different context, to spend 8 hours drooling over all things any geek would die for, amazed at the speed of dueling Batman illustrators, gawking at lifelike Leias or Daleks, it may be worth the price…