FAN EXPO CANADA - August 28-30, 2009

[Kevin Boyd]

So anyway, how about that guest list?

[Jason Truong]

Fantastic!

[Mr Mylar]

So anyway, how about that guest list?

 

If CGC will be there, I might make the trip. Great guest list!

[Joel Elad]

Wow, what a list! Quesada, Finch, Coipel, Deodato, Van Sciver, Maleev, etc. Think of all the great sketches that could come out of this show... Oh, man, gotta price airline tickets to Toronto now...

 

Joel

[spideyfan88]

So anyway, how about that guest list?

 

If CGC will be there, I might make the trip. Great guest list!

 

For sure CGC will be there, Kev is the director of SS and he's from toronto! last year they had on site grading

[Kevin Boyd]

So anyway, how about that guest list?

 

If CGC will be there, I might make the trip. Great guest list!

 

For sure CGC will be there, Kev is the director of SS and he's from toronto! last year they had on site grading

 

There's never been on-site grading in Toronto at any show because of border concerns with equipment and supplies. My presence doesn't necessarily equal CGC's official presence.

[spideyfan88]

ah, i thought i remembered reading on the fanexpo site that there was on site grading last year

[Dumur]

Maybe I'm just getting old. Maybe I have just been spoiled over the years by being here in Toronto, but for the first time in 10 years or more, I am actually considering NOT going to the Fan Expo. I know over the years there has been a lot of controversy over this show, but I don't think it is about that. I guess this list looks impressive, but I have to say I am not all that impressed. Aside from Quesada, I don't think there is a guest on that list that hasn't already been here in the last year ( I could be COMPLETELY wrong here. I am just going from memory...which fails me more and more every year) and I don't think anyone who hasn't been here before (again, I could be wrong).

 

Now, part of my not wanting to go to the show could have to do with my collecting shift. I don't collect comics anymore. I collect original art, and there isn't an artist on this list who I can't just look at what they have on their dealers website and buy... and that is the other thing. The FAN EXPO (and really any show that has been in Toronto) has been VERY WEAK in terms of original art dealers. I don't think I have ever seen one as a matter of fact. There have been some comic people with a couple pieces, but never an actual dealer. With Toronto being such a large city, I am surprised by this.

 

Also, WHERE ARE THE CLASSIC ARTISTS?!?!?!?!? I grew up reading comics in the 70's and 80's. Where are the writers and artists from that time? You could say that they just simply don't go to shows, but whenever I look at other shows, the list is full of them. These are the people I want to meet. I know the newer hotter artists may draw more people, but I would love a couple of the classics thrown in. Not to mention the whole lining up in a HUGE que, when all I want to do is look through a portfolio and say hi...

 

Again, Kevin has done a great job of getting people here in the past and I always thought the Paradise shows were great for access and bringing in a mix of hot newer artists and the legends who inspired me, and inspired THEM. But I guess better access was the result of lower attendance and you just can't sustain a show that way. It's too bad.

 

So I think I may take a pass this year. Save my money, and see the sun...

 

I'd like to think it's just me, but I don't know... I had a GREAT time at TCAF this year... Not to mention last year with Brian Bolland and Alex Ross...Tim Sale...Maybe it's just this year. Either way...GET OUT OF THE BASEMENT!!!!!! Kevin, I think you're the best and everyone should know how hard the guy works and how much he has done for Toronto Comic Shows...

 

Maybe it's time I branch out and go to NYC for the show there.

 

 

[spideyfan88]

well it is only May, and the show is in August, im sure theres more than enough time to add a couple of artists and writters to the show

[Kevin Boyd]

Not every guest list is going to work for everyone, but I think that this year's hit the marks that we wanted to hit for the fans and then some... but we are still adding and we might hit that one or two guests that make the difference for you as a collector. As this is the fifteenth anniversary there are a lot of returning favourites from the last decade. Len Wein is a classic guest... but he's a writer. Certainly there are creators on that list that do have their art listed for sale on dealer sites like the Artist's Choice (Eaglesham, McNiven, Quesada, Reis, Coipel), Albert Moy (Cooke), Anthony Snyder (Maleev), Spash Page (Djurdjevic) or on their own sites (Finch, Sienkiewicz).

 

OA dealers... getting OA dealers to Toronto has been difficult... well, impossible, really. The border certainly scares them off, as does the costs involved in setting up in a new market. Travel, hotel, booth costs, meals... those are all risks without knowing if they will make the sales they need. While we know they are missed and that they will do well, the show is a proven one for attendance and fans, and isn't going to do something that a rookie show might do to convince people to take a risk. Basically, the show exists and has long since proven itself to be a major event... it's a big show with lots of attendance and clearly one that our guests are able to sell art at, and if the OA dealers don't want to take some risk to try it out, then it's a lost opportunity and the attendees will spend their OA money with the guests.

 

Crowds... this is a big show. One of the biggest in North America, and that means people. Creators, dealers, artist alley... they need people in order to make the money they need to justify the work and effort in doing these events. Fan Expo succeeds in getting butts in seats, as they say, and in turn, provide the economic opportunities that these people are looking for. There's nothing more disappointing in my experience working on shows as having dead space in dealer aisles and disappointed exhibitors. They stop coming back after a while if you can't deliver the people they need. They have bills to pay too... as do I. Attendees may love plenty of access... I know I would... but guests cost money and if you aren't getting the people in to pay for the expense of bringing them in for those 10 happy fans that had plenty of access then eventually the money is going to run out.

 

Sub-Basement... the space Fan Expo inhabits at the MTCC's south building is space that the show grows in. It has a large adjacent loading dock, access to plenty of side rooms for programming, etc. One of the issues with the North Building is that the rooms are somewhat like the Titanic's flood rooms.... they are all close to equal size and when one is full you have to automatically double your space (and costs) if you need to expand to the next adjacent hall. The south building allows for gradual expansion because of the modular walls. It's one of those... it is what it is situations. The good thing is that the area around the South Building entrance is growing and there are now some restaurants on Bremner if people want to go out for lunch. God knows I've attended shows in far worse locations across the US. This one is downtown, on the subway line, with plenty of nearby parking and lots of hotels close by.

 

 

[Dumur]

Listen...I'm clearly the one in "the wrong" here... Though I'm not really making an argument for or against the show... If anything, it's FOR the show as without it, there wouldn't be anything in town of such spectacle in relation to comics, and I think that is important.

 

I have, over the years accumulated some great moments, memories and friends by attending, and I guess what I am expressing is almost a sadness. Maybe it's a Peter Pan thing. I used to get EXCITED about this show. I even used to enjoy the line-up to get tickets. Sitting in line with some friends I hadn't seen in a year and catching up. It was great. We usually have our Friday lunch at Casey's or East Sides, attend the show, go to a movie that night at the Paramount, have breakfast Saturday Morning at Shopsy's or Cora's, attend the show, do something Saturday night, meet Sunday morning for breakfast in the CBC building attend the show for a bit, and then give our hugs goodbye until the next year. Each year more and more people have been dropping off, but there were 4 or 5 of us that were die hards, and now I fear I'm dropping off.

 

It sucks. Again though as attendance continues to soar for this event (which I think is a great thing) I think it is just me. I have had to find different reasons for wanting to go. I used to raid dollar bins, and I used to stand in lines to get things signed. Standing in line stopped a while ago until last year when Brian Bolland and Alex Ross came....not to mention Keith Giffen!!! I HAD to have my Killing Joke signed. HAD TO...and Justice League... anyway, I think part of it is I don't collect anymore...I just read...and so I am down to a couple long boxes of books I keep for nostalgia reasons, and the people coming to this show I either already have, or I never read... Until we get some people like Grant Morrison, Dave McKean, Walt Simonson, Kurt Busiek, Frank Miller, Dave McKean, Bill Willingham, Dave Gibbons, Sam Kieth, Howard Porter, Gary Frank, Bernie Wrightson, Howard Chaykin, Jerry Bingham, Norm Breyfogle, Mike Zeck... and many many others... I find it hard to get excited again. Again, maybe some these guys just aren't big draws or maybe they have no interest in coming, but either way no one new to the show means no one to get anything signed by. I'm just rambling now and expressing disappointment and how underwhelmed I was by this guest list. That's all. In the past I've been blown away (Kevin Smith anyone?...Dini, Jhonen Vasquez, Mike Mignola...George Perez, Neal Adams, and last year Ross, Bolland, and Giffen...) This year just doesn't have that "wow" name I have come to expect from this show...and it's not like there isn't a "wow" name that hasn't already been here before out there. Again, maybe there is a wow name and it's just personal taste... or timing. I guess Maleev was a wow for me the first time he came and he is a great guy...Scienkewicz (bad sp)...same thing, but both of those guys were just here for the fan appreciation event... and Quesada was a wow name all those years ago, and I guess he still is...just not for me anymore. I got my Daredevil signed. I see his art on Spencer's site.

 

There is no point to this. I am not trying to bash the show. It's a great thing for the city. Just a bit disappointing is all...especially when you tell me it is being looked at as an anniversary show. (Last years seemed more exciting) And especially when it seems to be the last large scale event left in the city... I can't even think straight right now. My apologies...

[Kevin Boyd]

I realize that Duane, I mean, we've discussed this in person too. Think of my reply as more of a public Q & A... one guys says he doesn't like the crowds.... well, we're aware of that, but crowds can also be a good thing when managed well. Or someone asks why aren't there more OA dealers? Believe me, people do ask, well... there's an answer. Or why are we in the South Building? It's a common question. Sometimes it is best to address it so people know why we're there.

 

Always happy to get suggestions on who people want to see. You would be surprised by the number of people we have been in contact with from your list, but sometimes schedules don't always work out.

[Kevin Boyd]

 

This year, cult film icon BRUCE CAMPBELL (Evil Dead, Bubba Ho-Tep) joins us as Guest of Honour for the 2009 Rue Morgue Festival of Fear!

 

Joining Campbell in a very rare appearance will be Featured Guest ROGER CORMAN (Masque of the Red Death, Tomb of Ligeia).

 

Special guests also include classic horror star UDO KIER (Mark of the Devil) , sultry euro-horror starlet BARBARA STEELE (Black Sunday), special fx whiz TOM SAVINI (Planet Terror), film star JAMES DUVAL (Donnie Darko), renowned best-selling author MAX BROOKS (World War Z) and many many more!

 

http://www.hobbystar.com/fanexpo/index.php?/horror/guests/category/guest_of_honour/#GUEST%20OF%20HONOUR

 

[Ares]

 

This year, cult film icon BRUCE CAMPBELL (Evil Dead, Bubba Ho-Tep) joins us as Guest of Honour for the 2009 Rue Morgue Festival of Fear!

 

Joining Campbell in a very rare appearance will be Featured Guest ROGER CORMAN (Masque of the Red Death, Tomb of Ligeia).

 

Special guests also include classic horror star UDO KIER (Mark of the Devil) , sultry euro-horror starlet BARBARA STEELE (Black Sunday), special fx whiz TOM SAVINI (Planet Terror), film star JAMES DUVAL (Donnie Darko), renowned best-selling author MAX BROOKS (World War Z) and many many more!

 

http://www.hobbystar.com/fanexpo/index.php?/horror/guests/category/guest_of_honour/#GUEST%20OF%20HONOUR

[ignimbrite]

Is there any talk of Matt Nelson of World Wide comics making it to this show (or any Canadian show)? I have always wanted to ask questions about the idea of pressing with books in hand to use as examples.

 

I just want to be clear, I am not trying to hijack this thread with a 'pressing question'. In the past I have heard Matt goes to some shows and I wondered if this might be one.

[Raphael]

 

This year, cult film icon BRUCE CAMPBELL (Evil Dead, Bubba Ho-Tep) joins us as Guest of Honour for the 2009 Rue Morgue Festival of Fear!

 

Joining Campbell in a very rare appearance will be Featured Guest ROGER CORMAN (Masque of the Red Death, Tomb of Ligeia).

 

Special guests also include classic horror star UDO KIER (Mark of the Devil) , sultry euro-horror starlet BARBARA STEELE (Black Sunday), special fx whiz TOM SAVINI (Planet Terror), film star JAMES DUVAL (Donnie Darko), renowned best-selling author MAX BROOKS (World War Z) and many many more!

 

http://www.hobbystar.com/fanexpo/index.php?/horror/guests/category/guest_of_honour/#GUEST%20OF%20HONOUR

 

YEAH BABY!

[Kevin Boyd]

Is there any talk of Matt Nelson of World Wide comics making it to this show (or any Canadian show)? I have always wanted to ask questions about the idea of pressing with books in hand to use as examples.

 

I just want to be clear, I am not trying to hijack this thread with a 'pressing question'. In the past I have heard Matt goes to some shows and I wondered if this might be one.

 

Matt has been to TO once before, but I don't know if he will coming to Fan Expo in August.

[Kevin Boyd]

We'll be making some more guest announcements next week for the Comic Expo! At least three of them are HUGE!

 

Kev

[Jason Truong]

We'll be making some more guest announcements next week for the Comic Expo! At least three of them are HUGE!

 

Kev

 

I like the sound of that!

[spideyfan88]

:O :O