This is a smaller convention, which has advantages and disadvantages. There were not as many people, which meant few cute girls in costumes but I was not entirely disapointed
This particular con seemed to have a rather military feel to it, costume wise, expressed in ways one could only find at a comic convention. Look at these costumes, should I be nervous?
But there were advantages to attending a smaller con. You could actually talk to people for one thing. I go to buy as much as I go to oggle ... er I mean appreciate the costumes ... and while this convention had the usual large booksellers it also had people who were passionate about their particular fantasy and were selling books that actually interested them. It was nice to chat with them and get their opinion on certain titles and to listen to their reccomendations knowing they were not just trying to make a sale, they were trying to share.
I always enjoying wandering around Artist Alley, where the actual creators of the work you see are sitting right there; at this convention, I was actually able to converse with them. That led to my favorite encounter of the convention.
The above illustration is an example of the work of an artist named Da Xiong. He hails from China but now lives in New York City. His reason for emigating to the US was not purely commercial, he was forced to leave his homeland. Western governments seemed enarmoured of the idea of China and its potential of 1 billion consumers; they sometimes forget that it is a country where people live with the threat of being imprisoned for simply believing idealologies in opposition of the government.
All that aside I enjoyed Xiong's artwork and decided to purchase one of his books. When he asked if I would like it to be signed I was just expecting his signature. But that is the wonderful thing about true artists. They constantly surprise you. Instead of a mere signature in my book, I got this ...
For those readers fortunate enough not to recognize that sketch, well it has a resemblance to a certain erstwhile video and comic obsessed blogger. I mean, how cool is that? That is what I call a personalized book
I made my usual checklist of purchases including books, video games and DVDs, the latter being Samurai 7, an anime series based on Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, only this time in a futurized Japan. There are so many versions of future Japan out there I wonder if they get to pick and choose which one will come true.
It was a small yet very enjoyable con so I will make this a small post .. whether or not it's enjoyable is your call. Just keep it to yourself. I put it out there, I don't care if it comes back. So, before the obligatory video, here are a few final images from the convention
Actually I do need to comment on this final pic. Most of the people attending the convention were in their happy space but arguments do occur and sometimes they get violent; after all, when someone suggests that Green Arrow was only existing in Green Lantern's shadow, what else can one do but go medieval on their ass ...
So here's the video
Toronto Comic Con from Victor Kellar on Vimeo.
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