This past weekend was the 6th Annual Paradise Toronto Comicon. The convention took place in a new venue this year (the Holiday Inn on King), although the venue was used for the previous two Toronto Comic Book Fan Super Shows (November 2006 & March 2007), and the Joe Shuster Awards in 2007.
This year, it was a different atmosphere at the convention. For one, it was smaller. The convention took place in the King and Regency ballrooms, as well as the Colonnade. The Colonnade allowed exposure for those seated there, for the hotel guests walking in and out of the hotel. Another thing, the convention is now a two-day show, instead of a three-day show.
This is also the first year that this convention is running without former co-promoter, Kevin Boyd, after his departure from the convention, to his new position as Comic Book Event Co-Ordinator with Hobbystar Marketing.
With the different venue, I went into this convention not knowing what to expect. I was extremely curious as to how it'd be set up in the new venue. I did go into this convention with an open mind.
Saturday July 12th, 2008
As usual, my bro and I got up for the convention. However, my bro thought the convention started at 11am, instead of 10am, so we ended up arriving later than I had originally intended on being there. We arrived around 9:30am, to see the line formed. Though I never counted, I would say I was 20-30 people back in line.
I had originally hoped to be there for 8:45am-9am. So being in a rush, excessive speeding on my part. I'm pretty sure parts of my car came off during the ride. That thing tends to shake when I hit 105km/hr, imagine how that thing feels at 135km/hr on the 427 and Gardiner. Thems some bumpy roads.
While in the line, noticed the freebies tables were set up nearby. Picked up a couple packs of the Upper Deck cards (got myself a Wayne Gretzky card, Brett Favre, Steve Nash, and a few others). Also noticed the Women of DC poster by Adam Hughes. I grabbed a few, which I gave one away at the end of the day, and one was for my brother. Also, around, many DC buttons (I took a Flash button), the plastic Green Lantern rings, Northlanders #1 Adam Kubert variant cover, Wonder Woman #14 DC Nation giveaway, a few books by Chris Yambar, and various other items.
Attendees were let in roughly around 10:05am. The line then split into two. One for online ticket purchases, and one for paying ticket purchases. My criticism here, the online ticket purchases line moved A LOT slower than those paying on the spot. Felt that there was no point in purchasing in advance, if it's not a quick moving line, so I'll have to see about this in the future. Also, I thought there would be a choice of previous convention exclusives to choose from, instead of being handed one of the previous ones I never wanted.
Luckily for me, I had a spot saved for me in the Dale Keown line, so that became the line I planted myself at. Dale showed up not too long after. I did get to head around to get some books signed, before my turn came up. As you can see, it's a Hulk sketch on a Secret Invasion blank cover. The book is being shipped to CGC, to be graded and slabbed under their Signature Series label. Can't wait to get that back.
Keep an eye out for the Darkness/Pitt mini-series, written by Paul Jenkins, and drawn by Dale Keown.
Also, near the start of the convention, a sign was placed on Herb Trimpe's table, with it saying that he'll be showing up around 2pm. Traffic and border delays kept him from arriving on time.
I headed over to see Francis Manapul and pick up the his print featuring Wonder Woman, Donna Troy, and Wonder Girl, which was drawn by Francis, and coloured by Beth Sotelo.
I wanted one of these prints, the moment I saw it posted on Francis' Art Journal. I framed this in a spare frame I had at home, once I got home. Now I need to find some wall space to put this up.
And to go with the print, I also got a Wonder Woman sketch from Francis.
After making a run to unload some books, load up others that didn't fit in my bag, and to put the print in the top loader that I had left in the car, I went to see Valentine De Landro, who has recently been working on the X-Factor series, and will be working on the X-Factor Special: Layla Miller One-Shot.
After showing my brother the Black Cat sketch I got from Valentine, my bro decided that he'd like to get a sketch from Valentine as well, which my bro ended up getting me to do so on Sunday, since he was in Herb Trimpe's line for a good portion of Sunday.
What surprised me, was that on Thursday, after I got home from work (around 1:30am), my bro showed me the Hero Initiative schedule for the con, which contained three Greg Land signings. Figuring that this would be the best place for me to try and get a sketch, I lined up for the second signing, as the first one took place when I was at Dale Keown's line. I also got all of my Greg Land books signed, and got the Wonder Woman sketch, which looks pretty similar to the other female sketches he did, just with the WW tiara and breast-plate.
I know, a lot of stuff can be said about the way his drawings look very similar to each other, and how Greg Land gets a lot of crap online about it, but he drew this on his own, and I couldn't be happier that I have it.
Prior to the signing, I went to see both Pat Olliffe and Scott Wegener about sketches.
After the Greg Land signing, I went unload the bulk of my remaining books that I brought to get signed. I did a bunch of roaming at this point, and for the bulk of the remaining of the day. Eventually I found the Crystal Fractal Comics booth, a new comic publishing that is making their debut at the con. I was one of the first 100 people in line, and was able to receive a free copy of their convention exclusive, Crystal Fractal Universe #0.0. I guess, as part of their intro, the first 100 people also received free sketches on the back of the cover. I got a sketch from Sam Agro. Based on the character designs, I am assuming the character sketched on the back of the comic, is named Nil.
I checked back on the sketch by Scott Wegener, after his panel. I'm quite happy with it, because I wanted to get a Robo sketch. If you have yet to read the first trade, you're missing a great series.
I also picked up Scott's current sketch book, and one of his t-shirts of Atomic Robo. Got me the dark brown shirt. Went with the XL size, after the Large Scott Pilgrim shirt shrank.
On that note, Thanks to all that complimented on the Scott Pilgrim t-shirt. Be sure to check out The Beguiling, to see if they have anymore shirts left.
While continuing to roam around, I noticed J. Korim in the artist alley. Jessie Lam was not at the table at the time. J. Korim is the artist of Neozoic, published by Canadian publisher, Red 5 Comics. Jessie is the colourist of Neozoic.
When reading Neozoic, I took notice of the artwork, and thought it was very good. This was prior to FCBD, and I really wanted to head to the Beguiling to see J. Korim and Jessie Lam, but I just never found the time. I'm quite glad I got the Stargirl sketch from J. Korim. He had some pre-done sketches on display. I wanted to purchase two of them, but he gave me the choice of one of them, free of charge. I picked Lilli Murko.
Be sure to check out J. Korim and Jessie Lam' work on their respective websites, and check out Neozoic. Also, if you have the chance to see them, check them out.
Around 5pm is when Herb Trimpe. I noticed everyone standing up at his table, then I saw him there. I figured I'd head over and line up. After about 10 minutes, I decided to leave the line, and check it out later on, so I could roam around the convention floor. Got back aroun 5:30pm, and noticed the line shrank. This was due to the line being split into signing line, and sketch line. I jumped into the sketch line.
By 7pm, the convention closing time, I was second last, which was also second in line at that point. Herb Trimpe and his wife decided to stay to finish off the line, which I want to Thank them again for staying. I opted to take the last spot, to allow Tiziano of Hobbystar Marketing to get his sketch.
My sketch was complete around 7:45pm, which I'm sorry to the Paradise crew for keeping them there until that time (I wasn't the only one... Dale Keown finished his last sketch, for one of your volunteers, just after I got my sketch by Herb Trimpe).
Herb Trimpe is the first artist that drew Wolverine in print, so I had to get a sketch of the most famous Canadian superhero. After that, it was an incredible feeling just to see the sketch I received, and I have to frame this one.
This is when I called it a day.
Sunday June 13th, 2008
Bro and I left for the convention earlier than Saturday. Arrived before 9:30am, so he headed in, while I headed to Tim Hortons for some coffee and food.
Got to the line at 9:30am, only to find I was fourth in line. To be honest, that is not normally a good sign, to see 30 minutes before opening, only 4 people. I can't remember how many people there were last year for opening on the final day, but I'm sure it was more than four. By opening, the line did not reach the escalator.
Attendance did slowly pick up throughout the day, but it seemed to be less than the attendance on Saturday.
I started the day by heading to Ken Lashley's line, as he was only scheduled to attend on Sunday, and I had some issues of The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive to get signed, that I've had since they came out.
He had yet to arrive, so I went over to see Agnes Garbowska, to see the status of the mini commission I asked for prior to the con. I've been thinking of which characters to get prior to the con, and I'm not entirely sure how the idea to parody the Charlie Brown/Lucy football gag came about, but it did, and I shot the idea over to her.
Needless to say, I love this piece!
I also saw the piece Agnes did for AlexH, and I love that one too!
I got back to the line, just as Ken Lashley arrived. I was second in line, so the wait was not long.
He recently signed exclusive with Marvel, and is working on the King-Size Cable Spectacular (One-Shot) issue, to be released the first week of September.
When I arrived at the convention on Sunday, Pat Olliffe was just starting on my sketch. I picked this up a little later in the day, which I was quite happy with how it turned out.
While on one of my many times I've held the spot at Herb Trimpe's line for my brother, I was able to head over to the next table to see Brian Pulido. I had forgot to get a book signed on Saturday when I originally saw him, so I went back, and also got a sketch. I had comtemplated purchasing a copy of the Lady Death Icon Convention Exclusive, but it was out of my price range. Beautiful cover.
During the afternoon, Milo (of Digital Kontent) and Kathryn suggested I check out the girl over at the Paradise Comics booth (Anya, based on the name on the sketch), who was doing free stick figure sketches. After seeing some that were done, I decided to head over there, because the sketches seemed fun.
Earlier in the day, I left my sketchpad with Michael Cho. I went with Green Arrow. Not too sure why, but just figured it would turn out nice. It surpassed "nice." This was amazing!
After a talk with Chris Nolan about the Comic Books Beta application on Facebook, and incorporating solicitations into the blog by just hovering the mouse over the respective comic. I may decide to add that feature, when I decide to get off my lazy ass and actually do it.
After the conversation ended, I turned around to see Shane Heron (Awesome Marcus Ninja) just arriving at the con (he didn't set up this time around). Unfortunately for me, Shane forgot my sketch request, which I'm sure turned out "Awesome." You still rock, Shane! Just drink one less beer next time. :p
After talking with Shane, I went to see Danielle Corsetto (Girls With Slingshots), and picked up a copy of Girls With Slingshots Volume One. Got a nifty Jamie sketch inside.
Got to hear some HeroesCon stories from Shane, when he dropped by Danielle's table. Damn, I gotta check out that show sometime, and get a "Pro" badge, to chill, drink and party with all them Pros. Sounds like an awesome time.
The last sketch of the convention came from Kent Burles. I've been wanting to get one for a while now, but I could never think of a character to get.
Saturday afternoon, the idea popped into my head while I was roaming around the convention. However, I didn't have reference, so I waited until Sunday morning to leave my sketchpad with Kent (as well as my brother's). Kent was able to finish mine, which turned out really nice. Now I'm starting to think of another potential character to get a piece done by Kent in the future.
But that'll have to wait until next time. This was the end of the convention for me. Got out of the con around 4:30pm, just as the Jays game was letting out. That was a fun drive home.
Other Convention Purchases & Swag
During my "bin-diving," I only picked up two comics, which caught my eye:
- Captain America #230 - Nice cover of Captain America blocking a punch by the Hulk with the shield.
- Fantastic Four #265 - Where She-Hulk joins the team. Not in the greatest conditions, but for a buck a piece, it was worth it for me.
As for the other purchases, see the pictures below:
Post ConFrom a personal standpoint, I thought it was a great show for me. I consider myself successful at achieving my goals at the convention. I got all my books signed (though I didn't really get the program signed by as many people as I did in the previous two years). I got a bunch of amazing sketches. Though I spent more than I had originally budgetted myself to spend, I am very happy with my haul this year.
Looking back at the convention, I'm not sure how successful it really was. The attendance appeared to be significantly less than last year. It seemed like a lot of the attendees on Sunday, were also there on Saturday.
I don't know how well the dealers did. It seemed that the busiest dealer there was Wes Hagen, with all his long boxes full of $1 and $3 comics.
I do agree with my brother about the frustration of the guest list being released a guest at a time, on weekdays. I've voiced my opinion on this before, though not publicly.
Don't know how well attended the panels and workshops were, but they could've had more advertising, aside from at the top of the escalator, or next to the ticket booth. Actually, the convention itself could've used more advertising, outside of message boards (some of which were updated infrequently), or ads in stores. There was the nice full page ad in the "What If... Mike Wieringo Tribute," but I don't think that issue reached to too many people.
On the topic of panels, I'm not going to discuss it here, but I will say, when I initially saw one of the panels on the program schedule, I don't mean to harsh, but I thought the panel topic was somewhat disgraceful. Not so much now, but I still think it should've had a different title. I'm sure I'll get some messages about it, so it can be discussed privately.
*NOTE* Keep in mind, I never attended any panels, so I could be wrong about the topic discussed at the panel. This was my initial thought on the topic. (Added July 15th, 2008 @ 11:39AM)
I still do think the Paradise Conventions crew put on a great show. I had a lot of fun, and I'll continue to spread the good word. Others may think and feel differently, and may disagree with me. But as I said, from a personal standpoint, I thought it was a great show.
As always, I'm looking forward to any future shows put on by Paradise Conventions.
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