|
Comics are alive and kicking in the Great White North. Check out these photos from Toronto this year!
[EDITOR’S NOTE: From the floor of this year’s Fan Expo Canada, Aug. 24-26, in Toronto, writer Filip Vukacevic soaked up the atmosphere and snapped a few photos. Here he offers a few thoughts on comics’ place among the video games, movie stars and other hallmarks of the modern con. ]
Is there still room for comic books at a comic book convention? That’s what I was left wondering as the three-day media-palooza that was the 2007 Toronto Fan Expo died down. The once humble convention has grown to over 50,000 attendees. On the comics side, where once the con couldn’t even get one John Romita, this year it had both—and Greg Pak, and Frank Quitely, and Steve McNiven, and Paul Dini… the list goes on. While the venue, the guests and the dealers have changed, one thing hasn’t: It’s still the best place to be if you’re a comics fan in Toronto. The funnybooks, faded though their presence may be, are still the backbone of the event. Thank God.
While the event does focus more on mainstream talent—unlike the lower-key Toronto Comic Arts Festival, which featured Darwyn Cooke and Paul Pope—it’s still the best place to find guests, deals and fans.
The biggest change to the con this year was the addition of the video game component. Taking up a quarter of the show floor, the video game section—complete with giant screens, rows of monitors and a rocking Guitar Hero II stage—changed the tone of the convention significantly. It no longer felt like a sweaty nerd convention, but more like an air-conditioned electronics exhibit. Come to think of it, that may not entirely be a bad thing.
But when you add in the video games, the anime, the horror, and the film and TV actors, it seems like there isn’t much room left for comics. Or is there? The classic dealers were out in full force, their rows of carefully stored boxes filled with old Golden Key comics and 1960s treasures. There were also stacks and stacks of new releases for 3 bucks.
It’s always amusing to see which dealers know how to do business and which don’t. You’ve always got the guy trying to get rid of mid-’90s TPBs that nobody wants at Canadian cover price, right next to the guy selling a box of worthless 10-year-old Star Wars cards for $90. One can’t help but wonder if these people make any money at all.
But you’ve also got a few business-savvy dealers, like Grey Region Comics’ Mike Teodori, who understand that the key isn’t in making one or two big sales, but lots of little ones, with the hope that the consumer will show their gratitude by returning to your store. The Grey Region crew had the best deals on the floor, with TPBs going for U.S. cover price minus 10 percent—this in Canadian dollars translates to big savings. (Hint to comic companies: You’re not fooling anybody—retailers charging U.S. cover price has become standard practice.)
With so many deals on-hand, what’s a comic fan to do? Easy: You toss any semblance of self-control out the window and you spend like there’s no tomorrow. I like to think that I’m a controlled shopper, but when you can pick up Waid and Weiringo’s Fantastic Four hardcovers, Volumes 2 and 3, for 35 bucks, you take it.
I also managed to cut a deal for Grant Morrison’s The Filth and Justice League: Earth 2 for $22. Then again, maybe it’s a good thing that there weren’t too many deals—otherwise I’d be left wondering how to pay next month’s rent. Even so, I walked out of there with an amazing collection of discounted trades (including Scalped Vol. 1, Girls Vol. 1, Hellboy Vol. 2 and Alan Moore’s Complete WildC.A.T.S.) that I can’t wait to dig into.
This year there was an excellent selection of comics guests. You’ve got the big guns, like Steven McNiven and Michael Turner, the killer combos, Romita Jr. and Sr., and the guys who may not be huge, but whose work you have a great love for, like Greg Horn and Chris Sprouse.
The buzz on the floor seemed to be equally divided amongst Marvel and DC fans. There was plenty of chatter about World War Hulk, and the countdowns and adventures taking over the DCU were also discussed with enthusiasm. There was also, not surprisingly, quite the Buffy presence. Every dealer seemed to have multiple copies and variants of the monthly title, and several of the Dark Horse Omnibus trades. I spotted one dealer selling half a dozen of the Serenity trades, and one hour later they were all gone.
The Marvel Universe panels, headed by the affable and excitable C.B. Cebulski, were fun; it’s always neat getting perspective and answers from across the entire spectrum of the Marvel Universe. However, the two minor announcements Cebulski had to share, combined with the general “unfortunately I can’t talk about it” stance meant that, while entertaining, the panels weren’t very meaty.
While the Marvel panel felt, well, “Marvel,” the DC panel was executed very professionally. So, very “DC.” They had a DC rep moderating a table packed with writers and artists. By bouncing between the moderator and the audience for questions, the panel was infused with an energy and momentum that makes un-moderated panels feel boring and slow by comparison.
One of the more interesting panels at the convention was focused on a new talent search initiative called “Zeroes 2 Heroes” (www.zeroes2heroes.com). Essentially, the site is a forum for emerging comic book talent to be discovered on the basis of a monthly vote. What’s more, unlike with most talent searches, this time the emphasis is on the writers.
Funded by the Canadian government and headed up by Paul Dini, the event seems very legit. Almost too good to be true, in fact. The idea is that the next Alan Moore posts his story pitch, script, and outline on the website, then waits for reviews. Members of the community chime in with comments and votes, and at the end of each month one book is selected for publication. The editors of the site help team you up with an artist, then the production process begins, with each step being posted on the site—a live “behind the scenes,” if you will. Finally, the finished book is posted on the site, with the most popular stories having the opportunity to see print and be solicited to publishers.
It probably does not come as a surprise to learn that on the Internet, the most popular is not always the best, so this will be a very interesting initiative to follow. It’s certainly one that all aspiring comic book creators should keep a close eye on. One last thing: Sorry, American friends, but seeing how the organization is funded by the Canadian government, only Canadian writers can submit proposals. However, U.S. artists can still take part, and all Americans can still register on the site and vote.
Also on the writing side, Greg Pak hosted a pair of panels that clearly excited all of the aspiring writers in attendance. The common theme to Pak’s advice was that it is important to plan your story out—do not just jump in. He related a few stories of how when he was starting out (he began as a film writer-director) he would write stories without planning them first, and after he was a third of the way in, he would realize he had no idea where to go next. He also stressed the importance of taking advantage of the medium of comics—both in terms of visuals and storytelling. He used one of World War Hulk’s most famous lines (Hulk says to Black Bolt, “I didn’t come here to hear you whisper. I wanna hear you scream”) as an example of how, by exploring the inherently imaginative realm in which these characters live, one can write moments that really sing.
By the third and final day of the convention, the music from the video game quarter, the flashes from the acting section, and the shrieks from the horror zone had all faded away. All that remained, it seemed, were the comics. Looking at it that way, perhaps it’s good that the convention has grown to encompass other parts of fandom.
After all, upon entering the main, airplane hangar-like floor, the first thing one sees are rows upon rows of comics. Who knows how many people showed up just for the video games or the horror, but ended up picking up a trade or a book that caught their fancy? Maybe by ballooning the convention to include so many other forms of entertainment, the real effect isn’t a diminishing of comic books, but an introduction. Yes, the Toronto Fan Expo isn’t what it once was—it’s changing. And that’s a good thing. But the comics remain, as they always will. And who knows? Maybe next year the guy who came for the World of Warcraft tournament will be coming to get a sketch from his favorite new artist—one whose work he was first introduced to the last time he came. Comics, it seems, are not going anywhere. Amen.
|
