With my yearly pilgrimage to Seattle’s Emerald City Comicon tucked away back in March, and with MANY months to go before the next one in 2011, I decided earlier in the week to attend the September edition of the Vancouver Comicon. You know, to get my in-the-meantime fix. I had never been to any of the bi-monthly*cons that take place thanks to Leonard Wong and his band of merry men (and women, of course) but I figured this was the one to hit up.
So I rolled up to the Heritage Hall on Main Street, past the crappiest banner ever made, paid my four bucks and wandered into what has to be the most time-warp Comic-Con still in existence. No fancy displays, no Hollywood hoo-haw, and certainly no foxy girls rockin’ the cosplay. No sir. This was a bare bones, no frills, comic boxes lined up like soldiers free-for-all. The whole scene was a reminder of the days when comics were considered the official hobby of unrepentant losers.
Vancouver Comicon has been featuring more and more well known special guests these last couple of months, including Joey Comeau & Emily Horne from Canadian webcomic A Softer World, Marcus To, and V for Vendetta illustrator David Lloyd.
This month, though, they really landed a couple of big fish by hosting Batwoman writer and crime novelist Greg Rucka as well as up-and-coming Marvel illustrator Gabriel Hardman. I had met Greg Rucka at Emerald City and found him to be a really nice guy and more than willing to spend some time with just about anyone who came up to his table. Today’s meeting was no different and when I approached his table he was chatting to an aspiring writer and insisting that truth, honesty and keen observation are the hallmarks of good fiction, regardless what subject you’re writing about.
Gabriel Hardman was a great guy too and brought a great big portfolio full of original pages that really showcased just how much talent he really has. He even had just-completed pages from the Hulk book he’s been working on and they look absolutely amazing. I hate to say it, but Nuv was right about something; Hardman is going to be a name to watch in the next little while.
As for the sales floor, well let’s just say that if you’re looking for back-issues from the 70’s and 80’s, you’re more than likely going to find it here. I personally find books from the comics Bronze Age a chore to read and I definitely prefer either new stuff, or REALLY weird old stuff from the mid 20th Century like Magnus: Robot Fighter. Anyway, for those of you who also enjoy older gems, there’s absolutely no shortage of selection to choose from. Heck! For people with up to $600 burning a hole in their pocket, I even saw loads of early editions of the Avengers, Daredevil and Fantastic Four. Yowza!
More for the everyday treasure hunters, though, were the thousands and thousands of comics boxed and on display for a buck a piece (or 25 for $20!) The obsessive-compulsive collector in me kinda freaked out when I noticed that none of them were boarded or bagged or in any kind of alphabetical order whatsoever, but I guess that’s what people like because most folks were all jockeying for position, and flipping through the longboxes as quickly as they could. As for myself, I just grabbed a super cute 4-issue run of Justice Society of America Classified (Geoff Johns & Amanda Conner) for Venus. Four comics, two bucks, you can’t beat that.
So yeah, good times were had! Sure the place was packed with stinky weirdos, but what do you expect? Hollywood hasn’t gotten its grubby hands on this con yet and until it does I’ll definitely make a point of showing up, four bucks in hand. Oh, and P.S., the next on is on November 14th where the special guest will be Jim Mahfood.
* every other month, not twice a month. Gosh!
– Ian
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So how bad did you geek out with Rucka?
You know what? He’s the nicest guy ever and his little daughter is a firecracker. She was rocking around telling the merchants how they could better display their stuff. Also, how about that inscription? That officially makes my Batwoman: Elegy hardcover my most favourite graphic novel that I own.