Calgary Comic Expo Recap: Day 1!
My boyfriend and I ended up at the Calgary Stampede park an hour and a half early, and even that wasn't early enough (it was a pretty crazy line-up to get in), after getting our weekend passes we were ushered into the Corral stage area for some loud, feel it in your rib cage alternative rock/electro pop band Septembryo to entertain and amuse us until 3:00pm when the doors opened, at which point we wandered aimlessly for awhile trying to meet up with friends (it's darn near impossible to find each other in such a massive crowd!)
When we finally got onto the show floor with all the artist tables and shops, I felt like I could finally breathe. The crowds weren't nearly as bad so early - but this was a false sense of security, it got NUTS towards 5 pm.
We had decided that we'd dedicate Friday to pure artist alley shopping and getting our bearings. We had some web comic artists that we wanted to meet such as the hilarious Jennie Breeden over at The Devil's Panties - It's not Satanic Porn comic, who I got to sign a volume of her comics and who graciously agreed to take a photo with me!
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| Look look at her awesome flame boots!! |
Then we stopped off at the amazing Danielle Corsetto's booth where my boyfriend unburdened her of several volumes of her comic, and in which she took the time to sign and even custom draw a character in each volume!
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| She was so fun to talk to! We got lucky because we saw her early before the crowd formed! |
Next up we met up with Max Brooks, author of World War Z and The Zombie Survival Guide! I got him to sign my copy of The Zombie Survival Guide in which he left a very inspirational comment :D.
I also managed to pick up some signed prints of selected works from the incredibly talented Camilla d'Errico!
All the artists and authors we met were really enthusiastic and very approachable to talk to, so for me it was a great start to the convention!
I really expected more people to be dressed in costume, but I predict that tomorrow will have more people and more of them will be in costumes! However, what I did see of costumes of course included the standard Star Wars ensemble, complete with wookies (poor guy in the furry suit all day) and slave princess Leia. As well as the Lord of the Rings, Star Trek groups and an assortment of video game and comic book heroes of course.
My FAVORITE one was this guy:
His Zombie makeup was amazing and he was totally into his character, complete with groaning, shuffling; even when I asked him if I could take his photo.
I have a feeling that tomorrow is going to be insane in the membrane when the Panels and celebrities are in full swing. As it was there weren't many celebrities there today (no Weasley Twins or Amanda Tapping), although Stan Lee (creator of Marvel Comics) and James Marster's (Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) autograph lines consumed a good portion of the celebrity area.
It took us a good 3 hours to get through the whole artist/shop area. Good thing I wore comfy shoes, either way my legs BURN, and it started to get hot and nerd sweaty (*shudder*) in the buildings when we finally decided to call it a day.
Phew. I really need to go pass out, because tomorrow I have an appointment with Stan Lee! - okay I have an appointment to get into line to briefly meet Stan Lee whilst clutching an old comic for him to sign, but still it will be epic! Also up on the roster tomorrow is James Marsters and Amanda Tapping (of Stargate fame) and some cartoon panels to attend!
Check back tomorrow for day 2 recap!
Sounds like you had a great time at the Expo! Glad you were able to catch our set at The Corral!
ReplyDeleteMuch love!