|
The 8th Annual Canadian National Comic Book Exposition took
place August 23 through 25th at the Metro Toronto Convention
Center in Toronto, Ontario. With a stellar line up of guests, the
Expo, as it has become known, packed in over 16 000 fans
through the weekend, breaking it's own record for attendance
that was set at last year's event.
The high impact features such as: the SFX Science Fiction Expo
and CN Anime Expo, extended the shows appeal to new
heights. Fans where thrilled to hear the details about the life and
times of Brent Spiner, Star Trek's Lt.Cmdr. Data who was in
attendance. Spiner hailed Toronto as one of the best show's he
ever been a part of.
Another extremely popular guest was Nichelle Nichols who
stunned the crowds with her honesty and personal nature
anecdotes. The SFX feature also starred Billy Dee Williams
(Lando Calrissian from Star Wars), John Billingsley (Dr. Phlox
from Enterprise), Nicholas Brendon (Xander from Buffy), and
Andy Hallett (Lorne:the Host from Angel).
Comic book fans had their hands full with trying to take in the
immense vendor's room, and a line up of comic book
professionals that numbered over 70. The comic book industries
'heavy hitters' made the trip to sign autographs and preside over
panel discussions throughout the event. Names such as; John
Romita Jr., John Cassaday, Adam and Joe Kubert, Michael
Turner, Josh Blaylock, David Finch, Dale Keown, Patrick Lee,
Leonard Kirk, Darwyn Cooke and Dale Eaglesham delighted
fans with their talents.
This was the fifth year the Expo has included an Anime event,
and it was a definite improvement over last year. With guests
Kia Asamiya, Tommy Ohtsuka, and Yoshihiro Komada visiting
from Japan, had fans mesmerized with many live events. Voice
actors Josh Martin, Kyle Hebert, and Kirby Morrow
entertained crowds with their unique talents. Other highlights
included karaoke, masquerade, Q and A sessions, autograph
signings and photo shoots. CN Anime also featured an
expanded video room section at the Expo and an all night Anime
Video party at the hotel.
Probably the most noticeable change at this year's Canadian
National Comic Book Expo was the very large corporate area.
Companies such as Top Cow Productions, Sony Entertainment,
Warner Brothers, Central Park Media, Devils Due, Diamond,
Dreamwave, Ebay, InkWorks, Irwin Toy, McFarlane, Nelvana,
X-Box, and Bandai Entertainment definitely made their presence
known with gigantic lighted display booths, buses, banners and
lots of free giveaways and contests. Organizers confirm that the
corporate area has been vastly expanded due to the
overwhelming inquiries from companies requesting space.
Hobbystar Marketing President, Aman Gupta was asked on site
how he was planning to top the Expo in 2003, "Next year the
Expo will take place the weekend before the World Science
Fiction Convention (World Con) which is going to be here in
Toronto. There wont be any other place on Earth for fans to be
other than Toronto." For more detailed reports and photos from
this year's Expo visit their website at: www.canadiannationlexpo.com
|
