Part I
by Will Nicholls
It wasn’t a dark and stormy night but rather a hot and muggy Friday morning when I picked up my sons Hunter and Declan to attend Montreal Comiccon 2024.
Comics have been a large part of my life that eventually led to reading novels without giving up the comics. One of my first girlfriends as a preteen was Sandra Nash, who will never be forgotten. That’s because, when she moved away, she gave me her comic-book collection. It was one I pored over again and again, reading, rereading and talking about them. Perhaps that’s why I remember Sandra so well as she encouraged and shared my love of reading.
Starting off with comic books is great as the pictures resonate with the words and helps you to remember them, especially when you reread them as much as kids do. It is a love that I still have to this day and was glad to have my two boys so excited to attend Comiccon.
This Comiccon was billed as something special. It was the 40th anniversary of A Nightmare on Elm Street. Robert Englund, the original Freddy Krueger, would be there as well as five other cast members. They would be signing autographs and having photos taken with them. But there’s a price for fans to pay. Some stars charge $20 for an autograph. A great deal if you have an original movie poster, comic book or other memorabilia.
Apparently, Lou Diamond Phillips was around, but we heard he was charging $200 for a special photo with him. Unfortunately, we didn’t find out where and when these photos were taking place. Just walking around, I swear we saw Keanu Reeves, but it could have been a stunt double or just someone who looked like him. We were unsure as Reeves supposedly likes to mingle with the rest of humanity as an average person.
For those into anime, there were hordes of fans dressed up as characters from the show One Piece. Monkey D. Luffy, leader of the Straw Hat Pirates, was a favourite among both adults and kids. Buggy the Clown, a favourite bad guy from the show, was represented by actor Jeff Ward, who plays him in the series.
Personally, I prefer the live-action show to the anime series, but the Netflix show just started last year whereas One Piece began in the late 1980s in manga books. It is the best-selling Manga series and the best-selling series in comic series in printed books.
These are Japanese illustrated books that go beyond the comic books we grew up with. In the 1990s, anime jumped in, and things went crazy. To date, there are over 1,100 TV and internet anime episodes with legions of fans. On August 31, 2023, One Piece was launched as a live-action series. By September 15, two weeks later, it had been renewed for a second season, which fans are eagerly awaiting.
One Piece wasn’t the only anime series to attract fans, costumed or not, as Sailer Moon and others joined the party. There were almost as many people in costumes as not. Missing a photo-op was the parade of Star Wars Dark Forces with an Evil Emperor, Sith, Darth Vader, his son, and Storm Troopers.
Canadian content was present as we learned that sort-of-hero Wolverine turned 50 this year. A call to have the most fans dress up as Wolverine to set a record wasn’t seen on the floor during the two days we attended.
One of the interesting guests was Jim Shooter. This Elder is a true role model for youth. You see, he started his comic-book career at the age of 13 with DC Comics. Back then comics sold for 12 cents, and he created a Legion of Super-Heros story (Adventure Comics #346). DC said his age was no problem with what he could produce. Besides the Legion stories, he branched out into Superboy and Superman.
In 1978, Shooter became the editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics, who had headhunted him after seeing his talents. As editor-in-chief, he introduced royalties, rights and other benefits for comic-book creators. He also was instrumental in having Mattel create toys promoting Marvel heroes.
You think this would be enough for one guy, but Shooter went on to found Valiant Comics in 1989, Defiant Comics in 1993 and Broadway Comics in 1995. Despite his greying hair, Shooter hasn’t stopped working and is a consulting editor and freelance writer for Illustrated Media.
Shooter’s impressive career goes to show that whether you’re young or old, there is no age limit to being a part of the comic-book world.
Part II
by Hunter Nicholls
Comiccon is one of Montreal’s most exciting experiences and has evolved into something everyone can enjoy.
Comiccon 2024 had many enjoyable things to see from merchandise to testing games, making my visit a very eventful two days. It was a large and open space with different shops and displays with merchandise from numerous loveable franchises, so it was a little overwhelming at first. There were tons of great displays such as a Ghostbusters exhibit and a Star Wars exhibit. The spaces with shops sold many different things ranging from Funko Pops to real katanas. It was great to see what people were selling and if the items would be worth buying.
I enjoyed the diverse number of franchises; they had many different fans of different things. They had merchandise and fans of video games such as Undertale, Elden Ring and Halo. They had many amines such as Dragon Ball Z, One Piece, Naruto, Demon Slayer and Bleach. Plus, there were TV shows and movies like Marvel and DC.
On top of that, many celebrities were there. I decided to meet two of them – Giancarlo Esposito, aka Gustavo Fring in Breaking Bad and Moff Gideon in The Mandalorian as well as voice actor Eric Vale, aka Trunks and Future Trunks in Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super, and Sanji in One Piece.
I find an important part of Comiccon are the fans’ costumes and cosplays. If you visit Comiccon, many people are wearing costumes of their favourite characters. It’s amazing to how much dedication and effort people put into their costumes.
They were also live streaming on Twitch from the video game area. It was three people just talking and playing a video game similar to a podcast. The game area consisted of eight stands with different games and in the middle, there was a place with a big screen and bean bags for a different game, at the bottom there were a bunch of tables. At the tables there were the same card game put all over them for people to try. In the main game area, you could test different indie games such as Aloft which I thought was pretty cool.
Next to the gaming area there was a small area with places you could take photos with, such as a chair you could sit in, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles you could take photos with and another Star Wars thing to take photos with as well.
I’d heavily recommend going to Comiccon next time it’s in Montreal or in a town near you. Comiccon is a great convention, and you will enjoy it very much. Overall, it was a great event and I look forward to attending it next year.
Ed Note: As an adult I felt it would be good not only to cover the event myself but add the perspective of a youth.