Wizard World Toronto Comic Con 2011

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Cosplay girls

What can I say about comic cons. They keep getting better. Many years ago when I was a kid, no one with any semblance of a social life would be caught dead at one. Now we live in a world where, as I’ve said before, geek culture is actually cool. What’s more is that it’s a thriving and extremely profitable market both in the trading of of brick and mortar goods like comic books, toys, novelties, DVDs etc, and with a built in and exponentially growing audience who can’t wait to hear about the newest movie, gadgets, and other neat products. Bottom line is that Comic Cons and general geekiness are now in fashion. In fact it’s “Geek Chic” and you will notice that the attendees are not your stereotypical fat guys in bad Batman costumes (although they still do show up invariably) but are for the most part a fairly good looking bunch, especially the ladies who are as scantily clad as the ridiculous anime or comic book characters they emulate.

This video (best viewed in HD) pretty much sums up the experience.

The Toronto Comic Con has been around since at least  2003 and was formerly known as the “Paradise Comics Toronto Comicon” before many of the people at Paradise moved over to Hobbystar (the organizers of Fan Expo) eventually leading to the Toronto Comic Con being purchased by Wizard Entertainment and branded to the Wizard World Comic-Con in March 2010.

Fearless Fred and the Toronto Roller Derby

Last weekend was the first time I’ve attended it since the buyout and to be honest it was missing a certain magic that Fan Expo had in abundance. It all seemed a bit thrown together and was probably lacking in the budget that Fan Expo no doubt enjoys. That sure didn’t stop them from charging regular patrons $25-$35 for a one day pass! Reportedly the Friday was not very busy and neither was the Sunday. When I attended on Saturday I would say that the bulk of the people present were those somehow involved in the convention itself, i.e. Stormtroopers from the Fighting 501st, an equivalent Rebel Alliance cosplay troupe, and various other clubs that, you guessed it, like to cosplay or LARP. Generally the sentiment shared by many who have shared their feedback is that the Wizard Entertainment version of the Toronto Comicon is decidedly weak, especially when compared to Fan Expo. The saving grace was the great artists, a handful of celebrities of yesteryear including some awesome ex-WWF Wrestlers like Bushwhacker Luke and the Toronto Roller Derby Team. and none other than my new friend Fearless Fred.

Gimme teh cookiez!

So look, comic conning is still a pretty good way to spend a Saturday afternoon and geek out with some Magic cards, comic books and the like. The great thing is that if you do march to the beat of a different drummer, chances are very good that you will find a host of people who are just like you at a comic con and make some new friends. It seems no matter how old I get I just love handheld weapon combat (i.e. swords). After I completed editing the video below I noticed that I got myself into several duels. I guess I just can’t help myself

Special thanks to Heada.ca for the hook up and to Chris Brooker for the awesome photos. You can view the rest of the pics on his Flickr Page. There are some pretty hilarious ones in there.