The Canadian National Comic Book Expo
Toronto, Ontario

August 27th-29th, 2004

After having only a scant month to decompress from the madness
that was the San Diego Comic Con, it was time to head back to
another con, this time to what must be the worst- titled
con in history, the Canadian National Comic Book Expo.

Due to poor planning on my part, I was unable to secure a table
at this year's con, but luckily, future Flight contributors Azad
and Johane Matte were kind enough to let me and the Toronto
chapter of the Flight crew crash their table to sell our wares at
the con.

The con was off to a rocky start, as there was a small mixup with
some of the guest badges that had been arranged for the Flight crew.
I just want to thank Jon Ellis of popimage.com for hooking us up and
helping us sort out all the problems. He's the man.

 

Azad, Johane, and Flight contributors Vera Brosgol and Hope Larson
behind the table just a few minutes before the opening of the con on
Friday night.

 

After an extremely slow couple of hours, the girls found a group of empty
tables in a prime location. Since the artists at these tables weren't
scheduled to arrive until Saturday, the eminently- huggable Chris
Butcher
suggested we set up shop at these tables in an attempt to sell
a few more books. It actually worked, too. Here, Hope and Vera are
doing their best impression of Denis Rodier and Dale Eaglesham.

As the first day of the con came to a close, we were supposed to head
out to the book release party of Mal's (Bryan Lee O'Malley) latest graphic
novel, Scott Pilgrim. But tonight was also apparently the "very last show"
(it probably wasn't) to be put on by Broken Social Scene, and at Vera's
insistence, the two of us swung by Harbourfront Centre to catch the free
BSS performance.

 

It was a great show. There were at least 12 musicians on stage at any
given time. And while Broken Social Scene doesn't look this blurry in real
life, you might want to check out chromewaves.net for better photos and
a full concert report.

After about an hour and a half into the show, we ducked out and
high-tailed it over to the Bordello in time to catch Mal taking to the
stage with Kupek.

 

Not only does Mal know how to draw comics, he also knows how to
Rock Out.

In between sets, we met the incredibly charming Scott Robins. He was
so charming in fact, that I completely forgot to take a photo of him.

 

 

Scott mesmerized Vera with his complex hand movements, while Azad
either fanned himself with a copy of Scott Pilgrim (the room was
extraordinarily hot) or gave me the finger. You decide which.

 

Hope mans the Scott Pilgrim merchandise table.

 

To end the night, Mal took to the stage one last time with Honey Dear,
and played until the wee hours of the morning. That's Hope in the
foreground, wearing her cowboy hat.

Exhausted, we retired to my friend Oliver's apartment, where
several of us con- goers stayed for the weekend.

 

 

Vera and Hope had other plans for the weekend, so Saturday
for me was spent mostly behind the table, although I did
manage to slip away for a few minutes to check out the new
horror section of the convention. There were some mighty
fine makeup artists displaying their work (on both the living
and not-so-living), which I managed to grab a few photos of.

Saturday evening was marked by dinner with Johane and
Eric Theriault at a Korean/Japanese sushi restaurant. Watching
Johane discover the joys of kimchi for the first time was a
real treat.

 

Sunday began with a leisurely breakfast. However, just as the
con opened its doors to the public, a fuse was blown, which knocked out
the power, leaving us in almost complete darkness. Johane and Azad are
in that photo somewhere.

 

About 15 minutes later, the crowd cheered when the emergency
lighting came back on. It took over an hour to get all the lights
and power back on at the convention centre.

 

During a lull in the day, Azad and Johane decided to check out
the rest of the con, leaving me alone to enjoy my daily dose of
stale bread, cow anus, pig hoof, nitrates, and red dye no. 5.

As Sunday progressed, we were running dangerously low on copies
of Flight to sell. Luckily, Peter, Chris, and all the guys from The
Beguiling
were extremely generous and lent us some copies of the
book for us to sell. We're all extremely grateful to have such an
awesome comic store that's willing to support artists like that.
You guys rock.

 

Johane had to leave early to catch a train back to Montreal,
but this last photo I took of her pretty much summed up the entire
weekend for me.

 

And that's all.

 

 

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