This weekend (May 12-13), Ottawa had its first large scale “San Diego-esque” comic convention. In a nut shell, I was left with conflicting feeling. Most of my negativity can be directed to the Ottawa CE Centre and the event organizers, more so than to the event itself or the fans that participated.
In the Comic Convention system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the vendors, who supply the merchandise; and the talent, who provide them with autographs. These are their stories. BONG, BONG.
The story begins here. My girlfriend and I went to the convention on Saturday. We took the bus down, which apparently was the smart thing to do since parking was expensive and you still had to walk about a kilometre. We arrived and were immediately lost. There were no signs telling ticket holders where to go, no people directing traffic, no order anywhere. We were all just a bunch of Zombies roaming to a mass congregation of people hoping that there was sweet, sweet flesh. We somehow found the end of the massive line where we preceded to wait for over an hour in 24 degree weather. No water was being passed out. No sunscreen. Children dressed up in full costumes were hot and uncomfortable. But the excitement of the crowd behooved people to not complain and everyone waited in line very patiently. The CE Centre was lucky that the fans were as calm as they were.
So after an hour wait in the blistering sun, we finally got in. Upon entering, I was assaulted by one of the most foul smells I had ever smelt. It was like 1,000 fans decided to dress up as Stinkor, complete with skunk smell. This did not help the Ottawa nerd reputation. But I think any group of ~25,000 people who have been waiting in the hot sun for over an hour (some in full costume I might add) would smell like a pile of dead rats. You put 25,000 Yoga moms in line to go to the Lululemon sale, the same smell would occur, only with more of those annoying giant strollers and a lot more self-entitlement. The real problem was that the CE Centre didn’t have a ventilation system, or it wasn’t on that day. Although, I heard Sunday was much better.
Me on the right after Sparrow wouldn't let me buy 1/6 scale model of Falcor.
Once we got in (and once you got used to the smell and the crowd) the event was pretty fun. There were a ton of Ottawa artists and actors, local businesses, Ottawa production companies as well as comics, comics and more comics. It was a little overwhelming at some points but there were some ok deals if you were willing to shove through the masses. One vendor I was really excited to see was Robot Punch Apparel, an Ottawa based clothing company. They had some awesome t-shirt designs for a pretty good price. Check it out!
I found that there was a great deal of repetition in what the vendors were selling and most of the deals weren’t that amazing, Seeling books for the American cover price, tax included, isn’t that great of a deal considering I already spent $25 to get in (and that was a low end ticket). Plus you can get a better deal on Amazon but this is a deeper seeded issue than just this occurrence. This definitely wasn’t an event for the thrifty consumer. I would have liked to have seen less low end merchandise and more high end collectables and kitsch, but at reasonable prices, so it felt like you were getting a deal. But that’s just me.
The Comic Book Shoppe had the biggest set up out of anyone (rightfully so) and they had tons of stuff. From sexy anime pillows to high end statues. As always, the staff from the Comic Book Shoppe were great and everyone seemed genuinely excited to be there.
Overall the vendors were pretty good. The one bad thing I have to say about the vendors is their placement. They should have been parallel to the flow of traffic not perpendicular and in the back of the room. The first thing you want people to see when they walk into the Con is the sea of people, not cubicle walls breaking their line of sight. The vendors is were people spend the most time and you can avoid bottle necking if you place the vendors in the back, but hey, that’s capitalism for you. And where were some of the other Ottawa/local businesses? No Mayfair theatre, no Silver Snail, no video game developers? Was it too expensive? Was there limited space? Oh well, maybe next year.
Now onto the talent. Unfortunately we lost Patrick Stewart early on. Stewart was a big draw and his departure was a pretty big hit to the Con. I know a lot of people who lost faith in the event after Stewart dropped out. However, the Con was able to bring in some other big talent, such as William Shatner, Brent Spiner, Marina Sirtis, Lou Ferrigno, Adam Baldwin, Neal Adams, Elvira and much, much more.
Cassandra Peterson signing pictures.
The whole day I kept hearing how sweet, kind, charismatic and down-to-Earth the stars were (although you would be too if you were getting $30 a signature. I heard repeated times that Brent Spiner was a really cool guy, Marina was sweet and gracious and all the guests were patient and generally happy to be there. I’m not one to wait in line and pay $30+ for a signature but other people are and it really paid off for them.
I would have liked it if there were more comic artists and writers but I chalk that up to this being the first con and I believe in the “if you build it, they will come” mentality. Although, they did have a good representation of local talent, such as Tom Fowler and Curtis Tiegs.
The Delorean was cool (although it wasn’t a fully functional time-machine), as well as the Starsky and Hutch car, and the Capital City Garrison, 501st Legion were awesome, people really loved them.
Mike with Boba. Later on that day, they ended up having a real Milo and Otis style adventure.
But the best thing about the talent at the comic cons is the attainability of the celebrities. This is the only place where someone can have a two minute conversation with Data without being creepy.
Now onto the costumes. Wow, people went all out. I think Matt Smith’s 11th incarnation of Doctor Who was the most frequent (but it’s a pretty easy one to put together). @MoreMissKitty went as Kingdom Come Wonder Woman and her costume was fantastic. Tons of kids were dressed up as their favourite characters (some doing mash-ups of Spider-man/Batman/Superman which made my continuity gland throb with anger). But, now I see why the costumes are so popular and why constumes are a huge reason for people to come. What better place to dress up as your favourite character and pose for pictures all day. These Comic-Cons really allow people be a part of the event and they all become so excited to be there. Unfortunately, I’m too cynical and self-conscious to be able to participate comfortably.
I believe most of my negativity towards the convention can be directed at the CE Centre. This was my first time at the new structure and I was very disappointed. It was like walking into the Russell, Ontario arena. Low ceilings in the lobby, no landscaping, boring grey walls, horribly under kept bathrooms, and the whole front west side of the building looked into office cubicles. Very let down by the building indeed.
To sum up the convention I would say it was a very good first attempt. It still needs some more planning, but this will come with time. The best thing to walk away with is that ~25,000 people showed up! This only shows that Ottawa has a big and loyal fandom scene. Ottawa has a lot to offer and we have some really good stores, talent and fans. I hope the CE centre can walk away from this event with a bit of an education on how to handle things next year. Because there WILL be a next year.
