Montreal 2013 ComicCon

Montreal’s ComicCon is an annual convention held this year on September 13th to the 15th, and has been running since 2006. The Montreal ComicCon (short for comic convention) is a showcase of comic books, anime, sci-fi and horror related media. One can buy all sorts of books, toys, cards and even rare collectibles at the convention. Other amazing aspects of the convention are the celebrity panels and movie screenings, leading to a fun filled weekend of ComicCon madness!

Many people dress up for the Montreal ComicCon. While Otakuthon attendees also cosplay for the anime convention, Montreal ComicCon goers tend to come from an older crowd and have more experience with cosplay, leading to more intricate costume designs and better craftsmanship. 

When I first went to the Montreal ComicCon I was 15 years old and had never gone to any sort of convention before. Noting that there would be some sort of cosplaying, I had sewn my own Harley Quinn costume with the help of my mother! Harley Quinn was always my favourite Batman villain and I wanted to recycle the costume for the following Halloween.

My first costumed metro ride was a bit embarrassing as everyone thought I was just a regular clown and kept taking random photos of me while avoiding my gaze! My first ComicCon was a blast, and I had even participated in the Masquerade costume and talent contest. I had no idea what I was doing though, so I asked the announcer to introduce me to the audience in the same way that a corny dating game show host would. My heart was pounding through my chest as I walked onto the stage for the very first time but once I had gotten over my stage-fright I had an amazing time! My story is one of many other ComicCon fanatics who also love to cosplay. Many spend half of the year preparing their costumes and performances for the 3-day event.

 

 

Me, at the age of 15, in my Harley Quinn Costume

The Montreal ComicCon and Otakuthon have many similarities. The biggest difference between the conventions is the attitude of the attendees. The ComicCon welcomes a much wider variety of ages than the Otakuthon as the ComicCon has a broader range of attractions. Instead of being just about anime, the Montreal ComicCon also features comic books and different television and movie series, attracting a larger (and sometimes older) audience. With that said, the majority of the ComicCon goers are less interested in physical contact, quite unlike those of the Otakuthon who have an entire area at their convention dedicated to hugging random strangers. The ComicCon also has better funding than the Otakuthon overall and can invite more celebrities to come sign autographs, take photos and do panels.

There are also little to no “furries” at the ComicCon. A furry is an anthropomorphic animal person. Many people cosplay as furries by dressing up in what can only be described as a sports mascot (and in some of the worst cases: a sexy , leather wearing sports mascot).

 

Krystal, from the Star Fox video games, is a perfect example of what my nightmares are made of.

 

The Montreal ComicCon’s Exhibition Hall is full of crazy things that you can’t find online and I needed more books to add to my art book collection. I already own several books by Don De Carlo and Gil Elvgren but I wanted to add Bruce Timm to my repertoire. The Exhibition Hall is everything that a fan can ever dream of. Toys, books, video games, board games, cards, clothes, make up, weapons and plenty of more things are sold there from a variety of businesses!

There’s this one specific stand that sells personal massagers (not the adult kind) and try to corner people when they are alone. My friend and I were forced into getting the most awkward massage last year because they backed us up into a wall!

There are also t-shirts for sale and what annoys me the most is that all of the nicest shirts only come in men’s sizes and that includes anything related to My Little Pony!

The PS4 was also on display for everyone to play it! I didn’t go see it because I was a bit paranoid about touching the controller and catching a cold!

At the hall, you can also get your photo taken professionally to capture your ComicCon memories forever! I got my portrait down by the talented Richard Dufault. Instead of waiting in line for an hour (like I had to at the Otakuthon) Mr. Dufault did a photo shoot with me immediately and gave me excellent advice on how to pose! I loved all the photos he took and I was extremely pleased with the quality of the shoot!

 

My cosplay of Lara Croft from her latest video game

 

There was also the Artist’s Alley which was full of talented people and I wanted to buy all of their posters! Instead I asked Oliver Castañeda to draw me! I was really happy with his work! At the Otakuthon I usually ask people to draw me in anime style which tends to have very little detail, but Oliver Castañeda drew me very accurately! Other artists there were the awesome David Finch and George Perez.

 

My ComicCon purchases

 

The best part of the exhibition hall is how all of the celebrities who sign autographs, do meet and greets and photoshoots with convention attendees! There were many other celebrities at the convention, including Christopher Lloyd, George Takei, Gillian Anderson, Lou Ferrigno and many other people who have been in Stark Trek and Battle Star Galactica! Five wrestlers also came to the ComicCon. I did a photoshoot last year with Patrick Stewart and William Shatner with one of my best friends! It was really awesome but I was too afraid to touch Patrick Stewart because he’s Patrick Stewart. My friend put his hand on William Shatner’s shoulder and I have been worshipping him since then. We didn’t go see any celebrities this year at the convention but I did see George Takei from really far away and I’m pretty sure we made eye contact. Shhh. Don’t judge me!

 

The greatest moment of me and Curtis’ lives (I was cosplaying Psylocke from X-Men)

 

Before I even begin to discuss the famous people who attended the Montreal ComicCon, I thought I’d start off by talking about the most important part of the convetion: THE FOOD. At any comic book convention, food is a necessity. Walking around all day wearing armour or a corset or even a fur suit (AHHHHHH) is exhausting for cosplayers. Sustenance is required in order to have the right amount of energy to pose for 500 photos without bursting into tears.

The Montreal ComicCon has a small restaurant on its first level, but unfortunately it has very little seating accommodation and unreasonable lines. What’s even more unfortunate is that it’s the only place you can buy food at when attending the convention (excluding one tinier stand that they have on the 5th floor). The food itself was delicious and plenty, but getting to it could take half an hour, which may not seem like a lot, but when celebrity panels are starting every 5 minutes, half an hour is the world! Some people sat on the floor. Some people went to Chinatown instead. I did not, and enjoyed a 45 minute lunch break in which I spent 40 minutes in line and 5 minutes inhaling my pasta so that I could go see Felicia Day’s Q&A panel! 

Felicia Day’s panel was wonderful! It started off with screening of Felicia Day’s Flog, a weekly Youtube blog she no longer works on. Watching Felicia Day attempt parkour in her Flog was very amusing but also demonstrates how sweet and humble Felcia Day is! She’s always willing to laugh at herself, and she made the audience laugh with her responses to the Q&A. She told us that during her stay in Montreal, she went to the Jean Talon market to buy 120$ worth of jam for her family and friends because buying maple syrup from the airport was too lazy.

Felicia then discussed how she loves staying at home all day with her dog and her videogames as she considers herself to be an introvert. She went on to mention the possibility of The Guild becoming a comic book series and recommended her recent web series called “Co-Optitude” in which she plays videogames with her brother. Also addressing the concept of “geek girls” and how the word itself shouldn’t be used to describe only men and how people should be defined by their character instead of their interests! Because of this, Felicia Day turns down many different roles in which she would have been made to play a stereotypical and boring nerd girl! She also discussed how much she enjoyed working on the set of Supernatural and acting in Dr. Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blog.

Her favourite multiplayer video game Is World of Warcraft and single player games are Dragon Age and Skyrim because she wanted to date all of the characters and buy all of the houses in the video games. She enjoys the music of Erasure, Howard Jones and Men Without Hats. Teagan and Sara, Fun and Arctic Monkeys are also some of her all-time favourite musicians.

My favourite exchange throughout the entire panel was this:

Audience member: What did one volcano say to the other?

Felicia Day: … Blow me!

Audience member: Um… I… I lava you.

Felicia Day: That’s close to what I said!

 

After the panel, I went upstairs to watch the Horrorfest screenings. The Horrorfest has been at the ComicCon for two years now and have had past screenings of the 1981 original The Evil Dead followed by Q&A with the leading actors. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the screening so I watched “My Fair Zombie” and “Portrait of a Zombie”.

My Fair Zombie is a parody of the musical My Fair Lady and has a zombie instead of a lady, just like the title suggests. Directed by Brett Kelly, this musical comedy tells the tale of a professor of phonetics’ attempt to teach a zombie how to become an elegant lady. Mr. Kelly claims that the idea for the movie came to him before “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” existed. The movie is very light hearted and full of sweet, touching moments… but I can’t help but feel a bit frustrated while watching it. The trailer for the film has a much better soundtrack than the actual movie itself, which recycles the same old song throughout the entire film. The poster and teaser also promise a much more zombified Eliza Doolittle while in the film she has perfect skin. Another qualm I have would be the awkward camera positions, causing the shots to be unbalanced and somewhat distracting for viewers. The blood and gore effects were also unprofessional. 

Although this is a comedy, the word “zombie” in the title of the film clearly warns the audience that the film will have some sort of violence. If a film is to be focussed mostly on zombies and violence, then more effort should be put into special effects. The film maker should also have avoided using cheesy stock footage of sunsets and sunrises in his movie. Apart from technical issues, the film itself was a delight! The acting was superb and the singing was fantastic! The film never takes itself too seriously, and if anything, the cheesy effects and music were extremely appropriate for the film as it was already a comedy to begin with!

 

The cast of My Fair Zombie

 

Portrait of a Zombie has won several awards from around the world for being an excellent film. Directed by Bing Bailey, the film takes place in Dublin and depicts the struggles of a working class family as they take care of their zombified son. An American documentary maker decides to make his next film about the family and ends up causing them more trouble than they ever had before. At first, I disliked the movie. It was too long for me, but I felt that if I left I would have made all the time I had spent watching it worthless. About 40 minutes in the film’s first twist happens, and it caught me off guard so badly that I was traumatized for the rest of the weekend! The film’s slow pacing at the beginning prepared the audience for a wave of anguish, terror and disgust to crash into them and leave them stranded in shock inside of the screening room.

My only complaint about the film is the changes in camera position. Sometimes there would be close-ups of objects or people and the lighting would change completely. The error is small and unnoticeable, but destroyed my immersion into the film’s dark world. Also I got really upset because at some point in the film they talk about how most people take a while to become zombies, starting off with a fever and then reanimating after death. Towards the end of the film many citizens become zombies almost immediately after being bitten, contradicting that last statement entirely. Apart from that, the film was fantastic! The actors were perfect for their roles and seemed as if they were really experiencing a zombie infestation! The blood effects were also extremely professional, and during the Q&A after the film, Ms. Bailey told me that most of the blood and guts eaten by the “zombies” consisted of oatmeal, corn syrup and sometimes even rubber.

 

The screening room

 

The last thing I went to was a screening of Jay and Silent Bob’s Super Groovy Cartoon Movie. Unfortunately, I have never seen Clerks so I was completely lost and cannot provide a proper critique of the film. With that said, Tara Strong (an amazing voice actor who plays Twilight Sparkle in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic) is in it! Also Jason Meyes announced that he and Kevin Smith will be appearing in Clerks 3! Hooray!

I couldn’t stay for the Q&A because my mother was picking me up! Also the Montreal ComicCon got a bit creepy past 9PM and I felt the need to flee the premises as strange men in various super hero costumes kept trying to lift me up and kiss me on the cheek!

 

 

Apparently Kevin Smith ran into the same people as me.