Field Report: Toronto Comicon In Pictures

The Toronto Comicon is the smaller of the shows taking place in the T-Dot (the larger one is Fan Expo which usually takes place around Labour Day Weekend). This is the second year the show has run since the pandemic began. I went early on the first day to escape the large crowds, but the throngs were already beginning to pour in. It’s March break here so this proves to be a convenient and family friendly event for families and teens to attend. It seemed like a slightly smaller show than usual and was in the North Hall of the Convention Centre as opposed to the more capacious South Hall.

More and more, I’m seeing less comics as opposed to cosplay, merch, and celebrity signings. I recognize fewer and fewer of the celebrities (both in terms of TV as well as comics) which probably signifies that a major turning point is on the near horizon, away from traditional comics and perhaps even TV and film comics franchises. A few familiar faces are captured below:

One dealer told me that it just doesn’t pay to bring a lot of non-valuable (i.e. unslabbed) comics because they take up a lot of table space and he has to sell a lot of those comics to make back the cost of renting a table, which he claimed was $10,000 CAD.

I have no idea what the OPP (Ontario Provincial Police) were doing exhibiting at the show – perhaps they feel that people who are into superheroes are natural recruits for the constabulary?

Children’s singing trio Sharon, Lois, and Bram have decided to make a comeback, at Comicon of all places. Well, not Lois, because apparently she’s deceased, but the group’s representative assured me that Elephant would be there because the show must go on.

That Berni Wrightson portfolio from the seventies was not actually $20 (the real price is something like $300), which I thought was false advertising and a very naughty move on the part of the vendor, but I did end up finding a Swamp Thing issue I’m missing and bought it because the price was right!