Expozine 2010

Risa and I went to Montreal's Expozine yesterday.

Expozine is an independent press and 'zine fair. They usually have a lot of cool magazines, comics, art prints and books for sale.

We went last year and had fun, but this year it was just the two of us, as the rest of our gang couldn't make it at the same time as us.

Positives:

• It was less crowded
  
• It smelled less of damp wool and beard oil (it was raining last year, and the place was packed)
  
• There were more comics

Negatives:

• The booths are still overly crowded
  
• There were less prints for sale
  
• It oddly felt more corporate
  
• Too many people there were there just to be seen

We were there for about an hour, bought a few prints, Risa got a book, and we left.

Joey and Emily from "A Softer World" were there, and I inadvertently brought up some painful memories about Joey's ex-girlfriend before I bought a print (of this strip) and moved on.

Montreal Comicon

Marisa and I went to the Montreal Comicon yesterday. It was at Place Bonaventure, and was only 15$, so we decided to check it out.

We were both a little sad about missing FanExpo, but then we started to hear about the mass over-crowding and long, long lines that Toronto suffered through, so we decided it wasn't such a bad thing that we missed out. Montreal has a smaller con, so we decided just to check it out for a few hours.

It was very low key, as far as cons go. It was also very dealer heavy. Lots of vendors tables. It was also a little crowded, but mostly because of the layout of the tables. They aisles were not wide enough to accommodate people stopped at a table and people trying to walk by. There was alittle too much pushing and shoving for my tastes, especially when I was being shoved by a woman who was using her baby and carriage as a ram to make her way through the crowd.

On the upsides, the con was following the Toronto con for a lot of vendors, and sales were plentiful. I got some nice, hard cover trades for 5-10$. Yay for good sales. I got a nice DC Archives edition of The Teen Titans for 10 bucks.

I also met Larry Hama, and commissioned a sketch from him of Destro, which is pretty damned awesome. Saw Darrick Robertson for a bit, too, and caught glimpses of Brent Spiner, Billy Dee Williams, and Elvira.

All in all, it was a positive experience. I felt like I got good value for the price of admission, and there were no lines anywhere to meet the guests.