By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)
After Capital City Comic Convention, what’s next? Some fans cannot wait for the next show but that will be a year away. In the meantime, Vancouver Island has enough shows making the fun last month after month. On the list are:
- Camosun Comic Arts Festival 2019 on April 13th
- Curious Comicon on May 4th
- Victoria’s Ultimate Hobby & Toy Fair on May 25 & 26
- Van Isle Con on June 9th
- Phenomenon on July 6th
Whether this list is too much or too little, the local fandom community have more than enough to keep going. Those interested in coming to the garden city of Victoria, BC from afar will have to arrange their own travel and accommodations.
Each event is unique such that (respectively) the CCAF is a true celebration of the sequential art medium and this free half-day event takes place at Camosun College‘s Lansdowne campus. This year, they have Brian Stelfreeze (Black Panther) as the guest of honour. To have talents from the industry offering words of wisdom to the new generation of artists who just graduated from the college’s Comics & Graphic Novels Program is terrific. This event is truly the mecca for all things comic book related and for illustrators who just want to broaden their understanding of the medium.
For people living up-island and unable to make it down to Victoria, Curious Comics has a solution. This free mini-convention nearly takes over Country Club Center in Nanaimo and celebrates Free Comic Book Day too!
Cherry Bomb Toy‘s bi-yearly two-day extravaganza known as the Ultimate Hobby & Toy Show at the G.R. Pearkes arena is not a flea market by any means. Some vendors are actual operations selling surplus, but the tables that matters are from those who are collectors wanting to sell their wares off to others who will appreciate their goods. Home is where the heart is, even for the odd random toy which nobody can ever find at the big shows. Attendees will never know what they can find at this show than others.
Van Isle Con is a free event held at the Mary Winspear Center in Sidney, BC and its focus is with the people behind the scenes of making movies than in front of. This show is special such that despite only operating for one day, the township is fully behind the event. Often, the Sidney Museum and local library have tie-in events to recognize the comic book medium as important to increase literacy.
For people unwilling to travel into downtown Victoria, the outlying communities have its own show. It held at the Juan de Fuca Center and the choice is space is not unusual. It will be in the arena. Phenomenon is West Shore’s answer to getting into this pop culture scene. They do not have a lot of history yet and in time, they will be worth noting.
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