Although it took a while for me to collect my thoughts, presented here is my look at how Emerald City Comic Con has changed this decade.
Emerald City Comic Con certainly exploded in size since 2019. Instead of occupying one building and a quarter during the time I last attended, it’s a full building and a half! I’ve heard stories about last year’s and am glad I didn’t go. Folks had problems navigating around and getting used to the new space. And although the pandemic caused this event to lose momentum back in 2020, it continued in 2021 with health checks in place. To get those certificates verifying you’re safe to arrive from out of the country was a hassle. While the medical concern is today considered an endemic level threat, I heard on Facebook three vendors in Artist’s Alley caught Covid-19.
On Friday and Saturday, the two exhibitors’ floors were packed! Maybe 15% of the people walked around wearing face masks. Although the new building is much more spacious, I doubt spreading things out further can help limit the transmission of con crud. Even after following all the talk concerning the move to Washington State Convention Center‘s Summit Building (last year’s show), this new space is much better than the old one! And after last year’s blunder, there are signs pointing to the basement level where the best vendors are located!
Not every guest celebrity was easily accessible at Fan Expo Vancouver 2024, and thankfully one moment made this year memorable.
Fan Expo Vancouver 2024 is over, and it took a while for me to unpack everything that I had enjoyed from it. This event’s 15th anniversary is approaching, Informa Connect has not started planning or taking in suggestions on what to offer. Maybe they don’t want to announce plans have started because this is their 13th show and there’s a superstition with this number. A year was lost due to the pandemic
Although not everyone noticed, the sections where the stage, photo ops and autograph tables are located was changed around. The shuffling was done because there’s more space to relocate some things. Perhaps the more noticeable aspect is more anime and k-pop style content. As for why there isn’t as much industry support and sponsorship, perhaps that’s because they’re not what the organisers want to focus on. Instead, they want to be engaged with the local groups and communities that exist in those cities this company has an annual show.
Terminal City’s big fandom event is a return to full form, and as for what’s coming after Fan Expo Vancouver 2023, we have to wait….
At Fan Expo Vancouver 2023, the many choices of what one can choose to focus on is wide and varied. When you stick around in the main staging area where all the Q&As happen, something entirely random can delight! I spent the second and third day mostly in this area since the rest of the gymnasium space was often packed.
Between the panels, I often returned to Artists Alley and also Celebrity Row in hopes of finding some time to chat with either for some neat bits of information about their next projects. Most are kind enough to share when they’re not contracted to not disclose. Even event co-founder Andrew Moyes made some time to answer my lingering questions about the con.
On the entertainment front, the CW’s lineup of superhero programming is changing since being acquired by Nexstar. And with the Arrowverse on its way out, maybe we’ll see more talents from Netflix from past hits like Riverdale, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and The Adam Project. That fact hasn’t stopped the organisers from bringing back The Arrow (Steve Amell) and The Flash (Danielle Panabaker, Kayla Compton, and Candice Patton) for one last hurrah.
The talents who have a booth can show me upcoming projects. That includes comic book artists and celebrities. For example, I learned from Dante Basco that a Fabulous Filipino Brothers sequel is in the works, and he’s not stopped producing/directing. He doesn’t have any information about the Avatar: Last Airbender movies since they’re still in development, but he hopes Zuko will be back. This came from my brief chat with him, and he repeated it during his Q&A.
As for advice for future Fire Lords, he said once you become part of that world, everyone is kin. It’s a beautiful sentiment when considering the family day holiday FXV wants to connect with. He even talked about what kept him acting, and it included words of wisdom from Robin Williams and Dustin Hoffman when he got his break in Hook. He fondly recalled those times with Mako, who voiced Uncle Iro (Avatar: Last Airbender).
When Anthony Daniels took to the main stage, the love was immense. Even Sean Astin, Matthew Lewis, Michael Rooker (he was the next entertaining out of the lot) and Sean Gunn had a packed house. The list doesn’t end there, and although the area set aside for audiences seemed smaller, I’d have to compare past maps to say for certain if it had or not.
In Artist’s Alley, writer/artist Faith Erin Hicks said she has two Avatar: Last Airbender books being released this year. Returning favourites include the talent pool (Ian Boothby and James Lloyd) who worked on the Futurama comic book, and I asked if there’s a chance of those will be reprinted as trades. Only 1/4 was put into this collected format. The series is slated to make a comeback, as last year’s convention had Billy West talking about it. But it’s ultimately up to Disney (who now owns all of Fox’s properties).
Other talents included Dan Parent, Don Rosa, Marcelo Matere, and many more chatting it up with their fans. Because the space was tight, I wasn’t able to get a decent snap of them conversing with fans.
BC Family Day was also declared as Pokémon Day a week before the official international one. Moyes was most likely not aware of what The Pokémon Company was planning for announcements the following week, but that’s okay. I thought of it as a fun way for Fan Expo to build up to the real one (and I finally ordered the latest Pokémon Scarlet game, since there’s now a DLC). The organisers are glad at what they say, and Andrew Moyes said, “We craft these based on what’s hot at the time, who’s appearing at the show, etc. so they’re really fresh and fun. There were some really fun elements (like this year’s Pokemon trade meetup) that we’d love to see come back, but we plan in bringing something new next year.”
I’m glad Fan Expo Vancouver 2023 is a return to full form. Last year’s event was hot off the heels of BC Health announcing the relaxing of pandemic restrictions. While some aspects can be tweaked further because this event was at capacity–especially during Saturday and Sunday–the fact it needs more space is obvious. As long as the momentum is good, hopefully it will finally fill two floors of the West Vancouver Convention Centre than one. The company is aware of what must be done. On social media, everyone is begging for it. As for the return of corporate representation as FXV has historically welcomed in the past, there’s no word yet as to who or how they’ll show a presence. The organisers did offiically say these studios and corporate partners are eager to connect face-to-face with fans though.
However, Moyes said the group is still taking a wait and see approach than to offer something firm. They still have to crunch the numbers. In the meantime, he stated, “It’s very promising to have the show in the wake of all the shared challenges we’ve all gone through. We will grow.”
There was lots to enjoy at Fan Expo Vancouver 2023, and in this introduction, we go explore the paranormal themed events in greater detail.
When the local fandom communities want to be heard, they’ll certainly roar at Fan Expo Vancouver 2023 (FXV). That’s what Vice-President Andrew Moyes wants to hear, and he was at the show to make sure it goes off without a hitch. He’s been with the company for over 10 years to help deliver this experience all over North America, and their primary goal is to deliver community driven events. “These aren’t travelling circuses,” this organiser said, “We are delighted by the support we received from the fandom community in Vancouver. It shows our fans have faith in what we are delivering.”
Regarding this and Portland’s show happening the same weekend, he said it was done to synergize the two, so no fan will feel left out. Part of it also had to do with the dates the State-side convention centre had open. Moyes put forth the answer to his own question, “Do I think it’s going to happen all the time? Not necessarily. But when those opportunities present themselves, it helps us elevate the experience for all to enjoy.”
As for what’s next, it’s safe to say they’ll be back next year during BC Family Day. I was pleased that it wasn’t competing with another event upstairs and all I can hope for is to see the city embrace this event like in Calgary, complete with a parade.
The event showed no signs of operating at half capacity since a few days prior, the latest health protocols said it was okay to be at capacity. I firmly believe the organisers got lucky. Plus, entry to the event was perfectly handled and there was enough staff throughout the day. You walked in, showed your vaccine card and id, and you’re in. There was no bottleneck. All that was asked for is for everyone to continue wearing a face mask. Travellers from afar were enjoying other events this city offered and were unaware this event was happening. I chatted with a few who were curious about the cosplayers walking around the inlet.
The team behind this event were certainly cautious in how much should be spent advertising because all I saw around town were ads on poster cylinders. I can’t speak for newspaper or television since I didn’t look, but I feel that’s needed as this part of the world is getting back to normal and leaving the pandemic behind.
Even though there were overlaps with panels and when I had to be present for a photo op, there was plenty to see and do. I enjoyed chatting with the talents in Artists’ Alley and when there were no lineups for the celebrities, got to talk to them. Like previous years, there’s always going to be some kind of representation with the locally made television shows, namely Legends of Tomorrow, and this aspect is always appreciated. This year, it was about the latest, Superman and Lois.
Emerald City Comic Con certainly exploded in size since 2019. Instead of occupying one building and a quarter during the time I last attended, it’s a full building and a half! I’ve heard stories about last year’s and am glad I didn’t go. Folks had problems navigating around and getting used to the new space. And although the pandemic caused this event to lose momentum back in 2020, it continued in 2021 with health checks in place. To get those certificates verifying you’re safe to arrive from out of the country was a hassle. While the medical concern is today considered an endemic level threat, I heard on Facebook three vendors in Artist’s Alley caught Covid-19.
Fan Expo Vancouver 2024
At Fan Expo Vancouver 2023, the many choices of what one can choose to focus on is wide and varied. When you stick around in the main staging area where all the Q&As happen, something entirely random can delight! I spent the second and third day mostly in this area since the rest of the gymnasium space was often packed. 
When the local fandom communities want to be heard, they’ll certainly roar at 