Tag: Conventions

Bold Directions are in Store for Van Isle Con Year Two on June 10th!

Van Isle ConBy Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Van Isle Comic Con is back, and it promises to be bigger than last year’s. This event takes place on June 10th, 2018 and will take over the Mary Winspear Center up in Sidney, BC. This venue is not too far from the town core and this location is beautiful during a warm summer’s day. This event goes beyond simply comic books. It’s a look at popular culture in many of its forms, and this year it gets behind the scenes than in front of with the talent pool who is coming over to interact with fans. Plenty of activities will be offered not only on site but also off. For a quick bite, plenty of terrific eateries are nearby.

I talked to Josh Kully about what’s in store in Year Two. Support for island events is needed. Not everyone can afford to hit up the big shows on the mainland. These intimate events on Vancouver Island provide for a great change of pace, and who knows, maybe a celebrity can be spotted taking a break from filming. Getting to this township is easier for those coming from the mainland. It’s right next to the airport and ferry terminal. There’s a rumour one very loved Doctor Who star takes his breaks at Sidney by the Sea.

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It’s Supernatural! (Highlights from Creation Con in Bellevue)

Van Isle Con

By Sandy Sheehan (Guest Post)
(Photos used with Permission and are copyright)

Creation Entertainment is best known for hosting and having exclusive guests from certain television shows, namely Xena, Warrior Princess and Star Trek. I have been to a handful of The Next Generation events back when they were young and they have come a long way from simply spotlighting one or two stars and showing a blooper reel. These days, they are focussing on Supernatural, Riverdale and Stranger (to name a few). This for-profit company differs from most other similar events and non-profit conventions such that it tours. Most casual fans are turned off by the high price of a pass, and it is tiered (the more you pay, the better access you get). Unlike non-profit conventions, the vendor area (at least at the Seattle conventions) are minuscule, except, for the huge tables full of photos to be signed and some fandom related items.

Since they currently have the monopoly on Sam and Dean Winchester from The CW’s Supernatural, I have been to the last two they had in Seattle, WA (technically it was Bellevue). Plenty of fans go this show multiple times, and the consensus is that Seattle was the best, mostly due to the smaller size.

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Reflections on Anglicon 2017 & A Photo Album

anglicon-2017By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Over the second weekend of December, the British media convention Anglicon proves not every pop culture event has to be super-sized. This intimate event offered to fans used to corporate shows a taste of what a typical science fiction convention is like. These smaller events offer the same amount of fun — an art show, an exhibitor space for craftspeople (and other similar conventions) to vend from, a space for board gaming, a short film festival and a dance. For the latter, there were two nights for attendees to rock the night away. Even the traditional staples (costume contest) show not all costumes have to be about Doctor Who. A few furries were seen running around, and we’re not talking about Bentley the Corgi, one of the three guests of honour.

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Victoria, BC’s Capital City Comic Con to Carve a Niche for Fandom Local, Far & Wide

Capital City Comic Con OLD

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Victoria, the Capital City of British Columbia saw many pop culture style conventions come and go in the past thirty or so years. Some long-time residents believe the heydays were from the last century. As for the last decade and a half, the fan base will have their wide and varied opinions about those attempts. The organizations involved in bringing Capital City Comic Con to the Victoria Convention Center and Crystal Garden March 16-18th, 2018 (not to be confused with the one in East Lansing, Michigan) want to move forward in a positive light. They are Cherry Bomb Toys, The Downtown Victoria Business Association (DVBA) and Tourism Victoria.

“I think our reputation with our Ultimate Toy Fair proves that we can do it,” revealed Biagio and Candice Woodward. “We’re on show twenty (of year ten) and we’re constantly learning. We listen to our vendors, we listen to our crowd and that’s the key. If you don’t then you’re going to miss important things.”

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The Day of the Doctors is coming to Anglicon!

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By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

No, the producers behind Doctor Who is not remaking The Two Doctors. In 2017, Anglicon is bringing two actors from the classic years — Peter Davison and Sylvester McCoy (the latter announced today) — to entertain! The Fifth incarnation is better known as Tristan Farnon in All Creatures Great and Small and the Seventh gained greater notoriety when he played Radagast in Peter Jackson’s adaptation of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. During this convention, the two might talk about their career after leaving the show/ was cancelled. Unlike the performers from the new series who have left to have a career in America, getting noticed back in the 90’s was a lot more difficult. Davison did appear in an episode of Magnum P.I. “Deja Vu” and McCoy reprised the iconic role in FOX TV’s Doctor Who Movie, but mostly stuck to performing in the U.K. Perhaps these two will have something to say about the changing scene.

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Character Designer & Manga Artist Kenichi Sonoda Announced for Sakura-Con!

kenichisonoda_photoBy James Robert Shaw (The Wind up Geek)

One of anime’s biggest names is coming to the Seattle and will be found at Sakura-Con 2017, the Pacific Northwest’s largest anime convention. Celebrating 20 years, it is only fitting character designer, writer, and manga artist Kenichi Sonoda will be one of this year’s guests.

Sonoda’s career started in the mid-80’s at studio Artmic, where he became a character designer for some of Artmic’s best titles such as Bubblegum Crisis (where he produced the original look of the Knight Sabers team), Riding Bean, and the Gall Force series. Sonoda was also designer on long-time fan favourites Otaku no Video and the super-deformed special Scramble Wars: Tsuppashire! Genom Trophy Rally.

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