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I could easily write how I enjoyed my time at the Toronto Fan Expo this year. In fact there are many things from this year’s convention (my second), which I am very happy about.  These include seeing a quite awesome 3D preview for Tron: Legacy, as well as having the once-in-a-lifetime chance to meet David Cronenberg.

However, there are some things about the festival which rubbed me the wrong way and I am going to use this article to complain about the things that really go under my skin.

Too Expensive

I noticed that the prices for the expo were a little more expensive than they were last year and, in the case of basic passes, there was even a slight premium put on the Saturday ticket.  The admission price wouldn’t be so bad if you weren’t compelled to spend so much money after entering.  This actually segues into the next point. Read the rest of this entry »

A shorter day (thankfully), I attended a few panels and chatted with a few creators. You know, that old thing.

The sketch duel between Doug Mahnke and Francis Manapul was the best. This was something I’d never experienced before, and it was quite cool. For those unfamiliar, it’s the two creators drawing the same character and while drawing they both answer questions from the audience. When all is said and done the drawings were raffled off to some hugely lucky attendees, walking off with either a Mahnke or Manapul Nightwing, Powergirl, or Wolverine sketch. And no I didn’t win any of them.

I have to mention my question to Doug Mahnke, I asked about how he worked on all the space fare for Green Lantern without the aid of references. He said that he worked in a studio with Patrick Gleason, a man who has worked on Green Lantern Corps for years, and that was a big help, in addition to using the back-issue library at DC for available comic reference, and the most valuable advice for the general populace who don’t have access to either of those two resources: “fake it ‘till you make it.” Read the rest of this entry »

Um… I’m not sure I really did much today. I’m not going to lie to you, I was pretty wrecked after yesterday and slept in pretty late, strolling into the Fan Expo sometime after 1:00.

One person I did talk to, who I hadn’t already had a chance to talk to, was JT Krul. He was a very cool guy, more than happy to talk about what he was looking to do with Green Arrow and Teen Titans. It sounds like he has some good ideas and a clear direction. I especially liked what he had to say about writing Damian Wayne, who he is wary of portraying as a one-note brat. I’m definitely going to be checking out his Teen Titans run.

After this I decided to make my first purchase of the weekend. Boom Studios was having an excellent 2 for 1 sale, meaning but one thing to me: both volumes of The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck for the price of one. Without tax. Awesome. (Seriously, if you haven’t read this you should. I consider it one of the greatest graphic novels of all time.) Read the rest of this entry »

First thing to point out is the line up for entry. If you heard anyone talk about it then you know it was insane – and I got to skip it all by having a ticket (media pass) from the hotel. DON’T HATE ME YET! Because I asked them at the entrance I used, and yes, anyone with a ticket could enter from the lineless hotel side of the convention centre, and I used that knowledge to save some pals from the inevitable sunstroke they would have otherwise received. I’m a hero. But more importantly, this illustrates a weird lack of knowledge for setting up shop by the organizers and fans coming in. I was confused because I’d never REALLY done the big convention thing before, what was their excuse?

The DC panel was the first of the day (have you read Owen’s take on the day? It’s great, go read it), and about the first thing Dan Didio did was ask each of the panelists what they felt they brought to their books, and when he got to Marcus To (Red Robin artist) Marcus just went “I, ah, don’t think I really bring anything UNIQUE to the book…” It was adorable, but not the kind of thing you’d get away with in a job interview. Afterwards I went up to him and said “What? Come on!! Your stuff is so good, it’s so crisp and clean, and the cityscapes you draw are fantastic!” Hopefully I’ve given him some ammo for the next time he’s on a panel like that. Read the rest of this entry »

I arrived nice and early this morning, giving me time to wander around before my first panel. It can certainly be hard to move around with the crowds, but there’s a lot of neat stuff to look at. I especially enjoyed seeing the Adam West Batmobile on the floor.

The DC Universe panel featured a rather hefty guest list: Dan Didio, Francis Manapul, JT Krul, Jeff Lemire, Gary Frank, Doug Mahnke, Christian Alamy, Marcus To and Brian Azzarello. To start things off the panellists explained their goals for the books they’re writing.

- Manapul on The Flash: lots of awesome action and fast running.
- Krul on Green Arrow: make Oliver Queen the centre of his own universe again.
- Krul on Teen Titans: get things back to the Young Justice crew.
- Lemire on Superboy: give Conner Kent a sense of family that he never had.
- Frank on Superman: Secret Origin: distil what was most important about Superman into one story.
- Frank on Batman: Earth One: quite the opposite. Tell a new Batman story using a completely blank slate.
- Alamy & Mahnke on Green Lantern: build meat onto all of the new characters in this book.
- To on Red Robin: focus on Tim’s youth and give the book a bit of a lighter tone.
- Azzarello on First Wave: introduce these classic characters to a new audience. Read the rest of this entry »

Holy Good Times, Batman!

Though not actually a part of the Fanexpo festivities the Underground Cinema’s movie screening of the ’66 Batman movie with a question and answer segment starring Adam West could only happen because of the expo. A note on the venue: it’s my understanding that the Underground Cinema hasn’t been in operation all that long (just a few months in fact) so I really shouldn’t be surprised that everything was so clean looking, but I’ve worked at theatres, and I’ll tell you: they degenerate.

Okay, enough using colons; when the curtain was raised a man is revealed in front of the screen, dressed as Batman of course. The crowd erupts into cheers, which die away as we wait for… something. It ends up being a half awkward pause until “Batman” leaps off the stage and the movie starts rolling. But that’s funny, possibly the exact same kind of funny you find in this Batman movie. The colour was faded, sometimes the scene jumped around thanks to a messed up bit of reel, and I don’t think the crowd would have wanted any different. We see Bruce Wayne tied up beside his beloved Ms. Kitka and then we jump to him being released and it’s pure West fighting off the Joker, Riddler, and the Penguin. How did he get there? The movie certainly won’t tell us, and though there was a split second of disappointment that waved through the theatre at not seeing scenes in their entirety, we changed our tune quickly… because that jump is just too hilarious. Read the rest of this entry »

It was a short day for me this Friday, since I didn’t get off work until 6:30. Luckily Fan Expo is very accessible by TTC and I made it in time for the DC Nation panel at 7:00. After a quick pick-up of my pass I was settled into my seat.

Dan Didio was friendly, funny and very personable. He was joined by Chris Sprouse, Jeff Lemire, Ethan Van Sciver, Francis Manapul and Brian Azzarello. Didio set about gauging how people are enjoying DC’s current direction, and judging by the tone of the room people are very happy. Brightest Day is a big hit, especially Aquaman’s story (although the Hawks plotline got only tepid applause) and everyone seems to love where Batman is going.

I certainly could have done with more interesting questions from the audience, but that isn’t really what this panel was about. It was more of a “what do you like and why” sort of thing. I can’t say that I learned a lot I didn’t already know (except for a peek into the evolution of Justice League: Generation Lost) but it was fun. There were a cool discussion of why Dick Grayson is such a popular character which lead into a discussion of the difficulties of aging characters. I also enjoyed the friendly digs between Azzarello and Didio. Read the rest of this entry »

Action Comics #892
Paul Cornell, Jeff Lemire (w), Pete Woods, Pere Pérez, Pier Gallo (a), Brad Anderson, Jamie Grant (c). DC Comics.

Notable for including a Superboy back up story. Both it and the Lex Luthor lead in have very sparse settings: an arctic one and, yes, rural Kansas. The Superboy story serves as more of a teaser to get us onboard for Suberboy #1 (as if there was ever any question – yes I’m on board), but it was just long enough page-wise to trick me into thinking it was more than an ad. But that’s really all it is. If they would admit to that, and had tightened it up a bit while keeping all the crazy stuff that happens, it would have been the greatest ad/backup ever. It’s meant to be insanely awesome with: a giant earth monster, mind controlled pink frogs, last-minute Teen Titan rescues, underground kidnappees surrounded by pig monsters and gargoyle fetuses (apparently), with a last minute prophecy of doom courtesy of the Phantom Stranger. But its pacing is just a hairs breadth wrong. I still like the Luthor main story; it has some great character moments from Luthor beyond hating Superman stuff, but again, a little bland looking. – Isaac Mills

Isaac’s rating: 3 out of 5

Avengers #4
Brian Michael Bendis (w), John Romita Jr. (p), Klaus Janson (i), Dean White (c), Marvel Comics.

I’m not sure that much happened in this issue. There was some cool action (although I’m sorry to say that last issue’s cliffhanger doesn’t lead to much), but ultimately the story doesn’t go anywhere until the last few pages. Great cover, though! – Owen Craig

Owen’s rating: 3 out of 5 Read the rest of this entry »

Piranha 3D
Directed by Alexandre Aja
Dimension Films, 2010

By Sean Kelly

It has been a tough year for 3D films. In hindsight, the success of Avatar was one of the worst things to happen for 3D, since the oversaturation of bad post-production converted 3D films that followed, along with other quirks (such as how the 3D glasses dim the screen), has resulted in a growing backlash against the format. When Roger Ebert is writing an essay entitled “Why I Hate 3-D (And You Should Too),” you know something is wrong.

All I can say is, thank goodness for horror films. It has been ages since I saw a truly gimmicky made-for-3D film and while the 3D in Piranha 3D isn’t perfect, it still looked a thousand times better than films such as Clash of the Titans and The Last Airbender, which were converted to 3D as an afterthought. This film contained a couple really good (albeit gimmicky) 3D shots. Read the rest of this entry »

Eli Roth, Ashley Bell and Patrick Fabian

The Last Exorcism
Directed by Daniel Stamm
Lionsgate, 2010

By Sean Kelly

For the second year in a row I went to check at the Toronto After Dark film festival at the Bloor Cinema. This year I chose to see the Eli Roth-produced Last Exorcism. The screening was a joy since Roth and stars Patrick Fabian and Ashley Bell, were in attendance for a Q&A.

The film is done in a faux-documentary style and it follows a minister named Cotton Marcus (Fabian). Marcus has been performing exorcisms all of his life, however he admits that he does not really believe in demons and he has even began to doubt his faith in God. Marcus allows a documentary crew to accompany him as he performs one final exorcism on a girl named Nell (Bell) in an effort to prove that demonic possession is really psychological. Read the rest of this entry »

Amazing Spider-Man #640
Joe Quesada (w + p),  Paolo Rivera (a), Dany Miki (i), Richard Isanove (c). Marvel Comics.

Rivera is an amazing, amazing artist. Publishers, hold onto this man tight because he is taking lemons and making rocket fuel. The story and the script, however? Well, it’s a really mixed back. I think there are times when the script really works but the main story beats of this arc are dreadful and unimaginative. There’s a moment that mimics/quotes Peter Parker’s origin, when a regular thug comes back to hurt one of his loved ones. It’s exactly like the thief who killed Uncle Ben — but it’s layed on so thick that I couldn’t help but groan. It’s a groaner and I’m looking forward to it being a goner. — Miles Baker

Miles’ rating: 3 out of 5

Atlas #4
Jeff Parker (w), Gabriel Hardman (a), Elizabeth Breitweiser (c). Marvel Comics.

One thing I probably don’t stress enough about my love for Atlas —  I love it because it’s so fucking weird. You sit back and realize that this is a team of odd balls that have very strange adventures. And they all have crazy, dark secrets that Parker layers in slowly. This week we got a messed up, understated bit from The Uranian that I seriously love. I’ll give the series a more proper send off with next month’s (final-final) issue. — Miles Baker

Miles’ rating: 4 out of 5 Read the rest of this entry »

The Expendables
Directed by Sylvester Stallone
Lionsgate, 2010

By Sean Kelly

There was a lot of hype behind The Expendables. Sylvester Stallone had assembled what some may call a dream team and the film seemed like it was going to be the action film to end all action films. However, while I thought the film was decent enough, it came off with more a whimper then a bang.

The story follows a team of mercenaries led by Barney Ross (Stallone). Ross is joined by second in command Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), as well as Ying Yang (Jet Li), Gunner Jenson (Dolph Lundgren), Toll Road (Randy Couture) and Hale Caesar (Terry Crews).

Probably the most hyped scene in the film is the scene that united the three biggest action stars of the 80s, Stallone, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger onscreen together for the first time. It is essentially an extended cameo for both Willis and Schwarzenegger, though I do have to admit that the film gave the latter a chance to properly – and somewhat literally – walk off into the sunset. Read the rest of this entry »