On April 9, I attended the first day of the free “Fan Appreciation” show in Toronto. This is the first year it’s been held for the entire weekend, but unfortunately real life got in the way and the spouse and I were only able to go for one day.
It was a pretty good show, with some great guests (including Flash artists Francis Manapul and Ethan Van Sciver) and quite a few vendors selling comics and action figures. I managed to get a couple of Professor Zoom figures and a Flash figurine, and commissioned Red Robin artist Marcus To for a drawing of Captain Boomerang.
The woman waiting in line behind me for Marcus To got this Impulse sketch from him, which she let me photograph.
Here’s Francis Manapul working on a Wonder Woman picture for a fan. I also saw him drawing several Flash pieces, and he drew the Flash on a t-shirt which was later given away in a contest. I didn’t take any photos of the shirt, but the gentleman who won it did!
Alas, we ran out of money quickly (part of that real-life thing I mentioned earlier), and eventually left the show early. After leaving the convention, we went for lunch and wandered around some of the nearby streets before heading back to the car. And stumbled across this: the dressing rooms, washrooms, and hair/makeup trailers for the television show Flashpoint! The series is filmed in Toronto, of course. It was fun to see it given the name of DC’s imminent crossover.
And then we walked by Piper Street, so I had to take photos of that too.
All in all, it was a pretty good day for a Flash fan!
Great art finds, and thematic signs are always fun. (The first Wizard World con I went to was across the street from a Central City sign.) Sounds like it was a lot of fun!
Heh, I love that Central City sign; how appropriate!
There’s an Allen Street a few blocks from my house, which I always refer to as “Barry Allen Street”. Maybe one day we should gather up all the Flash-themed signs we know of and put them in one post.
Good stuff. Are you going to post pics of the rest of your haul though?
I didn’t think anyone would be interested, but if you’d like me to then I can!
Alas, nobody was selling Happy Meal Cold at the show, and now all the McDonalds around here have moved on to new toys. Looks like I’ll have to get it on Ebay — annoying, considering how many McDs I went to, and how often.
Great pictures, thanks for sharing them. Looks like it was a good time.
It was, thank you! It’s not the big Toronto con (that’s in August), but this one’s a lot less hectic and crowded.