Edmonton Expo 2015

Another Edmonton Expo came and went. Of course the wife and I had to go. We love nerding it up.

One day I will have a Lego room.

This year we drove friends of ours who had a table in artist alley. These were the folks at Perfectly Chaotic. We got to use their parking pass so that was a big plus. The downside was having to walk all the way around the outside of the building to be let in. I guess I could use the exercise so it's all good.

I find the Edmonton Expo center is well designed for a comic expo. Multiple halls with multiple access points allow for more routes of traffic. My only problem with moving around was in the hallway between halls C and E, it smelled like a sewer backup all weekend.

As usual I was disappointed in the timing of guest announcements. Tickets went on sale before we knew who was coming. Meanwhile Calgary expo had a guest announcement in the program for this years Edmonton Expo. (Lucy Lawless… now I have to go to Calgary) It feels like the organizers don't put forth the effort they should. I hope they work on that for next year.

The food was all located in the central corridor or outside in food trucks. I wondered why the food trucks were left outside when I’ve been to other events at that center with the trucks indoors. There were tables set up in hall B which would have been a perfect location for the trucks. It was a little of a pain to try to exit through the entryway just to get to the food trucks. Because of that we just avoided them.

As for the show itself my wife was excited to meet Cary Elwes. She’s got the hots for him. I like Princess Bride, Men in Tights and his Saw appearances so we went to the panel and got a photo with him. He’s hilarious. His panel was mostly about Princess bride but there was a smattering of questions about his other roles. For some reason everyone kept saying Prince of Thieves by mistake when it came to talking about Men in Tights. It got to the point where even he started saying it in error. At the photo op he took the time to shake our hands, ask our names and how the show was going. Much to the photographers chagrin. I really like it when the guests don’t follow along with rushing people through like the con tries to enforce; being nice to fans while sticking it to the man makes me smile.

Billy Boyd was great at his panel although he seemed a little fixated on peeing. He was hilarious and it was nice to hear he took part in the local culture by going to the art museum. I’m regretting missing out on the Beecake concert now. At the very end of the show we came over to the signing area and noticed he was just getting ready to leave. We raced over for a signature. While the money was changing hands with his crew he started a drawing game with us. He made a scribble on the signing table and we were supposed to finish the drawing. My wife made an Ogopogo and I made a poorly drawn Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors. I decided since it was the end of the show I could be a little audacious and ask for a photo. He said he really shouldn’t but what the hell. He grabbed my phone and proceeded to take several selfies with us. It was great.

Since I’m a fan of the Walking Dead I had to meet Michael Rooker. We went to the Guardians of the Galaxy panel featuring him and Sean Gunn. The two of them really riffed with comedy together. My wife loved it since she is big into Gilmore Girls and Guardians. Michael Rooker is like a big goofy kid in real life. He kept laughing and really engaged with the fans; Pretty much the complete opposite of his Merle character. I would totally hang out with that guy. Which we were told we could at the ATB booth. Well, suckers we were because ATB just pushed another run through thing. The funny thing was he brought Sean Gunn along so my wife went all Gilmore Girls girly fangirl. She ran to Sean Gunn when Michael Rooker tried to meet and greet us. When I told him why we lost her he just bellowed “Hey Gilmore Girl Turn AROUND!” Sean Gunn beamed at having a fan and pulled her in for a photo.

We also went to the Buffy panel with Amber Benson, Eliza Dushku and James Marsters. Marsters seemed the most comfortable on stage while Eliza Dushku seemed a little unsure of how to do the con thing. She was still fantastic and I enjoyed the panel. It was a little weird when Spike sang country music: Especially since I hate country.

The only other panel we went to was with Jenna Coleman. I am glad we hit that one up since it was her first time speaking in public about the departure from Doctor Who. She’s just as cute and bubbly in person as she is on the show. Everyone around me got a little irritated with the moderator who didn’t understand his role. He treated it more as a personal interview than a Q&A panel. I personally felt he should have reigned in with his attempt at Diane Sawyer questions and let the fans have their experience. When the panel ended there were a good 40 fans still lined up at the mics. When Jenna finally got the opportunity to answer questions she was amazing and she gave some fantastic insight into her character portrayal.

I had to miss the first few minutes of the panel as my wife had bought me a photo op with Ivy Doomkitty. She knows I have a little crush on this cosplayer because well, smart, funny, curvy, and cosplay. Pretty much everything I’m attracted to. My wife got some Cary Elwes time so she got me Ivy Doomkitty time. Mrs. Doomkitty was supposed to be dressed as Velma, and I love that character so I'm a little disappointed timing made her unable to wear the planned costume. I’m sure there’s always next year. She was still all cuddles, happiness, and cuteness so I totally forgive. I didn’t get any talk time as I had to race to the Jenna Colman panel where my wife was saving a seat. Ivy, if you read this my favourite cosplay of yours is Dr. Doom... Someday I will cosplay him too and maybe get a photo together?

For show swag my wife and I got the show shirts, she got a scarf and I got the limited edition TMNT print. I even got Kevin Eastman to sign it which was really cool. My wife got a Tardis Toque, a Vader purse, a bookmark, and some lightsaber earrings. We also bought a print of Death Jr on Pale Horse. It’s cute and dark. I finally picked up a copy of ’68 as I’ve been meaning to read it forever. Luckily local artist Nat Jones was there to sell me a signed copy. But most importantly I finally got my functional bearded axe, which I’ve been walking around the house with since then. I have to chop something with it soon. The wife’s all “Not the furniture” and “Not the hardwood floors.” She didn't even let me drive around waving it out my driver side window. Seriously no fun at all.

And of course we spent quite a bit of time admiring cosplay. We still haven’t attempted it but I’ve got together everything for a Krieger outfit (I even have a piggly) and my wife is working on a Pam outfit so maybe next year. We went to the costume contest and it was great. My wife’s favourite was the Sanderson Sisters, mine was the Valkyrie costume. I love Thor comics so it was cool to see the character.

Can I pull off Krieger?

Thus ended another fun year of comics, entertainment and geekery. I hope to see you again next year.

Cowabunga this was COOL!