Hey Poppers

Well another year has come and gone and this years Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo 2014 was bigger, longer and packed with more media guest from TV and film. More artist, writers, creators from some of your favorite comics, web series and authors. Also a large group of independent comic book creators and artist. The venue also keeps expanding with a large tented area to hold more panels and events. Also there is a good chance you have to battle some weather conditions. This year a small snow storm. Hey that is spring in Alberta.  I spent the weekend walking the floor, seeing panels and talking to comic creators. Each year the amount of cosplayers continue to grow both with the amount of people coming out dressed up and creating amazing costumes. In the coming weeks I will be posting some the great work created by some really artistic people. Every aspect of the pop culture was represented at the show. Not only were your regular cosplayer making the rounds. Young and old came out to show their love for everything that revolves around the geek culture. Attending this year was three of the top cosplayer out there today. Lindsay Elyse, Monika Lee, Jessica Nigri. I got my picture with Monika Lee and I have to say is pleasant, fun and made everyone that came to see her feel very comfortable.

Among the media attending were Sean Astin(Lord of the Rings, Goonies, TMNT), Michael Beihn(Terminator, 24, The Rock), Bruce Campbell(Evil Dead, Burn Notice), Bill Paxton(Aliens, Agents of Shield, Big Love), Sigourney Weaver(Alien, Aliens, Avatar), Matt Smith(Doctor Who,Clone) and Karen Gillan(Doctor Who,Oculus,Guardians of the Galaxy. So many more to list but to find out more head over to my podcast, The Pop Culture Cafe’s Podcast.

From the world of comics J. Scott Campbell, Nick Bradshaw, Terry Dodson, Keven Eastman, Ray Fawkes, Mark McKenna. Again the show had many of the top name in comics both artists and writers. I had the pleasure of talking to Pat Shand from Zenescope Comics about the world of Grimm Fairy Tales and creating strong female leads. I had a great conversation with George Wassil about Oh Hell. George was excited about the world he help created and I am happy to help him spread the word. Go by and check out Kickstarter and help out if you love independent creators. I had a small chat with Nick Bradshaw and what do two Canadian boys talk about first, not comics but the amount of snow each side of the country gets the most. Eh!

The Calgary Expo once again put on another great show. This is my 3rd year I have gone and the show gets bigger and better. Better organize and each day you can see how the people in charge make changes to make it run smoother. The volunteers deserve a great deal of thanks. These people spend long days making it pleasurable for us all. I did unfortunately see one poor girl getting harassed at our wait to get into the Doctor Who panel. I finally had to go over and tell the guy to leave her alone and if he wanted to complain go to the higher ups. That incident pissed me off. But overall the general public were great.

So much to see and do. That is the catch at such a big con, so much to see and no time to see it all. In my option that makes a great con. I took in the Greg Rucka panel that was such a great experience on writing not just for comics but anything at all. The Doctor Who panel was the high light of the whole con for me and the Corral was packed with some many coming to see their Doctor.

Finally two things that really made this years Calgary Expo really stand out. The first was talking to a guy from Calgary, I am from Edmonton and the two cities have a great and long rivalry. But for use it was just two guys that love the world of comics. The memories of our youth and the memories that were created because of that medium. The days of the old musky smell of the books. The simple joy of those books long ago and the chance to share that joy with someone like yourself, no matter where they come form.

The last and most important for me. I found a book that help create my love of comic books, Sci-Fi, and the world of fantasy. When I was a young fellow the book that I read again and again. That sparked my imagination, my love of art and my youthful dreams of living among the stars, Star-Lord by John Byrne, Terry Austin and Chris Claremont. I almost passed by this book. But I had to have it in what ever condition. I asked the seller if I could open it and take a look and he agreed. Opening the first page brought me back to happier times and smell of those old pages made my problems of my world disappear. Once again it was me and Star-Lord flying around the universe. Seeing that book again help me capture a very special and happier time for me.

So, Calgary Expo. Thank you. You help this old man feel like a young kid again.

Great show.