- Montreal Comiccon
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Montreal Comiccon
Le Comiccon de Montréal
Montreal Comiccon 2011 logoStatus Active Venue Place Bonaventure Location Montreal, Quebec Country Canada First held 2006 Organizer Major Comics and other affiliated comic book stores Attendance 20,000+ in September 2011 Official website http://www.montrealcomiccon.com The Montreal Comiccon (French: Le Comiccon de Montréal), under its actual form, was launched in 2006 as "Montreal Comic-Con". The event features comic books, toys, games, science-fiction, horror, anime, non-sport cards and collectibles. It is held 3 times a year at Place Bonaventure, in downtown Montreal, with the biggest of the 3 shows (the "Comiccon") taking place in September and lasting 2 days.
Special guests, artists, exhibitors and special contests make the Comiccon suitable for children and adults. The September 2011 edition featured guests such as Stan Lee (Spider-Man, X-Men), Adam West (Batman), James Marsters (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Vic Mignogna (Fullmetal Alchemist, Vampire Knight).
The Montreal Comiccon strives to become a fan convention with multi-genre content, with focus on comics, sci-fi, horror, anime and games. While sharing common traits with San Diego's Comic-Con International and Toronto's Fan Expo Canada, the Montreal Comiccon differentiates itself by offering a variety of attractions catering to both the anglophone and francophone population markets of Montreal, and bridging the gap between American comics and European bande dessinée with crossborder and overseas guests and attractions.
Contents
Programming
As with most other comics conventions, the Montreal Comiccon offers a select range of activities, exhibits, and other attractions. Comiccon's programming consists of a large Dealers Room, an Artists Alley, a costume contest, a trading-card games area and Guest panels. New to 2010 are film screenings, Guest photo sessions and a Masquerade. 2011 sees the introduction of additional photo booths, structured autograph lineup barriers, a larger main events stage and dedicated panels/screenings rooms.
History
View of the main hall from the 2nd floor area
The Montreal Comiccon held its first edition in 2006 at the Place Bonaventure exhibition center. From 2006 to 2010, the Comiccon was held in room 200-N, a low-ceiling windowless exhibition hall beneath the main hall. Due to 2010's outstanding success, shows from 2011 onwards are held in the main hall to accommodate the increased attendance, giving them about three times more space to move around.
The organizers run two smaller 1-day conventions in May and December called "Mini-Comiccons". These smaller cons have always been held in room 200-N, usually on a Sunday. They offer smaller selections of guests, dealers and artists, but offer at the same time more opportunities throughout the year for fans to purchase comics, meet celebrities and wear costumes, among other things. The admission prices are also lower. The organizational structure remains the same as the main September 2-day edition, but with slightly less staff and volunteers.
Event history
Note: Only 2-day editions (those held in September) are shown here.
Dates Location Attendance (turnstile) Notable guests Notes September 2006 Place Bonaventure
Montreal, Quebec... ... First edition. September 2007 Place Bonaventure
Montreal, Quebec700 ... ... September 2008 Place Bonaventure
Montreal, Quebec1,100 ... ... September 19–20, 2009 Place Bonaventure
Montreal, Quebec4,000 Lou Ferrigno, Jeremy Bulloch and Honky Tonk Man, with Brad Swaile. Brad Swaile was one of the first anime/manga guests to be invited to Comiccon. September 11–12, 2010 Place Bonaventure
Montreal, Quebec8,300 Brent Spiner, Billy Dee Williams, Peter Mayhew, Ethan Van Sciver, Darick Robertson, Leonard Kirk, Herb Trimpe, Dale Eaglesham, Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, Larry Hama, Tim Sale, Kirby Morrow. Last time the main September edition was held in room 200-N. High attendance numbers prompts the organizers to move to the main hall. September 17–18, 2011 Place Bonaventure
Montreal, Quebec20,000+[1] Stan Lee (Guest of Honor), Adam West, Burt Ward, James Marsters, Doug Bradley, Sid Haig, Michael Dorn, Marina Sirtis, Dave Prowse (canceled), Clare Kramer, Mercedes McNab, Jeremy Bulloch, Maria de Aragon, Gil Gerard, Erin Gray, Noelle Hannibal, Neal Adams, Josh Adams, Sergio Aragonés, Jim Starlin (canceled), Stan Sakai, Gail Simone, Joe Benitez, Pia Guerra, Ian Boothby, Herb Trimpe, Dale Eaglesham, Vic Mignogna, Lillyxandra, KellyJane, TealPirate, Dany, Sgt Slaughter, Rick Martel, Todd van der Heyden.[2] First time the main September edition was held in the main hall. Attendance reaches facility limit and Montreal Fire Marshal's office halts ticket sales for three hours on Saturday. September 14–16, 2012[1] Palais des congrès de Montréal
Montreal, QuebecTBA TBA Change of venue. Will be a 3-day event. Issues
After 2010's edition, potential overcrowding was one of the main issues the organizers raised during their 2011 planning. Concerns have been that the event will possibly be too big for the Place Bonaventure, even though they will move to the largest hall in the facility. The main worry was that the event will sell out and potential attendees will be denied entry as has happened at similar events such as the New York Comic Con and San Diego Comic-Con International.
The 2011 event left thousands of attendees standing in line outside the main hall as capacity became an issue, many waiting several hours for entry after getting their tickets. At one point during Saturday around noon, Montreal Fire Marshal's office halted ticket sales and Place Bonaventure staff announced that they would not be letting any attendees into the main hall, including those who had purchased weekend and online tickets, but the majority of attendees remained unaware of this and continued to line up in ignorance until word-of-mouth reached them. Eventually they announced that they would be re-opening ticket sales later in the day once some people have left the main hall, though many had waited for more than 2 and a half hours for initial entry.
As most of the attendees arrived between 11 am and 1 pm, this sudden rush, compounded with the halting of ticket sales, made lineups grow extremely long. Many attendees decided to wait out (missing many autograph sessions, photo ops and panels), while others, less patient, decided to leave and either go back home or return later when ticket sales resumed. The shortage of lineup barriers and signs confused a lot of people, as there were different lines for at-door ticket purchase, online ticket pickup, VIP ticket pickup, artist/dealer/media/staff/guest badge pickup and entry into the convention floor.
The overcrowding, ticket and lineup issues were Place Bonaventure staff's responsibility, not Comiccon staff's (who only managed the pickup of VIP tickets), as the exhibition center has never seen such a rush of attendance for the past 20 years, catching everyone off-guard. Both the Montreal Comiccon and Place Bonaventure will work together to resolve capacity and overcrowding issues for all upcoming editions, doing their best to mitigate them.
2012 edition
The 2012 Montreal Comiccon will be held on the weekend of September 14-16, 2012. Due to unexpected demand from the 2011 event, the Montreal Comiccon will be expanding to a full three days in 2012.
The Comiccon will also be chanding venues in 2012. It will no longer be held at Place Bonaventure but will be moving into the newer, and larger convention facilities at the Palais des Congrès in Montreal.
The Canadian Comic Book Creator Awards Organization has agreed in principle with the organizers of the Montreal Comiccon and will be presenting the 8th Annual Joe Shuster Awards in conjunction with that event on the evening of Saturday, September 15, 2012[3].
See also
- List of comic book conventions
- Otakuthon, Montreal's anime convention
References
- ^ a b As per MCC's Facebook Page.
- ^ "Montreal Comiccon 2011 Information". AnimeCons.com. http://animecons.com/events/info.shtml/2494. Retrieved 2011-09-14.
- ^ "2012 Joe Shuster Awards". joeshusterawards.com. http://joeshusterawards.com/2011/10/27/2012-joe-shuster-awards-saturday-september-15-2012-in-montreal-qc/. Retrieved 2011-10-27.
External links
Official sites
Media articles
Categories:- Comics conventions
- Conventions in Canada
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