Montreal Comiccon 2014!

The past weekend was Montreal Comiccon! I’ve never been to Comiccon in Montreal and although last year I wanted to go, I had to give it up because I had something more important in the form of TIFF for The Wind Rises and Rigor Mortis.  I totally do not regret making that trip. However, this year, I’m working on the Montreal events and this one was right on the list and I bought the ticket right when they were released.  I only got a 1 day pass.  However, after Saturday, I’m positive that I’m going to be going back and maybe even for 3 days if they have great guests..we’ll have to see for next year.

Lets not get ahead of myself: here’s how Saturday went!

Shortly after running into Day’s Lee, we saw Spiderman perched on the railings on top of the escalators leading to the hall looking awesome.

Spiderman

The line-up was super intense.  It was one line to get our tickets checked, then another line to get our tickets scanned and hands stamped then up the escalators and weaving all over the place to eventually get to the exhibition hall area.  Apparently, starting this year, Montreal Comiccon took over all of Palais des Congres (the convention centre in Montreal) so it covered all the floors.  We took a good look at the map to get to the first Q&A.  The lineup took longer than expected so I didn’t get to Billy Boyd’s Q&A so we went straight to Star Trek with three lovely ladies, Marina Sirtis, Denise Crosby and Gates McFadden.

Star Trek Q&A panel: Marina Sirtis, Denise Crosby, Gates McFadden

I haven’t watched a lot of Star Trek.  Only bits and pieces of it: a little bit of The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine mostly.  However, these ladies was absolutely a joy to watch.  They were all extremely hilarious and entertaining!

Getting out of this one, we looked at the time and found it perfect timing to go straight to lineup for Sir Patrick Stewart’s Q&A in the main exhibition hall.  We sat down to eat lunch while waiting an hour in advance.  We chatted a little and before we knew it, we were moving inside. We managed to sit in the middle of the last row in the first section.  Still, my zoom wasn’t great so this was the best I could get.

Sir Patrick Stewart Q&A Panel

There is something amazing about seeing Sir Patrick Stewart.  It could be the whole crowd giving him a standing ovation as he entered the hall.  Or just how completely classy he is while bringing in lots of funny moments.  He is extremely charming to watch and so very much achieved.  It was really something to hear him talk about how he didn’t take himself getting a role in Star Trek serious as his family didn’t either and how even when he got he role, he didn’t unpack the whole time because he wholeheartedly believed that they would realize they made a terrible mistake and would kick him out.  When asked who was the best to work with in all of XMen, he thought for a second and said Ellen Page.  He even explained in a funny way how he should be called Sir Patrick (as opposed to Sir Stewart) and even joked with someone who said Good Evening although it was clearly the afternoon.  Regardless of the questions, he took each one and gave it his own twist and it made for an extremely lively and fun panel to listen to.

Plus, he gave us a quick 5 minutes update of what he is up to.  Aside from the next X-Men movie, he is part of this Seth McFarlane produced sitcom called Blunt Talk.  And he recited some Shakespeare which I didn’t record the whole thing.

After this panel, and finally finding our way to get back downstairs, we managed to get to the main area where there was tons of amazing costumes.

Warcraft (I think)

Silent Hill

Spaceballs

Frozen

There’s a whole bunch that I don’t know.  If its part of video games (newer ones) or anime, chances are I won’t know them.  However, the efforts are amazing.  So amazing that Day’s asked me if maybe we should do it next year.  I mean, I did a pretty quick version of Resident Evil before.  With a year to plan, I’m sure I could ressurect that or do something else.  Its always something to consider.

After a bit of shopping and photos, we had to get to Q&A panel for Danny Glover.

Danny Glover Q&A

Danny Glover is an actor that I’ve known more of his more recent roles.  I know what he has done before and I really should get around to see those roles.  You can tell that he’s a man with a lot of deep thoughts.  Plus, he took a lot of time to give detailed answers to the questions.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get to stay for the whole thing and had to leave, and even that apparently wasn’t soon enough for the next Q&A.

The next Q&A panel was in the main exhibition hall again and this time, although arriving 45 minutes in advance, we ended up lining up right at the entrance of the waiting area.  That was pretty intense.  This Q&A was for Stephen Amell 🙂 Its also my last Q&A for the day.

Stephen Amell Q&A panel

Needless to say, although I was only 3 rows back from where I was for Sir Patrick Stewart earlier in the day, it was far enough that you can’t really see much.  Still, he had people lined up to ask him questions even before he entered the stage.  There were two rules as he entered with the Comiccon host: No marriage proposals (because he’s already married and he touched his wedding ring at that same time) and no asking him to take off his shirt (because then the host would do it). I wasn’t exactly sure on what to expect for Stephen Amell because I am a newer fan of his and I haven’t followed his social media much either.  However, everyone asks a lot about the stunts and asks him to recite lines like “You have failed this city”.

He talks about how he wants to get the chance to do all the stunts himself and sometimes he really works on a simpler but more realistic version to make it work.  He did that for one scene where he tells the stunt crew about how they were robbing him of the opportunity to slide over the hood of a car and he argues to get it shot both ways and eventually  his way works better and thats the one they used.  A charming and funny guy to listen to.  He makes a few jokes and talks about how he would love to have Arrow as part of the Justice League movie except with shooting schedules for TV series, it wouldn’t work for shooting a movie.

The best part was this part where they asked him to recite the lines for the opening of Season 2 or something (I couldn’t hear that question properly) but he gave it his own twist and decided to do the first opening of the pilot in Season 1 of Arrow instead.

After this last Q&A panel, we were ready to walk the exhibition hall and all the vendors and stalls. They had a few things for viewing and we took pictures here and there.

Indiana Jones

Ghostbusters

Doctor Who phone booth (100% of donations went to Montreal Children’s Hospital)

Piglet visiting the Comiccon

Little Big Planet 3 poster at PS4 booth

This may sound stupid but I’d totally get a PS4 JUST to play Little Big Planet 3.  Thats how much I love it.  Just to justify this picture a little.

Now, I was being extremely cheap and kept thinking about the photo op and eventually by the time I wanted to do it, it was full.  So to end this post off, its not Stephen Amell but this guy has a fantastic Arrow costume.

And that was my first Montreal Comiccon! It was so much fun and I’m definitely going again next year. Whether in costume or not, I’ll think about that a little first 😉 However, next year’s Montreal Comiccon is now pushed into early July, set for July 3-5, 2015.  If you are looking to check it out, jot that down on your calenders!

Also, please go check out Day’s post on the Montreal Comiccon right HERE!

Which costume up there do you find the most impressive?  Out of curiosity, would you like to see Arrow as part of  the Justice League movie?