This past weekend was Montreal Comiccon 2018, its 10th anniversary. The events were pretty awesome and there was so much to see in terms of cosplayers, Q&A, gaming panels and gaming zones of all kinds in general. I was about to get a media pass representing Game Warp/That Moment In which is always cool! With that said, its also the first year that I went for all three days!
If you missed the Montreal Comiccon 2018 Haul post yesterday, you can check it out HERE.
Sit tight because here is the complete 3 day recap so it might take a little while! I’m going to have a mosaic gallery for the cosplay at the end of the post if that is what you are interested.
Day 1
Fridays are the short days at the conference and also the day that I tend to catch up with a lot of the stuff that needs to be done. More time consuming bits. This year’s Friday was extremely relaxed. Only one panel to catch so the first thing I always do is to scout out the layout of the exhibition floor, you know where the Indie Game Zone and Playstation, Nintendo, Artist Gallery, Comics and other Vendors, etc. I am horrible at reading maps so forget about the map to find where I was, I’m much better of doing landmarks and remembering where to maneuver from there. Hence, that strategy.
With that said, the first order of business for the media is of course, the Indie Game Zone! There was over 30 games. Some booths, or maybe a good majority of it was stuff I’ve seen before. I don’t cover it all here but I do over at That Moment In for Game Warp so I do head out to almost all the gaming events in Montreal. However, there were some cool new titles to see and whatever I didn’t finish, I left for Saturday.
After that was heading off to the panel that wrapped up the day on Shadow of the Tomb Raider! There was a demo and new info and whatnot to get a good idea of what to expect. I was excited for it before the panel and lets just say, I’m feeling so much more confident and even more enthusiastic about it now.
If you do speak French, I’m editing the panel audio that I recorded so people can listen to it. I have to cut out a part of it mostly because I’m not sure the restrictions so going to keep it safe and not put it up at all. Its going to be on Game Warp so you can check us out or subscribe if you’d like to make sure to not miss that or any other content there. Our channel is right HERE.
Day 2
Day 2 had a lovely twist of event as my husband who originally planned on going on Sunday went on Saturday instead. We went to check out the remaining Indie Game Zone games that I had to cover and showed him some games to try that I thought that he would enjoy. After really just walking around the Artist Alley and showing him some art I thought would be lovely for our house and his opinion on the whole thing, we went off to the only panel for the day, Gotham Q&A with guests David Mazouz, Ben McKenzie and Morena Baccarin. I’ll have a recap linked at the bottom of the post after Sunday’s bulk of Q&A panels.
We also went to browse the Playstation, Nintendo and Dreamhack Gaming Zone booths. You can find the recap of that HERE.
Day 3
Moving onto the final day of Montreal Comiccon, it was all about panels. I had 3 back to back panels.
Danny Trejo Q&A
The panel was Danny Trejo who is an icon in his own genre and pretty much has crossed all kinds of different movies in the many years he has been in the busy. It was a fantastic panel with so much fun and entertaining moments.
Pom Klementieff Q&A
Next up was the panel for Pom Klementieff who has gained a lot of fame for her role as Mantis in Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 and Avengers: Infinity War. The panel was mostly questions regarding those roles except for a few in her performances in French or independent films.
Jennifer Morrison Q&A
Finally, the last panel of the day was the one I was looking forward to the most because I’m such a huge fan of Once Upon a Time and it was Jennifer Morrison’s Q&A. Her fans of quite diverse as there were also there for How I Met Your Mother and of course, House. It was a lot of great moments here.
For the recaps of all the Q&A panels listed up, all four are recapped right HERE.
COSPLAY
Here you go! Can you figure out all the cosplays here?
Toronto ComiCon 2017 was from March 17 to 19th at Metro Convention Centre. I headed out to meet up with my awesome blogathon co-host, Drew from Drew’s Movie Reviews who met me over there (just like last year). We stayed for a few days and picked up the weekend pass for ComiCon. Call it our little celebration for a successful blogathon, maybe it’ll turn into a tradition of some sort. Who knows, right? Our highlight was the ComiCon so this post will focus on some Q&A panels and cosplay, etc.
Before we start, what type of person would I be if I didn’t bring Drew into recapping Toronto ComiCon with me! When you see K, that’s for myself in normal font and D will be for his italicized part! 🙂
Day 1
K: First part of getting to Toronto ComiCon is to get there. Of course, I always forget that I can just keep Google Maps open so we didn’t get lost. There’s a huge apology somewhere here that I need to tell Drew how I got us lost a few times. I have a horrible sense of direction, something that I’m sure is super apparent, at this point. However, after a little detour, we did make it there! The first mission is coat check and picking up our tickets/weekend bracelet.
K: Next was a few hours to scour the Artist’s Alley and other Exhibitors as we wait for 7:30pm to start lining up for Q&A panel for Ray Park. We chatted with some artists and it was super inspiring and cool.
D:Visiting Artist’s Alley early was kind of an impromptu decision. It ended up working out really well because it allowed us to get a good idea of what prints and items we wanted to purchase, which helped us be more focused in the Alley on day 2.
K: Ray Park’s Q&A panel started a little late because of a delay in the photo ops but they came in with the whole troop (as you can see in the shaky video above). Ray Park was a cool panel. He was pretty insightful and kept it light-hearted as he shared little thoughts on G.I. Joe playing Snake Eyes and Star Wars playing Darth Maul among many questions on the floor. The best part was how he talked about he went into martial arts because he wanted to be in movies.
D:Ray Park’s panel was so much fun! He was such a laid back guy. One of the things he talked about that I really enjoyed was his experience as Darth Maul from Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. Star Wars is a huge passion of mine so getting to listen to his experience on playing one of my favorite characters was exciting. He also talked about his early experience and how he got involved in martial arts and acting. It was a great start to the convention.
K: Actually, this ended quite in time for us to head back to the hotel, drop off stuff and grab something quick to eat and head out to see Beauty and the Beast for the late showing. Toronto movie viewing experience was definitely eventful. I almost saw a fight break out despite having assigned seating. Anyways, my review of Beauty and the Beast will be out on Thursday. 🙂
Day 2
K: We started Day 2 with Casa Loma which I’ll share about tomorrow. By noon, we were back at the ComiCon for three panels in a row.
K: The first was the Gotham panel with David Mazouz (playing Bruce Wayne) and Sean Pertwee (playing Alfred Pennyworth). This panel was pretty packed and we were sitting further back so the picture isn’t great however the talk itself was. I’m personally a fan of Sean Pertwee. He’s done some great roles and I love his take on Alfred. I haven’t quite caught up with Gotham (halfway through Season 1) but seeing how these two get along and respect each other as actors despite the age difference and experience really shows true professional and bond that spills outside of the show.
D:I have a bit of a confession to make, as much of a comic book and Batman fan as I am, I have yet to watch a single episode of Gotham. Do not fret, it is very high on my to-watch list. This panel was purely Kim’s idea but it was a good one. After seeing these two at the panel, I am even more excited to watch their show now. They spoke with such respect for each other that is hard not to want to watch and see how that translates onto the screen.
K: Maybe I can bring Drew in to do a TV Binge of Season 1 eventually, if he’d like. 😉
K: Next up, immediately after the Gotham panel, was a first look at an upcoming web series called Deep Six. These are the cast and crew. Its written about a story set 250 years in the future where both military and civilians are sent to scout out a planet to live on. Its focus is on the realistic take on the space aspects. I chose this one out of a whim and well, it turns out Drew knew the producer/director and some of the cast that wasn’t there on this show and it turned out to be a very cool choice to go check this out.
D:It sure was! As Kim mentioned, I knew of the producer/director, Davin Lengyel, from my absolute favorite web series, Space Janitors. I kind of lit up and started raving to Kim about how awesome of a series it is (sorry Kim). However, the best part was I got to meet Davin after the panel and talked with him for a few minutes! The conversation made my day, which Kim didn’t hear the end of (again, sorry Kim).
K: To be fair, Drew had to endure some stupid moments during the night before watching Beauty and the Beast when I fangirled over “Something There” and then made an odd stupid giggle at my phone when I looked at the picture of the new little Animators’ Collection plushies when we were lining up, plus my amped up caffeine non-stop talking…if we’re talking apologies, I think I need to join in also.
K: After a small 30 minute window to grab a late lunch and take a quick walk, we went to line up for the last panel of the day with Agent of SHIELD’s Brett Dalton who plays Grant Ward. I’m going to be honest that I moved pretty much at the beginning of the series launch of this one and at my new place, I don’t even have bunny ears so no TV and that cuts out a lot if it isn’t even on Netflix so I’m about ten episodes into Season 1 and never had the chance to progress but this panel was Drew’s choice. However, its great that there was a ton of spoilers (in a way) which helped to understand the context but also some fairly entertaining questions like one about which Disney prince Brett Dalton wanted to be and which was his favorite Disney Princess, considering he was wearing a Mickey sweater, I’d say he is a big Disney fan also. Entertaining and fun doesn’t even begin to describe how cool this panel was.
D: Yes, this was my choice. I am such a huge fan of the show that I couldn’t pass it up. Like Ray Park, Brett Dalton was very chill and easy going. He answered every question with a mix of humility and humor. Everything from how he began acting and what he liked best about his character on Agents of SHIELD to whether he was Team Cap or Team Iron Man. I even had the chance to ask a him a question! This was definitely a highlight panel for me.
K: The rest of the day at ComiCon after this was pretty much picking up the stuff we had seen and deciding what we wanted before heading out for dinner. You can check out my haul post HERE. Also, we managed to stop to take some pictures of cosplayers which you can see above. I’m obviously the more knowledgeable Toronto person (although I don’t venture to Downtown Toronto too much) but we ended up going to Asian Legend (which I’ve talked a ton about on the blog before already).
K: My first actual complete meal over the two days. It was really satisfying plus it was a nice chat after we filled our bellies. We managed to get a few hours to relax at the hotel before heading out again for the Toronto ComiCon Cosplay After Dark party at Brassaii Lounge. It was nice to enjoy some nice music, grab a few drinks and converse in a loud voice. 😉
D:I left the dinner decision to Kim and she really came through! It was my first time eating at Asian Legend and everything was absolutely delicious. I will be sure to look for one around me because it is definitely a place I would eat at again. Besides my conversation with Davin Lengyel, the afterparty was another highlight of the trip for me. We drank, we danced a little, and we had some great conversation as bloggers and friends.
D:Our meet-up in Toronto last year was fun but I think this year was even better. I mean, as movie bloggers, we actually went and saw a movie together! The trip was well worth the travel and I thank Kim for being my guide through the city. 🙂
K: Toronto ComiCon was a definite success in my books. It was fun and complete as a blogger meet-up thing. Getting the chance to literally geek out and make friend with the same passions absolutely is one of the best parts of being a blogger over the years . This time was much cooler than last year because we managed to even grab a movie and went to a party other than just going to the main event and doing a touristic attraction.
Hope you enjoyed the recap of Toronto ComiCon. This new take was a cool way to put it together. Before I wrap this up, I’d like to virtually raise a glass to a successful trip and most importantly, friends! Okay, I’m getting mushy now…so, remember to drop by tomorrow for the look at our visit to Casa Loma.
Tranquil Dreams 