Nearly 9,000 flocked to Prairieland Park in Saskatoon this weekend to attend the first official Saskatoon Comic and Entertainment Expo, an unmistakable reflection of the growing comic book culture in Saskatchewan, a trend that is even evident here in Estevan.
"It's great that it's become so popular. These expos are everywhere now," said Kate-Lee Nolin, branch manager of the Estevan Public Library. "I was at a library conference in March in Indianapolis and half of the convention centre was about 10,000 people attending the conference, the other 10,000 attending Comic-Con, the first one in Indianapolis. It was amazing to see so much excitement."
Aside from the record-shattering attendance at the expo, the rising popularity in all things comic-book related in Saskatchewan is reflected by the simple expansion of several aisles that house comic books and graphic novels in the library.
"They're becoming very popular. We did start with a really small collection and now we have actually moved it near the lounging area so it's more visible for people and because there's more room there. A lot of people coming in, that's where they want to go to," noted Nolin.
She also touched on a popular misconception that revolves around the belief that graphic novels are just for children, an idea that quickly loses momentum when one looks at the extensive quantity of graphic novels in the adult section of the library. In addition, adults were largely occupying all the space at the expo in Saskatoon, not young children, who did however make up a sizeable percentage of those in attendance.
The adults held nothing back either. They dressed up as costumed vigilantes, waited hours to meet celebrity guests like John Barrowman and, of course, bought comic books, some even priced in the thousands.
"The turnout is larger than I expected," said Jesse Windels of Vintage Collectibles, a comic book and hobby store located in Saskatoon. "The amount of people here is quite amazing. We also have a lot more vendors, a bunch of people from out of town as well."
He acknowledged the growing popularity of the entire comic book culture in the province as the halls of the expo rapidly filled up.
"The independent stuff is really popular right now because it's rare and harder to get in the first place but there's a good wash of variety for everyone," said Windels.
A few feet away from him was Dan Smolinski, a Saskatoon-based comic book writer/artist. He recently published a compilation of comics he had designed for the University of Saskatchewan's newspaper The Sheaf. Smolinski said Saskatchewan is a positive environment for artists like himself.
"I've released this book independently and I've seemed to have a lot of success," he said, referring to his collection of comic strips, which is heavily based on a strangely empathetic adventurer and recreational-drug user named Rob. This was Smolinski's first time at an expo located in Saskatchewan. It didn't disappoint, he admitted.
"Everyone says it's been growing. I was at the expo in Niagara and it was half the size. This one is huge," said Smolinksi.
Though some independent artists like Smolinski have found success in publishing their own work from within the province, Jim Su, a professional illustrator and CGI artist largely known for his work with the popular CG-animated television show Reboot, said anyone looking to work in movie post-production or other large projects will likely have to relocate.
"Today there seems to be a new epicentre for where you can get these jobs. You can't just freelance from your home in Saskatoon, unless you're in pre-production working as a character designer. But if you want to work on the actual post-production on a movie, generally speaking, in this country, these jobs are in Vancouver, Toronto or Montreal so you have to be willing to move to those cities," he explained while showing off the new Reboot art books at his booth to fans who flooded his table.
He stressed the importance of developing the fundamentals of art, adding the development of technology hasn't come close to overshadowing the relevance of illustration, sculpting and human anatomy.
"It's definitely a competition for natural talent, not just talent when it comes to the operation of software, although, that is still important," he said.
Su said however that he met many artists in Vancouver who were originally from Saskatchewan and noted people heavily focusing on their art and working from home as a freelancer are in a positive environment here in the province.
The Saskatoon comic expo was Su's second trip to Saskatchewan, the first one being a trip to Regina for the Fan Expo earlier this year.
"I love it here, it's great," he said.
In addition to the growing comic book collection at the Estevan library, a new Manga (comics created in Japan) club will be starting on Oct. 25.
