1st post, yeah!

I attended my first ever Comic Expo in Calgary Alberta, Canada this past weekend. It was a last minute decision to go and I'm so very happy my wife and I went, it was wonderful!

No doubt this venue pales in comparison to the larger Comic Cons in the US but it still had a stellar group of special guests, including ALL the primary cast of Star Trek The Next Generation, Stewart, Frakes, Spiner, Burton etc... Also in attendance were Amanda Tapping, John Noble, Jasika Nicole, Adam Baldwin, STAN LEE!!! and many others. I only had the one day so I decided to skip the massive autograph and photo lines and just enjoy all the vendors and booths. It was a sea of comic books, figurines, toys, costumes, artworks, movie props and artists.

We really enjoyed perusing the Steam Punk stands, some very cool and funky accessories and clothing, super friendly people too. But my favorites were the artists themselves. Each one had their own originals, prints and commissioned pieces on display and for sale. Very neat to see their own interpretations of the same subject.

The highlights for me were meeting Mr. Bob Layton and Ms. Katie Cook!!!! Couldn't believe it when I saw them sitting at their respective tables chitchatting with everyone. I purchased a superb Iron Man print from Bob Layton which he signed for me and was even gracious enough to come out from his booth and take a photo with me! A phenomenal artist who still kicks it old school. What a down to earth, funny guy who is genuinely enthusiastic about his work and his fans. Iron Man is my favorite character so this was a no-brainer, just an awesome, awesome person, what a thrill! I really hope to meet him again so I can get a commission done.

My heart skipped a beat when I saw the katiecandraw sign up, I rushed over with my wife and was giddy with joy when I saw her smiling and chatting away with some fans. I quickly picked up some of the originals she had for sale, only $5.00 each!!!!! Even the commissions were only $5.00!! Sorry for all the exclamation marks, but just typing this makes me relive all the excitement. My wife had her sketch our cat and dog and I had a few Avengers characters done. I was also able to pick up a larger Avengers print she had for sale. I literally went back to her booth 4 times before my wife convinced me that Katie would start thinking I was a stalker. What a way to start my new foray into non-sport collectibles and it wasn't just that I got to meet them, it was how they treated their fans and how evident it was that they loved their craft.

Other notable highlights included meeting Ken Steacy, super friendly and Mark Dos Santos, another extremely likable talented professional.

Can't wait to do it all again!

Here are some pics of my purchases, I'm hoping to get them all properly framed in the near future:

Bob Layton-love this piece, he said it took him 3 full days to do it and all the background circles were done by hand!



Katie Cook commissions:
Our dog and cat


My Avengers collection
Couldn't have asked for a better Iron Man and the Hulk is pretty stinkin' cute


The Avengers print



Couldn't pass up this nifty trio of Avengers postcards



Freebie poster



A very cool interpretation



Another sweet Avengers print



A fabulous Ken Steacy Autographed print



And a craaaaaaazy Autographed Spiderman Print by John Giang


Hope you enjoyed the read, thanks for dropping in!

Hi, welcome to the board, hope you enjoy your stay here.

You sound as if you had a great time at your show and you picked up some really nice stuff.

Thanks for posting.

Sounds like a great show, thank you for the report!

Who is the artist on this piece:



Great pick ups!

Jon

Thank you Wolfie and Jon, I appreciate the kind comments.

Jon, unfortunately I'm not too sure who the artist is, a few of these booths were comprised of groups of artists and this particular piece doesn't seem to have any sort of signature on the front or back.

Bummer. . . If anyone knows who did the piece I'd be interested in knowing. . .

Great report, thanks for sharing the pictures of all the cool artwork you picked up at the show.