Central Canada Comic Con and Sci-Fi Expo

Well it took me a while to find my way into the Fanforce here, but after a year on the boards here I am. Glad to be here and hopefully connect with a few other Manitoban's, some of which I know attend the Comiccon yearly, to help push our big local event.

Manitoba Comiccon really launched itself onto the scene in 2007 with a ton of great guests. It was a huge event which brought in over 8000 fans from around the prairies, and included David Prowse as the Guest of Honor.

This year is looking equally good, with Jeremy Bulloch(Boba Fett) coming to the Con October 11th and 12th, 2008. Also the 501st division out of Minneaplois will again be in attendance so there should be a lot of cool costums to be seen. Hope to see some of you there. I'll update periodicly when news is available.

www.manitobacomiccon.com

Couple months to go!

Two weeks to go! Come meet Boba Fett and get your picture taken with some Ewoks!

Everything went smashingly with the MBCC! Over 17,000 in paid attendance over the two days. Next years(2009) event is going to be Oct 30th and 31st. I hope to be able to announce our Star Wars guest in the near future

Two big announcments relating to the Con!

First, Peter Mayhew is now a confirmed guest, joining Adam West and Dirk Benedict. Chewie Lives!

Second due to legal ramblings within our fair province the name of the Con has needed to be changed.

It is now The Central Canada Comic Con! Below is the web address.

http://www.cccomiccon.com/

Our prelude to the Comiccon, the River City Toy Expo is this weekend. Over 50 tables of collectibles and comics from all across the pop culture spectrum.

Saturday and Sunday, 10am-5pm both days at the Canadinns Fort Garry on Pembina in Winnipeg. $4 admission gets you in for both days. I hope to see ya there. I'll have my table as per usual.

Howard Chaykin, artist from Marvel Star Wars issues #1 to #10 has ben added to the C4 guest list for this October.

Here's the list as it now stands for October:

Peter Mayhew(Chewbacca)
Adam West(Batman/Family Guy)
Julie Newmar(Cat Woman)
Dirk Benedict(A-Team and Battlestar Galactica)
Wrestlers: The Honkytonk Man, Jerry Lawler, Virgil and "Bushwacker" Luke
Marv Wolfman (The Creator of Blade)
Howard Chaykin(Marvel Star Wars)
Bob Layton(Iron Man Comics Past and Present)
Alex Milne(Artist of several current Transformers titles from IDW)
Tommy Castillo(Horror Artist)
Marc Wolfe
Marcus To(Heroes Trade Paperback Artist)
Gordon Purcell
Kent Burles
Joe Rubinstein
Ivan Brandon
Gus Vasquez
Kim Brenann
Ken Steacy

and more yet to come.....

Special Offers for Kids This Year


We've got lots of special offers for kids attending the 2009 Central Canada Comic Con.

We're pleased to announce that all current members of Scouts Canada, Girl Guides of Canada, and Cadets under 15 years of age will get into the convention FREE if they attend in uniform and are accompanied by an adult!

Free Youth Passes have also been distributed to Big Brothers Big Sisters. Youth under 15 may get into the convention free when accompanied by an adult.

Plus...

Children of all ages are invited to Safe Trick-or-Treating on Saturday, October 31st during the convention. Candy stations will be located throughout the convention. Feel free to come in costume and avoid bad weather and traffic! To learn more, visit http://www.cccomiccon.com

The Arena will be packed with exciting action demonstrations like sword fighting and martial arts! If it's full of excitment, it's in the arena!

Friday Mainstage
6:00-8pm Miss C4 Contest

Saturday Mainstage
11Am 12pm Vigil, The Honky Tonk Man & Bushwacker Luke
1pm ?2pm Julie Newmar
2:30-3:30 Peter Mayhew
4:00-6:00 C4 Costume Contest


Saturday Arena Programming
11:00-12:00 SCA
12:00-1:00 Illumnari Dance
1:00-2:00 Excalibur Fencing Club
2:00-3:00 The Sons of Lugh
3:00 - 4:00 6th Combat Battle Group Air Soft Demo
4:00-5:00 Martial Arts Group
5:00-6:00 Excalibur Fencing Club

Saturday Workshops

11:00-12:00 Blake Smith's Model Kit Demo
12:00-12:30 Anime Club Workshop
12:30-1:00 Anime Club Workshop
1:00-2:00 Echo Chernik's Fantasy Art Workshop
2:00-3:00 Comic Writer's Workshop (Howard Chaykin, etc.)
3:00-4:00 Lucie Brouillard's Body Painting Workshop
4:00-5:00 Tommy Castillo's The Art of Horror Workshop
5:00-6:00 Gordon Purcell's Comic Art Workshop



Sunday Mainstage
11:00-12:30 World of Comics
1:00-2:00 Dirk Benedict
2:30-4:00 Adam West

4:30-6:00 Art Auction


Sunday Arena Programming
11:00-12:00 6th Combat Battle Group Air Soft Demo
12:00-1:00 Excalibur Fencing
1:00-2:00 SCA
2:00-3:00 TBA
3:00 - 4:00 Swords Demo
4:00-5:00 Illumnari Dance
5:00-5:45 The Sons of Lugh
Sunday Workshops
11:00-11:30 Anime Club Workshop
11:30-12:00 Anime Club Workshop
12:00-1:00 Blake Smith's Model Kits Demo
1:00-2:00 Ian Sokoliwski/Jamie Isfeld Artist Alley Workshop
2:00-2:30 Mara Campbell's Furry Costuming
2:30-3:00 Tyler Bancroft's Web Comics
3:00-4:00 Amul Kumar's Art Photography
4:00-5:00 TBA

2 days to go!

This years Con was a huge hit and next years is shaping up huge. I'll keep the updates coming as I get news.

Ray Park is our first announced guest for C4-2010! Come on out and meet Ray this October!

The guest list thus far for Halloween:

Celebrities:

Ray Park
Orli Shoshan
Ilya Salkind
Jack O'Halloran

Comic Artists:

Norm Breyfogle
Scott Kolins
Andrew Wildman
Marcio Takara
Mark Wolfe
Alex Milne
Tommy Castillo
Yanick Paquette
Dave McCaig
Chris Chuckery
Ronda Pattison
Lovern Kindzierski

Plus the Vhetin'ade, Mandalorian Mercs Local Fanclub, will be out in full Beskar'gam, 8 strong!

Add Voice Actor Lee Tockar(The League of Super Evil, Beast Wars, Johnny Test), Kervin Sorbo(Hercules, Adromeda, Meet the Spartans, God of War 3) and Garrett Wang(Star Trek Voyager's Ensign Harry Kim) to the guest list for C4 this year.

And minus Iyla Salkind who can not attend due to an unforseen scheduling conflict.

I really wish a Comic Con-type event would come to Saskatchewan. What does mosquito-infested Manitoba have that Saskatchewan doesn't?

A city with a higher population than your two highest combined, I suppose. (Sorry.)

Actually the C4 promoter has talked about doing an event in Regina in the past. I don't think it ever got past the idea stage but he definitly thinks something can work in Saskatchewan.

Halifax is having a big Con this year, so that might be an example of a similar sized city to Saskatoon or Regina hosting an event.

Until then you can get great deals on hotels in Winnipeg for the event.

The Vhetin'Ade Clan of the Mandalorian Mercs will have a huge part in this years Con as well. There will be booths allowing attendees to "shoot" a Mando with a Nerf Gun. As well the Mandalorians will be taking out "bounties" on Attendees and acting out the odd exucution in our arena area. More details available at the Con.

So we've had a bunch of recent changes to the guest list. The additions of Rebecca Staab and Marvin Mariano as well as the unfortunate cancellations of Kevin Sorbo, Marc Wolfe and Sal Abinante. Here's the current lineup::

Ray Park
Orli Shoshan
Jack O'Halloran
Garrett Wang
Lee Tockar
Rebecca Staab

Andrew Wildman
Alex Milne
Norm Breyfogle
Scott Kolins
Marcio Takara
Tommy Castillo
Sue Dawe
Marvin Mariano
J. Torres
Yanick Paquette
Dave McCaig
Lovern Kindzierski
Chris Chuckery
Dirk Strangley
Echo Cherniak
Kim Brennan
Adam Foidart
Anthony Hary
Amul Kumar
Samantha Christiansen
Ian Sokoliwski
Robert Pasternak

Events:

Miss C4(Friday Night) - $500 Valued Top Prize plus Photo Shoot valued at $200
C4 Costume Contest - $1000 Valued Top Prize

Attractions:

Mandalorian Mercs
Das Zombie Productions
Absurd Machine Films
Illuminari Dance Crew
80's Retro Arcade(Pinball Games)
Sci-Fi Simulator
James Grant Productions(Magician)
Gaming
3 Video Rooms
Video Gaming Room
Workshops
Q & A's
Table Top Gaming
Celebrity Panels
and more!

Exclusives:

Drift #4 Alternate C4 Exclusive Cover by Alex Milne
C4 Lightsaber's(Limited to 100 pieces)
C4 Teddy Bears & T-Shirts

Fan Clubs:

Iacon North(Transformers)
The Celestial Who....ligans(Dr. Who)
Generations(Star Trek)
UMAnime(Anime)
Barony de Castelle Rouge(Period Costumes)
Air Soft Manitoba

C4 has added Hollywood Stuntman(and one of the many men who has been behind the mask of Michael Myers) Jim Winburn to this years Con. (Yes, thats one of his scenes in the above photo)

Jim is primarily known as a Stuntman and has worked on over 500 films and televison series.

He was the stunt double for Michael Myers in the original Halloween. Everytime Michael Myers gets tossed or thrown or shot your looking at Jim Winburn under the mask!

He has also worked as a stuntman(and stunt driver) on notable films and TV series such as Tron, The Fog, Escape From New York, Glory, Colors, Knight Rider, Hunter, Magnum P.I. and hundreds more.

As well Fantasy Artist Nigel Sade has been added to the artist alley.

The Con went well despite Ray Park cancelling. Roughly 17,000 people took in the event and Orli Shoshan was awesome.

Bigger and better things are in store for next year.