It’s time for a celebration of fandoms! I was lucky enough to get invited to the press event at this year’s edition of the Montreal Comiccon. In attendance, alongside Jason Rockman and Cliff Caporale of the Comiccon, were a slew of guests who we got to talk with about a wide variety of topics ahead of the convention, which saw a record-breaking 66,000 visitors flock to the Palais de Congress in the heart of the city.

In attendance was a bevy of actors who largely specialized in voice acting roles throughout their careers. This included Charles Martinet (Mario Bros.,) Ross Marquand (Red Skull in Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame), local talent Mathieu Coderre (Reacher), Jamie McGuire (From), John Kassir (Tales from the Crypt), Harry Belden and Ian Cardoni from Rick and Morty, and anime dub voice actors Stephanie Young and Jason Liebretch (One Piece) Elizabeth Maxwell (Attack on Titan) and Luci Christian (My Hero Academia).

A large focus of the panel was on working behind the scenes in voice acting. John Kassir, perhaps best known for his work on Tales from the Crypt, about how the spark for speaking behind the scenes back in high school, when he would do the morning announcements back in high school. He would eventually make his way to stand-up comedy, which opened the door to working in television and animation. With the power of voice work, someone like John can suddenly become the voice of, say, Deadpool, whom he was the original voice actor way back when. This kind of work allowed him and others like him to become a superhero, even though he looked nothing like the typical hero we’d see in live action. He also acknowledges that actors tend to get aged out as they get older, but with voice work, actors like him can keep going.

Charles would go on to talk about going to conventions like this one and how great it is to meet all the fans. He says that conventions are nothing but love and appreciation, both from fans to talent, talent to talent, and talent to fans, and there’s not enough love and appreciation in the world right now and to have a whole event dedicated for fandom, where those passions often transcend into decades long passions, means the world to him. He later mentioned that he’s incredibly grateful to be seen as a role model for so many youth over the years, and how he knew that in the end, the work he was doing was for the sake of joy and fun.

Spokesperson Jason Rockman stated that part of the reason why he thinks the Montreal Comiccon continues to grow each year ( an attendance record was broken this year), is because we’re known as a guest-friendly event that treats its fans and guests with respect. It’s also important to them as organizers to not forget about the comic roots of a comic con, something he thinks many other conventions have forgotten about with the rise of popular fandoms in the mainstream. Cliff Caporale, the program director for the show, added that a place like the Montreal Comiccon is a welcome place for the off-kilter people, whether that be celebrities, fans, or even their wonderful volunteer staff.

When asked about what it is like meeting other celebs at conventions, Luci excitedly spoke about how great it is for voice actors to come out and meet each other, as voice work is a very solitary work, so cons are a great change of pace where they can actually meet their peers. John adds to this, stating it’s great to see other talent that he’s a fan of, so it’s great to be a fan himself among people he’s admired.

When asked about the concept of art, John talked about how something like Tales from the Crypt has become something that not only has connected families over the generations, but also has connected culture. He’s proud to be part of many works that bridge these facets together, and we need more of that in the world. Elizabeth would chip in, stating that as stories change over the generations, having more stories to pull from allows us as consumers to experience more and more viewpoints from around the world that we may not have otherwise even considered. “We’re not the center of our own stories,” she stated, but there’s value in so many other stories. Despite the hardships of the pandemic, she remembers fondly the stories shared over that period, no matter how trivial, and is incredibly grateful to be part of a medium that allows marginalized people to have their stories told. Ian would echo this statement, saying that the more opinions out there in the world only enrich the world.

Jason Liebretch would help close out the panel, stating that his experience with art was when he met a US vet who was an amputee, who told him at a convention that the show he worked on, Darker Than Black from 2007, saved him while he was in n the hospital going through the reality of now being an amputee. Jason has seen firsthand the power of art and what it can do for people and is honoured to carry that tradition forward.

The 15th edition of the convention was certainly a hit, I’d say. Thanks to a weak Canadian dollar, an unwillingness to travel to the USA, and a pretty stacked lineup, fans flooded the Montreal Comiccon this year in record-breaking numbers, continuing the convention’s trend of growth. Apart from the above mentioned, the likes of Andy Serkis, Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, Ian McDiarmid, Famke Janssen, Tomer Capone, Laz Alonso, Michael Jai White, Steven Ogg, Theo Rossi, Mike Colter, Peter Weller, William Shatner, Alexander Ludwig, Natalia Tena, Wil Wheaton, Rose McGowan, and Brent Spiner, among others, as well as iconic comicbook talents, such as Jim Starlin, Jed McKay, and Joe Rubinstein. We’ll have articles from the panels we were able to attend coming soon!

It was perhaps a little too chaotic at times, with volunteer staff clearly being overwhelmed at the autograph area as fans flooded to meet actors from Lord of the Rings and Star Wars. But it felt like a big year for the convention, as it continues to grow and become a destination event for both residents of the city and travellers making the geeky pilgrimage. I found it telling that a lot of the online questions posed at the Lord of the Rings panel were from out-of-province guests, and a wide variety of accents could be heard in the Q&A halls, and on the vendor floor, where hundreds of artists showed off their unique and geeky wares. Cosplayers dominated the scene as well, showcasing some dedicated and sometimes over-the-top creations from all sorts of fandoms. With Rockman opening up the day talking about how they want the convention to be known as a guest-friendly place, where everyone is welcome and there’s joy to be had, I’d say the convention is definitely succeeding in that regard. Can’t wait for next year.