Fan convention draws 26,000

Passions range from anime to zombies

The heart knows what it wants and Jim Laws’ wants science fiction.

"I don’t like reality. Reality is too boring for my taste and I find sanctuary in stuff that could happen but hasn’t yet."

The 23-year-old computer technician was one of more than 26,000 people visiting the Canadian National Expo this past weekend.

Cramming the hallways and escalators, patiently standing in lines snaking down corridors and out the front doors and back again, dealing with a Sunday power-outage, putting up with pushing at the overflowing merchandise tables and jostling for time with the celebrity guest of their choice at the autograph tables, the various fans of sci-fi, comic books, anime and horror found their own specific joy in the cavernous halls of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

The expo, the biggest event of its kind in Canada, has grown from its beginnings as a modest comic book fair 10 years ago to a lively mass of humanity - with the occasional vampire, storm trooper and animated character thrown in. And while there appeared to be no disharmony between different adherents and species (apart perhaps from the police carting away a display of replica swords, crossbows and throwing stars and arresting six people the first night of the fair) the black-clad seemed to stay with the black-clad, the comic-book enthusiasts with the comic-book enthusiasts.

Laws - who said his greatest wish as a fan is to meet George Lucas, although "Jar Jar Binks is the worst thing that has happened to Star Wars" - has the characteristic single-mindedness of the convention fan. He enjoys TV’s science-fiction offerings such as Andromeda, Clone Wars and Farscape, and he describes the role-playing game he’s involved with as "post-apocalyptic sci-fi." He would have bought a ticket to see Patrick Stewart if he could have afforded it (moot, since Stewart had to cancel due to heart surgery). Sci-fi is it for him and he didn’t seem too interested in the rest of what the expo had to offer.

Chantel Cowan feels the same way. But as she was attending the expo dressed like the character Freyr from the anime/manga series Matantei Loki Ragnarok, she had little interest in what may or may not be going on in the deep recesses of the Starship Enterprise.

While hundreds of other fans of anime, or Japanese animation, milled about - an overwhelming number of them in costume - Cowan, a global data procurement operator, tried to explain what it is about this increasingly popular art form that has captivated her for six years.

"The art is very pretty and you don’t see the depth of plot in a lot of North American shows. Also, the voice acting is on a different level."

Cowan, 23, made her own costume (and nicely, too). More anime fans than any others dress the part. "The anime costumes are very colourful and a lot easier to make than, for example, sci-fi costumes. You can still manage if you’re not an expert at sewing."

She said she loves conventions because it’s a chance to meet like-minded fans and buy tapes, DVDs and other merchandise not readily available outside of the circuit and that her hobby, "takes up most of her money."

Not above proselytizing for her fandom, Cowan has made her mother watch anime to no avail. She’s had some luck with her sister but more yet with her 16-year-old brother, who is now a fan, too.

"We’re always dragging people into the anime," she said with a laugh.

"This is not some kids’ phase. There are people who have been into it for 20 years."

Sandra Byles, 20, and Stephanie Robinson, 19, haven’t been into their particular poison for quite that long, but they’re just as devoted.

"Our friends call us freaks," said the two girls, who finished each other’s sentences so seamlessly it was difficult to figure who was saying what.

And they were clearly in agreement over what and whom they’d come to see - "Julie Benz!" Both wore T-shirts bearing the image of the actress who played Darla on Buffy The Vampire Slayer and both were flushed with excitement after meeting her and getting her autograph. ("She loved our shirts.")

The two college students "do this every summer," referring to conventions, but expressed little interest in anything not Buffy or Angel. They’ve met Buffy/Angel actors Anthony Stewart Head, Nicholas Brandon, Andy Hallett and Amber Benson. "We love anything by (Buffy creator) Joss Whedon," they said (and it wouldn’t be lying to say there was a bit of squealing going on) as they waited to be let into a Q&A with Benz.

Joyful obsession. Squeaks of excitement when finding that set of Farscape trading cards. The look of reverence upon the face of the fan meeting zombie-movie master George Romero. The up-and-coming comic book artists sitting a bit forlornly and a bit ignored at their tables. The openable rubber corpse in the corner. You don’t know what you missed.

And then, of course, there were guests like Mark Brooks, who didn’t miss a thing. Attending just his second convention as an escort for his anime-fan daughter, the Richmond Hill man was browsing for comic books remembered from childhood, but he also saw something else.

"I’m in computer science and I’m always looking for asymmetrical solutions." Huh?

"The idea that’s so far out that it makes sense. And here it’s full of far-out ideas in literature and music. You see the way people would like things to be. In my business it helps to take another look."