Two weeks ago, I presented you with my very first Con Report after attending the Toronto Fan Expo. Well, here I am again, with my second con I attended three weeks after the previous one: The Montreal Comic Con.

While being the second biggest city in Canada (after Toronto), Montreal has been pretty quiet so far as far as Comic Conventions. The ComicCon has never reached a status as high as the Toronto one. This year, they made it big with special guests such as the man himself, Stan Lee. Adam West and Burt Ward were also amongst the big names. Add to that the Dolorean and the original Batmobile and the Geeks from Montreal were in for a treat.

And of course, yours truly was there!

Merchandising and setup:

Nothing much different this time, except the printed version of my book and a few extra prints. Overall I did a decent weekend and my Table coast has been covered. Note, this Comic Con was only two days. No need for me to expand on this subject.

Kudos to the Montreal Comic Con Crew:

- Serious and dedicated volunteers from the beginning til the end. Always smiling and very helpful!
- a LOT of space behind our Artist Alley Tables. Our “Table area, include the space behind, was 6’ wide per 7’ deep. Giving me plenty of room for my stuff, move, walk, talk to my neighbors, etc.. Versus Toronto, where it was a pain in the neck all the time I wanted to go for a walk.

Disappointments:

- Well, it’s all over the news today, Saturday was total chaos to get in (for the visitors). People who bought their tickets ahead of time had to wait two hours to get in. A huge load of people actually didn’t make it at all (without tickets I mean). as I’m writing this, 10 friends of mine told me they left after waiting for 2-3 and sometimes 4 hours… including a couple of great friends of mine who drove from Ottawa to come see me at the con (and of course, see the con). It looks like the big names t=attracted way much more people than expected.
- The big panels were done on a stage inside the Con area, not is separate panel rooms. I was sitting very close to that stage and it was so noisy, it made it very hard to engage conversation with people.

Neighbor

Once again this time, I have been blessed in having a very good artist sitting next to me. Martin Roy, freelancer for the Journal of Montreal (biggest newspaper here). Martin is doing Pre-Match caricatures of the Montreal Canadians (Hockey – NHL) on a day of a match. Amazing person! I would link to his site, but it’s in french only.

Few things I learned

- Rug, a rubber pad or a thick Card Board to put on the floor. Standing up behind your table is a key thing to do (when not drawing). You show the visitors you are approachable and they would be more inclined to approach your table. Standing often on a concrete floor is VERY bad for our feet, legs and spine. Having some sort of a rug will help for sure.
- For Montreal: merchandising in french as well.
- People love to hear how you started your comic, started to draw etc. If someone slightly opens the door to it, jump on it and talk to them about it. These folks are the ones who would most likely buy something from you.
- Do not over-pack: I had way too much stuff with me. Return home was rough on my shoulders (heavy bags) :P . Remember my amazing Tool-Box? Well, I have way too much stuff in it. Surely, I don’t miss of anything, but half wasn’t used :P

Weird moment of the weekend:

A guy walking early Saturday morning, with his nail clipper and yes, cutting his nails as if it was a normal thing to do in public….

Conclusion

Totally worth my time as this is local for me, heading there using the subway. I will definitively be going back and I hear they are doing two smaller one-day only cons within the year called the Mini-Con.

Seriously, don't you think I look like U2/'s The Edge?Antoine Gagnon always had a passion for cartoons. In his early teenager years, he started to draw but stopped at some point, without really being good at drawing, for obscure reasons. 18 years after, he’s back and rediscovered a passion long gone. The Drunken Fools online comic is actually Antoine’s first attempt at drawing and is inviting you to live the evolution of his style over time.