One of the better moments in my life

Last year, I attended my first ever comiccon. It was also, coincidentally, Ottawa Ontario's first comiccon. And it went well enough that they are going to try it again. And they've decided that this year, they're going to be impressive.

Occurring May 10th-12th at the Ernst & Young Convention Centre (it's the same building as last year, just with a new name), the 2nd Annual Ottawa Comiccon has assembled an impressive roaster of talent from film, TV, and comics to make appearances this year. Such a large roaster, double that of last year, that they've been announcing someone new practically every week since Christmas.

This year's Guest of Honour is Agent Scully herself, Gillian Anderson (appearing only Saturday and Sunday), who no doubt will be promoting her new series, Hannibal. Also filling the Guest of Honour seats will be TV's Batman and Robin, Adam West and Burt Ward. From the Whedon players will be appearing Firefly's Summer Glau (Saturday and Sunday) and Jewel Staite, as well as Buffy alum Nicholas Brendon, Felicia Day, and James Marsters. Marsters will also be performing a concert (tickets sold separately) on the Friday evening. Star Wars and Star Trek will be represented by Billy Dee Williams and Vader suit-man David Prowse, and Jonathan Frakes and Wil Wheaton respectively. AMC rating goliath The Walking Dead won't be ignored, with Lauren Holden and the katana wielding Danai Gurira in attendance. Hercules' Kevin Sorbo, voice actors Yuri Lowenthal and Tara Platt, and GoT White Walker performer Ross Mullan (Sunday only) round out the performer guest list.

The comic side of things is less stout around the tum, and was obviously not where the event promoters choose to concentrate their attention. However, what they got is not unimpressive. Crisis on Infinite Earths artist George Pérez, and X-Men visionary Chris Claremont lead the pack. Also setting up shop in Artist's Alley will be Mike Grell, Nick Bradshaw, Yanick Paquette, Kelly Tindal, Ty Templeton, Richard Starkings, Mike Rooth, Ronn Sutton, Janet L. Hetherington, Geof Isherwood, and Marco Rudy. Some of these names will be recognisable to readers of some of DC's New 52 titles.

The event has included a third day (which has been planned since before the event finished last year), I had hoped this was to alleviate some of the strain the schedule put on event attendees, but obviously it was just so they could add more space for more guests. The event kicks off on Friday at 2pm, and runs through to Sunday at 5pm. Tickets are available now in a range of dates and promotional extras, though the first draft schedule of signings, Q&As and photo opts won't be released until April (and was in constant flux last year right up to the morning of), so you might be better off just getting the three day pass like I did.

There are many things that the event can improve on from last year, and I have high hopes for this sophomore effort. They are booking early, which is a good sign, and hopefully will reduce the number of disappointing drop outs (like last year's Patrick Stewart). For a Canadian con, the continued lack of representation from Stargate, or Warehouse 13 or Continuum are a little disappointing. And this year features a significant drop in the number of latex oriented French Canadian soft-core glamour models (from one to zero), which might alleviate some of the tension I overheard waiting in various lines.

For myself, I'm just looking forward to getting another couple Firefly autographs on my DVD's.

Via the Ottawa Comicon.