Unframing Forest City ComiCon 2024

Introduction:

Hello, Hello! Forest City ComiCon, where fans can be fans, and boy oh boy, were there fans!Entering year 10 and hosted at the 1967-built Centennial Hall in the heart of London, Forest City ComiCon is a communal triumph of nerdom and geekdom all under one roof with things for anyone interested in board/card games, cosplay, comic books, collecting, graphic design, video games and a whole list more.In this article, I would like to share my adventures through the halls of awesome people doing awesome things.

Vendors and Exhibitors:

Swim through the crowds will get you to the vendors and exhibitors at Forest City ComiCon. Every one of these exhibitors had something great to share, I couldn’t speak to everyone, but I was able to pull a few aside for interviews.

Machiavellian Princess:

A creative duo, Machiavellian Princess makes nerdy homemade crafts and is the home of Dicelings, adorable little dice dudes made of an unfinished clay and “brought to life by a wizard's magic.”Today, Machiavellian Princess had a castle display that was occupied by a force of dicelings along with other merchandise that they create and sell on their Etsy. Speaking of their display, in one word: Pink.It definitely caught my eye, despite being halfway down the aisle and surrounded by other vendors. When asked about what they do, Machiavellian Princess summed up their mission and reason to exist succinctly, saying “We make lots of crafty little things to sell that make us happy... and some of them have eyeballs.”

Mackeni Arts:

The alias of Liam Marshall, Mackeni Arts is a visually expressive graphic designer with an obvious inspiration from video games, and I can see some influence from Studio Ghibli.

Medium sized prints, small prints and bookmarks with beautiful and epic artworks stopped me in my tracks, then I saw the man behind the table who is visually representative of a lot of the characters I create in RPGs like Skyrim and Dragon Age.

Liam recently graduated from a Graphic Design Program at Fanshawe College and is now focusing fully on his creative endeavours. As he continues with client work, Liam is working on a personal long-term project that includes some conceptual creatures which can found on his website at mackeni-arts.com

So-Called Living:

Another awesome project is So-Called Living, an 8-issue dark comedy comic book series revolving around Jack, a recent addition to vampirism, in a world where monsters and us normal folk co-exist. Oh, and there’s bunnies… that seems important to mention. So-Called Living’s display was masterfully crafted with banners, copies of the comic book and the team behind the project repping their brand. It’s not just a comic book either, So-Called Living is a brand with hopes to expand to merchandise that fans can buy.

I had the opportunity to speak with Mark Maia, the creator/writer of the project and all around charismatic guy. Mark expressed that he gets a lot of his energy from hearing fans express their interest and support, which is amplified when hearing it in person like at the con. With issues 1 and 2 now available, Mark and his team plan to continue that momentum and launch a kickstarter for issues 3 and 4.

Cosplayer Highlights:

Okay, I know what you’re all here for; the Cosplayers. That’s okay, I would be lying if I said that taking photos of people who put a lot of effort into their appearance wasn’t intriguing. Along with general cosplayers, Forest City ComiCon also put on a contest to display the great talent that the area has to offer.

Canadian Ghoul:

Canadian Ghoul is a scare actor and cosplayer based in Ontario and by far, my favourite character at the Con. I felt like everywhere I turned I was running into this blade wielding gentleman, which was only mildly terrifying the first 10-11 times, as the actor behind the mask did an excellent job at maintaining his character for duration of the event… Actor is a title well deserved here… I hope.

Kinoko Pocki:

TV Head came out of her hiding spot under The White Fox Art’s booth to wow most guests at the event. I heard plenty of children showing their excitement when spotting her baby blue RCA(yes, the one with a VCR) exterior. It wasn’t just children running her way, but Kinoko Pocki has fans off all ages.

Popularity aside, Kinoko Pocki has an ego that goes outside the framing of her TV head, so go stroke that ego and follow what she’s up to on Twitch or Instagram.

Con-Goers Galore:

Peter the Video Gamer:

Among the Con-Goers was a young gentleman named Peter who came to the con for one thing(mostly) and that was to win the video game competition, in both the VR game Beat Saber and Nintendo’s Mario Kart. Peter had the confidence of a champion, which may have been a result of being the previous winner of Beat Saber at a previous year’s Forest City ComiCon. I wasn’t able to get a hold of Peter at the end of the event, but I know that he is a focused gamer and that even a lose wouldn’t keep him down for long.

Walking through the convention, the crowd was diverse, comprising individuals from various age groups, genders, and backgrounds. There were families with children, young adults, and even seniors in attendance. The common thread that bound everyone together was their love for nerdy culture and community. Certainly, no lack of positivity here.

Conclusion:

Generally Speaking,

The atmosphere was a positive with the rows of vendor booths overflowing with merchandise, fans of all ages scour the aisles, searching for that one elusive item to add to their collection.

The excitement of like-minded individuals converging at the hall, clad in costumes, wielding props, and sporting elaborate hairstyles.

Old friends re-uniting and new friends being made, makes the Forest City ComiCon a highly recommended event in my books and I look forward to going again next year.