Ladies and gents, I am writing to you on the sheer power of the three very resilient brain cells that survived this year’s Fan Expo. First off, let me congratulate the event organizers, who listened to last year’s attendee feedback and improved the overcrowding situation greatly. We didn’t attend last year, for the first time in about a decade, but we hear it was a pretty bad scene. This year was fine, so I’d say they did a great job addressing the problems. Other than a minor scheduling mishap, everything seemed to run quite smoothly!

It was an odd show for us. There was never a huge crowd in front of our table, as we’ve seen in the past (one FanEx staff member explained that this was due to better space management), but Dale signed more comics than ever, and his sketch list for the whole week-end was booked within about 90 minutes of our arrival. It was crazy-busy… but never all at once. Very odd!

Boy, were Alpha Flight fans ever in for a treat this week-end! The energy around our table was palpable all week-end, first with trepidation and anticipation, and then with exhilaration once it was announced that the book had been upgraded to an ongoing. Fans came by just to thank Dale and Fred (who had a table next to us) and to shake their hand. Smiles abounded, and it was a great sight to see. (Click "read more" for the whole blog entry and lots of cool pics!)

This show, despite being an “odd” one in the ways described above, featured all our favorite parts of a convention: Getting to spend time with the fans that make Dale’s hard work and dedication worthwhile, and seeing old friends. It was so great to see Arune (and finally meet the adorable Michelle!), Serge, Jeanine, Tim, Eddie, Larry, Tim, Matt, Tiz, Gus, Ryan and Michelle (thanks for the treats!), Peter and Brian, the Turner twins, Alain, Pat, Sienna, Daniel, and so many others… I personally even got to see my cousin Matt and his family, in honor of his son Josh’s birthday! And then there’s getting to make new friends, including the great fun of meeting fans with whom we’ve interacted online, such as Ryan, John, and “Sypes”. Big thanks also to the very sweet Stu and Rob, and to Silverio and Hansen, for their patience! I know I’m forgetting people, but being surrounded a crowd of some 70,000 attendees can do that to you, so please forgive me (and let me know) if I’ve forgotten you!

The biggest highlight of the week-end for both Dale and me, however, was finally meeting Alpha Flight co-conspirator Fred Van Lente in person, along with his wife Crystal. We sat together at the show all week-end, went out for dinner twice, and loved every second! I’m pretty sure Crystal and I were separated at birth… we’d spontaneously break out into whale song (à la Dory in Finding Nemo) at the same moment, get distracted by shiny objects, and so on. Quirky bunnies, we are. As for our awesome Fred, he put up with my bad hearing and congealed brain, and by the final day, I was finally starting to get – and very much appreciate – his razor-sharp wit. And the bonus? Getting to know Ryan Dunlavey, Fred’s partner-in-crime on their independent projects, Action Philosophers and Comic Book Comics. To be continued, dear friends.

I also always love watching fans’ reactions as they sit and watch Dale draw for them. The best single moment of the week-end for me was when we met Chris and John-Paul, who’d come all the way from Malta. Chris in particular explained that when he read Punisher Year One, illustrated by Dale in 1995, it had changed his life. Getting to meet Dale was such an honor for him that he said his heart was pounding and he felt overcome by emotion. I get teary-eyed just remembering it… And he was completely speechless as he watched Dale draw the Punisher for him. What a beautiful moment! And another emotional moment was seeing that the colors of the CN Tower had been changed to orange in honor of Jack Layton, whose funeral was held in town that week-end…

I only did a bit of shopping, buying this amazing bag from our friend Serge at Studio Lounak. Isn’t it awesome?! I also scored a funky bracelet from them, but I don’t see it on their website! I was going to look around for a Halloween costume, but time did not permit – can’t leave the table for long!

Okay, enough rambling. I know what you really care about is pics, so here you go (click on the images to enlarge), enjoy, and see you next year I hope!

("Approved by the Comics Code" t-shirt by Zeke Artstuff!)