FAN EXPO Vancouver unites fiction in celebration of fandoms
Event attendees could meet celebrities, comic artists, and exhibitors, all while dressed in their favourite cosplay
Dave McCaig is a Canadian artist and colourist known for his work on The Walking Dead comics. (Sarah Adrian)
People from all fandoms came together to celebrate being a fan at the annual FAN EXPO Vancouver event from Feb. 21 to 23.
Held at the Vancouver Convention Centre, the event featured the best of comic, sci-fi, horror, anime, gaming, and cosplay mediums. Attendees could visit various exhibitors and vendors, engage in cosplay, listen to panel discussions, and meet celebrity guests including Hayden Christensen, Andy Serkis, Christopher Lloyd, and Jared Padalecki, among others.
Expo attendees also had opportunities to chat with comic creators, ranging from Marvel Comics to manga. One of the creators, Dave McCaig, a Canadian comic colourist, has worked with Robert Kirkman, an American comic book creator and screenwriter, on projects like The Walking Dead comics before they were adapted to T.V., and the popular series Invincible on both the comics and animated adaptation.
“When you’re colouring a comic book page, there’s an expectation that you’re going to be looking at the page for like 30 seconds … so you want it to be detailed, but not so detailed that you get lost in it,” McCaig said.
“With something like promotional artwork, you do want to get lost in it. You want to be able to stare at it forever and find little details and things in [the artwork].”
With a diverse artistry background in advertising illustration, animation, video games, and comics, McCaig said by having an abundance of tools at his disposal, he can determine how much time to dedicate to each project.
“Colour is storytelling. I get to set the mood with it and hint that there’s stuff coming,” McCaig said.
“Daylight colours are good for that. If things are fine and you want the reader to know things are fine, you can have a happy blue sky. So in The Walking Dead, there’s almost never a happy blue sky. It’s always this sulphuric yellow sky.”
Being a colourist can be an isolating job as most of the work is done from home, McCaig said, which is why he enjoys coming out to events like FAN EXPO to interact and socialize with fans.
“It’s the only way that comic creators get to socialize with other creators from all around the world.”
After working in the comic book industry for over 30 years, McCaig advises future artists to take care of themselves and “pay attention to ergonomics.”
“When you work [in this industry] long enough, your body rejects you. You’ve got to be careful. You’ve got to move around.”
Mel Flores, who cosplayed as a Vault Dweller from the Fallout video game series at the event, said she has attended FAN EXPO Vancouver six times and collected a lot of Fallout prop merchandise.
“It’s hard to watch it just sit on the shelf and not do things with them, so I decided to incorporate a cosplay from it,” she said, adding it took her several months to sew the outfit together.
Flores said that being approached and complimented on her cosplay makes all the dedication, work, and money put into the outfit worthwhile.
“I just want [people] to have the best time that they can fangirling over things that you don’t usually get to see a whole lot and being able to meet the celebrities here, too,” Flores said.
“I like how everyone has a great time here and everyone’s genuinely very nice.”
To learn more about FAN EXPO Vancouver, visit www.fanexpohq.com/fanexpovancouver.
