Comic creators from Burlington to Oshawa still in high demand

The pop culture extravaganza that is Fan Expo annually attracts more than 135,000 fans of multiple genres, from anime and horror to gaming and comics, with the latter at the core of the entire experience.

After all, Fan Expo, like all pop culture conventions, began as a comic convention where people could meet the people who play their superheros on movies and TV and the people who drew and wrote their stories.

And while New York has always been the often literal home to the characters and Los Angeles the place where the movie magic happens, Toronto and the GTA has been a key proving ground for artists and writers trying to make it in the business for half a century.

If you include Toronto-born Superman co-creator Joe Shuster, the parade of talent from the GTA goes back more than 90 years, with Superman making his first appearance in a 1933 fanzine.

“It’s always good out here – I can’t complain,” noted Ken Lashley of Burlington, who is one of the most well-known artists in the industry, having worked on projects from Superwomen to X-Men and Black Panther for more than three decades. “But it’s what you make of it.”

A prolific artist and editor, credited as a colorist, penciller, cover colorist, inker, finisher, cover, and variant cover artist, the self-proclaimed family man and comics legend has seen the growth of artists and writers over the years – especially in the past decade.

“I think the industry is always looking for some new talent but there’s still room for some old wily vets,” he added with a smile. “It’s pretty cool.”

Comics legend Ken Lashley of Burlington

‘Fearless’ Fred Kennedy on Ajax is one of the newcomers to the industry, having found his breakthrough last year with the Dead Romans historical six-part series he created with artist Nick Marinkovich after several previous projects “imploded at the launch pad.”

The writer, who is the afternoon DJ at Toronto radio station Q107  in his day job, is not a newcomer to comics conventions, however, and is already seeing new talent arrive in the industry.

“It’s amazing that every con I go to in Toronto I meet someone new to the industry and then I meet them again a year later and they’ve gotten so much better.”

Projects on the go for Kennedy include a Savage Sword of Conan story (out this week), an Assassin’s Creed tale set in the Hong Kong opium wars and another Dead Romans installment, this one called Invictus.

Ramon Perez is an Oshawa-raised, Sheridan College-trained artist who has been doing his part to provide more opportunities for aspiring artists and writers at his RAID Press hub and incubator in Toronto’s Parkdale neighbourhood.

Perez, a multiple Eisner-winning artist with Marvel’s Hawkeye, Jim Henson’s Tales of Sand and creator-owned Stillwater – among many other titles – on his resume, was joined at Fan Expo Toronto by a whole team of RAID members, all bent on spreading the word about the available talent in the GTA.

“There’s lots of talent out here,” Perez said, adding that RAID has “lots of books launching, lots of projects on the go, more community engagements” to keep everyone in the office busy.

“We’re still feeling the effects of the strike,” he said, referencing the five-month Writer’s Guild strike last year that spilled over into a broader Hollywood labour dispute, “but there’s a lot of work being put out here for Marvel, DC and for the independents.”

A stroll down Artist Alley, where a significant number of the comic creators showing off their projects hail from the GTA and other Canadian centres, bears that out.

“There’s a lot of love here,” Kennedy said. “I think that’s the most important thing.”

Nick Marinovich and Ajax’s ‘Fearless’ Fred Kennedy at Fan Expo