One could’ve mistaken Ottawa Comiccon for Middle-earth when it hosted big-name Lord of the Rings stars between Sept. 6 and 8 at Ottawa’s EY Centre.
This year, Ottawa Comiccon attracted unique vendors alongside tens of thousands of fans, with many coming to see the four main Hobbit stars from the Lord of the Rings film trilogy: Elijah Wood, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan and Sean Astin.
“The four of them together is huge,” said Ottawa Comiccon spokesperson Jason Rockman. “[It’s] an unreal opportunity if you’re a Lord of the Rings Fan.”
Originally working with Montreal Comiccon, Rockman has been a key part of Ottawa Comiccon since it began in 2012.
“I think it’s important that these events happen in people’s cities,” Rockman said. “It’s really grown and every year it gets bigger.”
Excitement heightened around this year’s event, Rockman added, especially with the Lord of the Rings stars’ headlining panel.
The buzz around the actors also meant a great opportunity for niche vendors to stimulate their businesses.
Anthony Boese, a first-time Ottawa Comiccon vendor based out of Kingston, Ont., sells model lightsabers from the Star Wars franchise. Boese’s stand was constantly visited by fans, amazed by the accuracy of his replicas.
Boese’s booth was covered with a wide array of custom Star Wars model blasters and lightsabers. He said some of the individual blasters require around 30 hours of work to produce, from the design process to the custom printing and metalwork within the weapons’ handles.
“It’s a labour of love,” Boese said. “When you pick up a saber, it actually feels like something you’d see in the movies.”
When interacting with fans at Comiccon, Boese said he enjoys the atmosphere where “everything and everybody is accepted.”
“When you come to a Con, it doesn’t matter what you enjoy and what you do,” Boese said. “It’s all a passion and people celebrate the things that you love as well.”
Vanessa Passalacqua was selling at the opposite end of the convention centre as part of Moonlight Trail, an online business operating out of Maribel, Que. She sells crystals carved into well-known characters from franchises like Marvel, Star Wars and Pokémon.
She said being mostly limited to online operations has been a challenge, leaving her small team to manage every aspect of their business.
“You have to be a jack of all trades,” Passalacqua said.
Despite operating entirely online since its inception in 2022, Passalacqua has used comic conventions to connect with her customers directly.
“It brings us closer to the people,” Passalcqua said. “There’s pros and cons of only-online selling, but what’s good about being here is that you interact with people.”
Rockman added he recognizes the special connection people have with comic conventions.
“It’s never lost on me how important these events are to people,” Rockman said. “We don’t discriminate, we don’t make people feel unwelcome, we’re a very welcoming event.”
Featured image by David Cummings.
