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3rd annual Curious Comicon bringing free comics and high-profile artists to Nanaimo

May 5, 2017 | 10:09 AM

NANAIMO — After a wildly successful year, Curious Comics in Nanaimo hopes to turn the Country Club Centre into a geek’s paradise for their third annual Curious Comicon. 

Organizer Mike Drummond said it’s been a whirlwind of activity putting it together this year, with roughly 15 artists and 30 vendors taking over the mall on Saturday, May 6.

“It’s good stress, if there’s such a thing, because it’s going to drive more money into the Children’s Wish Foundation of Canada,” he said.

The 2017 goal is to raise $6,500 for Children’s Wish through sales and a private auction. Last year they more than tripled their goal with a $3,500 total, in large part thanks to a signed print of the TV show The Flash, which was signed by members of the cast.

“Where are you ever going to get a piece like that?” he asked. “It literally had 10 signatures on it. It became a bidding war at the end (and) for us it was super cool.”

According to the foundation it takes $10,000 to make a wish come true.

“They include the family members, so it’s not just the person getting the wish,” Drummond said. “That way they all get it, because it affects the whole family when you have a sickness like that. As soon as I found out it was $10,000, I thought ‘OK, we can actually grant a wish this year.’”

The event is free and Drummond said all their proceeds will go to the foundation.

He hopes an appearance by TV character actor Mackenzie Gray will make a big splash.

Gray has most recently been seen on TV in the Marvel show Legion and the D.C. show Legends of Tomorrow. They’re just two roles of an onscreen resume stretching back decades over 149 appearances.

Gray told NanaimonewsNOW there were distinct differences between how the companies ran their TV shows.

“I’ve not sensed the presence of the D.C. people whereas Marvel is all on it,” he said. “They’re there, they’re with you and they know what they’re doing. So it’s a different tone, but neither is better or worse than the other.”

A print of the character Gray plays on Legion, known as The Eye, designed by the original artist Bill Sienkiewicz will be available for auction.

The Curious Comicon, which is tied in with Free Comic Book Day, runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. with a cosplay contest getting underway at 2 p.m.

 

spencer.sterritt@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @spencer_sterrit