This year's Curious ComiCon on May 4 pays homage to the former president of the Curious ComiCon non-profit society Mike Drummond, shown her in an animated image created by guest artist Julien Pilon. (Curious ComiCon)

By Jordan Davidson

May the 4th be with you

Nanaimo’s Curious ComiCon 2024 honours the man who started it all

May 4, 2024 | 5:53 AM

NANAIMO — This year’s gathering of all things comic books in Nanaimo is a significant one, falling on a special day of the year while also honouring one of its late founders.

The 2024 edition of Curious ComiCon takes place on Saturday, May 4 inside Country Club Centre from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. and will pay tribute to the former president of their non-profit society Mike Drummond, who passed away in January.

Manager of Curious Comics Rob McKee said Drummond was the one who turned the idea into a reality over seven years ago.

“We’re really trying to honour him this year. As always, the show is free, and that was Mike’s goal, to always keep it free, because he wanted anyone to be here to be able to come here, no matter how much money you had in your bank account.”

Money raised by donations and the silent auction will once again support the Nanaimo Child Development Centre (NCDC), with around $40,000 raised since the first event.

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May 4 is also free comic book day, and also takes place on a special day for Star Wars fans as the date is now known as, ‘May the fourth (force) be with you.’

McKee said there will be over a dozen artists in attendance, some local with others coming from the mainland, with at least 20 vendors tables also set up.

“We really wanted to make sure that everyone we got in was somebody who had been here before. We have some new ones but we wanted to make sure that anyone that was a part of this in the past was able to be here because we really wanted to honour Mike and they all love Mike so they were all more than happy to be here.”

Mike Drummond (R) was one of the main forces behind the creation of the Nanaimo Curious ComiCon, along with other events like the Santa Vader Christmas event from 2023. (Curious Comics)

A cosplay contest will also be held, with prizes rewarded for the best costumes for those under the age of 12, and another category for 13 years of age or older.

A number of guest artists from years past will be in attendance to pay tribute to Drummond, some of whom have attended almost every Nanaimo con since its inception.

The list includes former director of concept art for Canadian video game developer BioWare John Gallagher, Calgary-based artist Hugh Rookwood, and Vancouver Island professional cartoonist Julien Pilon, who also created the homage image featuring Drummond.

Exhibitors in attendance this year include the return of Batman of Victoria, a group of cosplayers from The Mandalorian TV show known as the Wasu’ran Clan – Mando Mercs of B.C., Vancouver Island Pro Wrestling, and the Mid Island Lego Users Group (MILUG).

Past celebrities at Curious ComiCon included Canadian actors Mackenzie Gray from the Marvel show Legion, and Aleks Paunovic from the Marvel series, Hawkeye.

More information can be found here at curiouscomicon.com.

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jordan@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @JordanDHeyNow