Small wonder

So, yesterday Wonder Wife said she might want to bounce up to Vancouver , BC today to get some vegetarian wonton soup (Vancouver is awesome for finding vegetarian restaurants). When I awoke this morning, my phone reminded me that today was the first day of VANCAF - the Vancouver Comic Arts Festival. So after a breakfast of some fluffy, fluffy eggs*, we nexus-passed through the border and headed to the Roundhouse Mews.

The Roundhouse is a residential/commercial complex in the Yaletown neighborhood near downtown, with a nice interior courtyard and a community center/event space/gymnasium as part of the deal. It was there that this free event was taking place - and yes, it was indeed no charge to get in. Now admittedly, there were no Big Names to be found - and certainly no movie or TV people - but there were a zillion indy comic artists, graphic novelists, illustrators, and cartoonists filling the gym and program spaces.

Besides the absence of Hollywood types, the other difference was the lack of a significant superhero presence. Most of these artists were small press or self-published, and most of the genres represented were historical fiction, horror, fantasy, autobiography - well, I guess just about everything besides superheroes.  The place was abuzz with activity, just like a comic con, only a little bit mellower.

Two things stood out immediately as we cruised the festival. The first was that we could tell how much more multicultural a community Vancouver is, certainly when compared to Bellingham and even when compared to Seattle. It was great to see so many different folk at the event - both as creators and as part of the crowd. The other observation was how LGBT-friendly the event was, in a very intentional and visible way. Not only were there gender-neutral bathrooms and pronoun stickers, but my rainbow tie got me a lot of love.

I managed to keep my spending down to one deluxe GN and this lapel pin, which I will probably wear every day from here on out:

(attributed variously to Jack Kirby and Charles Schulz)

Wonder Wife initially thought she was just going along for the ride, but it turned out to be just her kind of scene. She soaked up the ambiance, chatted with a number of creators, and bought several works, including a comic, some frameable strips, and some illustrations. If she hadn't gotten so hungry for wontons, we might have stayed longer.

All in all, a great visit to swell little con. It's going back on the calendar for next year.

*You should Google that phrase - there's an extraordinary number of responses