Toronto Comic-Con expresses fan culture through cosplay and local artistry

These Canadian superfans are showcasing the creative outlets they use to connect with pop culture 

By Manroop Aulakh

Top view of Toronto Comicon at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre (Manroop Aulakh/CanCulture Magazine)

Whether you’re a fan of gaming, anime, superheroes, horror or fantasy,  you could find them all under one roof at this year’s Toronto Comicon. This three-day convention is perfect for all comic lovers, cosplayers, and collectors to come together. 

Amidst the buzz of this annual event, it's the individuals who bring their favourite characters to life through cosplay and showcase their fan art who truly steal the show.

Cosplayers, the heart and soul of Comicon, transformed the amazing characters we see on screen into real life. Costume-making requires skills of definite hours of dedication and craftsmanship, for many, these pursuits serve as a creative outlet where they can express their love and talents. 

Beyond the cosplay spectacle, a haven for artists and creators to showcase their talents rally through artists' alley. Where many talented individuals display their fan art and comics each crafted with a unique story—not only showcasing their artistic talent, but also the depth of emotion and connection fans have with these characters and stories. 

Conventions, like Toronto Comicon, provide a supportive platform for creators to come together and express their creativity and talent in a vibrant fan community. 

Diana Lavelle cosplayed as her favourite Disney princess, Snow White. (Manroop Aulakh/CanCulture Magazine)

Diana Lavelle, from Brampton, Ont., shined as Snow White at the convention. Lavelle created the entire look herself in only a couple of months. The outfit incorporated two layers of skirts, a bodice, and a ton of rhinestones and flowers. She loves Disney and Snow White’s aesthetic, making this the perfect cosplay for her. Lavelle has been going to Comicon since 2011 and loves the connections it allows her to  make with fans and the community. 

“I find it so fun to connect with other fans, if you’re wearing a costume it’s like an instant sign to other fans that you like the same thing,” she added “So you can connect over that and talk and make new friends, it's like you’re part of a community.

Ceasar Abasol cosplayed as Sukuna to show off his LED skills. (Manroop Aulakh/CanCulture Magazine)

Ceasar Abasol, from Scarborough, Ont. dressed as the vile Sukuna from Jujutsu Kaisen and while he bought his outfit, he created this amazing fire arrow himself. Searching for material took a couple of months, but making the actual fire prop took only a couple of weeks. This is Abasol’s sixth time at Comicon and this year, he wanted to show off the LEDs and lighting he used in his costume. As a programmer, Abasol integrated his life skills into this intricate costume showcasing his talent from work to real life.

“I like to show that I can do this [create props from scratch], and I don't really see a lot of people doing this. It’s similar to what I do for work and it’s also my interest, so it just happens to coincide.”  

Cat Falco is looking fierce in her Harley Quinn cosplay. (Manroop Aulakh/CanCulture Magazine)

Cat Falco, from Whitby, Ont., dazzled as Harley Quinn. Her costume involved a mix and match of many different items with pieces from different stores. Falco enjoys the dress up of the costume rather than the creation and chooses her cosplay characters simply for the resemblance. She usually attends Fan Expo but has been attending Comicon for the past two years. The day before she dressed up as Daisy from Mario and the day before, as Officer Jenny from Pokemon. 

“It's so fun. It's like Halloween all year long,” she said.

Rich cosplayed as her favourite villain, Pyramid Head from Silent Hill. (Manroop Aulakh/CanCulture Magazine)

Rich (@richcosplays), from Whitby, Ont. spooked as Pyramid Head from Silent Hill.  She made everything herself, taking her around five months to pull it together. Pyramid Head is one of her favourite Silent Hill villains and she wanted to express her creativity through the costume. This is now her fourth year attending Comicon and her reason for each return is how nice people are at these events and how it cultivates a judge-free zone.

“I really like expressing my creativity and the community behind it; I made good friends and they are amazing people to hang out with,” she said. 

Leslie Doyle in front of her realistic fan art while showcasing a time-lapse of her paintings. (Manroop Aulakh/CanCulture Magazine)

Leslie Doyle, (aquagem_art) is a self-taught realistic portrait artist from Newmarket, Ont. who makes portraits of characters in shows, video games, and anime. What started as a hobby grew into a business, as Doyle sells her art online and hosts sketch requests on Twitch streams. Her portraits take anywhere from 10 to 15 hours even taking as long as 30 hours for extra details. This is her 11th Comicon, and she started selling her work at conventions in the U.K. in 2009. 

“I think I’m really inspired by the other artists in the artist's alley, and I definitely used to attend cons a lot when I was younger so this is my favorite place to spend time,” she said. “And even now walking around the convention I still get a lot of inspiration.”

Amelia Maillet beside her fan art from her favourite comics. (Manroop Aulakh/CanCulture Magazine)

Amelia Maillet, (byamelia2you) a 16-year-old artist from Toronto, showcased a ton of her art inspired by frames of comic books she reads. Her inspiration also comes from other local Comicon artists such as her favorite artist Jim Lee. It takes Maillet a couple of hours per piece and she sells these art pieces at Comicon and other local cons throughout the year as well.  

“I’ve always been interested in art as a kid and especially throughout COVID-19, I had a lot of time, so I started drawing and practicing realism and comic style and I just got really interested in the comic world,” she said. 

Phoebe Vu holding up one of her crochet dolls. (Manroop Aulakh/CanCulture Magazine)

Phoebe Vu, originally from Vietnam, is the director of The CroChic Shop, which sells crochet amigurumi dolls. Her shop is made up of a team of six friends and family members. They started just before the pandemic and during that time they made look-alike dolls for doctors and nurses, giving all profits 100 per cent to charity. The dolls are all characters from your favourite comics, movies, and animes taking days at a time to produce. 

“Crocheting runs in the family, my grandmother does it, my mom does it, so I started to learn and my sister and all our cousins learned together,” she said. 

Throughout the three-day event, we’re reminded of the power of fan culture to bring people together and create this loving and enjoyable community. From stunning cosplays to captivating fan art, attendees showcased their love through their talent, celebrating the diversity and passion that make fan culture truly extraordinary.

Toronto Comicon makes a heroic return

“It's really good to see people just getting back in costumes, getting out and having fun,” says Comicon vendor.

By: Caelan Monkman

The return of Toronto Comicon after two years saw many fans joyfully skimming through boxes of their favourite comic books. (Caelan Monkman/CanCulture)

If you were near the Metro Toronto Convention Centre this past weekend, you wouldn’t be faulted for thinking that daylight savings time had somehow pushed you all the way back to Halloween. All weekend long, people dressed up as characters from their favourite comics, anime and video games filed in and out of the convention centre, celebrating the much-anticipated return of Toronto Comicon.

The return of the convention, which had been cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19 restrictions, saw thousands of avid fans cosplaying, buying artwork and celebrating sci-fi, fantasy and other pop culture fandoms over the course of the three-day event. 

Inside the convention centre’s south building, a sea of attendees snaked through the aisles of comic books, artwork and other merchandise. Stacks upon stacks of Funko Pop! figurines lined sales booths, as enthusiastic fans took photos with people dressed up as their favourite anime characters. The centre was buzzing with excitement and, even with masks on, it was obvious that everyone had smiles on their faces.

“It's really good to see people just getting back in costumes, getting out and having fun,” says Giuliano Quattrociocchi, owner of Queue 1985, which sells tabletop gaming accessories. “I just love being here. It's just so much fun and you get to meet a lot of cool people.”

Quattrociocchi used to attend Comicon as a cosplayer prior to being a vendor. (Caelan Monkman/CanCulture)

This year’s convention boasted a list of celebrity guests including Tim Rose, who plays Admiral Ackbar in the Star Wars films, and Adam Baldwin, best known for his roles in Full Metal Jacket and the space western television series Firefly. In addition to film and television stars, the guest list included numerous comic book authors and artists such as Marvel Comics writer Jed Mackay, and Archie Comics artist and writer Dan Parent.

But for many attendees, the appeal of Comicon isn’t strictly about the guests, but rather the experience itself.

“I've kind of fallen out of the guest aspect of cons,” says Justine, one attendee. “I'm more here for the art and seeing people I know.”

Justine, who has attended Comicon more times than they can remember, also enjoys cosplaying and the “no judgement” attitude amongst the cosplay community.

Justine, who has always attended Comicon in costume, cosplayed this year as Hawks, a character from the anime My Hero Academia. (Caelan Monkman/CanCulture)

A sense of community could be felt throughout the convention all weekend, and maintaining it was very important to organizers.

“This has always been a refuge in a way for people that didn't necessarily feel like they belonged because of their passion for fandom, because of their geekdom or nerddom,” says Andrew Moyes, vice-president of FAN EXPO HQ, the company that runs Comicon. “Our purpose is to provide a place where people can discover, celebrate [and] belong.”

Fan Expo Canada — a larger scale convention also run by FAN EXPO HQ — made its post-lockdown return to the convention centre last fall when capacity limits and proof of vaccination requirements were still in place. Unlike Fan Expo, Comicon was able to run at full capacity, with mask requirements being the only provincial guidelines in effect. This had some vendors and fans worried, but overall still happy to be back.

“I was a little nervous about coming back,” says artist Trace Goldfarb. “We still have a lot of things going on in terms of COVID, but now that I'm here it's really exciting to be back and have everyone around, I get to feed off the excitement of everyone.”

Though some returning fans and vendors commented that turnout felt slightly smaller than pre-pandemic years, they all agreed that the enthusiasm and passion of the attendees made up for it. For some artists, after two years of no conventions, the experience felt both familiar and foreign.

“It's very interesting, it feels kinda like starting over,” says Megan, an artist and vendor. “Part of it is like riding a bike, other parts feel brand new again.”

In addition to her vibrant, often pop culture-themed artwork, Megan creates intricate face and body paintings which she posts on her Instagram account @nsomniaksdream. (Caelan Monkman/CanCulture) 

 For guests, organizers and vendors alike, being able to get together in a shared space was something that had been dearly missed over the past two years.

“You just can't replicate this through a digital screen,” says Moyes. “A lot of events went virtual and digital, [and] we did on some aspects, but I think — and you can feel it today when you're down at the show — you just can't replicate this digitally.”

Check out some of the incredible cosplays at Toronto Comicon 2022:

All photos taken by Caelan Monkman for CanCulture Magazine.