The Fabler

I wanted to start off by saying a big THANK YOU to everyone that I met at at the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo (CCEE) this year! From all you comic fans, talented artists, writers, and welcoming retailers, it was great meeting you all and seeing many of you for the first time. Aside from the technical challenges of launching a new site like this, you all have been open and accepting of me and the ideologies behind the goals with The Fabler venue into the community.

Though I haven’t seen any official announcements yet, the expo definitely felt bigger this year! As I stood at our booth introducing many of you to our new site, throughout the day I felt that I just couldn’t talk fast enough. The vibe was open, and buzzing with activity as there was just so much to see in so little time.

I was invited by Gerald Garcia of Maple Ink Comics, to the drink & draw at the Unicorn Pub. Though we had a few challenges getting enough tables for everyone, it was the perfect place to relax, vent, & most importantly be creative! I’ve heard about these events, but when I sat around the table with Andrew Foley, Fiona Staples, Dan Andrews, Richard Barkman, Kris Chisholm, and many others, I was taken back and reminded as to why comics can be the purest form of expression.

For those of you that missed the CCEE this year, I would encourage you to go. So here are some of our highlights!

Set up across from us was Happy Harbor Comics. There is Owner Jay Bardyla with a better Silver Surfer impression than even I can do!

I had the pleasure of meeting Jim Zubkavich from Udon Entertainment. If you are looking to break into the industry professionally. I highly recommend talking to him the next time you get a chance!

Local friends, Blacksheep Studios were launching their new magazine, Vehicle. Vehicle is a great quarterly comics magazine with all artwork provided by the Blacksheep Studios crew!

Red 5 Comics, another local publisher of some great comics like, Neozoic, Atomic Robot, Abyss and more!

Riley Rossmo and Michael Hoskin, were featured this year at the Another Dimension booth! Riley and Alexander have published 18 issues and 2 graphic novels of their comic Proof through Image.

Dale Berry, a self published, self produced comic artist on the novel series Moonlight Cutter, was a guest at the show this year.

Kristpher Chisholm, freelance artist drawing another fantastic creation, sitting next to him, his wife Amy, and George Georgeadis, Designer/Producer at Games Cafe.

Aaron Norell & Jason Brunner of DPI Studios showing off their stuff this year. Also to note their artwork is being featured at Theme Parks in Dubai!

It was a great expo this year thanks to Kandrix Foong and the gang! Though I didn’t have enough time to visit everyone and see everything I wanted to see, I will remember Edward James Olmos (The Admiral himself) as he smiled at me while walking past our booth Sunday morning during our setup. I look forward to next years expo!

~Bruno @ The Fabler