Category Archives: Happenings

Happenings: Niagara Falls Comic Con – June 9, 2012

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We received the following information this morning from Chris Dabrowski:

The Niagara Falls Comic Con is set for Saturday, June 9th, 2012 at the Scotia Bank Centre!

Vendor and ticket information is available on the site…! If you’re an artist or vendor looking to secure space, visit the site for details. Spaces are limited, so book fast!

Visit the site at Niagara Falls Comic-Con and don’t forget to join our Facebook page too! Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/nfcomiccon

No comic guests announced yet, but they have wrestlers if that’s your thing.

You may recall that the event, organized by Niagara Falls’ Pulp Comics officially launched last year on July 9th at the Dave & Buster’s in Clifton Hill, Niagara Falls. Leonard Kirk was there.

I don’t understand why they have a picture of the SLG booth at San Diego Comic Con on their site though.

Comic-Con 2012 announces final special guests. Five Canadians featured.

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Full list of 59 guests can be found here

As always, the list is a mix of people working in different areas of the field, some legendary creators, some international creators and some people producing some ground-breaking webcomics. It’s no surprise to see that three out of the five Canadians on the list are there primarily because they are producing some of the most well regarded webcomics around.

Kate Beaton - cartoonist, Hark! A Vagrant!

Kate Beaton is a Canadian cartoonist who first appeared on the comics scene in 2007 with her online series Hark! A Vagrant!, which has been collected into book form by Drawn and Quarterly. Since then she has become a fan favorite, with illustrations appearing in places like The New Yorker, Harper’s, and Marvel’s Strange Tales anthology. Praised for their expression, intelligence, and comic timing, her cartoons often display a wonderfully light touch on historical and literary topics. The jokes are a knowing look at history through a modern perspective and a campaign against anyone who thinks that history is boring.

Lynn Johnston - cartoonist, For Better or For Worse

Canadian cartoonist Lynn Johnston is best known for her comic strip For Better or For Worse. Her cartooning career started with a series of humorous books on parenting. In 1978, she sent off 20 examples of a daily comic strip, The Johnstons-based on her own family-to Universal Press Syndicate. She received and signed a 20-year contract, and For Better or For Worse began. The strip ended in 2010 but still appears (in reprint form) in over 2,000 papers in Canada, the United States, and 20 other countries, translated into eight languages. It’s been collected into close to 40 books.

Karl Kerschl - writer/artist, The Abominable Charles Christopher

Karl Kerschl has been drawing comics professionally for over 15 years. He has worked on Superman, The Flash, and Teen Titans, among other heroic things, and recently self-published a collection of his weekly webcomic, The Abominable Charles Christopher. He currently resides in Montréal, Canada, where he continues to write and draw his own stories. The Abominable Charles Christopher has been nominated for several awards and has won the Shuster Award for Best Canadian Webcomic in 2010 and the Eisner Award for Best Digital Comic in 2011. The strip updates weekly at www.abominable.cc.

Jeff Lemire -writer, Animal Man, Frankenstein; writer/artist, Sweet Tooth

Jeff Lemire is the award-winning Canadian cartoonist of the acclaimed graphic novel Essex County (Top Shelf) and the comic book series Sweet Tooth from DC/Vertigo. He is also the current writer of Animal Man and Frankenstein for DC Comics and has written the monthly adventures of Superboy as well. In 2010 Essex County was named one of the five “Essential Canadian Novels” of the decade in the prestigious Canada Reads program, becoming the first graphic novel to ever be included in the national competition. Lemire’s next original graphic novel, The Underwater Welder, from Top Shelf Productions, will debut at Comic-Con 2012.

Doug Savage - cartoonist, Savage Chickens

When Doug Savage was a kid, he always wanted to be a cartoonist. But when he grew up, he found himself working in a corporation, starving for creativity and plagued by migraines. Luckily, this predicament drove him to pick up a pad of yellow sticky notes and start drawing chicken cartoons. Published online every weekday since 2005, Savage Chickens is read by millions and has been published in books and magazines worldwide. His book, Savage Chickens: A Survival Kit for Life in the Coop, was published in 2011 by Perigee Books (an imprint of Penguin USA). Learn more at www.savagechickens.com.

San Diego Comic-Con International takes place July 11-15 at the San Diego Convention Centre.

Industry Night follow-up and Prophet 21 news

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Last night’s Industry Night was fantastic. Probably one of the best attended events we’ve held so far at the TCW space. All the copies Archaia sent up of A Tale of Sand sold out in under two hours and the reaction from those seeing it for the first time was priceless.Ramon’s art is stunning in person!

The big announcement last night was the continuance of a comics retail space on College Street. Dragon Lady subscribers who wish to continue with the new store will have their pull files move to the new store. Feedback from the industry pros at the event last night was overwhelmingly positive, and there are a lot opportunities to do interesting things at the new store, especially as it will be sharing space with the TCW and Guerilla Printing. From my perspective the most positive thing is that my friend Joe Kilmartin will not be unemployed, will be under less pressure and hopefully have more fun with the project. There’s a solid foundation there on which a new type of retail / community space can be built.

The big release for the week – which was majorly under-ordered by nearly every retailer ever burned by Rob Liefeld (i.e. all of them) was the re imagined Prophet #21 from Image Comics, released yesterday and consumed faster than you can say “by Vancouver-based creators Brandon Graham and Simon Roy” aloud. Hopefully Image will rush release a second printing of the book as a lot of people are talking about it.

Happenings – Ryan North & Joey Comeau INTERVIEW EXTRAVAGANZA

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The Trinity College Comedy Collective will be interviewing Ryan North (DINOSAUR COMICS, MACHINE OF DEATH) and Joey Comeau (A SOFTER WORLD) live this Tuesday evening at Trinity College, Toronto. Should be a great evening, both these gentlemen make for great conversation. And there are prizes too! More info at the TCCC facebook event page.

Friday the 13th Update

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Sorry about the lack of updates this week, so much has been going on with… well, everything this week.

Between the announcement of the guest list for the March Toronto ComiCon, plans and coordination for Fan Expo Vancouver in April, the Dragon Lady closing and all of the related press coverage that has been getting, rumours of what is going to happen next with the Silver Snail, coordinating some shipments I have coming in and going out, and so on (not to mention my research work during the day)  I haven’t had time to do much posting. Robert has been working on more regional retailer round-ups.

Next week:

- we’ll be posting the Eligible Creators List for 2011 that we’ll be looking for feedback on. 2012 Nominating committee will be finalized and we can get on with selecting the list for 2012. Andrew completed the updates to the Webcomics list last weekend so if you haven’t had time to check it out, please take a look and discover some great comics.

- on Wednesday night in Toronto it’s the Jim Henson’s A Tale of Sand Industry Night release party at the Toronto Cartoonists Workshop with Ramon Perez. It looks like we have copies of the book available for the event so come on down and check it out of you can.

- Finally, I’ve been working on something top secret that I hope to be able to share the news about with you as early as next Monday.

Happenings: TONIGHT TCW Industry Night – Jim Henson’s A Tale of Sand release party with Ramon Perez – January 18th (UPDATED)

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A limited quantity of the book will be available for sale at tonight’s event, courtesy of Archaia Press.

Industry Night with Ramon Perez: A TALE OF SAND launch party!

Industry Night returns in 2012 with Ramon Perez and his hotly anticipated adaption of Jim Henson’s unfinished screenplay, A Tale of Sand. The TCW gallery will feature a vast selection of pages from the graphic novel juxtaposed with pages from Henson’s actual script. All of Ramon’s gorgeous A Tale of Sand artwork will be available for sale exclusively through this event and we invite you to drop by, pick up a copy of the book and say hello to Ramon!

 Date: Wednesday, January 18

 Time: 7 – 11 pm

 Location: 587A College Street, Toronto (2nd Floor)

 Admission: suggested donation of $4

Note: the proceeds from the admission will go towards covering event costs, with the remainder going towards the Joe Shuster Awards 2012 budget.

Happenings: Toronto ComiCon upgrades in March 2012.

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TORONTO COMICON as presented by FAN EXPO CANADA™ has now grown to become a spectacular 2 day event!TORONTO COMICON as presented by FAN EXPO CANADA™ has now grown to become a spectacular 2 day event!

Located in the South Building of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, the show will be boasting unique exhibitors, presentations, workshops and many celebrity guests. Don’t miss out on spring’s #1 community event in Toronto!

*********

That’s the announcement from the new website: Toronto Comicon – March 10-11, 2012 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

After last year’s 2-day FREE event in April Hobbystar spent a lot of time talking with fans and exhibitors about the state of the annual spring Toronto ComiCON Fan Appreciation Event and based on those conversations and a forced schedule adjustment it looks as if we are going bigger and better in 2012!

For a few reasons we’ve decided to drop “Fan Appreciation Event” from the show name and in 2012 it will be promoted as the TORONTO COMICON – A PRESENTATION OF FANEXPO CANADA (TM). Bullet points are:

* More celebrity guests! Last year there were 3, in 2012 there will be significantly more.
* More comic pro guests!
* Bigger Space! More than double the size of the 2011 event.
* Low cost admission! Daily and Weekend Rate.
* 10×10 Exhibitor Booths for half the cost of the same at Fan Expo!
* Special exhibitor rates for those who take 4 or more booths!
* Fan Expo Canada Premium Pass holders get in free!
* Low cost Artist Alley tables!
* Free admission to all kids 12 and under on this March Break weekend!

There’s a HUGE announcement just around the corner with the show dates and celebrity and comic pro guests.

Admission, according to the site is $20/day or $30 for a weekend pass.

But I can confirm some of your favourite Canadian creators will be making an appearance (see below).

Along with this news is the announcement that the February 5th one day show is being postponed as it is too close on the schedule to the revised Toronto ComiCon.

CANADIAN GUESTS FOR MARCH 10-11 INCLUDE:
DALE KEOWN
JEFF LEMIRE
FRANCIS MANAPUL
ATTILA ADORJANY
KALMAN ANDRASOFSZKY
SAM AGRO
ANDY BELANGER
KEN BRANCH
SCOTT CHANTLER
MICHAEL CHO
DAVID CUTLER
CLAUDIA DAVILA
WILLOW DAWSON
ANTHONY DEL COL
VALENTINE DELANDRO
AGNES GARBOWSKA
LEONARD KIRK
CONOR MCCREERY
RICHARD PACE
RAMON PEREZ
GIBSON QUARTER
DAVE ROSS
MARCO RUDY
TY TEMPLETON
MARCUS TO
ERIC VEDDER
CRAIG YEUNG

Happenings: VANCAF announces it’s inaugural line-up of guests – May 26-27 in Vancouver, BC

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THE VANCOUVER COMIC ARTS FESTIVAL (VANCAF)
181 Roundhouse Mews
Vancouver, BC V6Z 2W3
MAY 26th-27th, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
21/12/2011

VANCAF ANNOUNCES INAUGURAL LINE-UP

VANCOUVER, BC: The Vancouver Comic Arts Festival has announced the initial line-up for its inaugural exhibition, taking place May 26th-27th 2012 at the Roundhouse Community Arts Centre. The Festival, which will feature local and international independent cartoonists, will be open to the public and free to attend. The guests will include indie successes such as Jeph Jacques, Ryan North, and Sarah Leavitt, with artists, creators, inkers, colorists, writers, and small press collectives rounding out the exhibitors. Special events taking place throughout the festival will be announced shortly.

Artists wishing to exhibit at VanCAF can apply to do so by filling out the application form on the website at http://www.vancaf.com/exhibitors.php.

Further inquiries can be directed to Shannon Campbell, Event Coordinator, at shannon@vancaf.com

Happenings: Toronto Cartoonists Workshop Faculty Art Show – Dec.9

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TORONTO CARTOONISTS WORKSHOP FACULTY ART SHOW

Friday, December 9, 2011
7:00pm until 11:00pm
at the
Toronto Cartoonists Workshop
587A College Street
Toronto, ON

Admission: $4 suggested donation

You’ve seen them teach, here’s a chance to take a look at their resumes: original works from Ty Templeton, Leonard Kirk, Eric Kim and our newest faculty member, Dave Ross!

All artwork will be offered for sale ONE night only! Original art! Prints! Sketches! All this and more.

Have a question about an upcoming course in January that you’d like to get answered? Ask your instructor in person!

Admission: suggested donation of $4 with all proceeds going to the Toronto Public Library (Lillian Smith branch). As with all our events, this one is fully licensed, so join us for some Christmas cheer, chat with your favourite artist and sign up for one of our January workshops!

 TY TEMPLETON

 LEONARD KIRK

 ERIC KIM

Happenings: EXPOZINE 10 November 26-27 – Montreal, QC

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expozine -EXPOZINE 2011, Montreal’s 10th Annual Small Press, Comic & Zine Fair !

EXPOZINE, Saturday, November 26 and Sunday, November 27, 2011, from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. at 5035 St-Dominique (Église Saint-Enfant Jésus, Laurier Métro). Free admission.

10th ANNIVERSARY OF EXPOZINE special issue of Four Minutes to Midnight ZINE LAUNCH, featuring round-table discussion with Expozine founders, Friday November 25 at the Drawn & Quarterly bookstore, 211 Bernard W., 7 – 10p.m., free admission.

EXPOZINE 10th ANNIVERSARY PARTY, Saturday November 26, 8 p.m. – 3 a.m., Casa del Popolo, 4873 St. Laurent, free admission. Music by J.A.S.S. (Jazz Amnesty Sound System) !!!

ALSO, programming during Expozine will include:

Saturday, November 26, 3 p.m. in the Expozine reading room:
Greasy Goose Salon, Expozine Edition, theme : PAPER
with: Simon Reader, Sarah Pupo, Nic Boshart and Emily Raine. A co-production between Expozine and the Greasy Goose Salon.

Sunday, November 27, 3 p.m. in the Expozine reading room:
Du Zine à l’Institution: Les Sérigraphes Montréalaises, with: Andrée-Anne Dupuis-Bourret, Jacinthe Loranger, Chloe Lum, Leyla Majeri, Dominique Pétrin.
Une co-production d’Expozine et La Centrale Galérie Powerhouse.

Expozine is one of the largest small press fairs in North America, bringing together over 270 exhibitors showcasing all kinds of publications– from books to zines to graphic novels – in both English and French. The event attracts thousands of visitors as well as exhibitors from across Canada, the United States and even Europe! It’s a unique showcase of the best publications that today’s small publishers and self-publishing authors and artists have to offer. Literally thousands of different publications can be found at Expozine, it’s THE “salon du livre” for readers interested in today’s underground and alternative publications!

Expozine 2011 on Facebook!

EXPOZINE Facebook group!

Expozine’s sister project, the DISTROBOTO art vending machine network!

For more information, contact expozine@archivemontreal.org.

Expozine is organized by Arcmtl (Archive Montreal), a non-profit organization that both promotes and preserves independently produced culture in Montreal. Expozine is made possible in part through the financial support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Conseil des Arts de Montréal.

Happenings: Kill Shakespeare – The Stage Reading Nov.26-27 in Toronto

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Anthony Del Col has sent us the following notification:

Friends, Romans, countrymen,

I’m happy to make the official announcement that later this month we will be presenting a stage version of KILL SHAKESPEARE!  In conjunction with the Young Centre for the Performing Arts and Soulpepper Theatre, KILL SHAKESPEARE: The Stage Reading will take place the following two showings:

Saturday, November 26th – 8pm

Sunday, November 27th – 4:15pm

The event will be held at the Young Centre in the historic Distillery District in Toronto.  The performance will feature actors from Soulpepper and combine a mix of comic art, performance and music to bring our comic book series to life.  We did a small trial run of this in April and received a great response – and it was one of the highlights for me, to see the words and pictures of the story we’ve worked so hard on come to life!

We will also be hosting an after-party on the Saturday evening (the 26th) that will double as the BOOK LAUNCH PARTY FOR VOLUME 2 (being released Nov 22/11) of our series!  The details are still being hammered out but it will be great to hang out afterwards to celebrate the success that we’ve had with the series over the last 18 months.

Tckets for the shows are $20 each (or 4 for $59) and can be purchased the Soulpepper website here or by calling 416.866.8666.  The shows are in conjunction with The Word Festival, a celebration of the 400th anniversary of the first production of The Tempest as well as the first printing of the King James Bible.

 I hope that you can make it to one of the shows that weekend – I’d love to see you there.  And please spread the word!

Anthony

 

Happenings: Vancouver Live Art Funk Jam – Friday Nov. 11

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Speaking of the CLLDF, tomorrow night they are having a fundraiser event in Vancouver, BC:

Vancouver Live Art Funk Jam
with Jim Mahfood and Dave Crosland

Friday, November 11th
8PM – 1AM
The Kozmik Zoo @ The Hennessey Dining Lounge, 53 W. Broadway, Vancouver

All Admission fees at the door go to the CLLDF.

And just a reminder, this Sunday Nov. 13th is the weekend of the Vancouver Comicon with special guests Jim Mahfood and Dave Crosland.

Happenings: Toronto ComiCON Sunday November 20, 2011

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TORONTO COMICON

Sunday, November 20, 2011
11-5
Admission $8
Fan Expo Premium Passholders FREE
Kids under 12 FREE when accompanied by a paying adult
Metro Toronto Convention Centre – North Building

Guests:
DON KRAMER (artist, Wonder Woman)
LEONARD KIRK (artist, X-FACTOR)
DAVE ROSS (artist, Star Wars: The Old Republic)
RAFFAELE IENCO (writer/artist, Devoid of Life & Epic Kill)
DAVID CUTLER (artist, Northern Guard)
KENT BURLES (artist, Planet of the Apes)

Happenings: DC – The New 52 Art Tour stops at Millenium Comics in Montreal Nov.5 with Swamp Thing’s Yanick Paquette

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As part of DC Comics-The New 52 Art Tour, SWAMP THING artist Yanick Paquette will be appearing at Millenium Comics in Montreal tomorrow (November 5th). This event will feature process pieces from SWAMP THING#1, GREEN LANTERN #1, and WONDER WOMAN #1. If you’re in the area stop by to meet him and get your SWAMP THING comic books signed!

Saturday, November 5
Meet SWAMP THING artist Yanick Paquette

1:00-5:00pm
Millenium Comics
451, Marie-Anne East St.
Montreal, Quebec (Canada) H2J-2A2

A look at comic book conventions across Canada – links updated, list of larger events

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I recently made a series of updates to our Canadian Conventions Link Page – it’s by no means complete, but I’ve tried to include comic-centric (including Anime) events scheduled across the country.

Here are the big events scheduled for the remainder of this year and into 2012 – please visit the Con list (link above) for website links and information on other 1 day events).

5-Day events:
FBDFQ – FESTIVAL DE LA BANDE DESSINÉE FRANCOPHONE DE QUÉBEC (Quebec City) – April 11-15, 2012

4-Day events:
FAN EXPO CANADA (Toronto) – August 23-26, 2012

3-Day events:
ANIMARITIME (Moncton) – June 29-July 1, 2012
ANIME NORTH (Toronto) – May 25-27, 2012
CALGARY COMIC AND ENTERTAINMENT EXPO – April 27-29, 2012
C4 – CENTRAL CANADA COMIC CON (Winnipeg) – FALL 2012 TBA
MONTREAL COMIC-CON – September 14-16, 2012

2-Day events:
CONG-G (Guelph) – February 25-26, 2012
EXPOZINE (Montreal) – November 26-27, 2011 (2012 TBA)
HAL-CON (Halifax) – November 12-13, 2011 (2012 TBA)
TCAF – TORONTO COMIC ARTS FESTIVAL - May 5-6, 2012
TORONTO COMIC CON (WIZARD WORLD) – April 14-15, 2012
TORONTO COMICON – FAN APPRECIATION EVENT (HOBBYSTAR) – SPRING 2012 TBA
VanCAF – VANCOUVER COMIC ARTS FESTIVAL – May 26-27, 2012 (New in 2012)

 

Happenings: Vancouver Comic Con – Sunday, November 13, 2011

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Sunday, November 13th, 2011
11am to 5pm

Special Guests:
Jim Mahfood (Kick Drum Comics, Stupid Comics, Grrl Scouts, Marijuanaman) http://www.jimmahfood.com/
Dave Crosland (Yo Gabba Gabba! Comic Book Time, CBGB, Puffed) http://davecrosland.com/

Featuring:
Peter Chiykowski (Rock, Paper, Cynic) www.rockpapercynic.com
Derek DeLand (Copyright Infringers)
Kim Glennie (Emily & Zola, Girls’ Room)
SpookhauS & Rob Macabre (Satan Claws)
Albert Art
Carrie Q Contrary
Beth Wagner
Gurukitty Studios
and others!

Dealer Tables: $60/centre; $70/wall

Hourly door prizes!

Admission: $4.00
Kids under 14: Free

Follow us on Twitter at: twitter.com/vancomicon
For more information: 604-322-6412

Happenings: Hal-Con, November 12-13 in Halifax, Nova Scotia

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Hal-Con Sci-Fi, Fantasy & Comic Convention

Hal-Con is the largest event of its kind in all of Atlantic Canada, featuring actors, authors, comic book guests and many other great sci-fi personalities. Halifax, Nova Scotia is making a mark on the field of fantastic conventions across Canada!

Hal-Con 2011 will be held in over 46,000 square feet – two huge levels of space and has reportedly doubled the number of tables for the exhibitors, societies and artist alley. The gaming space available makes Hal-Con 2011 one of the biggest gaming conventions in the Maritimes.

World Trade & Convention Centre (WTCC)
Halifax, Nova Scotia
November 12-13, 2011
9:00am Saturday to 9:30pm Sunday

Celebrity guests include Buffy’s Nicholas Brendan, Buck Rogers’ Erin Gray, Star Trek’s J.G.Hertzler and Sherlock Holmes’ Robert Maillet. A number of sci-fi writers are listed as attending.
COMICS GUESTS INCLUDE:
DARWYN COOKE
GEOF ISHERWOOD
CONOR MCCREERY
ANDY BELANGER
ANTHONY DEL COL
FAITH ERIN HICKS
MARK OAKLEY
ANDREW POWER
TIM LARADE
MIKE HOLMES
JORDYN BOCHON
TIM CARPENTER
DAVE HOWLETT
KATE LETH
This is a considerable improvement over the previous years comics guests – glad to see some of Halifax’s finest are coming out to support the event. We’ll be keeping an eye out for show reports.
2011 JSA ceremony hosts Ajay Fry and Teddy Wilson will be there representing SPACE along with their new InnerSpace co-host Cynthia Loyst.
TICKETS
Since Hal-Con is a volunteer run event, the pricing structure seems more like science fiction community events like Polaris and Ad Astra more than your typical comic book convention.

1. Warp Speed Pass
$230.00
Ultimate fan package: includes weekend general admission, Stargazer Soiree ticket, front-of-the-line perks, premium seating at Q&A sessions and other events, t-shirt and souvenir lanyard.

2. Weekend General Admission
$46.00
General Admission – valid for both days of the Hal-Con 2011 convention at the WTCC in downtown Halifax.

3. Stargazer Soiree
$86.25
The Stargazer Soiree is a great opportunity to enjoy a view of the beautiful Halifax downtown city at night, enjoy some fantastic food, and mingle with the celebrity guests of Hal-Con 2011. Hot and cold hors d’oeuvres will be served. Wine, beer and spirits available. This event will be held at Windows Restaurant, on the upper level of WTCC, runs approximately 6-8pm on Saturday Nov 12, 2011.

4. Day General Admission
$28.75
One Day General Admission provides access to the convention for one day only. This pass will allow you to choose between, Saturday or Sunday.

5. Child Pass (Weekend)
$11.50
A pass for children 12 and under. (4 and under free) Children must be accompanied by an adult. A weekend Child Pass provides access to the convention for the weekend.

6. Child Pass (Day Pass)
$5.75
A pass for children 12 and under. (4 and under free) Children must be accompanied by an adult. A Child Pass provides access to the convention for one day only.

7. Warhammer Tournament Package
$115.00
Grudge of Ages Warhammer Tournament entry includes weekend general admission. 2-day tournament with 5 games in total. Warhammer 40k is set at 1700 points and Warhammer Fantasy is set at 2000 points.