Wrestling legend Mick Foley, writer of the WWE Superstars comic, appears at Royal Collectibles for a signing on Saturday May 23rd from 11:00 AM till 2:00 PM! Please contact the store for further details.

Cartoonist Gene Luen Yang, who is the writer for the Avatar: The Last Airbender and Superman FCBD comics, and Long Vo (Street Fighter, ThunderCats, Robotech, X-Men Evolution) plus Mike Hampton and Olympia Maxenchs appear at Illusive Comics on Saturday May 2nd at 3:00 PM for Free Comic Book Day!

Actor, writer, producer DANTE BASCO will be speaking about his experiences as a Filipino-American in Hollywood on Friday May 1st at 8:00 pm. His past credits include RUFIO in Hook, JAKE LONG in American Dragon: Jake Long, and ZUKO in Avatar: The Last Airbender.

This event is organized by the Southeast Asian Students Alliance and sponsored by Mecha, ASA, the Asian Studies Department, and the Film Department.

Bryan Konietzko & Michael Dante DiMartino (creators of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra) and Gene Luen Yang (writer of the ATLA comics as well as Superman, American Born Chinese, Boxers & Saints, and many more) speak on a panel moderated by novelist Leigh Bardugo where they will break down the components of mythic storytelling on Saturday, April 11, 2015 at noon. A book signing will follow at 1:00 PM. Present as part of the Yallwest book festival in Santa Monica, CA.

The Toronto Comic Arts Festival is proud to announce TCAF KIDS DAY 2015, which will see the addition of TCAF Featured Guests Matt Holm & Jenni Holm, and an exclusive promotional poster by Gurihiru!

Featuring some of the best and brightest kids-comic creators in the industry, TCAF KIDS DAY is a stand-alone event that takes place on Saturday, May 9th, from 10am to 4:30pm. It takes place just down the street from TCAF, about 10 minutes walk, at St. Paul’s on Bloor, 227 Bloor Street East. TCAF Kids Day is a great place to view large-format presentations by favourite TCAF Guests, and take part in crafts, activities, and storytimes, and purchase books from your favourite authors! Owlkids, Toronto Public Library, and Little Island Comics will be on hand all day to take part in the fun!

Welcoming Jenni Hom & Matt Holm!
We’re thrilled to announce that Jenni Holm & Matt Holm, the amazing sister & brother team behind the bestselling Babymouse and Squish book series’ will be returning to TCAF to kick off our day with their popular presentation! Jenni and Matt last visited TCAF in 2012, and they were just so awesome we had to have them back! Our thanks to Penguin Random House Canada for supporting their trip!

Their presentation will be followed throughout the day by a who’s who of great kid, tween, and teen creators, including Kean Soo (Jellaby), Raina Telgemeier (Smile, Drama, Sisters) and Dave Roman (Astronaut Academy), George O’Connor (Zeus: King of the Gods), and all the way from Japan, Gurihiru (Avatar: The Last Airbender comics).

TCAF Kids Day Poster by Gurihiru!
We have a special treat for everyone too! The amazing creative team Gurihiru (two awesome ladies from Japan, working under one name) have produced a special poster celebrating TCAF Kids Day programming, and really everything that’s fantastic about comic books! We are seriously blown away by this image, and we thank Gurihiru for doing such an amazing job on it! This image will be printed as a poster and made available for purchase at TCAF and TCAF Kids Day.

Last Saturday night Gallery Nucleus opened a tribute exhibition of art to the Nickelodeon show Avatar: The Last Airbender and its spinoff The Legend of Korra. Hundreds of fans, many of whom cosplaying their favorite characters, waited for hours in eager anticipation with lines ultimately stretching around the building and down the block. Co-creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael DiMartino were on hand to sign autographs for a limited number of attendees. The artwork on display included both early development art and original pieces created by Avatar/Korra production artists and fans selected for inclusion.

Co-creator Mike DiMartino with the sold out Korrasami print

Nucleus owner Ben Zhu, a self-avowed fan of Korra, said he got in touch with Nickelodeon around the middle of the third season to start planning the art show. “Little did we know that we would be the main event post show and no other fans events were in the works,” said Zhu in an email, “So in that sense, we got lucky.” Avatar/Korra co-creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dimartino remarked that they already knew of Nucleus’s reputation when they were approached because of the animation exhibitions it had hosted in the past. “It worked out nicely,” said Konietzko, “Lots of the crew from both shows are here so it’s kind of a family reunion.”

When asked about the future of 2D animation, Konietzko said the industry is currently in something of a Golden Age in television with more people going to art school specifically to study animation. Pointing to the artists represented in the exhibition, he and DiMartino agreed that they represent the future and will be the ones creating their own shows in the years to come.

During the opening only the first people in the gallery were given wristbands to get signatures from Konietzko and DiMartino. But the many attending artists from each show, including Joaquim Dos Santos, Angela Song Mueller, Colin Heck, Johane Matte, Giancarlo Volpe, Emily Tetri, Kenji Ono, Elsa Garagarza, Will Ruzicka, and more, mingled with fans and very graciously signed art books and prints. Also voice actors PJ Byrne (Bolin), Seychelle Gabriel (Asami),Dee Bradley Baker (Tarrlok and every single animal) and his daughter Cora (young Korra) also made appearances to meet fans and snap selfies. All told, a reported 1,500 people showed up to indulge in their fandom. Ben Zhu said, “This event broke attendance records for us and is the most attended show in our gallery’s history just above the Final Fantasy X/X2 game release event and the Harry Potter Tribute Exhibition. We knew the event was going to be big but anticipated maybe 2/3 the actual attendance.”

When asked if the story of Korra will continue in comic form as Avatar: The Last Airbender has, DiMartino remained cryptic but said if anything were to continue it would be there. He spoke well of the creative team behind the Dark Horse title, writer Gene Luen Yang and artist team Gurihiru, saying they are so talented they need very little direction.

The artwork for the exhibition will remain on display till March 22. The closing event on Saturday March 21st will feature a Q&A panel with Konietzko and DiMartino but is most likely to be restricted to 100-150 people. Fans are encouraged to follow Gallery Nucleus on their Facebook page and Twitter to get the latest news.

Record breaking crowd fills Gallery Nucleus

Avatar Aang & Katara cosplayers

The very first drawing of Aang and early versions of Naga and Momo by co-creator Bryan Konietzko

Graphic novels are a hit with students, astute teachers and savvy librarians, as they know the best of these novels tell engaging stories which captivate kids — and keep them reading! We are very very lucky to have these 3 talented artists come talk shop, draw, doodle, get creative and inspire budding artists! Afterwards, they will sign books. This is a free event & will be very popular. In order to get a priority ticket for the signing line, at least one book must be bought from Once Upon A Time.

FSA plans on holding a lecture series featuring prominent Filipino-American speakers who have risen to success in their respective fields, such as Dante Basco. Dante Basco is a Filipino-American Actor known for his roles as Rufio in Hook and Prince Zuko in Avatar: The Last Airbender.

He will be allotted an hour and fifteen minutes for his lecture with additional time for the audience to ask questions and potentially meet the speaker personally. This lecture series is a great opportunity to educate the BU community about how the speaker’s Filipino upbringing has impacted their decisions and morals in the stories he shares. As a prominent Filipino in the entertainment business, we can attract a broad array of students who are interested in hearing his story as well.

We hope that this event will show attendees a glimpse of what our Filipino heritage means to us–that it is not only one of which to be proud, but one whose ideals of love and unity we strive to share with as many as people as possible.

Back for the closing reception, creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael DiMartino will be in the gallery for a short moderated Q and A panel and talking a bit about their creative process. Bryan and Mike will be available for signing after the panel for guests only.

2 – 3 new tribute pieces will be on display in the main gallery. In our atrium gallery, will be original Avatar the Last Airbender development artwork by Bryan Konietzko, not previously exhibited.

Aang statues and new exclusive prints of select works in the exhibition will be released for the first time to attendees of the panel.

Signing / Ticket Details
*1 item person. No outside items.
*Tickets will go on sale on this page starting March 18th. $10 a seat, limit 2 seats per person. Orders of more than 2 will be voided and refunded.
*Print or show us from your smart phone, your order confirmation to the event.
*Limited to 100 seats and standing room for 50 people, 150 attendees total. Seats are first come first serve