Saskatoon Comic & Entertainment Expo 2015 Review

William Shatner (Photo courtesy of Sask Expo)
William Shatner
(Photo courtesy of Sask Expo)

“Who would win in a fight? Captain Kirk or…”

“ME!!!” burst William Shatner.

It takes a patient and confident performer to handle the onslaught of mundane questions that are so often asked by fans at comic conventions. Fortunately Shatner can quickly turn a gushing fan’s question into a long winded and entertaining story. During his panel Shatner recounted tales of stealing Leonard Nimoy’s bicycle in order to beat him to lunch and reiterated his distaste over our obsession with smartphones, to which a fan quipped “Aren’t you to blame for all of this?” to much applause.

Shatner’s celebrity was certainly felt at the 2015 Saskatoon Comic & Entertainment Expo which saw attendance increase to over 13,000, a growth of over 4,000 fans from 2014.

We were wildly impressed by last year’s expo and 2015 proved even bigger and better. Panel rooms had doubled in size and the convention floor was an overwhelming sea of comics, toys and t-shirts for sale.

Oh, and they had a frakking DeLorean!

Roads? Where we’re going we don’t need roads.

Joining Star Trek’s William Shatner were celebrity guests Billy Boyd (Lord of the Rings), Steve Cardenas (Power Rangers), Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad), Tricia Helfer and Rekha Sharma (Battlestar Galactica), Charles Martinet (Super Mario) and several high profile cosplayers.

Billy Boyd’s panel was a personal highlight as he kept the audience entertained with hilarious anecdotes about actual bee-cakes and antics his fellow hobbits would pull over on Middle Earth. Billy Boyd fans were in for a special treat as the Lord of the Rings star performed with his band to a sold out crowd at Louis’ following the expo on Saturday night.

Tricia Helfer and Rekha Sharma (Battlestar Galactica)
Tricia Helfer and Rekha Sharma (Battlestar Galactica)

The Battlestar Galactica panel gave an interesting behind-the-scenes look at the franchise with Tricia Helfer describing her challenges playing multiple characters while having to duck behind furniture as her character Six popped in and out of scenes when CGI on the show was at its infancy.

But the real stars of the show were the cosplay and merchant market.

Whether it’s a group of Deadpools standing in a circle high-fiving each other or two Stormtroopers holding a tiny Jawa (the epitome of good parenting), the quality of the cosplay at comic conventions is worth the price of admission alone. We didn’t stick around to hear who won Saturday’s costume contest, but our vote goes to Nicolas Cage, our personal favourite.

If you’re a collector ready to shop be sure to bring cash with you as ATM lineups get dreadfully long. Or don’t, and have an excuse not to spend your rent money on nerdy baubles, but if you’re like us you’ll spend first and ask questions one shiny mystery box at a time later.

Here’s hoping we can afford tickets next year!

Sask Expo