Some Summer Sizzler goers ducked into Jubilee Hall to escape sporadic rain showers on Saturday and found themselves in a wonderful world of costumes, curios and creators happy to share the back story on all of it.
Boldt Con returned as a major feature in the Summer Sizzler. An ever-growing array of comic artists, caricaturists, and vendors displayed their wares while cosplayers wandered the aisles in character, happy to stop for a photo and a chat. Many of these creators look forward to returning to an event that's become an important one on the pop culture calendar in the province.
Keith Braun from St. Brieux has been at every Boldt Con but one, and he returned with his take on woodwork for the comic collector fan. Whether it was etched lanterns, cribbage boards or unique inset comic displays where you can change out the feature issue, every piece was a labour of love.
I decided that people want to change up what they have or they're always buying new issues or their favorite issues from a long time ago and want to a nice way to display them,” Braun explained. “This was a nice way that you could change up your collection once in a while.”
Rob Schauf is a comic creator with a bit of a throwback attitude. Schauff has long been a lover of comic strips, whether black and white or coloured, from the pages of newspapers. A Sunday morning reader could catch up with the adventures of the Peanuts Gang, ‘Lil Abner, or one of Rob’s favourites, the chaotic Calvin and his ever-faithful stuffed tiger Hobbes. The influence is evident in his original work “Robbie and the Bot.”
“Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes, it's my favorite comic strip of all time. So, I started making Robbie and the Bot as a tribute to Watterson. I realized that after a while of making those, I had enough for a book. So, I put them together and there you have the collection.”
A work inspired by the black and white daily strips is his collection “A Broken Clock Is Right Twice A Day,” a slice of life perspective.
“You're right that a lot of the books I printed in Grayscale just cause growing up. I read newspaper comic strips, and I really like it. It feels real when it's black and white in the newspaper. You know, to me. So that's kind of my aesthetic choice.”
We caught up with one of last year’s presenters, Dave Cornelius, whose neuro-divergent squirrel trio on a mission to free zoo captives forms the basis of the popular “Shadow Tales.” Cornelius’s dream of being a rock star never quick gelled, he laughs, but now he lives the touring life with his squirrel creations. Dave has been diagnosed with ADHD, and his squirrel creations are reflective of an inclusive mood, as is Dave. He’s just returned from an appearance in Calgary.
“I got to do a special event that was called a Big Birthday Bash. It's an inclusive birthday bash and it's put on with one of my buddies whose son is autistic. And so, we started reaching out to other families with kids with autism to have a very autistic friendly birthday party - very low sensory.”
Since his first appearance in Humboldt, Cornelius characters have taken hold, and he’s got bookings in Edmonton, Calgary, and Winnipeg.
Boldt Con is the brainchild of Humboldt’s Jeff Burton, whose own creation, “Auroraman” has garnered much interest in the indie comic world. In fact, Burton has helped launch the careers of some comic creators, like Cornelius, because of Boldt Con, and he’s made the annual convention an anticipated summer staple in Humboldt.