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Tribute on March 21, 2022 | Leave a Comment

Toronto Comicon returned after a two-year hiatus. The three day pop-culture convention came roaring back to celebrate sci-fi, fantasy, animation, and comics — to the delight of fans young and old.

Highlights from the three-day weekend included celebrity panels, cosplay contests, comic creator sketching showdowns, live podcasts and getting a chance to snap photos with a celebrity or a cosplayer. Activities for the kids included princess sing-a-longs, sorting hat ceremony, crafting workshops, fort building and slime making.

Laura Vandervoort is a versatile actress, producer and writer who is known to most fans as “Supergirl” from the TV series Smallville. She talked about legendary Canadian actor Gordon Pinsent, who was a mentor to her during her years while she was filming Goosebumps. Laura was a fan of Smallville before she was cast in the role and said she appeared in the series Supergirl with Melissa Benoit as a way of passing the baton from one actress who played the role to another. Laura revealed that she went into producing so that she could support female filmmakers — the projects that speak to her passion are her favorites to work on. Her short film Age of Dysphoria, which she wrote and starred in, is available on CBC Gem.

Aaron Ashmore (pictured at top), not to be mistaken for his twin Shawn Ashmore, is known for his work in Smallville, Warehouse 13 and Killjoys. He can currently be seen as Duncan Locke on the Netflix series Locke & Key. He’s a huge fan of the Locke & Key novels and said that helped him nail the audition for the role. He joked that because he got sick after booking a toy commercial and because Shawn took over, he basically launched his brother’s career. He is often mistaken for Shawn and they both keep track at conventions on how many fans mistake them for the other.

Tim Rose (pictured at left) is best known for his work on Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Star Wars: The Last Jedi. He delighted the fans by saying the famous line he is known for as the character, Admiral Ackbar: “It’s a trap!” He spoke of his time working for Jim Henson and how he always enjoyed drawing, sculpting and graphics, but never thought of puppeteering as a career until he was in university. When he heard the Muppets were looking for new artists, he applied and was hired, which helped launched his career.

Firefly and Chuck fans enjoyed the panel with Adam Baldwin (pictured at right), who shared stories of being on set with Zachary Levi and Nathan Fillion. He credited them both for being wonderful leaders. He joked that because of his height (he’s 6’4″), it would hinder him getting cast but since both leads of the shows he was in were tall, he joked that he easily got the roles. He said he would absolutely do a Chuck or Firefly reunion.

These were just a few of the highlights of the celebrity panels that occurred during Toronto Comicon. It was an excellent opening for the city’s first major event. Next up, fans will look forward to seeing what Fan Expo will bring. ~Joanne Chu-Fook

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