Saturday at TCAF 2011

I think I understand what a comic festival is. It's an overwhelmingly large art market with not only artwork, but also a lot of comics, meeting with comic artists, and panels. The biggest difference I noticed between TCAF and an anime convention is that less than 5% of the attendants were cosplaying.

When I entered the Toronto Reference Library to check out the Toronto Comics Art Festival, I was overwhelmed by the number of tables, people, and space. There were so many interesting tables set up, I didn't know where to start looking at stuff. There were two floors of tables too! (It didn't take up the whole library floor, but the atrium and a large open hall.) I've been to the Toronto Reference Library before, but construction and the mass amount of people in it make it look so much smaller and crowded. It was almost as crowded as the dealer's room at anime conventions later in the afternoon.

_{Saturday noon @ Floor 1 of TCAF 2011}
There were mostly North American and Internet-linked comics found at TCAF. Many of the artists I met traveled to Toronto just for TCAF. There were people from the U.S. and even the United Kingdom!

What surprised me was that I actually bought a lot more goods at the festival than I ever have at an anime convention. There was a great variety of comics and art styles in from different cultures. I encountered a few French comic books that I've always thought I'd never see in real life unless I traveled or ordered them off the Internet.

_{What I brought home. It's not much, but I am very happy with them.}
Conclusion: must go to the next TCAF and ohmygosh I shook hands with Usamaru Furuya! I think his wife and child were there too because a gorgeous Asian lady with a baby hanging by her chest was recording him signing books for his fans with a video camcorder. :')