Returning to TCAF: What I Did at the 2025 Toronto Comic Arts Festival

As I previously mentioned, I went to Toronto a month ago to visit TCAF, the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, which I last attended in 2019. (I had meant to have this posted earlier, but typical for me, I got sick on the trip. Nothing catching; I’m allergic to most of the outdoors and the pollen counts have been high, along with the wildfire haze at that time.)

Impressions

A young crowd, both in terms of exhibitors and attendees. I saw a few people I knew, but most of the tables were Canadian creators, based on my perceptions. I hadn’t gone to shows in several years, and it seems there’s a whole new generation of creators already. That’s great!

Most everyone took plastic, with various tap to pay options, which is very helpful. I managed to get through a day and a half without having to get Canadian money. (The driving need turned out to be cash for housekeeping tips.) This allows for more expensive products, including color comics and graphic novels.

I also, thanked to an explanation from a young person, learned about washi tape and how to use it. Several people had some on sale, which is now making my journals more colorful. Even more popular was risograph (riso) design work.

The big publishers exhibiting were Scholastic, Drawn & Quarterly, PRH, and Top Shelf. I also had an interesting conversation with Alex Hoffman, comic critic turned publisher of Fieldmouse Press.

Location

The new location, the Mattamy Athletic Centre, was great. With one, well, two, exceptions. The first was that we were standing around on a giant slab of cement for the better part of two days, and my knees and ankles really felt it. Lots of conventions have that problem, and carpeting and/or padding costs extra.

It also took me a while to figure out how to get off the floor and out of the building to meet a local friend for lunch. That’s my missing sense of direction in practice.

The second issue, I only know about second hand. It seemed that on Saturday, there was a water leak out of a pipe … wait, let me back up. For some reason, the ice rink, which was serving as the main show floor, was on the third floor. The second floor was a basketball court area with more exhibitor tables. Apparently, about eight tables there were suddenly showered with water from the ceiling.

When I talked to some of those affected later, there was general good feeling about how many people pitched in immediately to help move stock out of the way. One commented, “Most of my stuff is in plastic anyway,” a good lesson.

And then there’s Toronto, which has the most amazing food choices. There was a Japanese-style bakery next to the hotel that looked like this.

I discovered the wonder of the poke taco (with raw salmon and spicy mayo inside).

And my amazing roommate, Heidi MacDonald, went out one morning and got us Egg Club sandwiches. The best!

Panels

The only panels I went to were the ones I was hosting. I found myself a little too scattered to sit still, particularly in crowded rooms.

Panels seemed to be feast or famine. The two I tried to attend were standing room only, while my first panel had three people on the panel and five in the audience. It’s ok, we turned it into a roundtable with show and tell. With so much going on, it was definitely a case of rolling with whatever happened.

It was on Saturday at 5 PM, not an ideal time, and it was about Recommending Comics for Kids. One of the two panelists was a local librarian, and she’d brought lots of sample books and “what to read next” flyers. The other panelist was part of Annick Press, a long-lasting Canadian children’s book publisher that was moving into graphic novels, and she had several copies of their publications for people to see as well.

My other panel was again about Kids’ Comics, this time New and Upcoming Titles. Panelists were Brooklin Stormie, who had just had her first graphic novel, Astronautical, published; Aron Nels Steinke, author of Speechless and the Mr. Wolf’s Class books; and Maria Scrivan, creator of the Nat Enough series. With two very established cartoonists and a newbie, the discussion was wide-ranging. About 25 people came, with 9 kids!

Acquisitions

From Top Shelf, a long-time favorite, I picked up the book of the summer, It Rhymes With Takei, as well as the fascinating Low Orbit.

And the rest will have to wait another week, as it’s Independence Day tomorrow and I have to get ready to travel!

In the meantime, if you want to hear Heidi and I discuss the show, visit this episode of the Women in a Hotel Room podcast.