Comic-con coming to Elsipogtog following ‘whirlwind’ of organizing

For the first time ever, a comic convention is coming to Elsipogtog. The event, aptly named Elsi-Con, takes place on Saturday, August 23. The NB Media Co-op sat down with two of the organizers, Brad MacDonald and Scott Tingley, to discuss all they can disclose about Elsi-Con.

Susan Levi-Peters, former chief of Elsipogtog, is the main driving force behind this event. It all got started in June, when she and MacDonald were chatting at the East Coast Comic Expo in Moncton, where Levi-Peters’ daughter was an artist-guest.  

At the time, Levi-Peters expressed the hope of “one day having a convention in the community,” Tingley recalled.  Before long, the idea had picked up steam, with Chief Young Eagle Recreation Centre lined up as the venue.

With a two-month turnaround from conversation to convention, it’s been a  “whirlwind” of organizing. MacDonald described the event as “kind of historic,” the first event of its kind in Atlantic Canada. “If we can do it for a couple of years in a row, it will be the first ongoing comic expo in a First Nation community,” he said.  

The organizers soon recruited special guests, including Adam Beach, star of the 1998 movie Smoke Signals, whose manager also helped put them in contact with others. The special guests they’ve managed to book range from comic book artists to actors and at least one stuntman. 

The event will also feature a wrestling show put on by Innovative Hybrid Wrestling, a wrestling federation based in Moncton, from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. A few wrestling matches are expected to take place either outside the venue, or across the street for people to enjoy, with many of the wrestlers coming from the Greater Moncton area.

Vendors including Moncton’s Comic Hunter will be selling items ranging from comics to cool pop culture products. Twenty-four vendors have been confirmed so far, many of them having multiple tables, with room for more to be booked in the coming weeks.  

There will also be panels featuring guest speakers, and a cosplay competition with prizes available for those who come prepared to share their creativity. Halloween is a big event in Elsipogtog, so the organizers are hoping there will be many who attend in costume. 

Details are still being hammered out, and the organizers hope that with a successful comic-con this year, next year's Elsi-con will be even bigger.

General admission is $22.63 and children ages 12 and under get in for free. You can find more details at elsi-con.com.

Lance Francis is a St. Thomas University student and a member of Elsipogtog First Nation. Video production by David Gordon Koch. This reporting has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada, administered by the Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations (CACTUS).