Over this past weekend, I had the opportunity to check out TCAF (The Toronto Comic Carts Festival) for the first time ever! I was accompanied by the lovely Ambur (Burning Impossibly Bright) and we had an absolute blast exploring the event!
TCAF is the celebration of comics and graphic novels and their creators, which culminates in a two-day exhibition and vendor fair featuring hundreds of comics creators from around the world. Other Festival events include readings, interviews, panels, workshops, gallery shows, art installations, and much more. It was held at the Toronto Reference Library, The Marriott Bloor Yorkville, and The Masonic Temple and it was completely free to get in!
As mentioned above, I had never been before, but I was extremely excited to check it out as there were a few big names attending who I was really excited to meet!
Meeting Inio Asano!
Some of you may remember a title that I reviewed recently called Goodnight Punpun. Well, turns out the author/mangaka, Inio Asano, was going to be attending TCAF! I was instantly excited as Goodnight Punpun will most likely become one of my favourite manga series (I still need to read the rest of the series) and I really did want to check out more of his work!
I got in line to meet Inio Asano about 45 minutes early. I knew that he was going to be a more high profile guest and I wanted to make sure I got in line early! A woman came around with a post-it pad and asked for our names. She then wrote it in Japanese, which I thought was super cool and now I will forever know how to write my name in Japanese! We were also told that we would only be able to get one item signed which was totally okay with me!
I was pretty close to the front of the line so I got to meet Inio Asano really quickly! He was pretty quiet, but I also kind of didn’t know what to say. I mean, there was also a bit of a language barrier, but he seemed like a genuinely nice guy! Not only did he sign my copy of Goodnight Punpun Vol.1, but he also drew a quick little sketch!
Haul
I picked up more books than I thought I was going to, not gonna lie, but every single one of them was worth it! Check out some of the titles I picked up below (almost all of them are by Inio Asano!)
The Prince And The Dressmaker by Jen Wang
Paris, at the dawn of the modern age: Prince Sebastian is looking for a bride―or rather, his parents are looking for one for him. Sebastian is too busy hiding his secret life from everyone. At night he puts on daring dresses and takes Paris by storm as the fabulous Lady Crystallia―the hottest fashion icon in the world capital of fashion! Sebastian’s secret weapon (and best friend) is the brilliant dressmaker Frances―one of only two people who know the truth: sometimes this boy wears dresses. But Frances dreams of greatness, and being someone’s secret weapon means being a secret. Forever. How long can Frances defer her dreams to protect a friend?
Review Coming Soon!
Solanin by Inio Asano
Meiko Inoue is a recent college grad working as an office lady in a job she hates. Her boyfriend Naruo is permanently crashing at her apartment because his job as a freelance illustrator doesn’t pay enough for rent. And her parents in the country keep sending her boxes of veggies that just rot in her fridge. Straddling the line between her years as a student and the rest of her life, Meiko struggles with the feeling that she’s just not cut out to be a part of the real world.
Solanin: An Epilogue by Inio Asano
This was a TCAF: 2018 Exclusive that I got for free when I purchased Solanin!
A Girl On The Shore by Inio Asano
When Koume and Keisuke’s relationship begins to take shape, it is apparent that they are both searching for something. Maybe Keisuke wants something more than a kiss from the fair Koume. Maybe Koume is looking for someone better than Misaki, the local playboy. But what they find in each other over the course of a summer might be far greater than anything they were expecting. Their lives are going to change. And this will all transpire before high school exams!
Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction Vol.1 by Inio Asano
It’s just an everyday apocalypse. Three years ago the aliens invaded Tokyo. Nothing was ever the same again. But after a while, even impending doom starts to feel ordinary. The Japanese Self Defense Forces are still looking for a way to combat the looming alien threat three years after the invasion, but so far conventional weapons have had no effect on the mothership. Maybe it’s time to try something unconventional. Meanwhile, Kadode Koyama is in high school. She and her best friend avidly track the aliens’ movements on social media and less enthusiastically study for college entrance exams. When the end of the world is overhead, you learn to take things one step at a time.
Bonus!
I picked up this amazing t-shirt by Jen Woodall after falling in love with it the minute that I saw it! I mean, it’s just so badass right?! I needed to own it! You can purchase it here!
Fun fact: Did you know that The Weeknd shot his music video for Secrets at the Toronto Reference Library?
There you have it! My little re-cap of my experience at TCAF 2018! Do you have any similar festivals in your hometown?
Thanks for reading!
Big City Bookworm 
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