Comic expo brings Archie to Fredericton
Freddy Beach Fan Expo to offer exclusive comic book variant edition celebrating New Brunswick capital’s 175th anniversary
Celebrations of Fredericton’s 175th anniversary are drawing some surprising visitors to the capital, including some from as far away as Riverdale U.S.A.
Freddy Beach Fan Fest, a new comic-book expo set to be held at the Capital Exhibit Centre on Aug. 19 and 20, announced recently that it will offer an edition of an upcoming Archie Comics title, Chilling Adventures Presents Strange Science #1, at the event featuring a special variant cover with a scene set in Fredericton.
The wraparound cover - meaning the image takes up the front and back cover - shows such Archie Comics icons as Archie Andrews and Betty Cooper (in their super-hero identities of Pureheart the Powerful and Superteen, respectively), Jughead Jones, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Big Moose and Miss Grundy, all strolling around in front of Fredericton city hall.
Justin Steeves, with Allied Legends Inc., which is mounting the comic expo, said the only way collectors and those who want to get this piece of Fredericton memorabilia can be sure they get a copy is to sign up for a weekend VIP pass for the show.
He noted the Fredericton-focused variant edition will have a print run that’s quite limited.
“If VIP packages do not sell out completely, the remainder will be available for purchase,” he said.
“The actual print run will be 250 copies. However, we will only be releasing 175 copies at the show in celebration of Fredericton's 175+.”
The City of Fredericton is on board with the new summertime comic show. Fredericton Capital Region Tourism is promoting the event on its social-media feeds and website.
Coun. Eric Megarity, chairman of the city’s livable community committee, said Fredericton 175+ has given rise to an eclectic array of events, but this one is certainly a novel one.
“I am especially pleased to hear about the unique Archie comic book cover that has been created to commemorate this milestone,” he said.
“I am sure it will be a hit with those attending the Freddy Beach Fan Fest.”
Megarity said the city’s tourism and communications staff has been in discussions with the event organizers for several months about the event and the comic book.
He said he hopes the reveal of the special comic art will prompt Fredericton-area residents to check out the Fredericton 175+ Facebook and website to learn about other related events taking place this summer.
While August’s comic expo is the first incarnation of the Freddy Beach Fan Fest, Steeves has experience in mounting such an event.
He organized the Big Country Comic Expo, which was held at the Fredericton Inn in November, and Freddy Beach Fan Fest is essentially a rebranding of that event and a move to a different venue and time of year.
“The show we ran prior to Christmas was sort of a trial,” Steeves said.
“After the show we received lots of positive and areas to improve feedback from members of the community, province, vendors and general fan base.”
Organizers are working to tweak the mechanics of the show to ensure it becomes a long-term, recurring event for fans in the Fredericton area.
Arranging for an exclusive variant edition of a mainstream comic book is a long process.
“We have been working on the artwork for this since February,” Steeves said.
The lead time was necessary to ensure the book would be available in time for the August comic expo.
Among the steps to reach that point would be to commission the art, to get it approved by the publisher and to get it finished in time for the printing process.
The Fredericton-focused variant cover art is also unique in that it’s what’s known as a “jam” piece - meaning it includes art by several comics professionals.
Among those contributing to the cover art are former Superman/Teen Titans/X-Men artist Tom Grummett, regular Archie contributors Dan Parent and Gisele Lagace, DC Comics artist and animator John Delaney, and artists Sebastien Roy, Brianna June, Brandon Hicks and Lyne St-Jules.
More information about the event is available at its website.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.