ComicCon

 Early in September I took in Ottawa ComicCon, held in a convention centre near the airport. This event is a photographer's dream. At one table, items include things like a Deadpool knife holder, the Infinity Gauntlet, Thor's hammers, Tony Stark's arc reactor, a Terminator skull, and a Predator mask.

Or perhaps your choice of Lightsabers. 

The place was busy, with cosplayers here and there, a lot of merchandise on offer, and people enjoying the event. I come mostly for merchandise and the chance to take photos. I came away with a number of graphic novels, some prints from artists, and a book on the Montreal Expos from editorial cartoonist Terry Mosher, aka Aislin, who was present and signed the book for me. I thanked him for his work, which has made me smile and laugh many times- especially at times when I've needed it. He's the godfather of editorial cartoonists, the best there is.

Here it is at home.

The 501st Legion is a Star Wars cosplay group here in Ottawa, often attending events like this, and they were out in force. Along with them was this full sized R2-D2 droid, whirling about and catching a lot of attention, either alone or with others.

A TIE Fighter pilot was nearby, with a full scale tauntaun.

Another droid from the Star Wars lore. We'll pick up here tomorrow.

Mad Bear

Carrying on with the Aislin retrospective at City Hall from October, our relationship with Americans can be seen in the top left cartoon featuring Paul Martin, a former Prime Minister, while the bottom left cartoon with President Obama is one of my personal favourites. Those at the right feature another former prime minister, Brian Mulroney, who was a frequent target for many editorial cartoonists here during his time in office. That chin alone could keep you occupied.

Two Canadian giants closely tied to Montreal feature in the top pair- Mordecai Richler and Leonard Cohen. On the bottom, the left cartoon was a favourite for Pierre Trudeau, while the right one features the great Oscar Peterson, who often could play the piano in a way that sounded like he had to have more than ten fingers.

Here's Pierre himself in a Time cover Aislin did early in Trudeau's time as Prime Minister.

Another personal favourite of mine plays off an incident that actually happened: Prime Minister Jean Chretien strangling a protester. In this case, it's Joe Clark, one of the opposition party leaders (and a former PM himself) getting strangled. I've seen both men on occasion here in Ottawa; Chretien could still strangle someone even all these years later.

This dates back to around the time of Peter Jackson's King Kong film, and pretty much sums up how we Canadians sometimes feel about our neighbours. Pierre Trudeau noted that being next door to America was like trying to sleep next to an elephant. A giant ape will do just as well. 

This is one of Aislin's iconic works, featuring Rene Levesque and Robert Bourassa, done after Levesque's separatist Parti Quebecois won a majority provincial election over Bourassa's Liberals.

A close up of two of his hockey toons. Occasionally Montreal has a bad year, but not with anywhere near as much regularity as the Toronto Maple Leafs- a fact that fans of every other Canadian team relish. The success of Canadian women on the ice is an inspiration.

This is another of his collage works, done for the Montreal Olympics in 1976.

This shot features a cartoon Aislin did of Pope John Paul II after he assumed the papacy. The photograph below it features the pope being presented with the toon itself during a visit.

I like this pair. The top features the eternal struggle of Quebec society, while the bottom one is downright universal to anyone who's ever dealt with traffic delays.

The weather, particularly in winter, is a wonderful subject for the cartoonist, such as with these two. The top one came out of the aftermath of the notorious 1998 Ice Storm, while the second one went unpublished in the papers, but has proven popular online.

Arguably the most loathsome, unfit for office politician (which made him priceless material for editorial cartoonists) ever to appear in Canada was the late crack smoking drunken thug Rob Ford, a former mayor of Toronto (is it obvious I didn't like him?). This is an Aislin take on him.

I finish with this one, which was featured for an article on the Canadian Rockies. The bear's expression is just perfect.

Fifty Years

City Hall has a couple of gallery spaces with a rotating schedule of artists featured throughout the year. In October, one of those spaces was given over to a show on the works of Terry Mosher, who works under the professional name Aislin as an editorial cartoonist for the Montreal Gazette. Born here in Ottawa and spending his professional life in Montreal, he has worked in the field for fifty years, first at the Montreal Star before moving to the Gazette. He has recently published a volume, From Trudeau To Trudeau: Fifty Years Of Cartooning as a retrospective, the latest of a good number of books with his work. Aislin has had many honours of his profession, including the Order of Canada, the Canadian News Hall of Fame... and the distinction of being the very first editorial cartoonist denounced in the House of Commons. The entrance featured this whimsical sculpture of the man himself.

Aislin (a spelling variation on the names of one of his daughters) started his career shortly before Pierre Trudeau became prime minister, and now with Justin Trudeau in the same position, his latest book title is fitting. Portraits of him with father and son, decades apart, were also featured at the entrance.

The rest of the space was given to some of his multitude of work, ranging from sports, the city of Montreal, the province of Quebec, the country, and the world. One section featured the devout love Montrealers have for the Canadiens of the National Hockey League.

More works here included contemporary and historical figures, both here and abroad, often with a wink of the eye or a well deserved barb, as the job requires.

Here we have some examples of how Aislin has addressed the Royal Family over time, with a comparison photograph and a formal letter from the Queen's office inquiring as to the meaning of one of them accompanying the cartoons.

My American readers can relate to these two. Apologies to Donald Duck and the pig, both of whom are far smarter and better socially adjusted than Agent Orange.

The previous and totally not missed federal government under Stephen Harper is the focus of these.

Occasionally Aislin has done montages like this large one for Quebec City, carrying his brand of humour throughout.

He has also been the subject of a documentary in recent years.

These have something of an international tone, capturing Vladimir Putin, gun violence, terrorism, and the impact of AIDS in the Third World.

More international material here, particularly American presidents. I have more from this exhibition in tomorrow's post.