Elsipogtog comic convention to return in 2026 following first-ever event [video]

Elsipogtog’s comic convention will return next year, making it the first ongoing event of its kind at a First Nation in the country, according to organizers. 

Elsi-Con, which took place on Saturday, was the first comic convention to take place at an Atlantic First Nation reserve. 

Vendors sold their wares such as comic books, vintage toys, and cosplay masks inside Chief Young Eagle Recreation Centre, and a number of special guests were in attendance. The event also featured a wrestling match organized by Innovative Hybrid Wrestling, a company based in Moncton, along with a cosplay contest 

Seasoned cosplay veterans took part in the competition, which also welcomed newcomers. For many, especially the youth, this was their first opportunity to cosplay in a real contest. 

Some of the costumes included Indigenous Sailor Moon and a Mi’kmaw vampire. The best in show award went to Ricky Whyte, who wore a costume inspired by a Ninja Turtle action figure. 

The Miramichi-area resident said he makes costumes in his spare time. Putting it together took “probably four or five months, just an hour here, an hour there, on a weekend or whatever.” 

Anishinaabe actor Adam Beach, best known for his leading role in the 1998 film Smoke Signals, said he’d attended a number of major comic-cons, and that Elsi-Con measured up to all of them. 

“Having a comic-con for the first time here in a Mi’kmaq community enables us to connect to the younger generation — also the older generation, like myself,” the 52-year-old actor said. “I love comic books, I love movies, animé is amazing.” 

Mi’kmaw actor Glen Gould of Membertou First Nation, who has performed in movies and television series including Outlander and Tulsa King, said it was meaningful for youth to attend an event like this in their own community.  

“I think it’s important,” he said. “Kids in First Nations communities don’t always get the opportunity to attend something like this, or to even know what it is.”

Elsi-Con began as an idea from Susan Levi-Peters, former chief of Elsipogtog, who got the ball rolling in June after chatting with an organizer from the East Coast Comic Expo in Moncton. The community pulled the event together in just nine weeks. 

People were eager to be a part of the newly launched Elsi-Con. “When I got invited, it was quite a surprise because I didn’t even know this was in existence yet,” said Hal Hilden, a comic book writer based in Saint John. “I’m just so happy to be invited here. It was a great time.” 

One table promoted a fantasy adventure video game inspired by Mi’kmaq legends and folklore titled “Kun’tewiktuk: A Mi’kmaw Adventure.” 

The game is set in Unama’ki, meaning the “Land of the Fog,” the area known today as Cape Breton Island. The game is voiced in Mi’kmaq by voice actors from Eskasoni First Nation.   

Also in attendance was writer and author Jason Lawson, who is working with Adam Beach to adapt a 2024 novel by Lawson into a feature film. 

The thriller, titled Jim Charles’ Gold, tells the story of an Indigenous guide and tracker who finds gold in the Wabanaki wilderness.

“Soon, the woods were swarming with men who were willing to stop at nothing to learn Jim’s secret, including murdering him and his entire family,” according to a blurb for the book. 

“A lot of people don’t realize there is talent in the East Coast, we just have to promote them,” Beach said. 

Canadian history inspired the novel, according to Lawson, who came across the story online. 

The book was a great success, he said. “It broke Amazon’s top 100, it sold well in the U.S. and Canada.” It’s too early to say when it will go to the big screen, Lawson said, noting that it’s difficult to secure funding to make a film in Canada compared to the U.S. 

Other guests included actor and stuntman Jon Ambrose, who flew in from Florida to attend the event. 

He’s known for roles in film and television including The Umbrella Academy series and the 2023 Nicholas Cage movie Retirement Plan. Asked for an example of a recent stunt, he said: “I just got my head chopped off in Twisted Metal.”

“I don’t double a lot,” he told the NB Media Co-op. “I mostly play characters that look like me, and when they need a big guy to die, they call me.”

He lived in Nova Scotia for three years, and said he was happy to be back in the region.  “It’s kinda like coming home.” 

Ambrose felt welcomed by the Elsipogtog community. “Everybody is super sweet here, and the hospitality is amazing,” he said.  

Guests also included the award-winning editorial cartoonist Michael de Adder, who commented on the role of political cartoons during Donald Trump’s second term in office, a situation that some have described as beyond satire. 

“It’s hard to make fun of someone who’s already funnier than anything you could come up with,” he said about the U.S. president and convicted felon.  

De Adder said that satirists have done a better job than conventional journalists at challenging the Trump administration. 

“The Daily Show has been more effective than CNN and MSNBC at tearing down Trump than anybody,” he said. “And editorial cartoonists have been more successful than the newspapers.” 

Two of the organizers of Elsi-Con, Brad MacDonald and Scott Tingley, deemed the event a success. “Not bad for a ragtag group of misfits,” MacDonald said, though he added that turnout was “a little lower probably than what we’d like.” 

Plans for the comic-con came together in just two months and faced competition over the weekend from the YQM country music festival in Dieppe and the nearby Rogersville Bluegrass Festival. 

The second edition of Elsi-Con is scheduled for Aug. 8, 2026.  

Anna-Leah Simon is a student at St. Thomas University and a member of Elsipogtog First Nation. David Gordon Koch is a staff reporter for the NB Media Co-op who lives in Moncton. Lance Francis and Lisha Francis, who are students at STU and members of Elsipogotog First Nation, also contributed to this report. 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).