‘It goes hand in hand’: pop culture devotees get inked at Fan Expo

After a limited edition run last year, Fan Expo Canada has returned to Toronto not only at full capacity, but with some notable additions to their roster of things to see, buy and do.

This year, along with purchasing comics, t-shirts and a variety of other merchandize, fans can immortalize their pop culture passion in permanent ink at the expo’s “tattoo alley.”

While tattoo’s have been available at the expo in other cities for a number of years, it is a first for the Toronto edition of the convention, made possible thanks to a decade-long collaboration with Ink Fusion Empire.

Tattoo artist Marc Draven founded the traveling tattoo artist collective in 2007 to bring the worlds of tattooing and pop culture together by setting up shop at fan conventions around the globe. The empire now has over 200 tattoo artists from around the world including Italy, Australia and Laos.

“Essentially, I’m a nerd. But the busiest [tattooing] hours are on the weekend so … it just started with the fact that I wanted to be both places at one time. I wanted to be able to tattoo and make my money and then I wanted to be at the Comicons [on the weekends] to spend that said money,” he says.

The concept took off in a big way and caught the attention of some heavy hitters in the comic and film industry.

“We’ve been able to establish the godfather of comics in our stable with the one and only Stan Lee,” says Draven. “In 2014 Stan and I started working on projects where he would come over and he would do a little doodle of Spiderman and we would raffle that off and whoever won would get the tattoo for free and pictures with Stan.”

He is also the first tattoo artist to be licensed by Lucasfilm, the original production company behind fan favourite Star Wars.

Tattoo artist Alison Zou works on a tattoo at Fan Expo 2022 in Toronto. CITYNEWS/Dilshad Burman

Draven says because he’s a huge fan of all things geeky himself, it’s difficult to choose a favourite character or subject to tattoo. But one of the most memorable ones he ever did had nothing to do with any sort of fandom.

“It was on the back side of a senior’s buttocks and he wanted ants crawling across his buttocks to the other side where there was an ant eater already tattooed there,” he says. “It was funny after the fact. It was during the first couple of years of my professional business so now, I don’t know if I’d do that or not.”

When we spoke to him Saturday, Draven was preparing to tattoo a dad who combined his love for his blended family with his love for comics into a piece that included Batman as well as the names of his children. Draven says the design is usually a collaborative effort.

“He came in with a very rough sketch and then we fine tuned it … and between the two of us we came up with a final idea,” he explains.

There are 10 artists working at Fan Expo’s tattoo alley and Andrew Moyes, Vice President of Fan Expo says the tie-up was a no brainer.

“These shows are driven by passion — so we’re talking serious fans here. They want to celebrate the actors that have created the characters that they know and love but they also want to celebrate those characters themselves. So what better way to do that than having something permanent that you can always show?” says Moyes.

Tattoo artist Tony Sklepic works on a tattoo for comic book artist Mark Brooks at Fan Expo 2022 in Toronto. CITYNEWS/Dilshad Burman

While many signed up to get inked on the convention floor in advance, Moyes says having the artists there provides an opportunity for those who may be feeling spontaneous.

“Some people actually make the decision on-site, at the show to get a tattoo as well,” he says. “I’ve even seen someone go and get an autograph on their arm from their favourite celebrity and then come over to tattoo alley to get it tattooed.”

Attendees agreed that having tattoo artists on the convention floor is a valuable addition to the expo.

“It goes well with the nerd fandom of Fan Expo and I think it’s a great idea to merge both arts,” says Jay, an attendee interested in Draven’s work.

“It goes hand in hand right, they go together, so it makes sense,” says Lisa, who recently got her first tattoo.

“It’s super convenient. As a fan, I’ve seen people get autographs on their body parts and then they would have to get a tattoo artist on standby behind the booths, so having this here is super convenient,” says Will, echoing Moyes’ sentiments, adding that he hopes to get a tattoo at the expo if an appointment is available.

While Draven is booked up for the rest of the weekend, some artists are accepting walk ups for smaller pieces, which Moyes feels is a fitting memento of this year’s event.

“It’s really memorable to say ‘this one I got at Fan Expo 2022, the first big show back [after pandemic restrictions],” he says.