Anderson Bradshaw
The Nathan Fillion Adventure
14/05/13 07:22
For Halloween 2012, Canadian actor Nathan Fillion disguised himself as his own version of a World War II Canadian superhero and tweeted several pictures in said costume. A fun yet innocuous gesture that resulted in us getting thousands of emails, tweets, DM and FB messages and comments as a lot of people thought he was doing his version of our Canadian Shield character. We even ended up doing a blog post about it. We seriously doubted he was aware of the show and we were convinced it was totally related but it was fun.
Flash Forward to May 2013 and Heroes of the North is headed to the second Edition of the Ottawa Comicon. And surprise, Nathan Fillion is the guest of honour this year. So we decided to go try to talk to Mr. Fillion and tell him the Halloween anecdote and how it affected us and our site traffic positively and we wante to give him a Canadian Shield comic book at the same time and tell him a little about the show.
When we got to him, at the signing booth, his first reaction was to react at the 8 Ball costume, ask Anderson Bradshaw to step back and using his phone, he flashed a picture or two. We got to tell him the anecdote and a little about the show and gave him a bunch of our comics. He was very enthusiastic and appeared delighted. “I did not know about this!”, he said.
We went back to our booth and the day proceeded briskly. Around 12:30, during lunch hour, as things quieted down, Anderson and Marie Ty decided to do what we call a flyer run: going to different booth and into the crowds, taking pictures and chatting with people and distributing the show’s flyer.
Cliff, one of the organizer of the Comicon, came by and said: “You will never guess who specifically requested to come by your booth!”. We had no idea. He said: “Our guest of honour, Nathan Fillion, asked to come visit you guys. He will be here between 12:40 and 1:15. Don’t tell anybody because we don’t want to create a commotion.”
We of course agreed. And started to run around and chase our missing flock. There was so much people, we did not manage to find them on time. Mr. Fillion arrived with his entourage, but we did not have the actors with us.
“Where is everybody?”, asked Mr. Fillion as he approached. “We are looking for them! We got warned of your visit after they had just left!”. He looked disappointed. “I will try to pass by again later!”, he said before being hustled away. As he disappeared around the corner, 8 Ball and Mantis arrived…
8 Ball and our producer ran in the direction they had disappeared but they lost them in the crowd. And we thought we had missed a great opportunity. But 8 Ball went to the signing area and managed to speak to the management. He came back with the following news: Mr. Fillion would meet us at 3 PM in the VIP area, backstage for a few minutes before his next appearance. Class act!
So about an half hour before three, we braved the crowd and headed down to the other end of the convention centre with everyone in tow, leaving only one man at the booth.
We got there a little faster than we thought, waited a little and then Mr. Fillion walked in, camera in hand, clicking away: “Look at you guys!” He took several pictures with our Heroes, Hornet, 8 Ball and Mantis, both with him and individually and then we took a couple of pictures as a group with him holding the Shield, which had started this whole thing in the first place.
So now the story is wrapped with a neat little bow. We wish to warmly thank Mr. Fillion for his time and generosity as well as everyone that made the encounter possible!
And that concludes our Nathan Fillion adventure!
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Ottawa Comicon 2013
07/05/13 16:33
Come and meet us at the Ottawa Comicon, May 10-12 2013 at the Ernst & Young Centre. We have several brand new things this year, including a Nordik and 8 Ball figurine, the third volume of the 80 pages Omnibus series, two brand new costumes to introduce, including a brand new Hornet (Marie-Claude Bourbonnais) costume and the very first introduction of the Black Mantis Costume (Marie Ty). Both actresses will be in attendance, alongside 8 Ball (Anderson Bradshaw). As Stan Lee used to say: Be there or be square!
Black Mantis Costume sneak peak
16/10/12 11:20
Preparations are still underways for Season 2. Besides blowing miniatures, going to Vietnam and so on, we are also creating brand new costumes for our new villains and heroes. Here is a sneak peek at the leather pants for Black Mantis, designed by Anderson Bradshaw (8 Ball) and fabricated by the multi-talented Marie-Claude Bourbonnais (Hornet). See? We are not kidding when we say we are a small team! You can catch a glimpse of the Black Mantis costume design here:
http://heroesofthenorth.com/blog/files/Who-is-Black-Mantis.php
Who is Black Mantis?
12/09/12 12:51
Here is the costume design by Anderson Bradshaw for Black Mantis, a new character from the Heroes of the North universe, that will make its appearance in Season 2. She is a villain with intimates ties to Medusa and even more disturbingly, 8 Ball and the lethal Iron Panther, who will also make his ominous debut in Season 2.
Montreal Comicon Cast line-up
04/09/12 15:33
It is that time of the year again! The Montreal Comicon is almost here and this year we have a huge chunk of the cast attending!
The schedule for the Comicon is as follows (Friday, September 14 until Sunday, September 16):
| VENDREDI | 16 h à 21 h | 14 h à 21 h |
| SAMEDI | 10 h à 19 h | 9 h 30 à 19 h |
| DIMANCHE | 10 h à 17 h | 10 h à 17 h |
And here is the Heroes of the North Montreal Comicon appearances:
All three days, all hours: Hornet (Marie-Claude Bourbonnais), Alpha Q (Yann Brouillette), Black Terror (John Fallon).
Friday (all hours), end of day Saturday (3 PM until 7 PM) and Sunday (3 PM until 5 PM): 8 Ball (Anderson Bradshaw).
Friday (6 PM until 8 PM): Masquerade (Pia Metni).
Saturday (10 AM to 5 PM) and Sunday (10 to 4 PM): Donovan Easton (Howard Rosenstein)
Saturday (1 PM until 4 PM) and Sunday (2 PM until 5 PM): Canadian Shield (Michel Brouillette).
Saturday (1 PM until 4 PM): The Canadian (Larry Vinette).
Sunday (1 PM until 4 PM): Acadia (Christina Sciortino).
Sunday (1 PM until 4 PM): Medusa Commander (Constantine Kourtidis).
Sunday (1 PM until 4 PM): Introducing Black Mantis (Season 2 Character)
We will have an exclusive Heroes of the North Omnibus 2 printed especially for the Comicon, on higher quality paper, and with a different cover than the one that will be in stores.
It will also have a different binding and a bonus story not found anywhere else. It will be expensive a little because it is a limited run of 100 - but if you preordered the book from us, bring your receipt with you and you will only pay the difference!
Be there or be square!
The Heroes of the North Team
Politically Incorrect Sneak Peek
02/06/12 13:17
Here is another sneak peek at a 12 pages 8 Ball story called “Politically Incorrect” which deals with issues very familliar for residents of the Plateau Mont-Royal - but can also apply to anyone who ever had to deal with over zealous politicians. It is a fun little romp written by Yann Brouillette and masterfully illustrated by Geof Isherwood. Enjoy this sneak peek of the first page, featuring 8 Ball fighting bikers in a seedy St-Laurent joint…
First batch of Appearances are done!
18/04/12 15:12
We are back from a very successful Wizard World Convention in Toronto! Had lots of fun, sold out a lot of our comics and prints, met tons of new people, including Wrestler Edge (photo below with 8 Ball), got to see old fans and friends again!
The same weekend, there was also Le Salon du Livre de Québec, where we were guests of L’Imaginaire. Writers-actors Yann and Michel Brouillette, along with Marie-Claude Bourbonnais (Hornet) and artist Olivier Raymond hit the Convention Center floor for a panel, a signature session and a live drawing session with Olivier Raymond.
And now, we are getting ready for the next leg of the trip, the Calgary FAN EXPO! Hope to see some of you there!
The same weekend, there was also Le Salon du Livre de Québec, where we were guests of L’Imaginaire. Writers-actors Yann and Michel Brouillette, along with Marie-Claude Bourbonnais (Hornet) and artist Olivier Raymond hit the Convention Center floor for a panel, a signature session and a live drawing session with Olivier Raymond.
And now, we are getting ready for the next leg of the trip, the Calgary FAN EXPO! Hope to see some of you there!
Wizard World Toronto
31/03/12 08:16
Heroes of the North will be attending the Wizard World Toronto Convention on April 14 and 15 2012 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
8 Ball (Anderson Bradshaw) is going to be in attendance. There will also be tons of new merchandise: new T-shirts, prints, figurines and so on!
Plus we will be introducing our new booth setup - the banner above being one of the new elements. We look forward to see our Toronto fans at the event!
April and May will be busy months for you favourite superheroes as we will be criss-crossing Canada for various appearances! Keep track of our moves by visiting the Events section of the site!
Nordik Team-up now online!
21/03/12 03:05
It has been a long time coming but we are very happy to present our latest comic book, a team-up between Nordik (Vanessa Blouin) and 8 Ball (Anderson Bradshaw), written by Yann Brouillette and masterfully penciled and inked by David J. Culter and coloured and lettered by Keiren Smith - with covers by Joel Adams, Donald Caron and Michael Dooney! While it keeps the dark tone our comics are known for, it is a radical departure in style compared to our other offerings so far and we are very excited to find out what our fans think of it. Do not hesitate to rate and comment - your feedback is very valuable to us!
The Heroes of the North: Dark Origins Signing Tour
25/11/11 16:01
To celebrate the North American release of our comic book compilation published by Ardden Entertainment, we are going on tour! So far, we have three locations confirmed in Quebec City, Montreal and Ottawa. Keep an eye out on our Events page for more locations and dates as we get them confirmed.
Come get your copy of the book and get it signed by the writer(s), artist(s) and get your picture taken with some of the actors of the series! We will also bring some of our merchandising, so you can stock up on Heroes of the North goodies and save on those crazy shipping costs!
So far the dates and locations are:
Boutique L’Imaginaire, Quebec City, Saturday, Janurary 28, 2012, 9:00 - 5:00 PM.
2740 blvd. Laurier, Place Laurier Shopping Mall
3rd Floor, Ste-Foy (Québec)
Who will be there: Hornet (Marie-Claude Bourbonnais), 8 Ball (Anderson Bradshaw), Artist OIivier Raymond and writer Yann Brouillette.
Expert Comics, Ville LaSalle, Saturday, February 4th, 2012.
8185, Newman Blvd, Ville LaSalle, (Québec)
Who will be there: 8 Ball (Anderson Bradshaw), other actors TBD at the moment, Artist Olivier Raymond and writer Yann Brouillette.
The Comic Book Shoppe, Ottawa, Sunday, February 5th, 2012, 11:00-5:00 PM.
228 Bank Street, Ottawa, Ontario
Who will be there: TBD.
Season 2 Costume Designs: The Canadian
23/11/11 22:01
As the end of Season One approaches, we are slowly preparing concepts and designs for Season Two. Some of you already discovered the new Hornet costume at several conventions and it will be featured in comic book form by Geof Isherwood very soon for his cover for the 24 pages Season Finale comic book, a gorgeous piece.
Here is the latest costume design by Anderson Bradshaw (8 Ball) for The Canadian (Larry Vinette).
Here is the latest costume design by Anderson Bradshaw (8 Ball) for The Canadian (Larry Vinette).
Heroes of the North: Newsmakers!
31/10/11 14:57
Here you have it! The interview the Heroes of the North gave last week to Montreal anchor and all-around nice guy Todd Van der Heyden which was aired today as part of the CTV News Montreal NEWSMAKERS segment. The interview features Larry Vinette as The Canadian, Marie-Claude Bourbonnais as Hornet and Anderson Bradshaw as 8 Ball.
Heroes of the North makes the News!
27/10/11 22:37
Today we had the pleasure of being invited at the CTV Montreal studios to do an interview with local anchorman Todd Van der Heyden, who is also a fervent comic book aficionado. He was recently hosting the Stan Lee and Adam West panels at the Montreal Comicon this year. Todd was an amazing host, who made us feel very welcome and put everyone at ease right from the start.
We created a little bit of a commotion as several employees did not know what was going on or who we were and for what and let’s say that two dark heroes and a colourful villainess in the middle of a cold October afternoon makes for a weird sight, even at a television station. For about twenty minutes, we felt we were back at the Montreal Comicon, distributing flyers, explaining what the show is about while actors were taking pictures with the enthusiastic staff members! It was great fun!
Once everybody was dressed up, we were brought inside the studio which was quite an impressive sight. It looks small yet somehow still conveys an impression of vastness. We have been interviewed countless times for television but this was our very first time inside a TV studio and it was quite an interesting experience. Everyone is working diligently, constantly communicating, even as the cameras are rolling, ensuring that everything goes well and that you end up with a pretty much finished product! A sight for sore eyes for us who have to painstakingly edit everything and then still have to add effects, sound and colour correction!
It was a fun experience for our little group and we would like to thank everyone at CTV, and especially Todd, for making it such a smooth ride!
The interview with our three characters should air on Monday, October 31st, during a segment of Montreal CTV News at Noon, as part of their Halloween special.
Don’t worry if you miss it or do not get CTV - we will get a DVD of the piece and it will be added to the MEDIAS section of our site after the original airing.
And that’s about it in a nutshell! Let’s just say that it was quite a busy day here at Heroes of the North Central!
UPDATE: We are featured in the Newsmakers segment.
Photos Credits: Justin Phillips.