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Raaaarhh! For some reason, Sheryl let me go to Chicago for their annual WizardWorld Convention in mid-August, on the condition that I write up a report of my experiences. The more I think about it, the more I think I got the short end of the stick here.
Sadly, this isn't going to be the best con report ever written. I'm going to pretend it is, however, for my own sense of ego. This was a) my first real convention experience, b) the first major trip I've fully done by myself and c) my first con report. These factors all add up to a very confused weekend running around like a Phoenix with a Kree weapons cannon shooting off her head.
The con also didn't strike me as too terribly organised. I couldn't get to all the panels I wanted to, since they overlapped, and many of them ran longer than expected, causing more rushing about. I managed to hit a whole of two panels, both Marvel, since they're my main focus here, and I was rather unimpressed, with a few minor exceptions I'll get into later.
I spent most of my time at the CrossGen booth, just idly chatting with creators, and fans, while grabbing a few sketches. Let me start off right here. CrossGen's booth is the first thing you see upon walking in, and it's not really a booth. It's a nice, open area, with large pillars showcasing all their titles, with creators scattered about, previews, stuff, and a nice plasma tv (Another reason I spent way too much time here), showcasing their new initiative in translating their comics to a DVD format, trying to attract new, younger readers. I was rather impressed, frankly. They managed very well to make static comic images seem dynamic. Some of the voice acting was a bit goofy, but no more so than I've seen in some animes. This particularly applies to inhuman voices they've passed through digital filters, or whatnot.
The CrossGen creators, when they're not busy signing, sketching, or just elsewhere, as well as assorted staff, are constantly milling about the booth, and are very friendly, ready to talk, and just putting a good public face on the company. All in all, they definitely get a thumbs up.
I didn't really check out DC's booth too much, since I'm not too terribly interested in their stuff, but it was hard to ignore them, since they were right next to the CG booth, and had some huge pieces of art hanging around. Some nice Alex Ross, an Authority promo, others.
And then there was the bane of my existence at the con. The entire weekend, DC was pushing their new Teen Titans cartoon, and were constantly playing that inspid J-Pop theme song. With all the time I spent at the CrossGen booth, I was about ready to grab the giant spinning sigil off the top of their central tower, and fling it across the way.
Marvel's booth... You walk up to their booth, and they have this little conveyance line/rat maze deal going on, it's nicely closed up, structured, and just struck me as incredibly unfriendly. I kept meaning to get back to it, but every time I went, the traffic around there was nasty. Just all-around cramped and imposing, very unfriendly.
The other major clustering of people came on Saturday around the Hasbro booth, where they were raffling off several action figures. I never would have gone by, but friends lumped many requests for stuff and the money for them into my hands. More chaos for me to wade through while trying to enjoy the con.
The only other folks that caught my eye were at Claypool Comics, who were reaching out to any one going by, to just get themselves noticed, so I give them a nice little mention here. Very friendly, personable folks.
Most of my time Friday was spent trying to get to the hotel, then the convention, and finding friends. I missed the writing panel early in the day, due to unfamiliar surroundings and being by myself. Oh yes, and finding food. So, with Friday mostly a wash of hunger, no sleep, and standing around staring at CrossGen DVDs, I finally passed out rather early for me.
Saturday was when the fun began. Woke up nice and early, and went to the CrossGen fan breakfast, and personally met, chatted openly, ate, and just had a general good time with a bunch of the CrossGen staffers, including Bart Sears, Aaron Lopresti (A. Lo to his friends and tormentors), Andy Smith, Barbara Kessel, a bunch of other fans from the CG Message Boards, and a few others I know are escaping me.
After that, it was floor-roaming, while waiting for a Marvel panel, and trying to buy stuff for my friends. Damn them.
Then came more unimpressiveness from the X-Men panel. The folks on the panel were all nice, and polite, often funny, and just good-natured, but it was incredibly bland. This goes for the Cup of Joe panel later as well, but there were just no announcements of note. As Joe Quesada said, they don't need to answer all the losses they've had lately, most from San Diego, with numerous creators on Marvel books signing exclusive DC contracts, since they don't go into effect for awhile, and Marvel has a backlog of stories already written by them to use, but they didn't give us much of anything to ooh and aaah over.
The X-Men panel was all the same old questions again, "When will so and so be back?" and "What's coming up in such a title?". I do, however, want to thank the person who asked when we'll be seeing Rachel Summers again. Beat me to it!
The most interesting thing came from the Cup O' Joe panel later that day, which I was almost late to, and would have missed all the fun.
Someone asked Joe Quesada about some of the admittedly more absurd rumours that had been floating around the 'net during the weeks previous, most notably about Marvel spreading rumours about their own talent being wooed away by DC, for whatever reasons.
Joe just kind of let out a heavy sigh, and tore right into, well, not really the questioner, but the subject of internet rumours in general, using some very colorful language in the process, while urging those of us who see these rumours online to just sit back and think about what they're reading for a change.
The person that made the initial query piped up after Joe's rant with, "So, is that a denial?"
Joe sort of rolled his eyes and spoke with more than a hint of sarcasm, "Yes, that's a denial."
Sadly, my Sunday was truncated due to needing to catch a plane in order to get home, and during the few hours I did have that didn't need to be spent playing games in the airport, and checking out of the hotel, nothing much was happening at the con, so I resumed my usual of chatting with the crew at the CrossGen booth, and made a bit more of a specific photography run around the place.
I missed out on a lot of stuff at my first con, since it was my first con. I never got over to Artists Alley to catch up with a few of the folks I knew there, and didn't get to a number of panels I wanted to, and I kept forgetting my damned camera. Even so, I had a nice, full weekend, and met a lot of great folks, both fan and pro. Now that I know what to expect, next time should be only half as chaotic!
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