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DAY 1
I was amazed at the turnout at such an early hour
for the first day. There were long lines
everywhere; for entry and for signatures. I
predict that this will be the biggest turnout for
the Wizard World Con when it's all said and done.
I want to hook up with Sidra, Sheryl & Paul so I
called Sidra's cell phone to find a place to meet.
"I'm right behind you," Sidra said cheerfully. I
turned and was met with a smile. Sidra looked
stunning wearing a classic version Night Girl
costume from the Legion of Super-Heroes. I had a
pleasant meeting and we discussed various things
we wanted to see and do. I noticed that there was
no PCW Wrestling matches this year, nor was there
a Mark Waid trivia contest. I wanted to maim the
person who scheduled "The Happy Bendis Fun Hour"
and the Jeph Loeb/Jim Lee panel at the same time.
We decided to split up and meet later for lunch.
I bypassed the publishing booths for now and
checked out the dealer's aisles. I was in pursuit
of books for myself as well as friends. Many of
the dealers occupied the same spaces that they've
been in previous years. I found the books for
friends, all current titles & numbers, in about 15
minutes. I benefited from knowing what dealers
were where and which ones likely had what. The hot
book seemed to be Identity Crisis #1. Prices on
this day ranged from $5 to $8.
My niece was with me and she wanted to meet Amber
Benson from "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer." We
noticed the line to meet her was short, but were
told no one would be permitted in line until the
next scheduled signing.
I checked out the celebrities that were signing.
Wrestler Virgil and Lou ("The Incredible Hulk")
Ferrigno were here again this year. Both
gentlemen looked in great shape and hadn't seemed
to change in appearance. Gil Gerard and Erin
Gray, from "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" were
there. Mr. Gerard seemed to have to put on a
little weight (and who hasn't?). Ms. Gray looked
awesome. Jackson Bostwick, Captain Marvel from
the '70s "Shazam!" series was there too. He
looked good and all the booths seemed to have a
steady line of autograph-seekers.
I met the Roberts for lunch in an adjacent
cafeteria. We swapped convention stories and had
some nice laughs. I really enjoyed their company
and it was refreshing to talk comics with someone
in person and in real-life, not just online.
After lunch, we tried again for Amber Benson's
autograph at the Inkworks booth. We managed to
get a good place in line, but waited for a hour
and a half to meet her. Ms. Benson looked great
and was very charming. I asked her if she wanted
to do anything while in Chicago. She answered
that she'd love to go downtown to shop, but
doubted she would have the time.
After a few pictures later, my niece was still
shaking; stunned that she met Amber Benson.
Accomplished artist Tone Rodriguez was also at the
Inkworks booth. Mr. Rodriguez has done the
artwork on insert cards for Inkworks card products
and he was doing free sketches. My niece and I
got original sketches of Alien and Predator.
Inkworks is doing movie trading cards on the Alien
vs. Predator movie, natch.
As we walked around we found a model dressed as
She-Ra in the Mattel booth. Mattel was holding a
raffle for exclusive Batman and She-Ra figures.
The folks promoting the new Shark's Tale movie
were VERY nice and had some cool freebies
(pencils, cards, and stickers).
Marvel's booth in recent years has been nothing
more than a queue to meet professionals. There
was murmurings there that Marvel would relaunch
the "What If ...?" title.
The TokyoPop booth gave out many manga digests.
DC countered with freebies such as posters for
Catwoman: When in Rome, Identity Crisis, the
Smallville tv series, and Wonder Woman cardboard
tiaras.
DAY 2
*sighs* Tickets were already gone for Kevin Smith
by the time I arrived. Saturday is traditionally
the most crowded day at the con, this day was no
exception.
Due to the expansion of Artist's Alley (due to
that they took up additional space previously used
by the PCW wrestling), many pros seemed more
accessible than others. Greg Horn, Chuck Dixon,
and Ethan Van Scriver were very approachable.
Jill Thompson did a signing at the DC Comics
booth.
There were some great fan costumes. I saw a Green
Hornet and a Kato, Joker and the Catwoman,
Wonder Woman (complete with cape), Supergirl, the
Ben Reilly Spider-Man, and Black Cat and
Spider-Man. I got my pic taken with a VERY cute
Zatanna.
Then, I saw the best costume of the weekend:
Sidra as the Silver-Age Batwoman! It was evident
she put a lot of work into her costume, and it
showed. She looked spectacular!
I tried to look for some comics for myself. It
was a case of the dealer not having it, OR great
price but bad condition, OR acceptable condition
but too expensive. I couldn't find a copy of Lois
Lane #14, Jimmy Olsen #49 or Wonder Woman #115
(v.1) anywhere. The copy of Detective Comics #282
I saw had a huge drug store stamp on the cover, so
I passed on that one. Prices for Identity Crisis
#1 seemed to jump; now going in the $8-$11. range.
DC digests from the late '70s to mid '80s,
plentiful the past two years at dealers booths,
seemed kinda scarce this year. One vendor was
selling DVD copies of fan movies of "Grayson,"
"Batman: Dead End," and "World's Finest" -- all on
one DVD disc for $35.
I looked in the ACTOR booth for Diana Knight, who
usually dresses as Wonder Woman; but I didn't see
her there this year.
I paid a visit to the Comics Buyers' Guide booth
and chatted with the reps there. Once a weekly
publication in a tabloid format, CBG has now
changed to a monthly publication in a magazine
format.
Again, long lines were everywhere to meet pros and
celebs. It was another crowded day. I only
smelled one person who reeked (this had to be a
record); and I suspected he was a role-play gamer.
DAY 3
I had to cut my con day short as I had to meet a
friend at a dog show which happened to be a few
blocks from the convention center.
An old con maxim is that good deals can be had
from the vendors that day. I contest that. I
think if you're gonna buy a lot of books for under
a buck in bulk, then perhaps that's true.
Otherwise, I do run into a lot of vendors who
won't shave a couple of bucks off of a silver-age
book.
Adjacent to the DC Comics booth, trailers were
being shown for the new Batman animataed series
called "The Batman" which is set to debut on local
WB tv stations on the weekend of September 11. A
trailer for the new Christian Bale Batman movie
"Batman Begins" was also shown drawing large
crowds.
I got the results of the Wizard Fan Awards. They
are as follows:
- FAVORITE WRITER: Brian Mark Bendis
- FAVORITE PENCILER: Jim Lee
- FAVORITE BREAKOUT TALENT: Mike McKone
- FAVORITE INKER: Scott Williams
- FAVORITE PAINTER: Alex Ross
- FAVORITE COLORIST: Alex Sinclair
- FAVORITE LETTERER: Chris Eliopoulos
- FAVORITE EDITOR: Ralph Macchio
- FAVORITE HERO: Batman
- FAVORTE HEROINE: Wonder Woman
- FAVORITE VILLAIN: Xorn/Magneto
- FAVORITE SUPPORTING CHARACTER: Catwoman
- FAVORITE ONGOING SERIES: Batman
- FAVORITE MINI-SERIES: JLA/Avengers
- FAVORITE ONE-SHOT: Planetary/Batman
- FAVORITE PUBLISHER: Marvel Comics
- FAVORITE COMIC MERCHANDISE: Marvel Legends
- FAVORITE COMIC TV OR MOVIE PROJECT: X2: X-Men United
- COMICS' GREATEST MOMENT 2003: Clayface returns as Jason Todd
- DIRECT-TO-VIDEO WINNER: Dan Raliegh
When it was all over, 54,500 folks came over the
three-day convention. I'm very glad that Sidra,
Sheryl and Paul Roberts were among them. I had a
great time and hope we can do it again soon!
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