The Promised Wizard World Post

This weekend the Wizard World comics convention comes to Chicago. A few weeks ago, I wrote about Comic Con International in San Diego (which I mistakenly called the biggest comics convention in the world; there are comics festivals in Japan and in Angoulême, France, that are considerably larger, although I suppose you could split hairs over precisely how you define convention). The San Diego con sets the standard for the American market, and Wizard World, unfortunately, pales in comparison.

Before I ever came to town and before Wizard magazine took it over, Chicago Comicon had a great reputation. It still wasn't as big as San Diego, but it was put together by people who loved comics and wanted to celebrate them, get together and talk about them, and buy and sell old ones. My understanding is that the panels were interesting and wide ranging and featured a variety of subjects and guests. But then Wizard stepped in to expand their business beyond strictly publishing, and the whole thing became far more homogenized. The focus shifted from celebrating the comics community to selling new comics. Panels were replaced with Marvel and DC (and some Image affiliates) presenting their upcoming comics lines. In case we all hadn't digested the Wal-Mart metaphor that the con had become, Wizard started franchising it, expanding into Philadelphia, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Boston (the first Boston show will open next month). Wizard wanted to open a show in Atlanta next year, but a controversy arose when they tried to schedule it the same weekend as Heroes Con in Charlotte, and Wizard backed down in favor of planning an Atlanta expansion in 2007. These cons are interchangeable. They've got no local flavor and no individual identity.

I intended to compare the panels offered at San Diego this year with those planned for Wizard World, but it's too depressing. You can click through to all Wizard World's program pages if you want to, but trust me, it's not too thrilling: Marvel and DC will tell us all about their various upcoming comics for the next year; the heads of both Marvel and DC will host Q and A's that will mostly cover current and upcoming comics; and there'll be a small room for "Wizard School," which will feature various pros talking about how they do their job (although at this point, a third of the available slots there are still listed in the program as "To Be Determined"). Just a few of the panels offered at San Diego this year were "Big-5 War Comics: War in the Funny Books" featuring Russ Heath, George Pratt, and Tom Yeates; "Producing Your Own Comic Book," featuring Terry Moore, Phil Foglio, Paige Braddock, Anna Warren Boersig, Rich Koslowski, and Mark Thompson; "25th Anniversary of [the New] Teen Titans," featuring Marv Wolfman, Nick Cardy, Barbara Kesel, Geoff Johns, and Glenn Murakami; "The Annual Jack Kirby Tribute Panel"; "Comic Collecting & the 21st Century: A Dialogue of Pressing Issues"; and "Golden/Silver Age of Comics: Working with Will Eisner," featuring Mark Evanier, Murphy Anderson, Lee Ames, Bob Fujitani, Nick Cardy, and Jerry Robinson. That was a small fraction of what was available on Friday--I didn't even get a chance to explore the other three days. Bask in Friday's program yourself, and click through to Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday to see what else you missed if you feel like it.

Oh well, enough complaining. Wizard World Chicago offers a chance to catch up with friends, meet creators (mostly new but some old), look at bunches and bunches and bunches of comics both new and old, and probably find a couple of panels worth your time. And it's the only game in town. That's where you'll find me this weekend.