Dorkgasm - Wizard World Chicago

Wizard World Chicago | Events

JSobczak — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 04:48:52 +0000

Blown Expectations
By
Jenny Sobczak
Staff Writer

In the past, every time I’ve thought of a comic book convention, the image that came to mind was always of a bunch of nerds dressed up in costumes. I expected to see at least one Superman, Batman, or Spider-Man. Having been a comic-con virgin, I had only image searches on the internet to go by. Those, of course, are full of the most interesting moments from these conventions: the costumed fans or the actors and artists. I went to Chicago on Sunday, August 9, a little nervous, expecting to find loads of costumes, and hoping to see a few beloved actors from my childhood. Only one part of this stayed the same as I walked into the convention hall.

Yes, there IS a greater hive of scum and villiany...

Right away, as expected, I was greeted by a couple of Stormtroopers and a blonde Princess Leia. The costumes were less frequent than I’d imagined, however. There were a couple groups of Ghostbusters, a couple Rorschachs, some costumes I didn’t recognize, a big group of Star Wars characters, and one person dressed in a banana suit and wearing stilts. In general, though, I am guilty of expecting a lot more costumes than I saw. I didn’t even get a Joker. Of course, this might have changed if I had gone for the entire weekend, but it didn’t happen for me on Sunday alone.

I also thought my press pass might let me get away with certain things like snapping pictures of the guests, but I was wrong. I got away with it for the guests who weren’t guarded by volunteers in orange shirts, but they were pretty hardcore volunteers. I didn’t have to delete the shots I’d taken, but I was a little surprised, especially considering the person I’d taken a picture of wasn’t really that famous. I didn’t get yelled at for snapping a shot of Billy Dee Williams, but Christopher Heyerdahl was off-limits. Silly backwards volunteers. Maybe the press pass was just too small for them to see, or maybe they didn’t see the wristband that went with it.

Doug Jones, best zombie EVER!

Getting caught up in the guests was easy. I grew up on a movie called Hocus Pocus, and the second I saw Doug Jones, who played Billy Butcherson, it was a bit difficult to restrain myself. I did somehow keep from fan-girling on the outside, minus the part where I pulled my camera out and snapped a quick picture. I couldn’t bring myself to go tell him that I thought Billy was the coolest zombie ever, but I definitely wish I would have now. But he waved after I took the picture, and that was probably the best part of my day. Not to mention the picture I paid to take with Christopher Knight.

Jenny and Christopher

When I wasn’t seeing which actors were there, the vendors had all my attention. I wanted to play a game to see how many booths were selling the same exact action figures and resin busts, but it was too far along in the day before the idea popped into my head. They did all tend to blend together before long, and almost every booth had Watchmen busts as one of their top items. Rorschach grappling hooks and masks were popular too, and I couldn’t help myself. I walked out with two awesome shirts to add to my pile of the too many shirts that I already have, but I wasn’t going to walk away with nothing.

Wizard World: Chicago was a pretty good way to spend my day, though I spent just as long driving back and forth as I spent at the convention itself. It was an interesting crowd, and, probably due to the small amount of costumes I saw, I no longer think of costumed convention-goers when I think of a convention. If I get the opportunity, I will most likely try to go next year as well.

Wizard World Chicago | Events

MRiedlinger — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 04:21:02 +0000

Full of Hot Air
By
Michael C. Riedlinger
Editor-In-Chief

If you pay too much attention to the mass media, you might think that the San Diego Comic Con is the only show in the country. You’d be wrong, of course, as my family and I can attest. We checked out this year’s Chicago Comic Con, also called Wizard World Chicago in some circles, and it left us with mixed feelings.

Right in the door, we were greeted by cos-players. Now, let’s face it, dressing up as your favorite character goes too far sometimes. Folks dressing in outfits they cobbled together from some string and papier-mâché are often too confident in their ability to pull off a Japanese school-girl. It’s worse when they happen to be a 300 pound man, and anyone that hasn’t met “Sailor Bubba” should count themselves as lucky. This year wasn’t so bad though. Like I was saying, we came across some Ghostbusters right off the bat. While the costume is an easy one to pull off, what impressed me were the proton packs these folks had.

Daniel Shannon, Zachary LaVoy, Aaron Trade, & Amy Johnson. Click image to visit their site

There were also an abundance of Star Wars dorks running around, and as it turned out, there was a good reason. We found out that the 501st and Rebel Alliance, two of the costuming groups that Lucas Film calls in when they need REAL Stormtroopers to walk a parade or some such, were in attendance to raise money for charity. As part of their gig, they had the kids running around “smuggling droids”. What they meant by this was really “wearing a lanyard with a picture of droids on it so that costumed persons can come harass you with quotes from Star Wars”. It really was a little like telling a friend who has lost himself to a new game that it’s okay for him to tell you all about his character. Kind of a mistake, really, but charity means it was for a good cause, so we played along. That isn’t to say we didn’t run into a horror show or three. Let’s just say, grown men who lack the physique of a Persian Emperor should not wear gold panties in public. It’s just a bad idea.

Dear god, why?

On the con floor, we were met with an alarming amount of D-List stars. Pro wrestlers, 80’s sitcom stars like Tod Bridges (didn’t they just name a tower after him?) and tertiary players from Star Wars were all intermingled with the cast of the latest Battelstar Galactica and guys you never heard of from the Twilight movies. Now hold your flipping horses, Martha, I thought this was a comic book convention? Little bit of false advertising I guess, but Lou Ferrigno was on stand-by to charge fans for breathing the same air, so I guess it makes at least a little sense.
What were missing, noticeably I might add, were the heavy hitters. Marvel, DC/Vertigo, Image, IDW, Dark Horse… Not a one was in attendance with the usual flair. Typically, when you walk onto the floor of a con, you’re assaulted by large displays of 4-color goodness. Testosterone filled images of green dudes in short-shorts and delicious eye-candy as far as the eye can see. Booth babes standing around in slinky latex and spandex, announcements about the latest and greatest superhero books in existence, and names so big you might think you died and went to a career fair from comic book heaven. Dreams can come true at a comic con, just ask the guys and gals over the years who have landed that dream job by showing off their work at such events. The biggest companies in this years con were Devil’s Due, Dabel Brothers, and Aspen comics. That smell? That’s all Denmark, baby.

The 501st and Rebel Alliance. Click image to visit their site

The rumors were thick, and I still have no idea what the truth is. Some said that Wizard finally pissed off the big boys, while others thought it was a sign that they were in the tank and bound for a similar fate to Comics Foundry. There were some who postulated that C2E2 was the heir apparent and no one wanted to show at the lame duck’s party, and more than a few who cited a conspiracy out of Hollywood about stealing so much thunder in San Diego that no one saw much point in attending a con in the Midwest. My favorite theory is the one about Alien cloaking devices being smuggled into the city via shipments of Girl Scout Cookies just as the RSVPs were due, but I kind of doubt that aliens care as much about Thin Mints as I do. No, I think in the end it comes down to pure economics. I mean, why blow the cash on Wizard’s snooze fest when everyone is coming back in less than a year for the big show at C2E2?

For the record, I don’t know anyone working over at the Chicago Comics and Entertainment Expo, but I hear they are the same folks putting together New York Comic Con, so I imagine they know what they are doing. There’s where the real issue was for the cats at this year’s Wizard World: no one knew what they were doing. Don’t get me wrong, I still love George Perez, but he’s no Jim Lee, and as cool as Mark Millar is, he still isn’t on the same level as Brian “make my family go away so I can play video games” Bendis, is he?

My child being attacked by either Pedo-bear, or Bendis in costume... can't decide

Yeah, this year’s show was a bummer. I don’t think the best part of any con should be the 501st Legion unless it happens to be a Star Wars con. This was even re-dubbed “Chicago Comic Con” this year, but they should have called “great leaping piles of crap in mall format Con”. See, maybe I’m crazy, but if it is supposed to be a comic con, shouldn’t everything kinda revolve around comics? Not the hottest event of it’s kind, not by a long shot, but then it isn’t polite to stare at the dying and destitute, is it? Keep your eyes peeled and your ears to the wall, because I get the feeling someone is going to correct the mistakes that Wizard made this year, and that the results, though requiring a trip to the Hancock, will be worth while.

The Scream Factory | Wizard World Chicago

MRiedlinger — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 08:04:28 +0000

There's No Place Like Home
By
Michael C. Riedlinger
Editor-In-Chief

When Fangoria Comics closed its doors last year, several promising titles went the way of the dodo, or so it seemed. Several months ago, a new comic book publisher with a strikingly similar logo started hawking titles on Myspace, chief among them a movie tie-in for the much anticipated genre bender Death Walks the Streets. Soon, we began seeing familiar titles promoted by this new company, including BUMP and Strangeland: Seven Sins. The creator-owned properties left unfinished by the demise of Fangoria Comics had found a new home called The Scream Factory.

Click image to visit the official site

The folks behind the Fango books stuck together, helping each other complete their titles even without pay, because they really believed in each other and each other’s work. The first new offering from The Scream Factory is issue #0 of Death Walks the Streets, a lead-in to the film of the same name. According to writer/director James Zahn, the film should be shooting “very, very soon”, and the book, written by him and Ben Brezinski, should be a real treat for fans that have been following the progress of the proposed trilogy and its star Christian Kane (Angel). Zahn and Brezinski, native Chicagoans premiering their first film and comic at Wizard World Chicago this year, have already seen a lot of buzz surrounding the movie, including t-shirts, national news coverage, and a fan-base that spans the globe. You can tell how proud they are to be releasing their work to a home crowd first when you speak with them about comic, and they are just as supportive of the company’s other projects as they are of their own.

New titles and old, much of this new publisher’s content is set to be offered, for free, at wowio.com just as that site begins distributing internationally. The folks at Scream Factory see themselves as a multi-media company, not just as a publisher. They have already taken innovative approaches to marketing utilizing social networks like Myspace and Facebook, and all of their titles so far seem to have ties to the world of cinema. BUMP is set to be directed by horror-effects legend Robert Kurtzman, Dee Snider has signed his approval to Strangeland, a book written by his son Jesse, and Death Walks the Streets has sounded promising since plans for the film were announced a couple years ago. The company, as any of their employees will tell you, is about innovation in a changing market place. It is no longer enough to print a pretty book with a fun story and hope it sells, they must explore all possible mediums for their work.

Click image to visit the official site

Visiting the Scream Factory booth at Wizard World Chicago is like hanging out with the cool kids in the lunch room back in high school. Half of the guys look like they belong in rock bands (James Zahn actually does), and they’re willing to talk to anyone with an interest in their work. What comes across most, however, is their passion. You can tell that these creators aren’t blowing smoke up anyone’s ass; their sincerity is visceral. Not a one in the bunch has any doubt about whether or not their work will succeed, and with good reason. The books are well written and the art is as good as any from Image or Dark Horse, and certainly better than the latest offerings from what is likely their chief rival, IDW. If you make it out to Wizard World Chicago this weekend, stop by their booth (933), check out their titles, and say hello to what is likely the new home for horror in the comics world.