The Secret of the Wednesday’s Haul

My official notes and musings are now up on Pop Syndicate.

Wizard World Chicago started with a guy dressed up as Venom.  Only he was also dressed up as a pimp.  See where I’m going here?  Yes, Wizard World Chicago  had its own pimp-daddy Venom, strutting around the show all day on Friday.  Stepping onto a convention show floor is like stepping into another completely different world for three solid days. 

Wizard has been running the Chicago comic convention for over 10 years now, transforming it from a great regional show to an oversaturated pop-culture and wrestling show to something now that mixes the two experiences.  Gone are all of the wrestling rings and a lot of the giant booths that have nothing to do with comics.  Video games still have a decent representation at the convention, putting up large and noisy booths as they try to hawk their wears.  Even the publisher’s booths have gotten smaller and less gaudy over the past few years as DC, Marvel, Top Cow and Aspen Comics have dominated the publishers area with fairly simple booths that allow fans to get in, get autographs and then get out.

Click on the above link to read the rest of the story.  A more personal debrief will hopefully follow tomorrow or Wednesday once I get a bit more rest.

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The guys over at Around Comics released last Friday’s Podcast Panel at Wizard World Chicago as their weekly podcast this morning.  Check it out here.

I’m probably going to have a short podcast up tonight or tomorrow night to talk a bit about the experience as well as maybe talk about the panel as well.  There were things I agreed with and a lot of things that I didn’t.

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I’m trying to put together a con report but my head right now is having trouble stringing two consecutive thoughts together.  I’ll probably have something out tomorrow for Pop Syndicate and a more personal piece out on Tuesday either on the blog or out as a podcast but I wanted to quickly describe one scene that I think will define Wizard World Chicago 2008 for me.

On Saturday morning, I was in line at the Avatar booth waiting for Warren Ellis.  Of all the creators in Chicago this weekend, Ellis was the one I wanted to see and brielfy meet the most.  I’ve been wondering for a while what Ellis was really like because I’ve always maintained that his on-line persona was just that; a persona but not the real Warren Ellis.  At Friday’s late night Question & Answer session, Ellis’s charm and humor came through much more than it does just through reading his replies on his forums or emails.  Maybe it was the English accent.  Maybe it was the usually present sly smile or the small twinkle in his eye that I could see clearly across the room.  Maybe he’s just a good actor but he seemed to be actually enjoying being there.

Saturday morning, his signing was supposed to begin at 11 a.m. but he did not show up until around 11:20 a.m.  I half expected the old bastard Ellis, cranky and not wanting to be around the fanboys.  Instead, Ellis quickly walked up and down the line, half seeing how long it was and half wanting to briefly chat and thank people for waiting.  Walking back to the Avatar table to begin signing, he stopped just behind me to talk to two young girls who couldn’t have even been 10 years old and who were probably there with their by their father.  He bent over and ever so gently and polititely asked them, “Have you been waiting long?  Well, we’ll see what we can do to get you out of here.”  No barking.  No biting heads off.  No sense of entitlement because he was the talent and we were just the fanboys.  Just a nice man, taking some time to talk to his fans and sign some books.

I’ll have more out later when I can actually think a bit more clearly.

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While I may have my own issues with the story in Identity Crisis, none of those were involved around the artwork. Rags Morales on the interiors was a great pick to do this story and Mike Turner’s covers did what covers should– they enticed the potential reader without giving too much of the story away.

This cover to Identity Crisis #4 may be one of my favorite pieces by Turner. Up to this point of the story, we really hadn’t gotten Wonder Woman’s reactions to the events of the book and the truths uncovered. This cover showed a woman searching for the truth (or THE TRUTH!) I hoped that she would have been the sane one in the book from this cover, maybe even playing the cool and detatched detective that’s usually Batman’s role but that’s not what Meltzer had planned. I like how the character emerges from the shadows, lighted only by the lasso.

The cover to issue #2 is one of the only group shots of Turners that’s really good from this series. The covers to #1 and #3 show the weakness that crept often into his drawings but this image, lighted like #4, is a nice image representing the satellite era JLA.

I don’t think I’ve ever noticed before how the covers for #5 and #6 are so strongly related to each other, as the dynamic duo face the loss and inability to solve and stop the murders. #5 is a nice, simple image and I like how the edges fade to white as Turner knows when to pull back from the image. He puts just enough information in this image to let you know what’s going on.

Like #4, I think this is an image with a lot of undelivered promise. The hint that there’s nothing actually substantial beneath the costumes is something I think Identity Crisis was striving for but, other than in this picture, it never really achieved. There’s a great amount of restraint in this image, something I don’t think is often associated with Turner, as he again leaves a white background. Emptiness? Innocence? Abandonment? There’s many things this cover could be telling the reader as the issue lays out what’s actually been happening in this series.

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A family that cosplays together stays together.

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I actually got recognized from the earlier podcast panel .

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So was there any actual comic news today?

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Salt water into testicles? Warren Ellis reading.

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@gordondym When are you volunteering tomorrow?

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Wonder where @el_dave is sitting?

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Listening to Tony Kornhieser show while waiting for Ellis.

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In line for Ellis talky thing.

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Hulk angry.

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Pimp Venom has to be the best costume.

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Lou Ferringo is in the house.

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I’m here.

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Stuck in traffic.

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Test

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Doing last minute setup for Wizard World Chicago.

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The con begins tomorrow so I think it’s a good time to revisit some rules I laid down for myself last year:

1) Park in the CTA lot.

2) No buying recent comics for more than $2.

3) No buying books I can easily pick up through my local comic shop, Borders, Barne & Noble or Amazon.

A) A savings of 45% or more
B) or a savings of more than $25 off cover price

4) Keep food bill down.

Last year, these rules served me pretty well and I walked out of Rosemont with some interesting books like Jack Kirby’s adaptation of 2001, the adaptation of Spielberg’s 1941 and an old Alex Nino graphic novel published by DC back in the 80s.  It was a good con from that aspect.

The same rules are going to be in effect this year.  The CTA parking was actually kind of nice and as long as there’s no weather issues, I’ll probably go that route again this year.  The only recent books that may entice me at the con are DC’s Trinity if I can pick up the first month’s worth of issues for $1 a piece.  Anymore than that and I’ll easily walk away.  I’m curious about Trinity but not that interested.

The third rule will be a bit more trickier this year.  I’ve already made what was going to be my big con purchase when I found Absolute Sandman V3 at Borders for 30% off earlier this week.  Two hardcovers I’d like to get are the just released All Star Batman and Robin and the second half of The Sinestro Corps storyline.  If I walk away with those books this weekend, I’ll be very happy.

The fourth rule should be another easy one as I’ll try to take food and con munchies with me.

I think avoiding spending money this year will be easier than it has been in the past.  This year, I’m looking forward to meeting people and actually socializing a bit during con hours.  Saturday is the only completely open day I have to wander the floor.  On Friday, I’ll be at the con by 9am but thanks to volunteering and the podcasting panel, I probably won’t be actually hitting the floor until 3pm.

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This episode was supposed to be a continuation of Duck Month with a thorough look at Marvel’s Essential Howard The Duck but, just as I was really getting into reading it, the book dissolved in my hands.  So instead, I take a side track from Duck Month (don’t worry, it’ll continue with the next show) and talk about how do books live up to hype and expectations set for new comic book readers.  Plus there’s some Watchmen, Sandman and Miracleman talk that borders on obsessive.  At least, I hope it only borders and doesn’t fall into the psychotic range.

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