Lines, Tickets, and Beers (Oh My)

Philadelphia, PA, 15 June 2007 — I spent the opening moments of my very first Wizard World sitting at the Independence Brew Pub, a short block away from the convention center. The line of fans waiting to get in to the show was astounding, stretching for a city block in each direction from the convention center’s main entrance. I knew it was the line for Wizard World because it was composed almost entirely of men wearing their finest superhero t-shirts. (My friend Steve notes this also matches the description of the line to get into a Rush concert.) Fortunately, the line to buy tickets was very short; these hundreds of comics fans all had tickets and were waiting in line simply to enter the convention center as soon as possible. Me, I could wait. After purchasing my day pass I hunted down the nearest bar, parked myself near a beer, and began to write this column, patiently waiting for the throngs to dissipate. My patience paid off; I got to have a relaxing lunch with my friend and ComicCritique.Com contributor Adam McGovern, and when we made our way to the convention center, all the lines were gone.

 

Paneling

On the opening Friday the show ran from only Noon until six in the evening, and despite my eagerness to walk the convention floor I really wanted to attend the panel discussions. Fortunately, Adam was assigned to cover three of the day’s panels for The Pulse, which made it easy to choose which panels to attend. Although we learned some tantalizing news about upcoming DC and Marvel comics events, what struck me most was how much these executives really cared about the characters and the stories. Joe Quesada impressed me as an Editor-in-Chief who has given deep thought to how all the stories and characters are allowed to progress; he takes his stewardship of the Marvel universe very seriously. DC’s Bob Wayne (Senior VP, Sales) and Mike Carlin (Senior Group Editor) ran the “Countdown” panel, and together they kept me (and most others in the audience) chuckling for nearly the entire panel session. While it was clear they take their stories and characters seriously, it was also clear that they meant to have fun at the panels. For them it was a chance to interact with the fans and duck questions about secret upcoming stories. As with the Marvel panel, through the dialogue we learned how much they care about the stories. Despite the fan-based ire Marvel and DC often endure, I left Wizard World with a welcome reminder that these executives are comic book fans too, and the feeling that all our favorite spandex-clad heroes appear to be in very good hands.

 

The “Other Side” of the Convention Floor

Somewhere between Artist’s Alley and the plethora of back-issue merchandisers I spotted a table with a simple sign that read “TAPS.” While some may have expected to hear a soulful bugle tune, I knew it for what it was: Sci-Fi’s Ghost Hunters team had stopped by Wizard World! I’m a huge fan of the show and I was privileged to shake the hands of Dave Tango and Steve Gonsalves, both regulars on the popular series. It’s one thing to shake Joe Q.’s hand (which I did), and another to shake hands with fellows whose faces I see regularly on television. Of the hundreds of people walking the convention floor, I was apparently the only one who noticed the TAPS crew, and having their undivided attention for a few minutes made me just a little goofy. I immediately transformed from hip and cool editor guy to fanboy: “Hey, I’m a big fan!” I blurted. Then, “What are you guys doing at a comic convention?” Like the experienced TV personalities they have become, they congenially indulged my enthusiasm. I left with a few signed copies of TAPS Paramagazine, a DVD, and a good story.

 

Thus ended my first experience at a Wizard World convention. One thing I missed is the ubiquitous portable table that lives near the main entrance at smaller conventions, the place where those of us on the small and frayed end of the comics industry can leave some of our printed material to share with other fans. I like to both leave ComicCritique.Com material and to collect what others have left as well, and didn’t have that opportunity at Wizard World PA. Perhaps there are simply too many attendees at a Wizard World con for the organizers to worry about such things, and maybe a table was present on the weekend that I didn’t see, as I was only able to attend on Friday. A small disappointment, not enough by any stretch to ruin my experience, but worth a mention.

As for the rest, I got to shake hands with Bob Wayne, Joe Quesada, the TAPS crew, to see and meet many comics fans and creators, and had a darn good microbrew to boot. It was a good day.