Wizard World’s Chicago Comic Con has changed a bit since we first attended. Marvel and DC are gone. There is no longer a meeting of the hive mind with thousands of people spending their Friday and Saturday nights in the lobby of the Hyatt hotel mingling with old friends, talking comics and rubbing shoulders with the “talent” there to unwind.
It is still wonderful, chaotic, with an emphasis on the funny books that started these gatherings all those years ago. This year saw a return to the really strong Comic panels. Who wasn’t thrilled to see the team of Azzarello, Risso and Johnson together again? The legendary Mike Grell was on hand. Stuart Moore and Gregg Hurwitz made appearances throughout the con. There was a lot of talk of the DC reboot and Marvel’s new writer line up. Top Cow was on hand. So was Avatar Press. Artist Alley was busy all weekend with fans spending their hard earned 2011 dollars on sketches of everything from Snoopy to Zena. There is no better place on earth than these aisles to see today’s brightest talents making quick sketches while they talk to the fans. Mark Kidwell’s zombies, Tony Castillo’s Batman, a new book about Bob the Plumber of the Unknown could all be found as you walked the con.
There was a terrific assortment of costumes this year. The organizers held costume events every day. There was a special awwwe factor for the kids costume competition on Sunday.
The celebs were on hand. James Master’s Band played . Felicia Day won hearts and provided many candid photo ops for her admirers . Then there was the marriage proposal at Bruce Campbell’s Q&A session.
There’s a far greater emphasis on the evening events and who doesn’t want to attend a Zombie Masquerade Ball.
We’ll be putting up individual stories on the blog throughout the next few weeks and have a full wrap up for the next issue of Crimespree. For now here’s a great wrap up from Chicago’s Time Out Magazine Until then think about coming next year. It really is all that.
