Another Wizard World come and gone. After a whole weekend of constant walking and nerd babbling, I have the surprising feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment. The three days of Wizard World brought me joy, sadness, relief, anger, and, most importantly, gratitude. As I walked among the arrogant fanboy swine, I could not help but notice the overarching disposition of my environment. Grown, overweight, bearded men wearing Star Wars t-shirts (or for that matter, wearing exact attire of Star Wars characters), the grungy free-spirited wanderer who always made himself heard, women in Japanese Anime costumes oozing sexual confidence, and, of course, the quiet computer geek stating why the new Quad-Core Extreme Processor was not as powerful as the experts claimed … good people. Every one of these unique individuals came to Wizard World for sanctuary but also with excitement and friendly hostility. Wizard Entertainment understood their audience and delivered exactly what the people came for: comic books, entertainment, and pop culture.
The following is a quick overview of how the course of my weekend unraveled:
Friday – Guest of Honor, Warren Ellis, Q&A session
Saturday – Roamed the floor, met “familiar faces,” Image founders panel, Brian Michael Bendis Q&A
Sunday – Digital comics class with Dennis Calero, “Batman: Gotham Knight” premiere, Warren Ellis signing, bought stuff
Friday, June 27 8:45pm
My fellow Sloth Jockey colleague, Jason Gantenberg aka Evil Mammoth, and I arrive at the Donald E. Stephens Convention center in Rosemont, IL to witness the complexity and self-meltdown of Warren Ellis’s Q&A session. After a bathroom visit and a quick bit to eat we walk through the doors to arrive at what appears to be a line of nervous sheep with issues of Anna Mercury and No Hero on hand. Camera’s shutter speeds and apertures were constantly checked while Wizard World security announced the seating arrangements. Lucky for us, alcohol was being served in the back ends of the ballroom.
THE LINE WAITING TO SEE WARREN ELLIS
9:20pm
Approached by a random bystander who noticed me looking in his direction. He wanted me to take his picture, but I refused. He went on talking about his cell phone and how he had the best service plan money can buy. I smiled politely and eventually he went on with his business. I was laughing on the inside. The carrier plan was Sprint.
9:30pm
Warren Ellis was scheduled to arrive but was running late. We were still able to sit down and drink if we were willing to stand in line for beer.
9:50pm
Avatar Editor in Chief, William Christensen, makes announcements and future apologies for any misleading and obtrusive remarks from Ellis. Ellis gives a back-palm V sign (British flip-off) to the audience through the back curtains.
9:55pm
Warren Ellis appears with two Red Bulls in hand along with a pack of cigarettes. A few jokes including that every time he stands in front of a large audience, he feels like starting a church.
10:00pm
Ellis reads from novel Crooked Little Vein. Gives backstory of novel then reads passages about sexual reptile fetishes and injecting salt water into a man’s testicles.
WARREN ELLIS READING FROM CROOKED LITTLE VEIN
10:10pm
Bottle of Jack Daniels Single Barrel Whiskey arrives. Lights cigarette.
10:30pm
Ellis finishes reading. 15 minute break
10:50pm
Q&A session. Some questions include:
What’s happening with Planetary?
What do you do when you have writer’s block?
Are you going to continue any old work?
11:50pm
Q&A continues. More questions include:
Can you explain about your writer-to-artist relationship?
How much research is conducted to arrive at an idea?
Where do you get these crazy scenarios and characters from?
11:55pm
15 minute break. Ellis is on 5th cigarette. I drink another beer.
12:10am
Q&A continues. More questions include:
How do you multitask?
What are your musical influences?
Who are your favorite contemporaries?
12:20am
Drunk dork fight breaks out in back left row. Someone from the audience actually yells out “dork fight.” Ellis says “either sit the fuck down or get the fuck out.”
12:50am
Warren Ellis is exhausted and drunk. The session is over. Ellis shakes hands and greets fans in the aisle. Jason and I could not pass up the opportunity.
WARREN ELLIS ANSWERING A QUESTION ABOUT WRITING MOVIE ADAPTATION OF THE VIDEO GAME CASTLEVANIA
For more information about Warren Ellis at Wizard World Chicago, please read Evil Mammoth’s article found here. If there is a high enough demand for Ellis’ Q&A, I will gladly write up every question with a brief summary of how he answered.
Saturday, June 28 10:32am
Jason and I awoke unhurriedly from the late night before. However, the largest day of Wizard World was upon us, and that alone gave us enough motivation to get ourselves together. After taking a quick shower and throwing on my Silver Surfer shirt, we were ready to hit the highway and arrived at Wizard World Chicago forty minutes later to find a full parking lot. We were ready to be dork-a-fied.
As I stepped foot onto the descending staircase that led to the convention center’s main floor, the sight of comic book and video game memorabilia struck me harder than Lou Ferrigno hulking up. With the Marvel and DC booths straight ahead of us, we picked up our programs and started walking. Thousands of readers, sellers, artists, writers, and costumed fanatics pushed and shoved their way through every exhibit and stand. Autographs from movie and TV celebrities were dished out like currency at a Chicago street corner. Everybody had this giant convenient store of entertainment to themselves, and this was a rare opportunity where they could not only walk with confidence but also get positive attention. I felt alive. This was an A.D.D. palace, and I never minded walking with my head skewed.
We previewed each major publisher’s exhibit while heading east to meet some familiar faces. Jason and I have a couple of friends at Graham Crackers Comics so we wanted to see how business was doing. After a brief exchange of words, we continued down the front aisle towards the Artist Area. Eventually we found a local friend and comic book artist, Christopher Mitten, whose stand was located on the north side of the floor. Mitten currently illustrates Wasteland, and we arranged a future interview. Jason and I continued meeting local and rising artists but then got stopped in our tracks by man named Rodney Ramos who was selling autographed Transmetropolitan concepts. With eyes the size of dinner plates, we had no choice but to talk to the man and buy a couple pieces from one of our favorite comic books.
For the first time in years, six of the seven creators of Image comics came together for a panel on the artists’ past, present and future. Every single creator brought a little something to what drew me into comics in the first place. I listened into some of the questions regarding Alan Moore’s contribution to Rob Liefeld’s work and Todd McFarlane plans for Spawn. A few laughs and a couple questions later, the session dispersed, and I was back on the floor.
JIM VALENTINO, TODD McFARLANE, AND ROB LIEFELD
I chose not purchase anything on Saturday for a couple reasons: I was coming back tomorrow, and I didn’t feel like lugging a ton of comics on my back for the rest of the day. I was constantly taking photographs and popped my head into a few more Q&A sessions including Brian Michael Bendis as well as an Alex Ross signing. The day was getting long, my feet were hurting, and I needed a beer. Time to go.
Before we left, Jason and I couldn’t resist the temptation of buying some weaponry from one of the many vendors. Naturally, I bought a black katana and Jason an enormous broad sword. We needed to walk out of Wizard World armed to the teeth in case any mutant geek aggressors stood in our way. The day was finished, and thoughts of flying home and punching traffic clouded our minds as soon as I started my car.
Sunday, June 29 10:44am
Sunday was not ready for me. I acquired a new accomplice to aid me in my exploits at the comic pop fest. Sloth Jockey partner, Dan Barajas aka Dr. Charming, was by my side and ready to teach these so called fanboys a lesson in comicology. Again, the day started later than anticipated, but hangovers will do that. I started my car for the 5th time this weekend and embarked on Interstate 294 towards Rosemont. We were under the clock because a 12pm digital comic session was about to begin, and my clock read 11:41am while turning on the last exit. We just made it with 10 minutes to spare.
X-Factor and Legion artist Dennis Calero was featured for an hour long sit-in on his digital drawing process. I admit this was more of a personal interest, but Dan still came along just as fascinated as I was. Calero was a very comical man, but at the same time, he was overly informative with his steps. Watching lightning fast Photoshop tricks and techniques, I could tell Calero was a master of his work. A Wolverine sketch took him seconds to draw. I jotted some notes down, had a few laughs (no beer this time), and I was off to show Danny the main floor.
We had an hour to kill, so we spoke to a few more media guests and comic vendors. At 2pm a special screening of Batman: Gotham Knight was being shown, and Danny needed to attend. Batman: Gotham Knight is a straight-to-DVD release coming out before the premiere of The Dark Knight in theaters. The movie featured six shorts all dedicated to Batman with some included tie-ins to the story between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. Each spot ran for about ten minutes and was animated differently than the rest by Japanese artists. For more information about the special screening, please visit Dr. Charming’s article found here.
With only a couple more hours until Wizard World’s closure, it was finally time for me to make some purchases. Now it’s obvious there are millions and millions of comic titles available throughout the course of a century, but there some great titles that stand out among the rest. In addition, some of these titles slip by the average comic reader, and they never get around to them. The Invisibles by Grant Morrison is one of these titles for me. After staking out some promising stands and haggling my way through many sellers, I was able to get my hands on the first two volumes. I was very fortunate to grab these, so a special thanks to everyone who parted with these issues.
Right before we called it a day, I ran over to the Avatar booth to get my Transmetropolitan issues #1 & 2 signed by Warren Ellis. I commented to Ellis that it was the home stretch and he did a hell of job. A quick chuckle and a slight nod later, I bagged and boarded my signed issues and was ready to leave the dork congregation. The day ended and another Wizard World fades off into the sunset. My weekend was complete, and I couldn’t be more satisfied. It was time for me to go home and get the foul stench of nerd and beard crumbs off my body.
