Yes, I am a gamer and the website is about gaming. I am also a fan of comics, sci-fi, and fantasy, and I believe that many gamers are a bit like me in that regard, and hence my desire to cover a related convention. Additionally, GAMA recently announced their partnership with Wizard World, so I was looking forward to seeing what gaming was going on at the show.
The Chicago Comic Con of new is nothing like the Comic Con I remember. The publishers and distributers of comics and collectible toys are for the most part gone. The entire exhibit area is split into the autograph purchase section and the retailer section. Artist alley is still there and many excellent artists are there, but this was never really a big part of the draw for me. I much preferred being able to go to the publishers booth, purchase an exclusive comic, and have the artist right there to sign the copy for me.
I was able to locate GAMA, who has a small area where they have some games you can check out and play (not many). Of course the deal was announced just a week or two ago so I do not fault them for not having a bigger presence.
In years past, I remember Wizards of the Coast making an appearance, and a lot of smaller video and board game publishers showing up and bringing some excitement and fun to the show. If you go now, do not bother bringing any of the children. There is nothing for them to do unless they are there to fill out some missing titles in their comic collection.
Autographs are a big draw, and I was looking forward to meeting some of the celebrities and taking pictures with them, and getting some autographs. I was even hoping for the chance to actually speak to some for a brief moment, and get some interview time in. At least the chance to ask the age old question “Do you play any games, and if you do which ones?” I know it was a dream, but I hoped for it anyway.
Well you can meet any celebrity there as long as you have enough cash. Each one charges a nice fee for their autograph. They let you select from a bunch of nice pictures that they will sign, and a few will let you snap a picture with them if you pay for an autograph. The celebrities range from the guy who played Anakin Skywalker to Patrick Stewart. Unfortunately, Patrick Stewart will not even allow you to snap a picture near his booth, so unless you pay for an autograph you will take away no memories of him.
For me, I’m a big Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan. (Gasp!) Many of the Buffy actors are there. Spike, Xander, Cordelia, Harmony, Darla, Glory, they were all there. At $30 to $50 per autograph however, it becomes more of an economic decision on who to meet rather than a preference. Felicia Day was there and I am a HUGE fan of the Guild and Dr. Horrible, but the line was huge and I couldn’t get close. So I instead concentrated on what would make my daughter happy. She is 18 and also a big sci-fi and fantasy fan. She also loves Boondock Saints, so we stood in line for their autographs. Norman Reedus is of course well known now for his “Walking Dead” role, and he was a really nice guy. Both he and Sean Patrick Flanery posed with my daughter so that I could snap a pic of them with her, which was really great.
The other big one we settled on was James Marsters, or “Spike” from Buffy. You could only take a picture posing with him in the Photo op area if you had purchased a special VIP ticket, otherwise you could snap his picture as he signed a photo for you. Also a really nice guy, and he took the time to talk to my daughter for a few moments which made her day.
So $100 later were done with our celebrity quest. My daughter was happy, and so I was happy. We went to the highlight of the show next, which were the celebrity panels where they answer fan questions in a big auditorium.
These was actually excellent. The Torchwood panel with Kai Owen and Gareth David-Lloyd were entertaining, but we had difficulty making out their accent at times. The following one featured Nicholas Brendan and Kelly Donovan from Buffy, and they were hilarious.
The James Marsters and Boondock Saints panels were also excellent and extremely entertaining, and listening to the kids from the Walking Dead talk was a lot more fun than I thought it would be at first. Chandler Riggs, who plays Carl and is only 12 was smart, funny, and gave poignant answers to the questions asked of him.
To me, the panels were the best part of the show. The halls were big enough that there was not a single panel that did not have enough room to seat everybody. I was able to walk away with some new bits of knowledge. Like the fact that James Marsters was made to do five takes of his kissing scene with John Barrowman on Torchwood by HIS OWN WIFE (lol), and the zombies on The Walking Dead had to attend “Zombie School”, and Joss Whedon did not allow any improvisation on Buffy, every line, every syllable was scripted. That and the few autographs and pictures we took was the entirety of the show for us.
I must admit that there were a lot of costumed super-heroes present. There were actually far more people dressed up at Comic Con than at even Gen Con, ratio-wise anyway. They ranged from terrible to great, and they provided a lot of the entertainment for the kids that showed up, as everyone was always willing to pose and tale a picture. This was free since all of the caped crusaders were fans dressed in their homemade costumes. So many Batman’s and Jokers though, wow.
The convention was so crowded on Saturday that it was almost impossible to walk around. It had to be a fire hazard, as there was only one main set of doors to get out and God forbid if an emergency had occurred hundreds, perhaps thousands of people would have been in dire straights. It was more crowded than Gen Con for sure. Like the crowd leaving a baseball game, except shuffling around in all directions and with every inch of space of the stadium filled. I believe they need to monitor attendance more closely, to ensure a fun and safe experience for everyone.
To me, the convention doesn’t bode well for the comic book industry as a whole, and it seems that comics are slowly fading away. If the convention had been simply a fantasy/sci-fi convention with plenty of avenues for board games and card games to replace the umpteen comic book retailers it would have been much more fun. To pay $35 for the opportunity to find that one comic you are missing seems ludicrous.
You can even get the sense of the dwindling popularity of comics by simply looking at the VIP packages offered by Wizard World for Chicago. In years past you could pay a VIP price and get a nice package of exclusive comics that were usually worth more than the price of the package itself. Now, all of the VIP packages were for getting exclusive photo ops with the various stars that attended, or signed lithographs from different artists. Mark my words, if GAMA plays their cards right, Wizard World Comic Con could easily become Wizard World Gaming Con within a few years time, or it will disappear entirely.
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