This place was jam-packed with comic, artistic, and pop culture goodness. Vendors and artist tables were on the outside parameter while writers, actors, and more artists took over the heart of the room. If you could not find a specific comic book in this place, you might have wanted to have your eye sight checked! Fifty cent to a dollar bins were a hit at every vendor I walked past. While looking through comics myself I was noticing people were checking out with their arms full of titles! Not hands, ARMS! Which should give anyone in the comic industry reading this a good warm and fuzzy feeling.
I picked up a good armful of comics myself of course, including some old Wolverine, The Avengers, The Dark Knight saga, Advanced D&D, and The Crow to name a few, but the awesome score I picked up were two rare 1978 Italian edition Batman comics for just $1.00 each (!) to go home and find the same ones selling on eBay for $50.00 each! (!!!) Not too get too excited, I can probably sell them for $20 each unless I get them rated, (blast my analytical thinking!) but still the fact is you just don’t know what you might find – even though you might not be able to read it!
Other than Stan Lee, this fest gathered an impressive list of some of the greatest talents in the industry as well as some of the Bay Area’s finest in comic book talents:
J. Scott Campbell: Marvel Comics artist – The Amazing Spider-Man
James O’Barr: Creator of The Crow – currently in talks with producers for movie reboot
Thomas Jane: Actor – The Punisher; The Mist
Neal Adams: DC Comics artist – (Superman, Batman, Green Arrow) Inducted into Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1998
Stuart Sayger: Shiver in the Dark; DC Comics; Lego; Upper Deck Cards; IDW Comics; Warner Brothers
Frank Cho: Comics artist – Liberty Meadows; Mighty Avengers; Hulk
George Wassil: Oh Hell Comics
Gene Guilmette: The Protector Corps
Sergio Aragones: Writer and cartoonist – MAD magazine; Groo the Wanderer
Nate Watson: Toy Story; Star Wars Detours; Scream Queen; The Croods
David Mejia: Ballman Comics
Steve Oliff: Eisner award winning colorist – Akira; Batman
An archery corner was provided by S.A.F.E. Archery (Students and Families Experiencing Archery) where everyone was taking their shots, enjoying the art of archery but safely. (Yes, I tried this a couple of times and let’s just say I’m glad it was not on video!)
There was a kids’ corner as well which provided a ton of entertainment for the little ones including coloring and games. Some even had the pleasure of taking drawing lessons from current DC Artist and BigWOW! guest, Cat Skaggs.
Along with any convention you must have, PANELS! From workshops to a Comic Fest Art Auction there were plenty of panels to attend from throughout the day including:
‘Figure Drawing with Frank Cho’ (with cosplay artist Ivy Doomkitty, dressed up as Red Sonja) Frank encouraged artists to break out their tablets to draw with him while Ivy stood as the model. He provided tips along the way and later gathered various participants drawings and provided tips where to improve.
‘Drawing without Paper: Tablets, Illustrator, Photoshop, the comic book industry has changes a lot in the last 10 to 15 years. Jason Palmer, Brian Stelfreeze and Nate Watson go over how much the digital age has affected art universally throughout the industry.
Big WOW! Comic Fest was just… well…..WOW! As a genuine comic book fan and artist myself this convention really got the creative juices flowing and also brought out my inner child. This event allowed you to be more intimate with guests, which some of the bigger Con’s just don’t do. Too many genres included in a show can water down the feeling and overload the senses. However this show hit both of the big buttons if you are into either Art or Comics or both.
After talking with various vendors that have been a part of the conventions growth, they were all blown away by the turnout, which competed with a Volleyball tournament the first year at the convention center I hear. Some great news for this event is the San Jose Convention Center is expanding (currently in construction) which is a good thing because Big WOW! became elbow to elbow in some areas, especially when Stan Lee dropped in on the house Sunday! Many fans are going to be left ‘Wonder’ing what they have in store for next year, and just like those folks, I know I am too.
