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SWEET HOME CHICAGO:
Surveying
the Wizard World 2001 Scene
Special Report from the trenches by Troy Brownfield
Team Shotgun
operated an Artist’s Alley booth for the second straight year
at the annual Wizard World Con in Chicago on the weekend of
August 17 thru 19. We brought a group of seven (myself, my
wife Becky, Russ Ray, Jonathan Birdsong, Ryan Lybarger, Cinda
Russell, and Ken Johnson). As usual, the whole affair filled
me with a sense of guarded optimism about the future of the
comics medium. It’s hard not to be pumped up after spending
a weekend doing nothing but reading, looking, listening and
buying, but this year I believe there are some really strong
reasons to celebrate (just as I know there are reasons to
be wary).
One of
the main reasons to celebrate is Mark Alessi and his stalwart
band at CrossGen. I was fortunate enough to sit down with
some other press types for a CrossGen media lunch on Friday,
and I was mightily impressed by what the man had to say. While
I’ll be expounding further upon Mr. Alessi’s comments in another
report, I must pause here to note that his very presence is
electric. This is a man who loves comics and is doing his
best to make the field into something greater. His business
practices are fundamentally sound, his ideas are ambitious
and the talent he has gathered is excellent. Alessi and his
group are succeeding because they know the number one rule
of creating: make good comics. I left that lunch filled with
energy and secure in the knowledge that there’s definitely
a man ready to lead comics into the future. In short, yes,
I’d drink Alessi’s Kool-Aid.
Of slight
disappointment to me was the fact that Wizard World seemed
a little smaller this year. A lot of people noted that it
was financial burdens that forced some groups to only attend
San Diego in July; confronted with two options, they went
with the larger venue. That’s really unfortunate, as fans
everywhere could benefit from some diversity of choice. Happily
though, several significant small publishers were able to
make the journey. Among those worthy of your time are Top
Shelf (whose graphic novel roster is simply amazing), Lone
Star Press (behind some great super-hero work, including the
utterly stunning Pantheon), Funk-O-Tron (the riotously
funny bastards that do Battle Pope), and the gang from
the beloved Dork Tower (who actually, believe it or
not, outshipped X-Men this month).
The usual
B-list celebrities were in attendance as well. Everyone knew
this, as the damn P.A. kept announcing signings with orgasmic
intensity. It was a toss up which I heard more over the weekend:
“How much is that?” or “Tyler Mane from the recent X-Men movie
will be signing in the Autograph Area.” Along one wall, we
were favored with Lou Ferrigno (TV’s Incredible Hulk), the
still-hot Erin Gray (of shows like “Buck Rogers”, “Silver
Spoons” and “Baywatch”; yes, she was on Baywatch as one of
the brass), and Traci Bingham (of “Baywatch” and Playboy fame).
What was sad though were the “Star Wars: Men Behind the Masks”
like Peter Mayhew and David Prowse; they have their followings,
but they’re starting to look a little worn, like the convention
lifestyle is getting them down.
Several
of the panels and guests were pretty great in their own right.
Chuck Dixon held court on writing numerous times. Kevin Smith
and Alex Ross seemed to entertain literally thousands. I also
bore witness to a lone Mark Waid crush four comics journalists
in a trivia contest which Waid won by over 1000 points; Waid
still insists that unless it can get you a date, it’s not
a skill. I’m always happy to see guys from fairly lofty heights
of fandom take the time with the fans. Those four guys (and
others) honestly know who put them where they are. And I can’t
forget the God of Fan-Friendly Comics Guys, George Perez,
who sat at the CrossGen booth and happily sketched for hours
every day; that man should have a temple built in his name.
Over in
the Artist’s Alley where we were, there were lots of creators
(young and old) eager to show off what they could do. Martin
Nodell, creator of the Golden Age Green Lantern, and his wife
Carrie entertained passers-by with their friendly manner and
his brilliant art; they are two of the nicest people you’ll
ever want to meet, and their whole aura seems to project to
me all the things that a good marriage should be about. Truly,
Artist’s Alley is filled to bursting with variety.
One of
the more colorful characters (no pun intended) was “Black
Bastard”. “Black Bastard” is a small press book; one of the
creators was dressed as the lead, with a huge afro wig and
a pimpin’ outfit. I thought all of that was great, but I was
disgusted that they resorted to the toy-smashing and comic-shredding
antics that another group of assholes did last year. Let me
reiterate this: breaking shit has nothing to do with good
comics. If you have to break shit to get attention, then you’re
doing something wrong. What’s really sad is that the “BB”
gang was already drawing crowds based on the outfit and a
genuinely amusing book. I don’t get why they felt that they
had to go the destructive route. It was the wrong choice,
and I hope they learn a lesson or two about class before they
come back again.
For our
part, our booth stint went well. We sold some T-shirts, we
made some contacts, and we met a lot of interesting people.
I was always pleased when someone dropped by and said that
they already knew who we were. I was also happy to see our
shirts turn up on the backs of patrons later in the weekend.
It made me feel like we were doing something right.
On the
commerce tip, the wife and I actually bought more things this
year than in years past. I was shocked to see that the DC
Direct PVC sets were going for mostly around $20. I had never
purchased any of these previously, as the $40 a pop was a
little prohibitive. We made up for that by getting seven of
them (the two JSA sets, the Silver Age JLA, the Silver Age
JLA villains, the Titans, the Flash family, and the first
GL set). I also grabbed a Bone figure that I was missing,
completed my run of Infinity Inc., nearly completed
my run of All-Star Squadron (still need #37), nabbed
some pre-Crisis JLA, got twenty brilliant issues of Bill Willingham’s
Elementals for a buck each, and picked up a few small
press items. For her part, the wife bagged two pristine Care
Bears glasses, a Birthday Bear plush that was still wrapped
in plastic (just like Laura Palmer) and a Giles figure for
her Buffy collection.
As for
the group that went, the highlight again for me this year
was the interaction between our wrestling columnist Russ Ray
and hip-hop expert Jonathan Birdsong. These two need a sitcom.
Russ also dressed to impress, passing out fliers for our site
while bedecked in either a La Parka or Psicosis mask, depending
on his mood.
Overall,
Wizard World was a good time. I don’t like that it was smaller.
In fact, I don’t like that the comics business is struggling
while people like the two guys in charge of Marvel try to
put their own happy spin on it while taking verbal swipes
at other companies. At this point in their history, comics
need to take the media bull by the horns and spread the word
through various untapped means. Whether this means radio ads,
pushing for more mainstream print coverage, sponsoring public
events to draw high-profile attention, or even springing for
TV spots, something needs to be done. Cooperative efforts
like ACTOR are a great way to preserve the past of the medium;
perhaps someone will find a way for companies large and small
to preserve its future.
Troy
Brownfield is the Editor-in-Chief of Shotgun Reviews. He’s
just happy that ShotgunReviews.com is still swingin’.
Email him at psikotyk@aol.com.
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