My official notes and musings are now up on Pop Syndicate.
Wizard World Chicago started with a guy dressed up as Venom. Only he was also dressed up as a pimp. See where I’m going here? Yes, Wizard World Chicago had its own pimp-daddy Venom, strutting around the show all day on Friday. Stepping onto a convention show floor is like stepping into another completely different world for three solid days.
Wizard has been running the Chicago comic convention for over 10 years now, transforming it from a great regional show to an oversaturated pop-culture and wrestling show to something now that mixes the two experiences. Gone are all of the wrestling rings and a lot of the giant booths that have nothing to do with comics. Video games still have a decent representation at the convention, putting up large and noisy booths as they try to hawk their wears. Even the publisher’s booths have gotten smaller and less gaudy over the past few years as DC, Marvel, Top Cow and Aspen Comics have dominated the publishers area with fairly simple booths that allow fans to get in, get autographs and then get out.
Click on the above link to read the rest of the story. A more personal debrief will hopefully follow tomorrow or Wednesday once I get a bit more rest.