I’ll admit, for some reason this just fascinates me.
Well Robot 6 and Blog@Newsarama both as well picked up on the quiet name change of Wizard World Chicago to Wizard Chicago Comic-Con that I mentioned yesterday and offered up some of the same contents. Kevin Melrose at Robot 6 found a second forum thread over at Wizard from November that had a slight bit more commentary on the subject. Joe Yanarella, who I take it works for Wizard, offered the following explanation on the rebranding:
“Also, when Wizard bought the show roughly a decade ago, the show was called the Chicago Comic-Con. It was renamed Wizard World Chicago but the actual legal name has always involved Comic Con. This doesn’t represent any huge shift, just for trademark purposes.”
Trademark purposes?
Of course, Wizard does own the name “Chicago Comic-Con” but have they ever actually used that before? That begs the question– why use it this year, the year before another major comic convention moves into town?
Slightly off topic, does anyone remember the big convention that was held a few times down in the basement of the Hyatt by the Chicago river? I remember convincing my dad to take me there once or twice before I could drive on my own.