Over the years, Wizard World has been left off the list in my quest to attend all the major Comic Conventions because it was always too far away, or I would learn about it too late. Fortunately for me, their traveling tour took the convention to Sacramento for the first time, which is a hop, skip and a jump away from my home town.
Since WonderCon took their ball and moved to Anaheim, there are no major comic conventions remaining in Northern California. Big Wow is steadily growing in popularity, but it's not quite at WonderCon status just yet. Hopefully, it gets there in the near future.
At any rate, Wizard World had a fantastic guest list, and people came out in droves to meet the celebs. My friends and I arrived fairly early and were still met with a long line to enter the convention center.
It may not be a major convention, but it certainly had that "big-con" feel.
We were pleasantly surprised at the order and quickness of getting into the convention center. We all had our "wristbands up" to enter the main exhibit hall.
Once inside, we noticed that this show was more about comics than media, which is a good thing. While there was a small section dedicated to gaming, this show was comic and art-oriented.
Neal Adams was in attendance. I wish I had taken the time to dig through some of my short boxes so he could sign a few things... then again, at $20 a pop, perhaps not.
X-men master writer, Chris Claremont was also in attendance signing for fans.
He was gracious enough to allow me to take a photo with him.
I made sure to ask first as some people get bent out of shape if you show up and stick a camera in their face. If you're respectful, writers and artists are usually pretty cool.
DC Artist extraordinaire, Ethan Van Sciver was in the house as well, and more than gracious when I asked to take a photo with him and sign a few books.
I asked if he had any upcoming projects related to Green Lantern, and he said there could be a couple of things on the horizon. He also went on to say, "If Geoff Johns writes it, I'll draw it." He said that he has a great working relationship with Johns.
Artist Alley was packed for the majority of the day.
Greg Horn's area was crowded most of the day. I was fortunate enough to get a couple of Emma Frost books signed for free!
The Photo-ops area was insanely packed.
Normally, I like to get a celebrity photo or two, but the prices were just a bit too steep for my liking. I've gone to lesser shows and gotten photos with celebrities for free, but then again, I was in costume for some of those shows. Speaking of that, several people approached me at least seven different times throughout the show asking, "Do you know who you resemble?" One guy even recognized me out of costume from a prior show.
They had a small section for video games, but I was a bit disappointed that there was no section for TCG's.
There was even an advertisement for one of my favorite, small shows, Sac-Con.
For the most part, I stayed away from the Autographing area, mostly because I didn't want to get yelled at for sneaking photos, but... I had to. Sara Jean Underwood looked incredible!
I was shocked that adult film star, Tera Patrick was in attendance. I spoke with her for a second, and she was really friendly and engaging.
There were a few pro cosplayers in attendance, and for the most part, they were really friendly. VegasPG was simply awesome.
Abby Darkstar was terrific!
...and I even got a photo with her! Her Husband, who is also her handler was cool too.
I wanted to get a photo with Ivy Doomkitty, but she was busy whenever I walked by.
And now, here's something we hope you'll really like... the cosplayers gallery! As a cosplayer, I can appreciate the time and effort these folks put in to entertaining the masses at these shows, so I always like to have a small showcase illustrating their craft.
This guy piloting Mecha-Godzilla was the eventual costume contest winner. Pretty darn cool!
I have several shots of Mera because, well, she's hot!
I thought the Starfire costume was outstanding, but she was too busy to take photos when I approached her. It happens.
Overall, I thought it was a great show. I took a fair amount of photos, although I usually take more, I got some books signed and spoke with some cool cosplayers, artists and writers. The atmosphere was great and mellow, nobody was pushing or shoving, security was cool and everyone was there to have a good time.
When I come to these shows, I'm always looking for good deals on action figures and books, but because tables were $1,000 a pop, there were no deals to be had here. Practically everyone's prices were inflated, borderlining offensive. There was one guy that was selling back issue comics for almost triple the secondary market price. I was tempted to take out my phone and show him the completed listings on eBay. Ah well. He won't be going to Morton's Steakhouse on my dime, but I guess you gotta try.
I heard that Wizard World signed a 3-year deal to have the show remain in Sacramento, which is great news for Northern California comic fans that are suffering from WonderCon withdrawal. Hopefully, next year they will open the partitions, which would make the main exhibit hall a bit larger to alleviate the crowding issues that plagued the show during opening. I'm betting it will be another rousing success next year.
