Wistful Wizard World...

I'm back from Wizard World Chicago, my third time doing the show. There are plenty of positives to speak of: Rosemont, Il. is a great town with some great eateries, The Marriot was a wonderful hotel to stay at, my pals in the show were great to hang out with, and the fans at the show were awesome to meet.

The downsides were the usual complaints. Wizard focuses all its efforts on promoting celebrities and ignores artist alley entirely. Admission costs for fans and celebrity autograph rates were jacked up, leaving fans little cash to spend in artist alley. Tables costs for artists were jacked up, making it harder for us to turn a profit from those few folks who did manage to purchase from us. And on a personal note, where I was a guest of Wizard World last year and given a free table at any show they put on, I was unexplainably taken off the guest list this year. And while I accepted their decision and purchased a table anyway, Wizard World still neglected to get my name and info on their website, or in their promotional material, and never gave me a name tag. Fortunately, I still had my name tag from last year, which in a slice of irony, was given to me last summer without my name printed on it.

Most likely, I'm done with Wizard World. I say this knowing my biggest fan turn out at cons always happens in Chicago. I'm hoping my fans will follow me to C2E2 next spring. By comparison, C2E2 is a show that totally focuses on comic creators, artist alley is extremely well attended by employees of the con who make sure we have help when we need it (and trash cans at each table), and to date, C2E2 has been my most successful con experience. So Chicago, I still love you, and will be representing a little closer to Lake Michigan. Rosemont, you're a helluva town and I hope to be back to visit--just not in artist alley at Wizard World Chicago.

Here are some pics and scans from my wild Wizard World weekend (click images to upsize)...

 A cool zombie that ambled past my table...

A Creature from the Black Lagoon commission I drew...

A Yoda commission I drew...

A caricature I drew for a Wizard World employee...

A clever couple's cosplay of Han and Chewie from Star Wars...

And a Black Widow commission I drew.

These next pics were two of my favorite moments in artist alley...

The young man in the gas mask and top hat just shuffled up to my table, and without speaking, immediately pointed to my stack of "Dead Duck" books. I asked him if he wanted to buy one and he nodded enthusiastically. He only pulled his mask up long enough to give me his name to sign in the book. He then walked ten feet away from my table, plopped down on the floor, and spent the next twenty minutes pouring over "Dead Duck". That was a pretty special thing for me to experience, and I'm glad I snapped a couple shots it it.

This little girl and her doting dad have been regulars at all three of my Wizard World Chicago appearances. They already had a growing stack of my work, and added to it this weekend with a sketch of Fred and George Weasley from "Harry Potter". The girl was dressed in her finest Hogwarts attire, and the three of us chatted away about how we loved and cried over the last two movies, about how the girl is a twin like Fred and George (and gets into just as much mischief), and how actor Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy from the "Harry Potter" films) gave her an autograph, and was a very cool guy. I managed to do a Harry sketch for her absent twin, and encouraged them to come see me at C2E2 next year. Interactions with people like this always make these cons special for me, and to meet returning fans of my work is too touching to properly express.

That about does it for this post. If Wizard World can make amends, I'll gladly return. But if they were inclined to keep returning artists happy, I'd still be on the special guest list. So again Chicago, please don't give up on me. I'll be at C2E2 with so many other talented artists, anxious to meet you, creating new experiences and continuing previous ones!

--Jay