WIZARDWORLD TEXAS CONVENTION REPORT

[MattBrady]

by Scott Hinze & Friends

Howdy, ya’ll! It’s time to wrap-up this weekend’s comic book event, Wizard World Texas. Everyone knows that down here in the Lone Star State, we love to do everything big, and even though this may be a smaller con for the WizardWorld circuit, it’s still the largest one in the state. Fans, creators, dealers, exhibitors came to this very family-friendly and from our perspective, all had a great time – clearly, the organizers have learned from any possible mistakes from the past two years for running the show there at the Arlington Convention Center. Even though there were a few glaring gaps in comic representation, the folks that put the show on made sure this was the best WW Texas yet.

I showed up bright and early Friday morning and scoped out the show floor before the doors opened at noon. Right when I walked in, I was bombarded with the multi-level Spike TV booth that had deejays scratching from up top, spinning signs and cheerful ‘pr ladies’ (see family-friendly con) handing tons of free goodies. Right next to Spike was the brand-spankin’ new Top Cow area that glowed with swanky-ness. VP of Marketing and Sales for Top Cow, Filip Sablik and I hung out to chat about this year’s Texas con:

“The new Top Cow booth featured state of the art imagery panels with Witchblade and Darkness art by Silvestri, Choi, and Sejic along with custom red table covers with the Top Cow logo printed on them. Top Cow dominated the Wizard World Texas scene with forefront placement on the show floor, three exclusive variants, multiple panels, and swarms of fans flocking to the new booth. Eric Basaldua and Tyler Kirkham treated fans to highly detailed sketches and signatures. Kirkham’s lines were noticeably longer than previous shows, presumably thanks to his high profile assignment on Phoenix Warsong at Marvel. Marc Silvestri, the Guest of Honor, reportedly had lines that started to build an hour before he was scheduled to sign and had to be wrapped several times to accommodate the interest level with some fans waiting over four hours to get a signature and meet the living legend. Even on Sunday the Silvestri’s line was packed for all three hours he was signing.
At the Top Cow panel, President Matt Hawkins revealed additional footage of the Witchblade Anime along with additional footage of the Darkness video game from 2K. He mentioned the video game is due out in April and will be available for both Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. Silvestri, who also attended the panel, talked briefly about his excitement to work with Brian Michael Bendis on their top secret Marvel project. He stated, “At this point in my career, I’m very blessed to work with some of the most talented people in the industry and Brian is definitely at the top”. While he couldn’t reveal the name or nature of the project, he promised that fans would not be disappointed. It turns out everything is bigger in Texas including the level of excitement from our diehard Top Cow fans, who came out in force at Texas. We can’t wait to come back next year”

Top Cow really invested in WWTX and all of us here down south appreciate them for that. Other booths consisted of the many of usual convention representatives but also an impressive amount of new faces. Just the right amount of dealers were setup behind the exhibitors with a great amount of variety this time. But the belle of the ball was the awesome Artist Alley section in the back. Many new faces, and incredibly impressive talent showed up at the creative-core of the con. Throughout the weekend, big names like J. Scott Campbell, Steve Epting, Josh Howard, David Finch, Billy Tan, James O’Barr and -gasp- Bill Sienkiewicz migrated around the con.
Let’s turn to professional FanGirl, Meg Fischer for an extended floor report:

“I checked out the Lonestar Comics booth (they keep my pull-list safe at their Fort Worth store) and discovered a cuddly bunch of deadly diseases. Cute plushes called ‘Giant Microbes,’ that were fluffy creations of blown up microscopic things with eyes and fur. They had a range of Ebola, Flesh Eating Bacteria and my personal favorite Mad Cow. I bought a purple mono microbe aka The Kissing Disease (a gift for my 16 year old sister hehehehe) a Bookworm for a book-loving friend, and a White Blood Cell for myself. The way I see it, for the holidays I can request the Common Cold or the Black Death and they can battle.

“I spent a lot of time walking around and around because I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss anything, I stopped by the Suicide Girls booth for a picture and a t-shirt (I’ve worn mine out) and to gush about their fantastic burlesque show. I told them how I caught the show at the Gypsy Ballroom and proceeded to get my first tattoo. The girls were friendly and insisted that I put up photos of myself on the fanboy boards. Apparently I’m hot. Who knew?

“The guys at Top Cow managed to sell me on a bunch of their series, I fell head over heels for Freshmen and got myself a copy of Witchblade. I like chicks with armor and smart mouths; this looks like it will deliver both. They were delightful to talk to and willing to answer my questions about the series.

“I was saddened not to see any Browncoat booths but comforted myself by hitting one of the larger t-shirt exhibits and buying myself a Firefly themed shirt featuring Jayne with “Public Relations” underneath. The sellers were friendly and even helped me dig out the perfect Wonder Woman shirt. I can’t decide which should be worn to the Joss Whedon FbR show (11/26). Either one will look great with the Wonder Woman cape.

“I only got to attend Friday of the con, but I must say I had a good time. Because I came during the off hours the place was rather empty, which was good for me because it meant no pushing and I could meander around searching for people I recognized, and for the perfect t-shirt. I had to leave after 2 hours before all the trade and art goodness ate all my money.”

Thanks Meg. That was the scene on Friday – rather empty. So many people know it’s a smaller con for Wizard so the primary audience shows up for a 1Day Pass on Saturday… all at once. Friday night was another matter, the WW organizers shut things down a little early because High School Football reigns supreme ‘round these parts. But for those that couldn’t get enough comic book partying on Friday night, there was the annual David Hopkins cook-out and then the first-ever gallery showing at Zeus Comics in Dallas. Chris Williams, brings us a report from the comic shop that won the 2006 Spirit of Will Eisner Award -

“Friday evening was the Kristian Donaldson Art Gallery held at Zeus Comics. We had a great turn out for the event. People started showing up before the show even began or all the pieces had arrived. Most came straight from Wizard World to Zeus. Turning the store into a gallery wasn't easy. We had to remove over half the product from the shelves and the large floor fixtures and backissue bins and create mounting fixtures without ruining the existing shelving. But once the show started we had ourselves a crowded gallery with a terrific dj and bartender. Most of the pieces sold too. Kristian had nine large paintings, four medium sized paintings and ten pages of original comic art from Supermarket and DMZ. Everyone had a really good time. Attendees already started posting photos on Flickr. I expect this to be a regular occurrence with Zeus for Wizard World in the future.”

Saturday was packed. Everyone decided to come to the show at once and than goodness the programming for that day was great enough to fulfill their needs. Here’s artist Dale Norvale with a massive report on the Mark Steven Johnston Panel:

“I had the privilege of sitting in on the panel for director Mark Steven Johnson's Q&A for Ghost Rider at Wizard World Texas this year. He quickly introduced himself and advised that he was about to show us some footage of Ghost Rider. He didn't want to show us another trailer so he brought a full 8 ½ minute clip that takes place approx 60 minutes into the movie. He mentioned that the film has not been screened with an audience, so what we were about to watch was exclusive footage that has only been seen by the studio. He advised that some of the visual effects shots were incomplete, and that Ghost Rider has a temp voice in the clip.

Clip Description: The scene begins at night as Ghost Rider is on the run and is in hot pursuit by a large police force. A quick shot of GR tearing down the street towards an arched bridge over water. I don't recognize the bridge but it's white with two thin, arched support beams going over it. GR drives his hell-cycle onto one of the support arches and comes to a stop in the middle. He looks around as police cruisers create roadblocks on both sides of the bridge, and a police helicopter flies up and shines a searchlight on him. The police call out over a megaphone informing GR that he is surrounded with no place to go. GR then tips his bike over the edge of the beam and plummets towards the water scraping the side of his bike down the bridge until he hits the water. The police all stare at the river dumbfounded as the camera cuts to an overhead view of the water with three glowing spots under the waves. To the shock of the police GR slowly emerges from the water until his bike rests on the surface. He casually looks up at the bridge and defiantly flips them the bird. He then rides off on the surface of the water much like a jet ski, with water shooting up on both sides of the bike.

GR is now cruising through the city leaving a trail of fire as he cuts down an alleyway. It cuts to a dark interior shot of Wes Bentley as a very pale human version of Blackheart surrounded by two henchmen/demons. They react to the ever growing roar of a motorcycle engine outside of their building. The henchman on the left who has long hair and appears to be soaking wet utters, "He's coming for us" with a look of concern. Blackheart turns to the dread-locked henchman on the right and says, "You know what to do". The henchman responds with a smile of sharp yellow teeth and unnaturally blue eyes. He then vaporizes and you see a vaguely human-shaped cloud of dust fly towards the door.

Cuts back outside to GR coming down the alley. All of a sudden the dust-cloud slams into GR, lifting him from his bike, carrying him through the air and slamming him into a parked car, smashing the cab and shattering the windows. The dust cloud flies up to a nearby rooftop and forms into the henchman, laughing. GR climbs off of the car and roars angrily at the henchman as he flies off towards a nearby office building. GR gets back onto his waiting cycle as a police car comes around the corner and begins chasing him as he calls for back up. GR tears down the alley towards the office building and it cuts to a close-up of GR's eye-sockets as he lifts his cycle into a wheelie, gunning the engine. We then see over the handlebars from GR's POV as he hits the building and proceeds to drive vertically up the side. GR then zooms past the camera as he roars up the building shattering all of the windows that he runs across. Cut to an interior window washer who is running a squeegee across the glass while listening to headphones. He turns away for just a moment and GR flies up across his window shattering the middle of it leaving glowing hot glass on the edges. The window washer turns around in shock not knowing what the hell just happened to his window, which gets a laugh from the auditorium.

The camera cuts to Eva Mendez and the cops as they circle the bottom of the building. They look up in disbelief as GR reaches the top of the building flying into the air and slamming down onto the rooftop. As GR looks around for the dust-cloud the police helicopter emerges from the side of the building shining his searchlight. GR gets off of the bike and casually walks towards the chopper while unwrapping the chain from his body. He starts twirling it around in the air like a lasso and flings it so it latches to the landing gear. He then starts reeling it in towards himself, much to the shock of the pilot. The chopper tries to fly away, and it cuts to a shot of GR's boots sliding slightly on the rooftop, which seems to be burning the surface as he slides. GR really starts pulling hard and as the chopper gets close to the roof the nose dips some and he looks through the glass at the pilot and says with a booming voice "STOP FOLLOWING ME." The pilot says in a scared wimpy voice "O-o-o-ok. I'm sorry." and GR lets the chain have slack As the chopper pulls away eventually the chain gets taut and GR yanks on it with super-strength, swinging the chopper to the other side of the building and lets it go.

The dust –cloud henchman appears floating in the air and lands on the roof saying something to the effect of "You really should have joined us…" and makes mention of the new order of hell. GR walks across to him with attitude and grabs the henchman by the jacket with both hands, lifting him off of his feet, and says with his booming voice "Look into my eyes". Just then the demon fades to dust again and lifts back into the air out of GR's grip. GR grabs his chain and snaps it like a whip at him, but it just goes right through him. The demon laughs and says something along the line of "You can't hit air, stupid." GR whips through him again with frustration and the demon says, "You're a slow learner aren't you?" GR grabs his chain with both hands and sets the entire chain on fire. He then starts twirling it at the demon who begins laughing until he realizes something is different and starts crying out as the chain creates some sort of flaming funnel/vacuum which starts ripping him apart and setting him on fire until he's vaporized. The way he burns apart reminds me of the way the vampires burn and turn to ash in the Blade movies. Looks cool. As the flame goes out you see the scene from the trailer as GR snaps the chain against himself and it wraps around him as the camera closes in on him for a close-up. Looks badass now, as the special effects are much better now than they were in that trailer months ago.

The scene cuts to the police on the street below as a swat team emerges from a van. Cuts back to GR and the other scene from the trailer of him driving off of the roof in slow motion while snapping his chain to the windows to pull himself back to the side of the building. It cuts to a great profile shot of GR as he hauls ass down the glass. He lifts his front wheel as he slams into the ground shattering all of the nearby concrete and showering the police, cars, and Eva Mendez with concrete dust and debris. As the dust clears there is a great shot of GR just sitting on his bike amongst the broken, flaming concrete. Eva starts slowly walking towards GR and calls him "Johnny". GR dismounts and as he walks towards her with an outstretched hand, his flames turn to a light blue and subside somewhat. The police snap out of their daze and yell "OPEN FIRE!" and the entire squad peppers GR with bullets. After they stop shooting, GR just looks at them obviously unaffected. His flames turn yellow again and burst out of him in a raging fireball. He creates a wall of fire between himself and the police. As the police run back, he mounts his cycle and burns out, slamming two cop cars aside as he runs between them, out onto the street, and away.

The camera shows a birds eye view of the dark city at dawn and you watch a trail of fire as GR drives alone out of the city. There is some great, somber, acoustic guitar music playing as we watch GR drive some distance out to a graveyard. It sounds like a western. At this point the sun is coming up and GR stops his bike and falls off limply to the pavement in pain. He writhes on the ground screaming as his flesh starts growing back over the bone, forming muscle, and then skin, to become Johnny Blaze. The transition effects are excellent and merge seamlessly. The audience reacts, as it looks painful. The flames burn out on the bike to expose a skeletal frame that recedes and slithers off, revealing Blaze's regular bike. Blaze then begins crawling across the grass, still very much in pain, until he reaches his father's tombstone and collapses in exhaustion. A shovel then hits the dirt in front of his face and he looks up at the silhouette of the caretaker, played by Same Elliot, who greets him with a "Hello, bonehead." Fade to black.

The auditorium roared with applause as the lights came up and the director thanked everyone. He said it was great to see it with an audience finally, and he was really happy that we liked it. We then went into the Q&A.

Info from the Q&A:

• In order to give expression to a faceless character, they use the color, shape, and movement of his flames to show you how he is feeling.
• There will be an extended cut of Ghost Rider on DVD, and he is very excited about it. He is happy with the current theatrical cut, as he has had no outside interference while editing, but there are many cut scenes that he hated to lose that he will have inserted back into the extended edition.
• He originally pitched doing a Ghost Rider film before he directed Daredevil, but the rights were not available at the time.
• When asked who his favorite actor to work with was between Ben Affleck and Nicolas Cage, he responded with laughter and said that it was an unfair question. When pressured for a response he chose Nic because he said he has been a fan of Nic's long before working with him.
• Nicolas Cage was attached to the project for years, before the director was brought on board.
• He said he would really like to make Daredevil 2, in a "Born Again" storyline, as long as he didn't have studio/producer interference like the first film. He said the studio was looking at Elektra to be the sequel to Daredevil, and with that movie being a disaster they have seemingly shelved DD2. He said he would also like to do a sequel to Ghost Rider if Nicolas Cage would return.
• When asked about bringing in the Midnight Sons in possible sequels, he said he would very much like to do so.
• He says that he is really happy with how the Director's Cut of Daredevil turned out, despite some flaws. He's just disappointed because he feels that not enough people have seen it. In response, a fan stood up and said that the director's cut kicked ass and that it is one of his favorite comic movies. The auditorium applauded.
• Back when the release date was still in August, the studio was so happy after viewing the film that they bumped up the release date a month to July, which the director turned down, as he didn't want to compete with Pirates 2.
• The year-long delay from the original release date was due to having to re-work the fire effects. They created an entirely new program to render realistic cg fire and after seeing the finished result they realized that real fire isn't that visually interesting and dynamic. They ended up having to go back and re-create the effects shot for shot for dramatic effect. They will be finalizing the visual effects until the end of January.
• He stated that approx 30 million of the budget has gone purely to visual effects.
• He said the origin story of Ghost Rider is entirely Johnny Blaze with very minor changes. He only took a few things from Danny Ketch that he liked, such as the current costume and the penance stare.
• Blackheart will eventually be shown in his familiar demonic form as depicted in the comics, and his look will evolve by the end of the picture.
• Mephisto will also appear in a demonic form in the movie, as the director thinks his normal visual interpretation in the comics is ridiculous.
• Ghost Rider is ordered by Mephisto to hunt down and destroy his son Blackheart, as he is trying to take over hell. Blackheart is searching for hidden demons that can control various elements as part of his plot to overthrow Mephisto. Ghost Rider has to hunt down and destroy these demons in order to defeat Blackheart.
• The bike is 12 feet long from end to end, and can reach up to 90 mph. The stunt riders were terrified of taking turns, as they didn't want to lay it out.
• When asked who would win in a fistfight between Walter Matthau, Nicolas Cage and Ben Affleck, the director chose Walter Matthau.
• He stated that it is difficult to make a decent trailer of the movie as due to MPAA regulations you can't show a man on fire. He was then asked how they could get away with the Human Torch in the Fantastic Four trailer. He responded that it went through because it was an instant and painless transformation, but with Ghost Rider it's a long, graphic and painful transformation with his flesh peeling away.
• He stated that Nic Cage's perspective of what it would be like to be a man with a werewolf-like curse is like living your entire life in a dentist's chair, never knowing when the dentist will hit a nerve.
• He said that he approached the Blaze/Ghost Rider characters as having a Jekyll and Hyde relationship. It's a painful transformation and the Ghost Rider demon enjoys being released, and does not like changing back to Blaze.
• The Ghost Rider demon is not referred to by the name Zarathos. The director thought that is was an unnecessary addition made later in the character's mythology.
• When asked whom he would choose to make a movie out of in the DC Comics line other than Batman or Superman, he said he would like to adapt Preacher, to which the audience responded with applause.
• He chose to screen the clip of the movie at Wizard World Texas due to the fact that the movie takes place in Texas. They scouted in Dallas, Houston, and Austin, but ended up making most of the film in Australia however, due to budget reasons. He said they filmed enough of Texas to where the audience shouldn't question where the story takes place.
• The demon/cowboy Phantom Rider, that is seen riding his demon steed alongside Ghost Rider in the trailer, was included to give the impression that there have been various Ghost Rider's chosen by the devil throughout history. The director stated that they have become some of his favorite scenes.
• When a little boy asked him who his favorite comic character is, he said it was Dazzler with a straight face. The auditorium started laughing and the boy seemed disappointed because he had no idea who that was. He told the kid he was joking and said that his favorite character has always been Ghost Rider.
• Any time he noticed someone in the audience that was wearing a costume, he cheered them on.
• When asked if he has been in contact with John Favreau about Iron Man, he stated that he had just been visiting him before the panel. He said that he hasn't read the script because it wasn't finished yet, but he has spoken to John about the movie overall, and he believes that it will be very good and is looking forward to seeing it.
• He said he would possibly like to use the Marvel Scarecrow as a villain in a Ghost Rider sequel. He said Scarecrow was the villain in his original draft of the movie, but he had to replace him with Blackheart after the studio learned that Scarecrow was going to be the villain in Batman Begins.
• Ghost Rider is ordered by Mephisto to hunt down and destroy his son Blackheart, as he is trying to take over hell. Blackheart is searching for hidden demons that can control various elements as part of his plot to overthrow Mephisto. Ghost Rider has to hunt down and destroy these demons in order to defeat Blackheart.
• When asked if he had to choose between either just writing or directing, he said he would direct because writing is such a lonely process, and he enjoys being surrounded by people actually making a movie.
• He said he was amazed that they got a PG-13 rating on Ghost Rider without cutting anything from the movie. He said he has learned that the MPAA is very unpredictable with what they will allow to slide as far as violence goes. He believes that Ghost Rider made it through due to the strong fantasy elements. He believes that an R-rating is unnecessary to make a good Ghost Rider film.
• Stan Lee does not have a cameo in the movie as he did not contribute to the creation of the Ghost Rider character, and due to the fact that is was filmed primarily in Australia.
• Dane Davis, the sound designer, combined Nic Cage's voice along with animal growls of a lion, leopard, and tiger, the sound of fire, the sound of wind being blown through some pipes, and the sound of a greased up chain being dragged on the ground to create the voice of Ghost Rider.

After the Q&A, he allowed us to watch the clip one more time as the audience was crying out to see it again. He then stayed to sign autographs on the free Ghost Rider movie posters they gave out, and I also had him sign my copy of the Director's Cut of Daredevil. Mark Steven Johnson was in high spirits, very polite and cheerful, and it's professionals like him that I have no problem waiting in line for to get an autograph. I personally thanked him for coming out to Texas to premier the footage of Ghost Rider since I've never been able to attend San Diego Comic-Con.”

Woah. Thanks a ton, Dale! Another big event on Saturday was the DragonBall Z Wish Granting Tournament. Jeff Dronen at FUNimation fills us in on the happenings:

“Our Dragon Ball Z Wish Granting Event was definitely a success. The event was the culmination of our Biggest, Baddest Dragon Ball Z Giveaway on Earth. The seven finalists that were chosen from over 55,000 entrants competed in a single elimination video game tournament. The finalists battled it out on Atari's Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2. In the end, it was a 16-year old from Detroit who won the ultimate prize: one wish. The young man was overwhelmed. He didn't think he was going to win so he hadn't thought about what he would wish for. He is going to think about it and he will let us know by the end of next week. Their are certain limitations as specified in the rules of the promotion, but FUNimation Entertainment will grant his wish for pretty much anything capped out at a value of $25,000.”

25k, holy crap! Let the Detroit teenager know I’ve got a radio show for sale. On Saturday night, the Fanboy Radio crew and I headed over to the Windham hotel for a few hours of socializing and drinking at the Spike TV / Wizard party. The finale of the Ultimate Fighter 4 series was on all the televisions at the bar and booze flowed like so much blood on screen. The late-night post-party was at J. Gilligan’s and was the 5-Year Birthday Bash of Fanboy Radio, presented by the 2007 film, Bike_Gang!. The Veteran’s Day big bash was a live art show that benefited the new charity, Heroes4Heroes which provides portable entertainment (like comics and DVDs) to active US Military personnel and families overseas. Local artists Cal Slayton, Brock Rizy, Tom Kurzanski and Kristian Donaldson rocked the matte board while I played emcee/auctioneer. Much thanks and love goes out to Zeus Comics for some of the supplies and especially Chris Powell of Lone Star Comics (mycomicshop.com) for the huge contributions towards the new cause.

From all reports, Sunday was a day of sketches, mingling and recovery from the late night before. Artist Alley stayed packed though as Tone Rodriguez was busy and was still willing to give an amazing set of original art for auction towards H4H. The large groups of new mini-comics guys reported outstanding sales thanks to being so close to the main exhibits and having huge names among the first-timers. We certainly did miss notable representation from Marvel, DC, (non-Top Cow) Image and other publishers, but it would be pretty demanding to ask them to be at every con – especially one so late in the con season. Overall, there was an excellent balance of media guests, creators, dealers and fun things to do & see that made the con very well rounded experience. Now, ya’ll come back next year, ya hear?

Scott Hinze is the creator and host of the comic book radio talk broadcast and podcast, Fanboy Radio (www.fanboyradio.com). On Wednesday, live episode #349, will feature Alan Moore. Scott is also working with the new non-profit, Heroes4Heroes (www.heroes4heroes.org) to provide portable media to active US military troops & families around the world. Your donations (media and/or funds) are appreciated!

[victor lanza]

Really look forward to the Ghost Rider movie!

[smitch]

Need pictures!

[Kolimar]

Originally Posted by MattBrady

• Mephisto will also appear in a demonic form in the movie, as the director thinks his normal visual interpretation in the comics is ridiculous.

Sounds like he hasn't seen Mephisto since the 70's.

[Randy A]

If anyone from Wizard happens to read this, Artists Alley was poorly planned. It was much too crowded for fans and artists. Last year you had it in a big open room, that was very, very nice. This year my wife wouldn't even brave artists alley with me because it was so packed in with people, and you had to push and shove to get anywhere. Please fix this for next year.

[Scorned1]

Originally Posted by smitch

Need pictures!

pictures? we need the whole freaking movie NOW.

[OM]

...Heh, good to think I'm not the only one who thinks JRJr's version of Mephisto looked like a cross between a rabid poodle & Larry Fine

[tyopot]

Originally Posted by victor lanza

Really look forward to the Ghost Rider movie!

i saw the trailer of the ghost rider movie, and i have to say wasn't impressed w/ nicolas cage as ghost rider, and with that director who made the daredevil and elektra movies, you can count me out.

[roony]

The Ghost Rider description sounds terrific! I can't wait to see if this movie will be good or not.

[beta-ray]

Originally Posted by tyopot

i saw the trailer of the ghost rider movie, and i have to say wasn't impressed w/ nicolas cage as ghost rider, and with that director who made the daredevil and elektra movies, you can count me out.

Bye!

I'll check it out. Should be fun.

Thanks for the coverage.

[aronhead]

I've got pix from the Texas show over on my blog... http://www.evilbastard.net/bastardblog/

I'm not as willing as Mr. Hinze to excuse the notable absence of Marvel and the minimal presence of DC. This may be the last big show of the season, but Texas has got to be a HUGE market. What valid reason is there not to come and run some panels and have a table? It makes this comic geek fanboy feel a bit under appreciated.


Aron Head
www.EvilBastard.net

[James Asia]

I think everyone is just Wizard World'd out.

[Royal Nonesuch]

Originally Posted by tyopot

i saw the trailer of the ghost rider movie, and i have to say wasn't impressed w/ nicolas cage as ghost rider, and with that director who made the daredevil and elektra movies, you can count me out.

For what it's worth, Mark Steven Johnson only directed the Daredevil movie. Elektra was directed by Rob Bowman.

[Face Loran]

Originally Posted by aronhead

I've got pix from the Texas show over on my blog... http://www.evilbastard.net/bastardblog/

I'm not as willing as Mr. Hinze to excuse the notable absence of Marvel and the minimal presence of DC. This may be the last big show of the season, but Texas has got to be a HUGE market. What valid reason is there not to come and run some panels and have a table? It makes this comic geek fanboy feel a bit under appreciated.


Aron Head
www.EvilBastard.net

I agree. I attended WW: Texas last year as well as this, and last year, we got at least 2 panels from each of the Big Two. This year, we barely had 1 DC panel, with Bob Wayne.

On a different subject, the Ghost Rider footage and live demonstration of Marvel Ultimate Alliance on the Wii were awesome.

[aronhead]

Originally Posted by Face Loran

On a different subject, the Ghost Rider footage and live demonstration of Marvel Ultimate Alliance on the Wii were awesome.

Oh I absolutely agree! The Wii demonstration convinced me to buy one!


Aron Head
www.EvilBastard.net

[mikeyg]

Check it out, Rob Liefeld posted a bunch of new con sketches he did at WWTX and a little journal entry.
http://robliefeld.net/journal_insert.htm

I think the animal man is the best of the bunch, and I really like the superman. Most of these he did for free. I think the animal man one is a commission. And he's gonna post another update soon. Let me know what you guys think.


Mike

[tyopot]

Originally Posted by mikeyg

Check it out, Rob Liefeld posted a bunch of new con sketches he did at WWTX and a little journal entry.
http://robliefeld.net/journal_insert.htm

I think the animal man is the best of the bunch, and I really like the superman. Most of these he did for free. I think the animal man one is a commission. And he's gonna post another update soon. Let me know what you guys think.


Mike

the sketches are really nice, just as long as rob doesn't over render them with cross hatching.

[superbitz]

I think the above review was a little too "optimistic" below is a nice dealer prospective, read and debate:

As usual, the reality that exists for Wizard World and its convention staff differs dramatically from those around them. As a dealer who just returned from WWTX 2006 I can say that this was by far the worst, and LAST, Wizard TX show we will ever do.

I find it highly suspect that Wizard reported 11,500 through the door which just happened to be exactly 1,000 more then they recorded last year. Considering that last year they scheduled the con against a NASCAR event and this year they did so when the COWBOYS played a home game on Sunday, its no wonder they had to fudge the numbers a little bit to save face. It was sleeping room only on Friday and even though it noticeably picked up on Saturday, Sunday was largely unattended as well.

As Matt has already pointed out, Wizard doesn't release how they arrive at their suspect totals, we can only rely on first-hand observations of turnout. As a dealer who had a full view of the floor and suffered a loss for the 2nd straight year of this con, they didn't meet these numbers. No freaking way possible. Thanks Matt for referencing the earlier Nov. press release from the genius that is Wizard when they stated over 25,000 would be expected through the WWTX doors this year.

So here you go, the top 5 reasons why dealers should be abandoning this freakshow of a con in droves:

#1 - Wizard provided no fewer then 3 dealers with FREE TABLES or a BUY ONE GET ONE FREE promo pricing when the show date rolled around with obvious holes in the floor. At the same time, Wizard was telling this dealer that the con floor was SOLD-OUT well over two months before the show. When this news started to leak out on Sunday, dealers were PISSED (especially one who had driven 19 hrs to attend the con at full price rates), and rightly so. Nice business practices on the part of James and his show staff.

#2 - Wizard in its infinite wisdom allowed the Spike TV booth to blare its 12-speaker sound system at an insane volume which contained such family friendly artist tracks from the likes of "50 Cent" and "Ludacris" which played on a continuous loop throughout the weekend. Parents and their small children were not pleased by this at all and complained to dealers in the Spike TV booth vicinity repeatedly. These dealers in turn complained to show staff without much effect. (FYI, the Spike TV booth blew two speakers on their system on Sunday.)

#3 - Wizard's wholesale staff was out in force at the show trying to hawk its show exclusive comics and other baubles to an extent I have personally never experienced before. When it was plainly pointed out that most of their comic-related exclusives required a wholesale price purchase that was actually ABOVE what most dealers could expect to return at retail, Wizard just replied with a blank look on their face and turned and walked off. Nice!

#4 - Wizard/Spike TV after-party -- It wasn't bad enough that Spike TV pissed off most of the dealer floor with their poor music choices throughout the show, they also hosted an after-party with Wizard over the weekend at the Wyndam which slapped them in the face yet again. Although passes were plenty, none of them made it into the hands of the dealers in attendance who ended up forming their own poker parties and attending movies and events outside of the area when it was obvious to them that they weren't "good enough" to attend this industry soire. Again, great job Wizard show staff!

#5 - Wizard's Only Game in Town Attitude -- Wizard routinely dismisses show criticism from dealers and professional types alike due to their overriding belief that they know best. This was evident again in TX when dealers approached Wizard show staff with concerns, critiques and suggestions to improve the current show and future ones and were rebuffed or ignored completely. From the debacle with Spike TV to the neverending comic exclusives shilling to the sham treating of dealers with regards to the Spike/Wizard after-party, one thing is always clear with Wizard. If you want to be treated like a second-class citizen, make sure to mention you are a dealer attending their show.

TX is a a great place to hold a con. Friendly people, great weather, incredible food and lots to see and do. And yet Wizard routinely screws it up each and every year. A word of advice to James and his staff; I may be the first dealer you lose from future TX cons, but I certainly won't be the last. This is especially true if the issues above continue to fall on the usual deaf ears of Wizard conventions staffers.

[JohnnyBoy]

superbitz, sorry to hear that your expectations at the Wizard World Texas show were not met. I'm the new marketing guy at Wizard and want to make sure your issues are addressed. Please send me a message with your info and I can have somebody here contact you. Our convention attendees, dealers and exhibitors are all very important to us and we want to try to make everybody happy.

[Novaya Havoc]

Originally Posted by MattBrady

• When a little boy asked him who his favorite comic character is, he said it was Dazzler with a straight face. The auditorium started laughing and the boy seemed disappointed because he had no idea who that was. He told the kid he was joking and said that his favorite character has always been Ghost Rider.

I always say Dazzler is my favorite character. Usually with a jubilant face.

Feh. A Dazzler movie would be 16x better than Ghost Rider anyway.