Wizard World Chicago Con report

For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Mark Sable. I’m the writer of, among other things, GROUNDED from Image Comics (the trade should be available in Wednesday, August 16th). Matt asked for my impressions of what’s usually the second biggest convention of the year, Wizard World Chicago, and I’m happy to oblige.

As a pro, I’m at the level where I’m too busy to attend panels as an audience member but not famous enough to actually be on a panel, so I’m not going to be giving you the Newsarama/Rich Johnston lowdown on Brian Wood’s decision to sign an exclusive deal to work for Vertigo or tell you how Joe Quesada hinted at how badly he wants to kill off Mary Jane. Instead, I hope to give a travelogue that’s a bit more personal.

First of all, there’s something a bit more embarassing about going to a Wizard convention than any other type of convention. When you tell someone you’re going to “WizardWorld”, the most likely response you’ll get is “are you bringing your +5 enchanted longsword of never getting laid?” Really, Wizard needs to seriously think about changing their name.

Also, Wizard cons tend not to actually be in the place they’re supposed to be. For instance, Wizard World LA was actually in Long Beach for years. Wizard World Chicago is basically at the O’Hare airport, a half an hour from anything resembling civilization.

As for the con itself, Chicago is supposed to be San Diego Comic-Con’s “after party”, more fun, and more focused on comics than Hollywood. The latter, definitely true – no “development people” from companies I’ve never heard of asking for free comics – the former, questionable. The consensus among pros I talked to Sunday night was that the attendance was lower than previous years, and that the social scene was ruined to a large degree by members of a certain comic creator’s board acting like geeky fratboys and driving anyone with social skills away from the hotel bar they usually frequent.

Still, I got to hang out with a great bunch of people who’s work deserves plugs. I flew to the heartland with Mandy Amano, Maxim model, boyfriend of Kabuki’s David Mack, and daughter of writer/artist Jeff Amano. Jeff has “The Cobbler’s Monster” out from Beckett, and is working on what has the potential to be the best black and white crime comic in a long time – Red Warrior, with NYC Mech artist Andy MacDonald. Both David and Jeff possess kung-fu skills that would have spelled the end of me if I have hit on Mandy.

From my arrival, I spent most of my time sitting with the 24seven/NYC Mech crew – the aforementioned Andy Mac and Ivan Brandon (co-writer of Cross Bronx, a supernatural crime book with Mike Oeming – Oeming’s best work since POWERS).

GROUNDED artist (and artist of Boom Studio’s “TALENT”) Paul Azaceta and I shared a table with them, watching 24seven (the best comics anthology on the stands) sell like crazy.

GROUNDED’s has been out a year, during which time I’ve been to almost every major convention, and it’s still strange for me to be sitting behind a table in Artist’s Alley hawking my wares. Having been a fan for so many years, I hate feeling harrassed by creators trying to get me to buy my their book, often engaging me awkardly as I check out their work. Now that I’m on the other side of the table, I don’t want to be that guy, but I don’t want to seem unfriendly either. And now I know how painful it is to have someone come over, flip through a book, and then leave. It makes you wonder, were they planning on buying anything in the first place? Or did they see something that just turned them off (like say, all the word balloons I used to cover Paul’s art)? I’m still flattered when anyone asks me to sign anything, although it is weird to have that one guy out of twenty who acts insulted if you offer to sign, lest you soil his comic before he can get it appraised and vacuum sealed at the CGC booth (evidently, signing my own book makes it worth less…I’ll never understand comic book math).

Other creators I had the good fortune of hanging out with: Greg Thompson, writer of Hero Camp and the upcoming Atomic Chimp, there representing the comic book legal defense fund; Paolo Rivera, painter of X-Men Mythos and, evidently, one of New York City’s most eligible Latino bachelors according to the NY Post (he’s all yours, ladies who are looking for Latino comic book artists in the tri-state area).

As usual, I missed out on what I heard was another great Jim Mahfood and Dave Crosland live art show, but I had a good excuse – a great steak dinner at Gibson’s paid for by my manager. Chicago’s pizza may be crap compared to New York’s (let’s not even get started on LA’s), but their steaks are phenomenal. In general, if you are thinking about going next year, make sure you spend time away from the con and checking out the city itself, the windy city is fun when it’s, well, not windy.

For me, it was a great con. Personally, I got to hang out with creators I respect and admire, if for nothing other than their generosity in buying drinks for me. Professionally, Paul and I sold the most copies of GROUNDED to date. I also think I came a bit closer to my goal of finding artists for my next two Image series (but if you’re an artist or know one, feel free to contact me).

P.S. Now that I’ve laid down the gauntlet, I’d love to see the other guest bloggers start posting here, Matt and I are feeling lonely.