Conventions

We've said it a zillion times, but we'll say it again, with the picturesque setting, great seafood, and top-notch lineup of comics creators, this is a totally relaxing and informative way to spend the weekend. The Beat will be walking around, listening to all who would speak, and giving a piece of her mind to all who would listen. Please stop and say hi! It's been a long year of travel, but Baltimore remains one of our favorite stops.

Shamus has a lot of answers for everything, but doesn't even seem to be saying that comics are a focus of the Wizard shows any more: “When you look at how comicbooks or the characters pervaded the media, they’ve become celebrities themselves. ... So when you look at people, and how they’ve come to know Spider-Man, or Batman, or Star Wars, ten years ago, fifteen years ago, twenty years ago, they may have only known Spider-Man through a comicbook or maybe an animated show or something like that. ... They are going on their own way, creating a large national chain of comic conventions that’s servicing a local population that can’t make it to the bigger shows – but also injecting them with stars of stage and screen to bring in a new audience. ... It took the MCM London Expos to knock that out of me, and I’m starting to realise that my expectations and experiences are not shared by the vast majority of the population and that an increased numbers of Wizard World style conventions will increase the acceptability and appeal of comics to a population, even if that population is only on hand to see Xander and Spike. ... I'd argue that the focus on celebrities past and present at Wizard/Creation shows is not driving attention to the comics publishers who do exhibit at these shows, so without some kind of support -- even Shamus says that the reason there was such minimal comics programming is because attendees weren't interested in it -- it might not be a cost effective marketing push.

It's hard to find much coverage about this weekend's Chicago Comic-Con/Wizard World Chicago that didn't involve disgraced former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. That was definitely THE big story, from his meeting with Ethan van Sciver to his encounter with Adam West and an attempt to steal the Batmobile.

...aaaaand as the fall convention season rolls out, we're now getting APE announcements as well. Renee French has just been announced as a guest....

The Baltimore Comic-Con is just around the corner (next weekend in fact) and they have just announced the programming and complete guest list. Always...

(Above: Boom Boom Satellites) Boom Boom Satellites, Zazen Boys, Echostream and Puffy AmiYumi will be performing at the Far East To East Showcase (FETES) during...

Todd Allen was at the WWC/CCC on Preview Night to promote his collected Murder Professor and sent us along some observations. The opinions expressed below are Todd's own and do not necessarily reflect our own.

BTW Maggie Thompson also attended Day 0 -- her thoughts can be found here. Also, we TOTALLY STOLE HER PHOTO OF GAREB SHAMUS, owner of Wizard and their convention arm. Sorry, Maggie.

The Chicago Comic-Con, aka Wizard World Chicago kicks off today in Rosemont, headlined by William Shatner and lots and lots of old actors and...

The New York Times has a story on how Comic-Con has become a venue to market to -- gasp! -- girls with lots of info on various toy and clothing lines, including gymnast Nastia Liukin's Supergirl line of clothing.

Jillian Tamaki And Gabrielle Bell -- this one is an EPIC. We could have SWORN there was a third...but can't find it now. Readers?

Has all the Comic-Con hype actually TURNED OFF some moviegoers? That's what what a chart over at THR seems to show, Jay Fernandez reports:

Lesson #1 of San Diego Comic-Con 2010: You can’t live on breakfast from the Embassy Suites.

Or if you do, you will pay a fightful price.

It was Thursday morning at Comic-Con, the morning after Preview night and the day when things blast into high gear with a roar of thunders and a crack of ozone. It was my second morning at the Embassy Suites, the “family hotel” of the Inner Circle. With a free breakfast buffet and “manager’s receptions”—aka FREE BOOZE—every evening, not to mention giant suites that sleep 6 comfortably, the Embassy Suites is the best bargain at the con for those, like this year’s Beat, on a budget.