A friend emailed us with this:

“Wizard LA is so small and depressing I can’t believe it.”

UPDATE: But Marv liked it.

I also had a nice chat with many friends I hadn’t seen in awhile, and I was really pleased that Wizard did such a good job this year. I have to admit I didn’t care for last year’s LA show although I have liked their Chicago events when I’ve gone there. I think they got a better room at the LA Convention Center and things seemed to be a lot livelier and from the fans I spoke with, they seemed to think it was a better con, too. Still wish they were back in Long Beach; more restaurants in the area and cheaper parking, too, but the powers that be appear to be taking care of business and making the shows better, so that’s what really counts. I’m also a guest at another Wizard show in a few months, this one on the East Coast and after this one I’m looking forward to it.

1 COMMENT

  1. I really enjoyed it – it was a great Convention – I got to talk to people I hadn’t seen face to face in years. The San Diego Con has gotten too big for me to have a good time and enjoy talking with all the great folks I work with, but the L.A. Con felt just right. Just enjoyable and low key… Not everything has to be San Diego sized, does it?

  2. Not everything has to be SDCC, but if you’re going to charge people $25 a day, you should offer them a little more. The place was empty. You could see the whole con in 40 minutes. It was the size of one of the medium-sized panel rooms in San Diego!

  3. I’m trying to imagine the kind of reprisal that would make one go anonymous with criticism of a Wizard con.

  4. I can only guess that Anonymous is afraid that WizardWorld might offer to “compensate” Anonymous for the disappointment by sending Anonymous to every Wizard show throughout the year as their guest.

    Moritat and I did manage to sell some ELEPHANTMEN books at the show, and we also met some great people — several times over (the parking was a breeze because there weren’t many people there!). There was so little to see or do that many attendees were happy to hang out and chat. Like Marv, we didn’t go back on Sunday… because it felt like we’d already been there on Sunday.

    WizardWorld LA is The Shrine with better lighting.

  5. I decided at the last minute to go to WWLA (nothing better planned), and did have a nice time. I got sketches from David Mack, Scott Murphy, and Amanda Conner (an utterly adorable one of Power Girl holding her orange cat). I reminisced with Dwayne McDuffie over the old Superman/Batman/Aquaman TV cartoons, discussed superhero romance with Christina Strain, and sacrilege (hee!) with Peter David. I met Bill Sienkiewicz and Marv Wolfman, both for the first time ever. Importantly, I got Marv to sign Amazing Spider-Man #196, the first comic I ever owned, and got to thank him for writing such a great non-super-hero-y story that made me want to read more. I also stopped by The Hero Initiative booth, where they had many of their great Spider-Man covers on display.

    There were some indy creators to be found in Artist Alley, where I spent most of my time. And there was time to browse the 50% off cover price trades; I scored a Fallen Angel TP and six Sandman TPs. Sweet.

    Saturday parking was great. Scott, when did you arrive Sunday morning? I got off the freeway at about noon, and it took forever to get to the parking lot. I thought maybe the Lakers were playing (Staples Center next door), but that wasn’t until 5:00pm. Once inside, the L.A. Convention Center is a nice venue.

    Overall, WWLA is not as good as San Diego or APE, and I wouldn’t go to it every year. It needs a greater small press presence, and a greater variety of panels. But it’s an okay convention. Sometimes, a quiet time is a good time.

    BTW, where was Jim Mahfood???

  6. “Saturday parking was great. Scott, when did you arrive Sunday morning?”

    I went on Friday at noon until close- probably had a better shot at getting good parking, I guess…
    Still – I had a great time – got to meet some great folks -and actually talk to them for awhile!

  7. The problem with Sunday was that there was a big DUB auto show & concert at the other end of the convention center. The line for that show stretched around half the convention center, and looked like a line for SDCC. I spent 25 minutes on the Pico off-ramp starting around 11:30 before I decided to clear out, go the other way, and take surface streets.