Continuing his march to the sea, grading and slabbing everything in his path, Gareb Shamus has added a stop on his pop culture tour in Cincinnati, Ohio with the Cincinnati Comic Con Wizard World Convention. PR in the jump, but the Shamus/Wizard brand acquired the existing Cincinnati Comic & Anime Show which ran once, last year, with an expected attendance of 1000 and 50 dealers. Here’s a report.
The Wizard North American tour comprises 10 different shows and the schedule stands as follows:
Wizard World Comic Con Tour:
March 26-28, 2010, Toronto Comic Con, Direct Energy Centre
April 16-18, 2010, Anaheim Comic Con, Anaheim Convention Center
June 11-13, 2010, Philadelphia Comic Con, Philadelphia Convention Center
August 19-22, 2010, Chicago Comic Con, Donald E. Stephens (Rosemont) Convention Center
October 7-10, 2010, Big Apple Comic Con, Pier 94
October 15-17, 2010, New Jersey Comic Con, New Jersey Convention and Expo Center
November 12-14, 2010, Austin Comic Con, Austin Convention Center
Atlanta Comic Con, TBD
Cincinnati Comic Con, TBD
New England Comic Con, TBD
With three cons to be scheduled, the obvious openings are May and July — what show gets to go against mighty San Diego? Word on the grapevine is that Shamus hopes to run a show a month, and he’s well on his way to that goal.
Gareb Shamus, CEO of New York based Wizard Entertainment, today announced the acquisition of the Cincinnati Comic & Anime Show in Ohio which is now Cincinnati Comic Con Wizard World Convention.
“What Marc accomplished in his first year of the Cincinnati show inspired us,” said Shamus. “We’re excited to have fans experience our Comic Con for the very first time. We promise to bring an event filled with artists, writers, creators, celebrities and so much more.”
Shamus bought the Cincinnati Comic & Anime Show from Marc Ballard, convention producer and owner of ComicCityTN. Ballard will advise and consult on the show to provide insight on local customs and traditions.
“To be able to partner with Wizard to expand this show is so exciting; for me, for the fans and for the local business owners,” said Ballard.
Attendees can anticipate the strong caliber lineup of stars and exhibitors that fans across the nation have come to expect.
New dates, venue and ticket on-sales will be announced soon.
For information on all Comic Con tour stops visit www.wizardworld.com.
Interesting news for us in the Queen City.
Someone needs to start making a documentary about this. They can call it The Stepford Cons.
Hmmm. Detroit, my home area, next?
I don’t know about giving that logo a color scheme that will remind hometown folks about hte Bengals.
Soon there will need to be new cities formed to support the Wizard tour. :)
Where next?
I don’t know how many of these shows will actually get off the ground, but I must say it’s entertaining to watch Shamus overextend his brand further and further in what he must be intending to be the Walmartization of comics conventions.
This is a joke. Cincinnati deserves better. I bet half of these shows don’t get of the ground or are poorly run.
I’m fuzzy on the protocol for buying a con. Why couldn’t Shamus just start his own show in Cincinnati? After years of no shows in Cincinnati, somebody puts on one crappy con and suddenly it’s the gold standard for the city? It’s not like there would be some outcry from fans if Wizard just up and started a show. No one would say, “Oh, but what about the tradition of us having no shows, or cancelled shows, or that one tiny show in the hotel ballroom?”. I bet the folks at Pop Culture Con are wishing they’d gone into debt instead of cancelling…they could at least might have sold their show instead. My advice to you – if you live in a decent-sized city that doesn’t have a regular convention, start one and maybe Shamus will buy it.
In terms of when to have it, I don’t see San Diego as much of a problem. Just don’t hold it too near Chicago or Mid-Ohio and it will do as well as it’s going to.
Maybe someone can explain something here that’s been puzzling me — I thought the Wizard World Cons were collapsing due to poor management, low attendance, etc. Last year two of their cons were canceled. Where is Shamus getting the money to buy up all these regional conventions?
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