Tag: con wars!

Not too long ago a brand new show on the busy convention circuit was announced: Wizard World Oregon, to be held February 22-24. While the dates didn't seem to conflict with an existing Portland, OR show, what we failed to notice at the time is that these dates are just a week before Seattle's Emerald City Comicon. And that has definitely created yet more scuttlebutt on the con circuit.

While the indie comics world was swooning over Chris Ware in Bethesda last weekend, yet another assault was being made on tapping the LA comic-con market with Stan Lee's Comikaze. It was by most accounts an enjoyable show in the nerdlebrity mold, with comics pressed up against Adam West and Elvira. Having Stan Lee running around didn't hurt, of course.

This answers some questions yet raises more:

Oh man! We thought the epic Con Wars of the Aughts were settled? But it seems Canada's Hobby Star is not happy with how Wizard has used the phrase Toronto Comicon. Hobby Star throws the huge Fan Expo in Toronto every year, and, as CBR reports, had been engaged in a feud with the former Paradise Comic-Con...which was eventually acquired by Wizard and morphed into the Toronto Comicon...while things had been peaceful for many a moon, the fight is on again!

Wizard World without Gareb Shamus. The entire idea would have seemed ridiculous until just a few days ago when an SEC filing revealed that Shamus, the owner and founder of the company, had been removed as CEO. It was startling news which left everyone wondering what would become of the Wizard brand — once mighty in both media coverage and entertainment shows. Answers are beginning to emerge. In an interview with The Beat, Wizard’s executive chairman Mike Mathews revealed that a new era has already begun at Wizard World, which will include outreach to the entire industry in a move to repair damaged relationships with both other industry players and fans. In one of the most notorious examples of the bad blood which the old Wizard had given rise to, subscribers to the print magazine had not been given any make-up subscriptions for issues paid for but never mailed. However, according to Mathews, a letter is being sent out to old subscribers offering them a $100 credit towards Wizard shows.

The Mid-Ohio Con was held this weekend — the first one to be run by Wizard since taking over the show last year — and based on reports, it was very well attended. But, in an echo of long ago scars from Con Wars, it was not quite as well attended as its organizers seem to imagine in their own worldview.

Yesterday's revelation that the Wizard World LA convention has been postponed -- only five weeks away from its original Sept. 24-25 dates -- was just the latest strange twist in the last real outpost of Con Wars: the SoCal market of LA, Anaheim and Los Angeles. As detailed in this CBR piece from May, three cons in a three month period -- WWLA in September, the Long Beach Comic-Con in October and the new Comikaze event in November -- left an already tough market swamped.

Wizard World New Jersey...you were just not to be. Cincinnati Comic-Con -- I'll see you in my dreams. On its website, Wizard has removed many never-to-be-scheduled conventions -- and even its upcoming Los Angeles convention, in favor of a more modest, feasible list including proven shows. The current schedule calls for:

In a rather surprising turn of events, New York's MoCCA Festival has announced their 2012 dates -- and not only are they a change from previously announced dates, but it's the same weekend -- April 27-28 -- as Stumptown Festival, the alt-comix festival held each year in Portland. The Stumptown dates were announced months ago, so the change comes as a surprise. As one exhibitor who forwarded the letter told us, in previous years MoCCA and Stumptown were a week apart, which was hard enough, but now the already small pool of indie comics publishers and creators are going to have to skip one or the other.

Since Tokyopop all but got wiped from the map, an informal "cadaver derby" for comics publishers has sprung up in chat rooms and bars of the comics biz. One name frequently heard: Wizard. So let's see what's going on in the Shamus Empire, shall we?

Just when things looked all lovey dovey on the convention front, Kiel Phegley reports that Canadian convention organizer Hobby Star has filed a lawsuit against Reed Pop and Zuffa LLC, owner of the UFC over the use of the term "Fan Expo," which Hobby Star claims to have trademarked. Reed and the UFC, the hugely popular mixed martial arts organization, have been putting on a series of "UFC Fan Expo" events in conjunction with their fight shows. However, Hobby Star puts on the Fan Expo Canada every year, generally considered the third biggest comic-con-type show in North America. The suit probably only covers the Canadian use of the term Fan Expo, however:

Is Wizard World trying to turn into TCAF? Of late, the convention tour has been reaching out to indie cartoonists, suggesting a rather unlikely team-up.