Whither Wizard World

I last attended a Wizard World convention in 2008. That was, I think, the last year before they really got into competition with the ReedPop conventions. I was, at the time, surprised just how much of the convention was still focused on comics, but with the ReedPop shows getting really high marks from a comics perspective, and several publishers pulling out of the Wizard World shows, I started largely dismissing them out of hand.

But the S.O. got a postcard last night for August's Wizard World Chicago and was interested in going because one of the slated guests is a long-time hero of hers: Pam Grier. She also rattled off a list of celebrities that I might know or recognize: Patrick Stewart, LeVar Burton, Bruce Campbell, Ray Park, Louis Gossett Jr., etc.

So, I flip over to the website to see a complete list of attendees. Sure enough, there are plenty of actors and actresses beloved by the geek set. But mixed in among the special guests, I caught names like Mike Grell, Bill Sienkiewicz and Brian Azzarello. I keep scrolling down and there's actually a pretty substantial list of comic names in attendance. From old school pros to up and comers, from mainstream print publishers to indie web folks.

Hmmm. May be worth hanging around the convention for more than Grier's autograph. And here I thought I was going to go through 2011 without hitting the con circuit at all!