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WizardWorld Con NYC Experience June 28 - 30, 2013
Posted: Wed Jun 26, 2013 7:16 am
by Mr Wallstreet
So this is happening. I just learned Wizardoworld is having a “Wizardworld Con NYC Experience†that is taking place June 28, 29, 30 2013. From the posts, it sounds like it’s been taking place for the last 3 years but I’ve only just heard about it, and I only heard about it because I read a tweet for it. I’ve been looking at the general con listings for the past 2 years and haven’t seen this at all. Maybe I need to pay more attention…
http://www.wizardworld.com/home-nyc.html
The pricing and the admissions are structured very strangely. You can purchase an individual ticket for Friday ($45), Saturday ($60) or Sunday ($45) but you cannot purchase a 3-day or 2-day ticket by itself. So if I wanted to attend all 3 days, I’d be dropping $150.00. More than 1/3rd of the price of a NYCC ticket, and at this early stage, I don’t know if it’d be worth it or not.
You can only purchase a 3 day ticket if you purchase the 3-day VIP pass which gives you the 3 day ticket and some limited access to a celeb of your choice. Based on the celebrity, the 3-day VIP Pass can run between $200.00 - $400.00. I personally feel this is a shitty way to hawk 3 day passes.
The Con runs 3 days:
Friday – 4:00 – 9:00pm
Saturday 10:00am – 7:00pm
Sunday 10:00am – 7:00pm
I don’t think I’ll be able to do Friday because I’d be getting out to work around 6:00pm and I wouldn’t even make it there until 7:30 or 8:00 so I guess that’s out. It’s also too close to take the day off.
I purchased a ticket online for Saturday. Additionally, I purchased ticket for a photo op with Stan Lee. He’ll probably be at NYCC I’d rather not wait that long. His health might be failing again or he might cancel. He recently cancelled his Denver Comic Con appearance to film scenes for the Avengers so I’d rather get a photo with him when I can.
Other than that, I’ll mostly be hitting the back issue bins trying to complete my various runs:
Incorruptible
Irredeemable
Wolverine
And various other mini-series.
Posted: Wed Jun 26, 2013 7:17 am
by Mr Wallstreet
This is more of a celebrity Con than a creator Con.
Celebrity Guest List:
Stan Lee
Patrick Stewart
Norman Reedus
WWE Wrestler CM Punk
Ralph Macchio (The Karate Kid)
Pam Grier
Wil Wheaton
Laurie Holden (The Walking Dead)
James Marsters
Denis O’Hare (American Horror Story)
Henry Winkler
Michael Rooker
Anthony Michael Hall
Vincent Pastore
Larry Lieber
Jason David Frank The Green Ranger
Ray Park
Chandler Riggs (Carl from TWD)
Sara Underwood
Here is a link to the full comic & celebrity guest list. I recognize only a handful of the comic creators
http://www.wizardworld.com/home-nyc.html
Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 2:07 pm
by Mr Wallstreet
Wizardworld was 3 days. Half day on Friday from 4:00pm – 10:00pm; Saturday from 10:00am – 10:00pm & Sunday from 10:00am 5:00pm.
There was not a lot of advertising done for this event. I only found out about it 2 days before it was happening because I saw a retweet.
Not being able to go the first day because I couldn’t take off work on such a short notice, I went on Saturday with my brother. The con was held in downtown Manhattan in a basketball stadium by the Hudson River near the Manhattan Bridge. The entire area outside the Con’s main entrance was converted into a common area where people could sit down on benches to eat and relax. Not a lot of people did that because of the blazing heat. Within the common area, a giant tent was set up for speaker panels.
Inside of the Con, going lengthwise, the entire left half of the stadium was reserved for celebrity photographs & signatures. The right side was reserved for vendors and artists. There was 0 industry presence. Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Image, Oni etc…were not there; neither were there any game companies or news outlets. Newsarama, CBR, Bleeding Cool or any other comics’ related news or other professional outlets were not there. The only professional news crew there was something called Geek News or something to that effect. This was a more celebrity themed con with a twist of comics than a proper comic con.
The Con was very lively but nowhere near as packed as NYCC – which is not a complaint. I went on Saturday which I guess would be the peak day and there was ample space to walk around freely without getting elbowed hit in the nuts with swords, browse vendor booths or even sit down. You could leave and come right back in without having to wait in line.
After entering the building, we did a slow circuit of the con, checking out the booths and celebrity section. After that we went through the vendors, booth by booth. I picked up some great comics on the cheap and a few hard to find ones. I also saw one of Wulf’s exhibitor friends (who usually attends the NYCC) exhibiting at the Con and picked up a few books from him as well. After we had hit up nearly all the booths we went to the celeb section.
The most popular celebs at Wizardworld were Stan Lee, Patrick Stewart, CM Punk & the Walking Dead cast. Of the Walking Dead cast those present were Michael Rooker (Muryl), Norman Reedus (Daryl), Dana Gurira (Michone), Laurie Holden (Andrea) & Chandler “CARL! GET IN THE HOUSE†Riggs. The entire cast in general was very popular but Norman Reedus in particular had the longest lines. The amount of women & tweens lined up to get photos to see him almost rivaled the Stan Lee line. Other celebs included Pam Grier, Wil Wheaton, Jason David Frank (The Green Ranger), Sara Underwood & Candice Bailey from Attack of the Show, James Marsters, & Henry Winker among a others. There were volunteers and security near all the celeb booths so no chance of line jumping or sliding in without paying.
Artist Alley was very small, it consisted of only 3 aisles. Most of the creators were Indy so I didn’t know who they were. The only creators I recognized were Sean Chen, Michael Golden, Neal Adams, and Humberto Ramos. Neal Adams had a gi-normous table to himself away from Artist Alley. He was charging for photos, sigs & sketches. I felt I should have passed along a message from Stocky for charging for signatures but I’m not sure Neal would have appreciated it.
Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 2:07 pm
by Mr Wallstreet
Around 12ish we went outside into the common area and sat inside the tent just to check out our swag. 10 Minutes later we looked up and the tent was packed. Apparently Stan Lee was having a Q&A and we had walked right in. It was a fun surprise. During the Q&A, Lee was funny and self-deprecating and his usual nice old grandpa-y self.
The Q&A itself was okay and the questions seemed to be par for the course. However, there was one very awkward moment. One fan asked Stan an oddly specific question about the Marvel/DC Amalgam crossover from the 90s. He wanted to know how Stan felt about the Iron Lantern character from Amalgam; (Iron Man + Green Lantern) and if Stan was okay with Marvel using Iron Man for a crossover with his rivals at DC. It was a very WTF question. You could see the look of confusion on both Stan & the host of the panels face. Stan then responded that he wasn’t aware of the marvel/dc crossover and didn’t know what the Iron Lantern was. The fan then said that” since the answer elicited a “non-response, can I quickly ask another question? THANKs” and without waiting for a response, the fan asked Stan another very specific question about a vague event. He asked Stan since the merger between Marvel and Disney, how Stan felt about the future plans to do a crossover between the Avengers and a children’s cartoon on the Disney network called “Phineas & Ferb”. After he asked this 2nd question, there were more blank stares and confused looks. Now, I happen to know what “Phineas and Ferb” is because I watch the Disney channel with my little ones. But even I was like “WTF is he talking about?” After this question Stan responded that he doesn’t know of Disney’s future plans. The host of the panel then politely asked him to make way for the next person.
After the Q&A ended, we went back inside the tent and saw Ray Park was sitting at his booth by himself (which is a crime) so I got to chat with him and get a picture with him. He’s a very cool guy with a very cool accent.
After chatting with Park, 2 funny things happened, on the way towards the vendors, I bumped into Wil Wheaton who was walking from Artist Alley. I know who Wil Wheaton is but I don’t think I’ve ever seen him in anything. I chatted with him for a few minutes because he was on his way back to his booth. When I was browsing comics at one of the vendor tables, Michael Rooker of TWD, walked up next to me and began browsing books as well. I chatted with him as well but didn’t take up too much of his time because he seemed to want to look for books.
I then got in line for my photo with Stan Lee, which (Yay) I got but I looked terrible in. The line for Stan Lee was set up outside in the parking lot by the Hudson river. Between the wind blowing and the heat, I looked like shit by the time I had my photo taken. Also, the flash from the lens was reflected off my left eye lens and my right eye was closed. >:(. Still happy I got my photo though. That whole ordeal took an hour and change.
I then went outside to find a seat and saw the organizers getting ready for the Patrick Stewart panel. Needing a place to rest as well as deciding what to do next, I ducked into the Stewart tent. It was another funny & enjoyable panel with a lot of great stories by Stewart.
After that, it was around 5:00pm. I walked around some more but beyond walking past the celeb section (for the 15th time) or walking through artist alley or the vendor area again I didn’t have anything else to do. I had brought everything I wanted, seen everything I wanted, got pics, autographs, had fun, sat in panels etc… but there just wasn’t anything else to do. My brother left around 2:00pm to meet some friends so it was just me. With nothing left to do or see, I made my way out.
And that was that. The train station was close by so I got home in under 30 minutes. I was exhausted when I got home. Examining, my swag and the Sunday schedule, I opted out of returning the next day. There wouldn’t be anything there that I hadn’t already seen and I would’ve wound up just walking around the in circles with nothing to do but creeping out the celebs.
Best part about the Con was obviously getting the Stan Lee photo. The second best part: Not packed at all. Lots of free space to walk and move around. I hope Wizardworld comes back next year with more vendors and celebs.
Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 3:26 pm
by wolf_2099
Neal Adams is like that at every con, same set up away from everyone else and charges.
He is away because his table is huge no one cm fit him in artist alley.
Nice guy but paying for an auto is absurd.
He also does more shoes in a year than any other creator.
Posted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 4:48 pm
by Stocky Boy
I must get round to reading this, but thought I'd just mention since I skimmed Cam's post - yes, Neal Adams and his own mini shop! I've seen this twice now at London Cons.