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Wizard World Chicago/Chicago Comic Con was August 19-22 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, IL.

Oh how do we brace ourselves for what we are about to be told? Lets start from the very beginning of the day. So I get up around 6 as usual, that is when I get for work and, well, it was Friday, so I was up early. I was excited, I had been waiting to go to another show since C2E2 came through. The problem here was I had to drive up to the show. See, I typically head up with my brother in-law Jimmy, or my buddy Kenny. Well Jimmy was sick and said he didn’t want to go so he could save for New York Comic Con. That’s fine, no biggie. Kenny’s story though is much worse. I had put in for my press pass way back in May, so I knew I was already good to go. Well we submitted Ken’s in June, yet they never confirmed it. So as the weeks went by they never responded to his emails asking if he was good or needed to grab a ticket. Well here we are two weeks before the show and another one of the managers at his store quit. So now he has to know on the spot, almost, if he is in or not,  otherwise he has to go to work. Well still receive no answer from Wizard so he went to work. So now here I am having to go it alone, which is fine, but I’m not big on driving my truck long distance, due to the mileage I put on it back in college; I mean it’s a 2000 and its held up great but I still like to take’er easy nowadays.

Alright so now we’re back on track, and pictures are coming soon, I promise. So I planned on leaving around 9-9:30 to head up there, ’cause it’s like an hour-hour and a half drive, and I needed to wait in line for the press pass; I just wanted to get it over with early, snap some pics etc. So off I go at 9:30. I am getting really close to the show, and if anyone takes 294 up there, they know that the O’Hare Oasis is right before the exit. So I was like I’ll stop and go to the bathroom,  eat my sandwich, then head over. So I park, go in, do what I gotta do, come back out and go to start the truck. Nothing. it’s dead as can be. I was honestly screaming in disgust. I knew not to take the truck, and here I was screwed and stranded. Luckily I had jumper cables. So I asked a gentleman who parked in front of me if he could give me a jump. He was kind enough to do so, but it wouldn’t turn over. So I started thinking it might not be the battery, but the starter. So I called Amy (my wife) and had her look up a tow service number. I should also mention that one month before going I dropped my Triple A coverage, as living in a small town, they take forever to do anything out here. Plus, I only used it once, and they sent a tow from Chicago! I laughed as it’s such a far drive, told them to skip it, and ended up calling the guy down the street.

Okay off track again. So anyways, I call the tow truck, then go in and wait. It takes 1 hour for the guy to show up. So it’s now about noon and the show is opening. I was only 4 miles away, but at this point I was like, “Well lets get it looked at and just go home.” So we get the truck loaded and then have it towed right up the street from the show.

So the tow guy takes off after I pay him $107!!!! It was a 5 mile tow!!!!!! ARGH!!! So now here I am at the “shop”: it was a mobile gas station with a garage, basically. The kid hooks my truck up and just tells me it’s the battery. I was so happy! Then I say how much? He tells me $157. I was mad again! But what choice did I have? So he threw the battery in and I was on my way. I figured since I was right down the street I would just go to the show and try to cheer myself up.

So basically I got into the show for free but it still cost me $260+ to go!

Alright, so here I was at the big Wizard World Chicago! Ready to indulge in the “comic” (haha!) goodness at 1:30.

The first thing I did was make my way past all of the “celebrity” tables and head straight to Artist Alley. There I met up with my buddy Jeff Balke. He said he did well on Thursday and if things stayed that way, it should be a good weekend for him. So it was good to see a friend and leave those awful events behind me.

From there I called my buddy Big D, who I was meeting for the first time. I found out where he was and headed over to finally meet the other member of The Living Corpse Road Crew. We chatted for a bit then I headed back over to Artist Alley.

I was walking around and I got stopped by these two guys who gave me a great sales pitch on The Do-it-Yourself Guide to Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse, which I really wanted, but with the truck mishap I had to pass. I will get it off of Amazon.com for sure though. They seemed kinda put off when I had to pass on it, but hey, I was already out $250 and I only took $50 to the show anyways.

So from there I found the awesome duo of Raf Nieves and Dan Dougherty, who were rocking the AWESOME BOOK, Bob Howard: Plumber of the Unknown, as well as The Apocalypse Plan and Rotten. I had blast talking to these two guys and could have stayed all day just yapping away, but I did have to move on. Reviews coming soon of all 3 books, and we’re going to setup some interviews.

So from there I wandered some more and found my CR buddy Eric Adams! We chatted for a bit and I will say I did give in and bought a copy of Lackluster World. Everything about it just intrigues me so I had to grab a copy. He also had the prime spot next to the bathroom.

There were a few people I dropped off business cards with to set things up in the future, but other than that I really felt it was kind of a lot of painters in the Artist Alley area. I guess I didn’t find it to be really awesome. So going down the last aisle I came across Francis Penavic and Rich Perez, who have an awesome looking book I can’t wait to review, Descent of the Dead. I look forward to helping spread the word on this one.

So from there I had to make my way all the way back up to the Avatar booth and grab my Crossed exclusive cover. So off I went way back to the front of the room. I got up there and grabbed my 2 copies, and then got them signed by Matt Martin, of Snowman fame. Had a nice chat with the man as well.

From there I headed back towards the sellers booths and stumbled across the fact that Josh Medors was in attendance! No listing of him anywhere. So I stayed and chatted with him. He is friends with the ComicMonsters.com  guys, so I introduced myself and explained who I was- you don’t want to come off as a stalker kids!

From there I kinda just started to walk around and look for deals. I didn’t find too many; maybe a book here or there. Below is a picture of what I ended up with. The steal of the show was the Popgun Vol. 3 for $5, but I spent less than $50 on everything.

So it was getting to be about 5 and I was honestly done. I had talked to whom I came to talk to, and bought all I could really find. Oh, I will add that I spoke with Kyle Vargas and I think Dan Con 2011 is going to be happening in Feb 2011!!!! YAY!!!

So I had one more person to meet up with and that was my buddy Dave. He had just texted me so I went to find him. We chatted for awhile; he is a big Deadworld fan too, so we had plenty to discuss, haha. Then I was ready to take off, so we went back to say bye to Jeff Balke and Big D. While walking back towards the exit, Big D spotted this rare gem for me. He told the guy, “Give me that Iceman for $5 and a sharpie.” So now I have an autographed, one of a kind, Toy Biz Iceman signed by the Big D himself!!!

So we parted ways with Don and Dave and I headed towards the exit, when we heard a commotion going on. We looked to our left and 2 girls in “school uniforms” were cheering. Then it hit me. I had forgotten to come by the Antarctic/Bad Kids Press booth!!!! So I waited for the show to stop and then went and talked with Barry Wernick about what is going on with Bad Kids Go to Hell. A lot is coming up and an interview will be too. I won’t spoil anything for now.

So yeah, with that conversation over I said bye to Dave and headed out the door. Got back to the truck (it started!!), and was on my way home.

So without breaking down the day again, it sucked. The show, while awesome in the Artist Alley area, sucked when it came to guests and deals. I don’t care about celebrities. I don’t like the fact that society thinks people are above other people. Plus I work hard for a living and don’t get millions to read a script for 3 months. Ahh I’m going off on a tangent again.

Alright, a breakdown of Wizard World Chicago:

Getting to the show: F
Artist Alley: B
Sellers: D
Guests: F- (Blago was there Saturday, come on really? In Chicago you want to bring in someone people here hate?)
Show Overall: C

Sorry I rambled so much. I even left out 2 of the greatest and funniest stories ever seen, but they both happened in the bathrooms.

Decapitated Dan
decapitateddan@comicattack.net