Months away from GeekCon, Madison finally has a spring fan convention of its own. The Wizard World Comic Con came through Madison this past weekend, bringing a slew of vendors and celebrities into the Alliant Energy Center convention hall. Walking in, a young girl called out to her father, “You’re breaking the law! You can’t be both Superman and Batman!” It set the tone for a sweet event.
I’ve been to the Wizard World’s home event in Chicago, their largest event; in fact, I was effectively given an all-access tour by my childhood friend Jeff Wexler, who would go on to be the director for the convention’s film festival, beginning just last year. Luckily for you, readers, the convention did not bring the film festival to Madison, so my wholly compromised coverage is down a target. But the previous experience did offer some insight into the nature of Wizard World, giving me an edge in navigating their floor.
Wizard World is primarily a convention for geek fandom. “Wizard” refers to a magazine that grew into popularity in the ‘90s, that being “Wizard Entertainment.” “Wizard” highlighted gift guides in geek culture, along with reviews of films, comics, anime and video games. The magazine gained enough traction to lead to the convention.
The Madison convention currently hosts a handful of the mainstays of its kin. A vendor area offers collectibles that otherwise might be hard to find or covered with additional expense. An artist’s gallery allows fans to interact with artists and purchase prints of their work, with some offering an opportunity to hire for commissions. A gaming area is dedicated to tabletop games, offering a Magic: The Gathering tournament as well as an extensive library of every board game you won’t find in a cabinet alongside Monopoly.
One quick aside on the vendor area: We’re at an interesting impasse in fandom mementos. The mainstream plush, figure and collectible market seems to have dissipated as media becomes more and more disparate. Additionally, mass-produced generic figures (specifically, Pop! Vinyl Figures are ubiquitous) remove a lot of the fun of finding your favorite character as a memento to take home. Meanwhile, online retailers like Etsy and Pinterest offer new ways to bring your favorite fiction into your home, with a more personal touch. There’s still plenty to enjoy at the con! I don’t mean to say things are dire as of yet. But it’ll be something to watch as years go by. Maybe vendors will start to blur with the artist corner.
The most infamous draw is probably the celebrity meet and greets. Actors like Ernie Hudson, Jason Mewes, Billy Dee Williams and William Shatner offer fans a chance to chat, take photos and sign autographs. It’s a procedure foreign to many of us who don’t regularly follow convention culture, but there is certainly appeal to meeting your heroes, even for a brief time. Notably, my previous Wizard World experience involved being carted around to spend a few extra minutes with actors from Clerks, the Star Wars prequels, Illinois ex-Governor Rod Blagojevich and a brief encounter with a Adam West and Burt Ward. The takeaway has to be that these people are, well, pretty nice and good at meeting their fans. The most bizarre element is probably the evaluation of who deserves a long line and who doesn’t; to meet Bruce Campbell in his smoking jacket would be an hour wait and forty dollars for an autograph. Lou Ferrigno and James Marsters were never surrounded by more than two or three people. Each smiled and seemed friendly.
Perhaps more interesting and rewarding was meeting with the artists. Certainly amiable and there simply to meet people, I got to have a great conversation with animation artist zzyzzyy about our new favorite series “Hunter x Hunter,” as well as a conversation about women in comics in the ‘90s and the current state of romance and western comics with Barbara Kaalberg, who’s working with Charlton Comics to revive the style. Offering more than just a memento, these are artists like any others, looking to share the love they have for their medium (though you can get some good posters from them, too).
Perhaps the only frustrating thing about Wizard World’s first year is that there wasn’t a whole lot else to do. A panel or two, run by fans, artists or guests (including game developers from Madison’s own Raven Software and Marvel Comics head Rob Liefeld) would come every couple hours, and the show floor held an inflatable zombie shooting range next to its gaming area. A couple parties took fans out near the South Transfer Point after the convention for drinks, convenient for me and not a single other UW student. Saturday night also offered a cosplay contest, the purest convention experience.
Otherwise, the attendees were left to wander the vendor areas, take pictures of cosplayers and with celebrities and try to strike up a game of “Ticket to Ride.” Other conventions have offered fan meet-ups, video game tournaments and play areas, the aforementioned film festival and worked with community fan groups to bring events to life. Heck, even a larger space for fans to gather and relax would help; even with the first year’s lighter attendance, there wasn’t a ton of room to breathe during the more popular Saturday event.
It’s Wizard World’s first year in Madison, meaning there’s certainly time to develop relationships and create new opportunities for fans to gather. Right now, they already have a great foundation, gathering a strong contingent of vendors, celebrities and artists to host engaging panels and to attract the crowds. In its current state, Wizard World is a great day trip; next year, I’d love to see them make it a great weekend.
