I'm going to Wizard World East in Philly next week

[Steviekick 0]

Next weekend I'm going to Philly to check out the Wizard World East show. I'll be posting all the interesting things I see/hear there in this thread and stuff like that.

 

I've never been to one as large as this, so what suggestions do you guys have for me?

[tbondrage99 0]

Well I have never been to one that large myself but I would have to say one thing you should do is grab all the free swag that you can. Oh and check out the indy comics if you havent seen whats on the go in the world of indy comics your missing out big time.

[starvenger 0]

A few things:

 

- Money. Bring lots of money.

- If you have one of those (smaller) camping backpacks then I suggest you use it. Otherwise, use a rolling carryon bag. Yes, you'll look stupid, but your arms and back will thank you later.

- Use antiperspirant and a body spray/cologne. Other convention goers will thank you.

- If you're there for more than one day, get autographs and such on Friday and Sunday if you can - the crowds aren't gonna be as large.

- If there's an artist that you REALLY want a sketch from, I'd suggest you get your name down on their list as early as possible. I'm assuming you know the costs and such.

- Saturday, go to the seminars, browse the tables, take it all in. Unless you're planning on seeing Eliza Dushku, in which case find out when and where she's signing, and check back every 15 minutes or so.

- If you're only there for one day, you'd better make a list of who/what you want to see and what you want to buy.

- Actually, I'd do that regardless. Gotta prioritize. Remember, there will almost never be a lineup to see Virgil (go figure), but Eliza Dushku and Alfred Molina will probably be a bit of a wait.

 

- Enjoy yourself!!

[Steviekick 0]

Thanks for the info, starvenger.

 

I'll be going all three days. I'm too poor to go on a real vacation, so this is as close as it gets. Just out of curiosity, i'm assuming that you can get autographs for free (otherwise the signer would seem like a complete tool). How much do sketch's usually run?

[starvenger 0]

Typically, a head and shoulder shot or a quick sketch will cost you nothing. If you don't have a sketchbook bring lots of backing boards.

 

A fuller, more detailed (and possibly inked) sketch can go from $10 to $100. This is generally because it takes time to do, and in some cases (like Adam Hughes, who charges the c-note) people allegedly will turn around and sell the sketch on eBay or something like that.

 

Personally, I've never paid for a sketch, and I've been pretty happy with the free ones. However, DO be prepared to shell out money for autographs of the Mass Media celebs...

[Steviekick 0]

Wizard World totally kicked ass. I'm going to post my story later. Thanks for the advise. THe sketching kicked ass.

[starvenger 0]

Wizard World totally kicked ass. I'm going to post my story later. Thanks for the advise. THe sketching kicked ass.

Cool. I'm looking forward to hearing about it...

[Steviekick 0]

Okay. Here's my Wizard World story...

 

DAY 1:

 

When I got there, I was totally overwhelmed by everything, and I propably wound up spending the first half hour just wandering and looking at everything. So much comic books and toys and related stuff. So what was the first thing I did? I went out and bought the exclusive Muppets from Palisades Toys...Adventurer Kermit and the Tuxedo Gonzo.

 

The first sigining I went to was Michael Turner's. Earlier in the day, a couple people came up with crates of stuff for him to sign, so from that point on you were only allowed 6 things. No big to me. Getting off tangent, I thought it was completely rude to expect someone to sign a ridiculous amount of stuff, especially when there is a large line behind you waiting. Anyway, I got him to sign the Superman/Batman where Supergirl comes back, and the promo poster he did for DC's Identity Crisis. Turner was very polite and his response for his favorite character to draw is Batman.

 

After that, I went over to the Marvel booth for a signing with Adam Kubert and Greg Horn. Kubert was very quiet. Horn was really cool. I asked him about his paintings, like how long they take and his work schedule. Basically he said he likes to get them done as quickly as possible, and will work 14-15 hours a day. What was really cool about Horn was that he was supposed to leave Marvel's booth, but whoever was next never showed up and he stayed there.

 

Then it was off to the DC booth. There was a big difference between Marvel and DC: Marvel's line tried to get you in and out as quick as possible. DC's was more inviting, as well as their staff. They answered all kinds of questions, had all kinds of advanced copies for you to look at, and giveaway posets, buttons, and all kinds of stuff. Just looking around their section I ran into Dan Jolley (the writer of the new Firestorm). He was really cool. I talked about the new series and such. He was very interested in my feedback and such. Anyway, I first waited on line to get stuff signed by Tom Raney, who was doing amazing sketches. He was putting 20 mins into each one and they were really detailed. I got a really cool headshot of Nightwing. It was well worth the almost 2 hour wait! Raney pretty much staid there for four hours and did great sketches for everyone. After him, I went to the other side of the line to get stuff signed by Ron Garney. I asked him for a sketch of the Green Lantern. He asked which one, and I said whatever he wanted. I wound up getting a really cool one of John Stewart. That pretty much was the first day.

 

Day 2

I planned on getting their earlier, but sleep was more important. I wound up getting in before noon. It was really busy that day; that was when ALfred Molina and Eliza DUshku were there. I stopped by Marvel to get some stuff signed by Salvador Larocca. I wound up getting a Wolverine sketch from Avenger's editor Tom Brevoort! Ha! I also stopped by Mirage Studio's tables and got a bunch of stuff.

 

I took Starvenger's advise and checked out the seminars. The first one I went to was for Devil's Due. They talked about their upcoming projects, like another GI Joe vs. Transformers, their collaboration with Aspen on a new GI Joe villain, their upcoming super hero line, and their horror special, Hack/Slash (I picked it up and it was a pretty good read. Worth checking out).

 

After that I was starving, as I really hadn't eaten anything since Friday. I wound up waiting for 50 minutes for a damn cheesesteak, and they messed up my order and gave me a Diet Coke. I was uberpissed, cause I was late to the Avengers panel and walked in after they explained this summer's big Avengers: Dissassembled storyline. I also became more pissed as I found out that I wound up losing the Deathbird action figure I purchased earlier that morning. Just as I was about to swear off humanity as a whole, they announced a "Stump Brevoort" contest where they were giving away rare variants of a Ultimate Spider-Man issue. I was fortunate enough to stump him and was happily given the comic from Joe Quesada. All was forgiven in the world. Afterwards I spoke to Quesada a little bit. He was really cool.

 

The day was finished by picking up the Aspen-designed exclusive GI Joe litho and getting it signed by Talent Caldwell and Jason Gorder (the guys who did it). I actually wound up talking about basketball with Gorder.

 

Day 3

The last day I spent buying stuff and just going aound wandering. I'll spare you the details of my purchases. The highlights was getting to talk to Michael Avon Oeming about his plans for when his upcoming run on Thor (he plans on getting rid of Asgard floating over NYC ), and getting a quick sketch of Loki from him. The other was the sketch I bought from Mike Norton at Devil's Due of the Cobra twins, Xamot and Tomax. It came out freaking amazing! I also got a few sketches from some inkers at Marvel and the guy who pencils the Robin series at DC. The day ended over at the Palisades Toys tent where they were having a trivia contest for exclusives. I won the variant Janice from the Muppets fig and it was signed by their creative team.

 

 

Basically, I had an amazing time. I bought a lot of cool stuff and can't wait for next year. Highly reccommended.

[starvenger 0]

I knew I forgot to mention something. I always bring water and one of those "energy" bars with me to these things, because otherwise I'd never eat.

 

Anyways, I HATE those people with 50+ items for an artist to sign. Maybe you do like the artist that much but it's completely disrespectful to everyone behind you.

 

What was your final cost for sketches, btw?

[tbondrage99 0]

Man that sounds so freckin awesome that I cant even put it in words. I would give my pinky toe to talk to Joe Quesada for even a minute, I know he has to hear it all the time but I would just have to throw my comic idea at him, though I know it would do no good its not Marvels style.

[Steviekick 0]

All the sketches I got were free except for the Norton one. It was $25, but it was a full quality, pencilled and inked.

 

Quesada was really cool. Basically I just asked about their TPBs and stuff.

 

Kinda related, I forgot to mention that I also got to talk to Jimmy Palmiotti over at the DC table. He was pretty much sitting by himself while everyone was getting stuff from Raney and Garney. I went over and talked to him for a bit about him making the transition from inking to writing. He said he enjoys the challenging that writing brings, but really loves to ink. He finds it relaxing.