RIP Wizard Magazine

This week Wizard Magazine called it quits. In this, the internet age, it certainly is a case of internet killed the magazine star. In a world where you can get all the latest comics news in just a few seconds, and also seconds after it happens - magazine that specialize in such are as much dinosaurs as the newspapers are. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not ringing the death knell for the newspapers yet, but the comics audience is predominantly a computer savy audience. A monthly magazine ain't gonna do it any more.

That said, Wizard had its time. There was a time when folks fought to get the first copies on the shelves. Everybody wanted to see the new interview, the new preview, the new poll, the latest who'd win, the photos from the latest film or even the letters column with the latest feud. Like I said, it had its time, but sadly those days are gone, lost to the much faster satisfaction of the immediate Twitter/Facebook world. Rest in peace, Wizard, you'll be missed.

Philadelphia Comic Con - Day Three

Another good day at the con. Here are a few observations about this year’s Philadelphia Comic Con:

~ As my buddy Ray noted, booth babes are back. There are the Suicide Girls of course. I’ve never been able to figure out what that is all about other than hot scantily clad women posing and vamping. This year there is also the massage station manned by hot female masseuses. To me, this seems like a step backwards. Just as we guys are finally getting our female significant others to come to these things, we are presented with a reason for them not to let us come. Not cool. Well, cool, but not cool.

~ I’m not a drinker so maybe this has been going on for a while and I just haven’t noticed, but has beer always been available at the comic con? It just seems like another bad idea to me. If you think a fat sloppy fanboy in a makeshift Batman costume arguing post-Crisis continuity is annoying – wait until you get him drunk.

~ There's a secret phenomen that happens at all comic book conventions late in the afternoon on Sundays, and Wizard World Philly is no exception. The dealers drop their prices, sometimes drastically. The thinking being that what they sell, they don't have to carry home. Lots of deals happening here today.

~ Friday after the show I went to the store and bought a whole package of hot dogs, a package of hot dog rolls and a Coke for the same price I could have had one dog and soda at the Convention Center. Wow. This is like going to the Wachovia Center or seeing a movie at Loews.

~ Oh my god oh my god oh my god! I saw the Batmobile, the real Batmobile!

~ Linda Hamilton does in fact have an identical twin sister who is local to the area. My question is – does she come to conventions and pretend to be her sister? I swear I saw a much younger looking Linda Hamilton on Friday than I did on Saturday. Just wondering.

~ Can someone tell me where they are giving away Stormtrooper armor? They must be giving it away because the Stormtroopers are everywhere. I think they are multiplying because there are more at the con everyday. I certainly hope they all used the little Stormtrooper’s room before the con because those things must be hell to take off. And doesn’t wearing a Stormtrooper costume sorta promote fascism anyway? Think about it. You know I’m right.

~ Khoi Pham is not only the nicest guy in comics, a featured guest at this con, and one of Marvel’s ‘young guns’ from last year, but also one of my favorite artists. I think he should be entered into the pantheon of great Avengers artists – along with Byrne, Heck, Buscema, Yu, Cho, Brown, Cockrum, Adams, Epting and the master of them all, Perez. Take a look at this terrific Mighty Avengers page I am now the proud owner of, and tell me otherwise. The dude rocks.

Thank you to Jerry Milani and all the folks at Wizard for putting up with us, our not-so-complimentary reports and of course for hooking us up with press passes. Thank you! Next year’s convention is already planned and scheduled for June 10-12 2011 – save the dates!

Philadelphia Comic Con - Day Two

When I’m wrong, I’m wrong, and when I need to eat my words I will, and based on today, it would seem that my observations about Wizard World Philly yesterday might have been a bit hasty. Seem.

Today was a much brighter and busier day than yesterday. Guests, and cosplayers and just regular fans and good folks were everywhere. Lots of costumes and happy con-goers abounded. This was an excellent change from yesterday.

Saw lots of the non-comic guests like Adam West, Bruce Campbell, Brent Spiner, John DeLancie, James Marsters, Linda Hamilton and a whole boatload of wrestlers. My buddy Ray tried to explain who all the wrestlers were to me, but it all went through my head like a sieve. I imagine that that is the feeling my wife gets when I talk about pre-Crisis and post-Crisis continuity. The scary thing about Ray is that he knows both comics and wrestling.

I shook Adam West’s hand and told him he was the reason I was there – that if I had never seen his “Batman” TV show I never would have picked up a comic book. He smiled, and I’m sure he thought “you poor bastard,” but he was nice about it. Nice guy, and looking hella good for his age.

In Artist’s Alley I ran into former Mighty Avengers artist Khoi Pham. We run into each other at every east coast con it seems. It’s cool, I’m a fan of his work. So much so that I was going to get a sketch, something I plan on doing every time I see him but forget. A couple moments at his table changed my mind and I decided I wanted a page of his Mighty Avengers more. I’ll post a pic after I buy it tomorrow.

Upstairs, Ray and I ran into a fellow con-goer who had also bought some art, some amazing Haunted Tank and Iron Fist pages. We immediately struck up an intriguing conversation, and not necessarily about comics or the con either. It struck me that this is what the con, any con, is really about – making new friends, and hanging out with old friends.

There were glitches today, mostly dealing with lines – lines to get in, lines for guests, lines for panels – but that’s besides the point. Today was good. Today was fun. This was a one hundred percent turnaround from my Friday experience. Of course, there was the revelation of no press room, but we hung out upstairs anyway. It was cool. Looking forward to tomorrow.

The Other Side of the Coin

Okay, I wrote over six hundred words yesterday about how much Wizard World Philly sucks. It never being my purpose to trash the con, let’s turn it around. How can we improve it? How can we save it?

The number one thing to be done, unfortunately I don’t know how to do, but you have to bring the comics people back. Get Marvel and DC back here. That Young Avengers announcement earlier this week should have been made at a convention, ideally this one, why didn’t it? Whatever happened to make the big two not be here has to be fixed. Get Image and Dark Horse here. Get Dynamite here – they are right across the river after all. Get the comics back and get the comics pros and guests back. Come on, it’s not a comic book convention without the comic books.

Befriend the comics press. In a world of Twitter and Facebook, they can destroy you before you even open your doors. I know for a fact that there are folks who did not come yesterday because they heard how lame the con was from Twitter. Whether it was true or not, they still did not come. You want excitement from the Twitterers, not derision. Use the tools. I saw many Tweets from folks at the con, but none from the con. Wizard should not only be Tweeting, but also replying to Tweets.

Embrace the press, don’t just befriend them. I can’t tell you how annoyed I was at the locked Press Room. Wizard was so proud about the number of press at the con, so why don’t you treat us better? Yes, I know you let us in for free, but how about just a little help along the way to giving you good coverage. Letting us know there’s a Press Room is a good start. Water and wireless would be a bonus, you’ll get high marks just for that. We’re cheap and easy. In a good way.

More outside events would be a step in the right direction. Let me tell you, there were folks like me who were disappointed by the con, but were sooo psyched about the zombie party and Kaiju Big Battel. More stuff like that would be fun. How about some bands or maybe stage shows? Perhaps even let folks know about that Philadelphia treasure next door, the Reading Terminal Market, instead of forcing them to eat those high-priced hot dogs at the Convention Center. Have some Philly pride.

These are just ideas, and they are given out of love. I don’t want to lose our comic con. I want it here for years to come, and I want it to be more popular and successful than ever before. Let’s do it.

The Last Wizard World Philly?

Comic Widows has been a guest of Wizard World Philadelphia since 2001. That’s right, before we were even a website about comics, before we had our vision clear, and we were filming a sadly aborted documentary called Comic Widows, we were their guest. That weekend of filming and interviewing folks about their experiences, whether they were an entire family all dressed as Thor to the baby-overdue woman outside the main room who didn’t “know nothing ‘bout no Green Lantrin,” was my first time at the show. At the time I was amazed and dazzled by the wonder of it all.

Now I don’t think it’s that I have become jaded, but in the last couple years, the con just isn’t what it used to be. There’s been a name change. It’s now the Philadelphia Comic Con. That’s notable. Not only does it invoke the New York Comic Con, the new gold standard for conventions in the industry, but it lacks the words Wizard World, almost as if they are bad words.

The last few years Wizard World Philly has had a hard time competing with Heroes Con in Charlotte, the same weekend, and fighting for guests. While they are not the same weekend this year, the Con is at the same time as the Philadelphia Writers Conference, and had the Flyers won, there could have been serious competition there in the city. And it’s no secret that Wizard has had some financial problems and it’s also fairly obvious glancing at a schedule that there are very few comics-related guests.

There are only two meeting rooms being utilized this year, not counting gaming, and only one was used today. Wow, that alone says something is wrong. There is no presence from DC Comics or Marvel Comics, so no breaking news, and if you were to take a peek at Newsarama – you couldn’t even guess that there was a major convention going on this weekend. What is the problem here?

Upon arrival and looking at the program guide I was again disappointed. Quite honestly, other than the “What You Need to Know” article, I have never seen a more useless program guide for a con. It barely even rates that title. The map of the Convention Center was more useful, and it makes me wonder why that information wasn’t in the guide?

The Press Room, that only a few people knew about, was locked for most of the afternoon. And while there were at least two friendly and helpful volunteers, the majority were either clueless, didn’t want to be there or didn’t care. Usually when I do a con report, I break it down by day, mostly because so much is going on on any given day. The sad truth is however, there was hardly anything going on today. I’m not paying for a photo or an autograph, and I’m not paying con prices for comics-related goods – so I am sadly leaving early. I have no idea what I will write about the next two days. Maybe it was a slow Friday, maybe not.

I hate disparaging the con, I really do. It is local, and I would rather have a lackluster con than none at all, but… this is kind of embarrassing. I don’t want to bite the hand that feeds, etc. I really wonder if this article will put me on some kind of blacklist for next year, and that this is Comic Widows’ last time at Wizard, but I gotta call ‘em like I see ‘em. I hope that this is not the last time in Philly, but it might be at this rate.

Next: The Other Side of the Coin – Let’s Save Wizard World Philly!

Fear and Loathing at Wizard World Philly ’09

Saturday. Met up with my partners in crime – Anthony, Andrea and Ray – just after Wizard World Philadelphia 2009 opened this morning. We hung out in the Green Room for a bit, subtly eavesdropping on Marvel Comics’ Bill Roseman giving portfolio reviews to potential artists. Lots of keen insight on what is expected of artists and how comics should be done was overheard. Quite the learning experience.

Also from the eagle eye view in the Green Room over the con floor we spied one lone Suicide Girl, Kyra, staring at her lap and texting on her phone. She was surrounded by comics geeks and fanboys who just appeared too scared or shy to approach her. It wasn’t until her fellow Suicide Girls showed up that people came up to the table. I guess there’s safety in numbers?

On the con floor whilst checking out Artist Alley and hunting for HeroClix and Marvel Super Hero Squad figures, we witnessed quite a nasty bit of poaching between booths. A woman from one booth came up behind me while I was at another to say she had all of a certain action figure line – come on over and see. I was incredulous, and even if she did have what I was looking for I wouldn’t buy it (or anything) from her now.

Something else to add to the list of things that had to be seen to be believed was when I was chilling up on the third floor overlooking the entrance to the con floor, just over the concession stand. Two guys in their twenties were taking pictures straight down Yancy Butler’s (“Witchblade,” “Mann and Machine”) low-cut shirt while she was getting a hot dog. I chastised them and told them they should be ashamed of themselves. It seemed to have little to no effect.

Over the last two days I’ve sat in on a few writing panels, and it seems really strange and enlightening to me that everyone has a different process. From Garth Ennis to Raven Gregory to Jimmy Palmiotti to Alan Moore – everyone has a different approach. Interesting stuff. I also want to add that Buddy Scalara who hosted a few of these panels was very enthusiastic, entertaining and educational. Great stuff, Buddy.

The DC Nation panel hosted by Dan DiDio, editor-in-chief of DC Comics, was intriguing. We got a rundown, followed by asking an opinion of the audience, of DC’s current big projects. DiDio called out Green Lantern, Batman, Superman, and when he asked about Wonder Woman, my buddy Ray took him to task saying he didn’t like it, and felt that there was editorial interference on the book – specifically DiDio’s. Ray also mentioned that he thought “Battle for the Cowl” sucked and was one of the worst comics he’d ever read – even worse than US 1. It was made a bit of joke and Dan turned to Ray throughout the panel to ask if certain projects ‘sucked.’

Justice Society was next, then Justice League, Teen Titans, and then a project I’m pretty excited about – Wednesday Comics. Then there was talk of another project that piqued my interest, a series featuring old pulp characters, including Doc Savage, the Spirit, Wildcat, the Blackhawks and maybe a few others, tentatively called First Wave written by Brian Azzarello and penciled by Rags Morales.

A question and answer session followed. There appears to be a surprising amount of support for more of the new Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters. There was some talk of Grant Morrison’s “Multiversity,” as well as speculation on two different Flash ongoing series. I was also amazed by an answer given by Bob Wayne, DC’s sales manager, regarding rising prices and titles per month. Apparently he thinks that this country’s current economic crisis is one big joke. Obviously the man gets his comics for free.

As my impression of Mr. Wayne sank, I must admit that my respect for Mr. DiDio rose quite a bit as the discussion he’d had with Ray continued outside the panel room for about fifteen minutes. With this amazing follow up Dan DiDio talked openly about how his job works and offered his thoughts as well as listening to those of others. Hell of a guy, great stuff. This made the con for me, seeing that the man wasn’t a monster at all but someone who is just like the rest of us – just with a much cooler job.




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Wizard World Philly '09 - Friday

This is two years in a row that Wizard World Philadelphia has been scheduled the same weekend as Heroes Con in Charlotte NC. This year, it looks like it may have bitten them in the ass. Just check the guest lists of both events and tell me which one you’d rather be at. Marvel and DC Comics have prominent presence in Charlotte, but not even a booth here in Philly. I think that’s very telling. And looking at the floor, not many people around, even for an industry day – there should be more of a crowd.

One of the first folks I ran into was someone who is definitely worth seeing - Mighty Avengers artist Khoi Pham. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, this is the nicest, coolest and most modest guy in comics. And he’s one hell of an artist too. Those who’ve read my reviews know I don’t throw out compliments easily. Khoi Pham deserves the praise, just check out his work.

Going to the opposite end of the spectrum, another note on the caliber of guests WWPhilly has been able to snag this year is Lou Ferrigno. Lou is at every con. Now he’s a special guest. Wow. He even has a panel this time. I’m guessing maybe a better manager or agent too. Remember if you do want to see him, bring cash, lots and lots of cash.

On my trip through Artist Alley the dangers of having a press badge once again became clear to me as folks jumped out as if in ambush to push their wares at me. I’ve decided after years of this that I like the quick and to the point approach. I like it so much, here’s a plug - www.kevinbolk.com and www.interrobangstudios.com - the woman handed me the card, said I might like the webcomics at the sites, and to have a great afternoon. I’m sold. The guy who wanted to tell me not only the history of his comic but also his life story – not so much.

I liked the first page cartoon in the convention guide by artist Ryan Dunlavey. It’s all about convention etiquette, and highly entertaining I’m sure for regular con-goers. I especially liked the bits about being lost in Artist Alley and not asking for autographs in the rest rooms. What I didn’t like was the concept that you cannot take off the wristband they tightly bond to your wrist – all weekend. I know what the stereotype is for comics and gaming fans (there are horror stories about this from GenCon) that they don’t bathe – but come on. How am I supposed to take a shower with this thing on? Mine’s coming off. We’ll see what happens tomorrow.

The Bride stopped by at lunch and we hooked up with friends Bryan and Paul. We checked out the autograph area and met Edward James Olmos and Erin Gray who were not only friendly and talkative but they also looked great. Ms. Gray was talking up an independent flick she’s in called Dreams Awake that sounded great.

Overheard at one of the food concessions between two women working the counter…

“That’s Chewbacca.”

“Who’s Chewbacca?”

She points him out to the other, “Over there.”

“That guy?”

“Yeah.”

“Nah, Chewbacca’s got way more hair than that guy.”


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Comic Widows Flashback NYCC 2008

On the eve of the 2009 New York Comic Con, please check out these articles from last year's show:

NYCC As It Happened

Swag from New York

The BloodRayne Fan Film

East Meets West: Ultimo

Mephisto Wins

Dual Reviews of Iron Man

WWPhilly As It Happened

Please check back here this weekend for updates from this year's New York Comic Con!

Wizard World Philly - Sunday

WIZARD WORLD PHILLY

SUNDAY

The day began much earlier than expected with a family breakfast at the Pop Shop, and no argument, it was a pleasant surprise. From there it was prep and travel time to WW Philly.

The first panel of my day was Prize No Prize hosted by Marvel editor Tom Brevoort along with Dan Slott, Molly Lazer, and C.B. Cebulski among others. This trivia contest is a hometown event, having started at WWPhilly two years ago. Grand prize – an advance copy of Secret Invasion #3 and a statue of Captain America, although many cool prizes were given out throughout.

My old Movies Unlimited co-worker Gary did pretty well here, almost as well as he did on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" a few years back. Can you name eight women who dated Peter Parker? How about nine Avengers who have never had their own title? Twelve mutants depowered in House of M? Then you should have been there. Try again next year.

Later I checked out DC Sunday Conversations: For the Love of Comics. I walked in late to what seemed to be an exercise in Dan DiDio (who was running it) asking when we all started reading comics. I have to admit a dislike for DiDio based on previous convention appearances but I also must confess the man showed a genuine warmness and openness during this panel. It’s a better look for him than his usual antics.

The discussion took a turn in the Aqua-direction. DiDio asked the audience, "Who is Aquaman?" and who did we like the most as he cited several examples. About the same amount of folks liked the green glove (original) version as liked the hook-hand version. A couple liked the blue costume. Only a few people liked the water hand Aquaman. Billy Tucci asked if he could breathe his own hand to much laughter.

Stemming from one fan mentioning he liked the writer’s JLA interpretation of the sea king, the talk turned briefly to Grant Morrison and how he can take even the lamest idea or character and make it seem cool. Even electric blue Superman. Somehow this makes me worry about Final Crisis.

Getting back on the Aqua-kick, DiDio mentioned he kinda liked the new Aquagirl quite a bit, and also verified that the latest incarnation of Aquaman was in fact the Golden Age version. It really sounds like DiDio is fishing (sorry, couldn’t help it) for ideas to fix or revamp Aquaman.

Next Dan went around the room asking for folks’ favorite obscure character. Ambush Bug was immediately brought up by my friend Skott Stotland. Others mentioned were G’nort, Vibe, the Metal Men, the female Dr. Light, and then Billy Tucci offered up Lord Malvolio with a story he wants to pitch. For the uninitiated, Lord Malvolio of the Green Flame is a Green Lantern baddie from the old (and much-missed) Action Comics Weekly who wore a copy of Alan Scott’s costume and destroyed Hal Jordan’s power ring.

This prompted DiDio to talk about the three kinds of continuity at DC. There are three levels. The first is immutable, can’t be changed, stuff like Krypton blew up and Bruce Wayne’s parents get shot. There’s a middle level of things that can be altered or played with, and then there’s the third level, where things are ignored or forgotten. He brought up the example of the Paul Levitz Legion of Super-Heroes where Superboy learns the Legionaires are really hundreds of years old. Levitz said of the tale, "I’m not going to undo the story, I’m just never going to mention it again."

In that third continuity category is where that Legion story goes, as well as the tale of Lord Malvolio. Shame. I’d like to see him come back, especially written by Tucci.

The two Cancelled Comics Cavalcade issues were brought up after someone mentioned the Freedom Fighters as his favorites and thanked DiDio for bringing them back. It took me a moment to process that statement as I don’t think the new version bears much resemblance to the original. What Freedom Fighters comics are you reading, dude?

Anyway, history lesson again – back in the 1970s, the 'DC Implosion' when DC expanded at the absolute wrong time and ended up having to cancel about a dozen existing or coming titles. To secure copyright on the cancelled material, DC produced two 'issues,' fifty photocopies each, of the stories that were already finished but not slotted to appear elsewhere. Two issues of the 1970s FF title were among them, along with good stuff like Secret Society of Super-Villains, Kamandi, Karate Kid and the first issue of Vixen.

When DiDio first joined DC the first thing he did was get those two issues and find out what happened in those comics from his youth that were never ‘really’ published. Pointing out that memory isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be, he noted those stories were crap.

A rather heated and half-joking discussion of who Batman was and if Nightwing should replace him was interrupted when Tom Brevoort came in and gave Dan a comic. Laughing, DiDio told the story of a comic book he couldn’t find as a kid, until he was on the bus to school and saw it on a spinner rack in a store the bus was passing. He got off the bus, bought it and then found he didn’t have enough cash to catch another bus, so he walked to school. That’s the Captain America comic Tom brought to Dan.

Tom B. then joined the panel. The Tiny Titans guys came in later to much applause. That’s when Dan DiDio asked the big question – why would anyone eat food from this building when the Reading Market is right across the street?

Comic Widows colleagues Crystal and Anthony showed up later as things were quieting down. Ran through the floor for some last minute bargains and to say a few hellos and goodbyes, and then called it a day.

Now there have been lots of reports on this con (and others) and personally, reading other accounts, I have to wonder... what con were they at?

Wizard World Philly - Saturday

WIZARD WORLD PHILLY

SATURDAY

After a bit of a late start I met up with Comic Widows co-horts Anthony and Ray. We began with a strategy meeting regarding some interviews planned for the day. And trust me, it was nowhere near as cool as it sounds, but we were taking it pretty seriously.

In the midst of our war council we also interviewed the young lady we were sharing the pressroom with at the time, Nicole Boose. We also learned she was with Marvel editorial and reviewing art portfolios at the con. Very cool lady, and pleasant informative interview.

As the pressroom overlooked the con floor we also did some costume spotting. From our vantage point we got to see quite a few good ones, and of course some bad ones as well. Among the former were several Marvel Girls in the Neal Adams green mini-skirt, a bright-green Riddler, a foam rubber Galactus, what might have been Nightwind from the Legion of Super-Heroes, Dr. Strange, the prerequisite dozen Stormtroopers that show up at every con, and a bald Robin. Also throughout the day there were many others spotted – a pair of Tomb Raiders, Zatanna, the cast of the new Indiana Jones flick, a baby Batgirl, a flat-chested Power Girl, and, ahem, a tranny Power Girl. And then there was also The Blob. Oh wait, that wasn’t a costume.

Then we hit the con floor and did a kinda noisy interview with Jared Barel of Loaded Barrel Studios. They do a startling and unique melding of photography and comic art that needs to be seen to be believed. They call it making 'live-action graphic novels' and it looks great. Check them out, it’s terrific stuff. I really did like their work, and really, it’s not just because they were giving out Twizzlers and Tootsie Rolls at their booth, but let’s be honest, that never hurts. Lessons to learned for other folks with booths at these cons.

After exploring the floor for a bit I ducked into the Crisis Now panel in the midst of questions and answers. Dan DiDio was in the house and mocking and ridiculing the characters we all love as if that was his job. Oh wait.

Several different things were addressed while I was there. When questioned on "Batman RIP," DiDio repeatedly said in staccato fashion, "Batman dies!" then rescinded, "Batman doesn’t die, but he’s gonna wish he was dead." Other items – the Milestone characters are not available for DC to use, but never say never. We will see Christopher Kent again. Apparently there is an unannounced Zatanna series coming at some point.

DiDio admitted that 2007 was not a year where everything was clicking as well as possible. And he added that it’s his job to make this year as great as possible. He also confessed that Steve Wacker leaving for Marvel was a huge loss for DC.

The Devil also said that Death of the New Gods was a celebration of Jack Kirby’s work on the New Gods. Wtf? Kill them to celebrate them? In answer to the next question, DiDio stated that Final Crisis will involve all Flashes. A fan asked "Even Bart?" and DiDio answered "All Flashes." Just don’t kill Jay Garrick like you killed the Martian Manhunter, okay? Bastards. And during the lightning round he answered "Yes." to the question of whether barry Allen was coming back.

Same room, a bit later, Cup O’ Joe with Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada, standing room only, much like the DC panel before it. In attendance – (duh) Joey Q, Fred Van Lente, C.B. Cebulski, Tom Brevoort and another person whose name I didn’t catch – he didn’t talk much and ran the slide show though. The slide show announced Marvel Zombies 3 where the fan fave monsters invade the Marvel Universe proper, due in September.

Old news came with slides depicting the new Devil-Slayer series by horror novelist Brian Keene and Stephen King’s The Stand also starting in September. Mystery pics of Lady Bullseye followed (and of course quickly leaked to the internet) who Ed Brubaker is introducing in Daredevil. Nice art, but seemingly just a female version of Bullseye. Yawn.

Um, who brought the baby to a panel? Who brought a baby to a convention? Please just make it stop crying. Great parenting there, folks. Although he/she stopped crying, I wondered if the wonder-parents were still in the room when J.Q. dropped an F-bomb later on in the hour.

Then came, predictably, questions and answers. There will be more Squadron Supreme, written by Howard Chaykin, with a demented twist, and Greg Land on covers. And no, Land on covers is not the twist. Speaking of twisted, there’s been a big secret in the undercurrent of the Ultimate Universe, to be revealed in Ultimate Origins. Something major in their lives is a huge falsehood. Maybe the secret of why Ultimates 3 is so late will be revealed.

More "One More Day" backlash reared its ugly head and Joe explained that all of Spider-Man’s history is intact, save that he and Mary Jane didn’t get married on their wedding day. Something happened and that story just hasn’t been told yet. Joe says he’s seen it and it’s great. In response to another question, Tom B said that Peter and his Aunt May did in fact live at Avengers Tower. Some racy humor about May and Skrull Jarvis followed unfortunately. Either way, Joe and Tom certainly seem tired of doing OMD damage control; it’s in their faces.

My friend Ray hit Joe Q with a good one. He referenced the difference between two Jack Kirby reprint volumes, one from DC and one from Marvel – the difference is that DC paid the Kirby estate royalties and Marvel did not. Joe kinda dodged the question, saying that he doesn’t discuss Marvel policy in public. He added that Marvel is currently working with the Kirby estate and that should speak for itself.

Other items included that Baron Zemo was coming back, and a new Thunderbolts writer has been chosen but unannounced – could these be related and Fabian Nicieza is coming back? There is a Runaways film in development with Brian K. Vaughn involved. There are possible plans for the female Bucky from the Onslaught universe. The sequel to Marvels is coming in October. Whoever is left at the end of The Twelve will remain part of the present MU.

Quesada coined the term "Marvel lifestyle" for the fact that now Marvel does their own comics, movies and videogames – in response to a question about digital comics. I like it. Joe also claimed that he thought Spider-Man 3 was a pretty good movie. "Maybe one villain too many." Wow, you said a mouthful, Joe.

At the close of the panel, the 18 carat gold Iron Man cellphone was given away. Over $1500 was raised for the Hero Initiative on the raffle for it. Great job, folks!

At this point, I was toast and had to go home, home to my super-cool Avengers glass that the Bride had gotten for me earlier in the day, and home to the Bride too, of course. But I’ll leave you with another quote, this one a bit dated, but it was shouted by a guy in a Nightwing t-shirt exiting the men’s room earlier this afternoon. "Hey, I found Ray Palmer!"

Wizard World Philly - Friday

FRIDAY

Well, I will say this right off the bat, getting in was a hell of a lot easier this time than previous years. I might even go so far as to say it was a pleasure. One hopes it goes as well tomorrow and Sunday when it tends to be much busier.

Upon entering the show floor that Wizard seemed to be so proud to fill earlier in the week, the one thing I noticed is that it seemed both empty and sparse. I’m sure that will change. Or not. I did learn later in the day that the place was so empty because hundreds of folks were still waiting in the VIP lines. Many were there for an extended amount of time apparently.

At the DC booth I saw that they were giving away copies of DC Universe #0. That’s right, for free. The book that originally sold for fifty cents and will be sold in reprint for a dollar, was free. I’ll leave you to formulate your own opinion on that.

The Mondo Marvel panel was first and included Joe Quesada, Tom Brevoort, Dan Slott, Greg Pak, C.B. Cebulski, Brian Reed, Duane Swierczynski, Fred Van Lente and was hosted by Joe Quesada. Immediately they threw out the new ideas coming from the House of Ideas. There’s a new X-Men miniseries called Manifest Destiny, a new Deadpool series, Greg Pak’s new origin of Magneto, yawn. Then they brought up Age of the Sentry, a limited series by Jeff Parker featuring a retro look at the Sentry’s Silver Age adventures.

Other than the Sentry deal, there is a noticeable lack of Avengers, Fantastic Four and Spider-Man news. And a sparse showing as well, due to the VIP thing, but then again it is the first panel of the day. Many things were discussed in an extended question and answer session, including one fact from the lips of editor Tom Brevoort, "Mary Jane (Watson-Parker) is not a Skrull."

A fan who didn’t like the new FF by Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch inspired an intriguing response from Brevoort in that not every comic will click with every reader, and that he was sorry it wasn’t working for the fan. Wow. I wonder if that kind of honesty could have come from, say, Dan DiDio?

Speak of the devil, after hanging out a bit with some friends, I attended the DC Nation panel. This panel was mostly held in dim light as host, DC Senior Editor Ian Sattler, didn’t want to be blinded by the spotlights used in previous panels. It should be noted that he never told us who was on the panel, but it did include J.G. Jones, Jimmy Palmiotti, Shane Davis, Art Baltazar and possibly Ethan Van Sciver among others. Like I said, who knows who was there – we were never told.

And although the panel was without introductions, the audience response to the slide show was very positive. It was noted that Final Crisis: Superman Beyond would be partially in 3-D. And of course the Power Girl slide couldn’t pass by without at least one inferred boob joke. Sigh. There are just to many men in comics. Too bad Amanda Conner wasn’t there. And from Palmiotti’s description of the series, I hate to say because I’m really looking forward to it, it sounds an awful lot like the way Brian Reed describes his Ms. Marvel.

And then the questions and some answers followed. A fan question regarding "Batman R.I.P.," brought up that no one has said that the caped crusader is going to die. No one knows what’s really going to happen, including a few of the folks on the mystery panel.

Another fan, who said he was a DC reader for more than four decades, brought up how dumb a villain Libra was – an opinion I personally don’t agree with by the way, and like him I also read the original Libra story when it first hit the stands. He asked specifically what is the reaction when someone says for the biggest story of the year, here’s Libra, an obscure lame villain. The answer – it depends on who suggests it.

An unnamed artist on the panel, possibly Shane Davis or maybe Ethan Van Sciver, said he’s been begging to do an Aquaman revival. He said he asks once a week, and that he walks into DiDio’s office holding a trident sometimes he wants it so bad.

Other questions yielded the following answers. Sue Dibny will be seen in the upcoming Final Crisis: Reign in Hell miniseries. Despite rumors to the contrary, Jim Shooter is still writing Legion of Super-Heroes, Rich Johnston be damned apparently. J.G. Jones verified that his script for Final Crisis #1 says that "Libra spears the Martian Manhunter through the chest and kills him." Bastards.

Also today I got to hang with some folks I don’t usually get to hang with as often as I like. Good friends and fellow Comic Widows staffers Anthony and Andrea were both on hand. I also hung with Abraham of the Avengers Forever Forum, and I also got to say hello to Michelle who I haven’t seen in ages and finally got to meet her husband Joe. Good times.

I’ll leave you folks with a quote for today, overheard on the convention floor. There were two older women browsing one of the t-shirt walls of an exhibitor and one said to the other, "Look, another Wonder Woman! I had no idea she was so popular!" Gotta love it.

Comic Widows - March 2008

Hi folks!

The March 2008 edition of Comic Widows is now online.

Comic Widows presents articles, opinions and reviews of comics in all forms of the media: mainstream and independent print, film, television, manga and anime, gaming and on the web.

Featured in this edition:

* Anthony Bosco reviews the Hellgate: London game and the new Captain America series.

* Glenn Walker reviews MegaSnake, HeroClix: Origins and the 1968 Batman Annual.

* Ray Cornwall interviews Warren Ellis about Doktor Sleepless.

* And we take a stroll down memory lane to last year's Wizard World Philadelphia with Glenn, Ray and Jennifer Walker.

Please check it out at: http://www.comicwidows.com

Comic Widows is also on MySpace and ComicSpace.

Thank you!

Glenn Walker
Comic Widows
http://www.comicwidows.com

Wizard World Philly - Sunday

Got a late start today and friend and fellow Comic Widows writer Anthony came along for the ride this time. The main thrust of the trip today was to attend the Avengers panel, so after showing the press room to Ant, trying to do some writing and helping myself to one of their kindly offered Cokes, I was off to Avengers-land.

In attendance: king of the Annihilation pimps Bill Rosemann, the gracious Molly Lazer, Jim McCann, CB Cebulski of Loners (applause) fame and of course, Bendis (who was late).

The panel began with (what else?) a slide show. We got to see House of M: Avengers again. They said that libraries and bookstores had requested more House of M because it were so popular(!). They pushed Avengers/Transformers really hard. It made me wonder if they were worried about this one, or just really proud of it. It’s got the pre-Civil War Captain America in it, now there’s a selling point.

Then we dived into Skrull territory. With the dead Electra being revealed as a Skrull in the most recent issue of New Avengers, the vibe has been – who can we trust? Who is a Skrull and who isn’t? Bendis pointed out that this has been going on for almost three years at least, referencing the “shadowy figure on page two of New Avengers #1.” Hmmm, I had always thought that was Nick Fury, but maybe it was the Skrull double of Nick Fury?? Nevertheless, Bendis said the Skrull story will come to a head early next year.

Next slide was about appearances of Tigra, Machine Man and Sleepwalker in upcoming issues of Ms. Marvel. The cover shown looked like a ‘catfight’ between Carol and Tigra. I’m glad my buddy Ray wasn’t there today. ;-)

The talk returned to Skrulls. Bendis put forth the idea that this was a great opportunity to get more for your money with your comics. You could re-read all the books from the last few years, play detective and look for clues as to who is and who isn’t a Skrull. What is out of character behavior because of a change of attitude, and what is a change because of Skrulliness? The Skrulls have always attacked with rayguns and spaceships, why should they when they are shapechangers and could just infiltrate us? This is especially viable with the state of the world today with terrorism and all that. Who can you trust?

Next up for me was the Marv Wolfman panel, which wasn’t really a panel at all, but just himself with a slideshow. He talked his career from fanzines to Warren to Marvel to DC and today. He of course spotlighted Tomb of Dracula, New Teen Titans and Crisis on Infinite Earths. When the slides were done he went to the room for questions.

Regarding Crisis Marv said he hated continuity. Continuity ties the hands of good writers with the stories of bad writers. Interesting. This was merely the first of many astonishing statements from Mr. Wolfman. He doesn’t read any series he’s written after he’s left that book. He never saw Deathstroke as a villain. He didn’t want to kill the Barry Allen Flash, that was forced on him. He thinks we are in the ‘real Golden Age’ now because we have so many truly talented people in the industry today. What about your generation and before, Marv? Told ya, astonishing.

Wolfman discussed his creation of the current version of Lex Luthor. He grew up in the 1950s where Luthor in his prison grays would escape every other issue, and thought the super-suit was a mistake, as Luthor would never be Superman’s equal physically. He surmised Luthor’s greatest weapon was his brain, so he should use it to conceive crimes he could never be convicted of. Also, jealousy not vanity would be why Lex hates Superman. Better idea, better motivation. He also praised Michael Rosenbaum for his portrayal of Luthor on "Smallville."

Marv talked of Dick Grayson and how he preferred Robin as the responsible leader of the Teen Titans rather than the jerky pun-spouting brat who was Batman’s partner. He said when the Bat-editors wanted Robin back he suggested they create a new one. They loved it, and came up with Jason Todd and Marv made Dick Grayson Nightwing. He didn’t care, as long as he got to keep Grayson.

He briefly discussed new projects like a new Superman series, and he just finished the script for the new animated Teen Titans movie. All in all, a pretty enjoyable if surprising panel of one. By that time, Anthony and I were hungry and beat. After a stop at Philly’s Hard Rock we were done.

I had a lot of fun and really wore myself out. I was stunned by the amount of folks who knew me, both from Comic Widows and especially Avengers Forever. I have to say that comparatively this was a smaller con than most Wizards I’ve been to. Perhaps New York and the Heroes Con in Charlotte are taking a bite out of Wizard’s reign?

Wizard World Philly - More Saturday

Next up was the Cup o’ Joe panel featuring Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Joe Quesada. Also in attendance were CB Cebulski, Tom Brevoort, Jim Rosemann and Jim McCann. As with all such panels, it began with a slide show. Images accompanied the announcement of the thrice-monthly Amazing Spider-Man, House of M: Avengers and the next big crossover, “X-Men: Messiah Complex.” There was also mention that Peter David would be writing She-Hulk which generated much applause. Other highlights were that Joe Q said Bendis had a man-crush on Luke Cage and Brevoort said the 'lost' Lee/Kirby Fantastic Four would -finally- be published in November.

The highlight of the panel was spurred by Comic Widows columnist Ray Cornwall when he asked a serious question about Marvel’s position on women in comics, with regards to the recent Mary Jane statue and "Heroes for Hentai" debacles. Somehow this prompted Joe Q to do an insulting yet entertaining imitation of Stan Lee saying, "I love hentai! They don’t call me ‘the Man’ for nothing!"

That Ray, buddy o’ mine, turned the discussion with that question. The next question came from a delightful woman concerned with the exaggerated anatomy (lips and breasts and hips) of late. Another woman questioned Marvel’s intent for making comics for female readers and why they don’t have more women on staff. Ray will be remembered, and loved by women comics fans everywhere.

Next I followed Quesada over to the Bendis interview. This was a live version of Brian Michael Bendis’ column at wizarduniverse.com, his questions for Joe Q culled reader questions online. The questioning began with talk of Joe’s weight loss. Emphatically, he’s okay, healthier than he’s been in some time.

Regarding change Quesada stated that the incest in the industry is stagnating it. Comics fans who read comics and grow up to make comics make the same comics they read as a kid. He said the industry has to evolve and find a new way of doing things because, "look around, we’re going out of business," it’s a matter of survival. It made sense at the time he said it, but in hindsight it felt like a slam at comics traditionalists and old schoolers.

When asked about the worst pitch he had ever seen, Quesada related a story of a proposal with many characters, featuring the Silver Surfer versus Jesus Christ and had a last page revelation of the villain – who was Freddie Mercury. Seriously. Hmmm, I don’t know, I’d buy that book, how about you?

Joe Q talked about his return to comics after he had discovered girls and baseball. After over a decade he was shown copies of Dark Knight and Watchmen, giving him something to aspire to. From there he told of his first job at DC doing the Dungeons & Dragons spin-off Spelljammer, and how editor James Owsley (now Christopher Priest) hired him on a million-to-one shot, making him the luckiest s.o.b. in the industry.

When asked if there was anything he wouldn’t do, in light of Spider-Man going public and Bucky returning from the dead – Bendis chimed in with "Spider-Man will never kill anyone just to get an erection."

On that note I should get out of here, but after the panel I got a chance to meet Bendis. He knew exactly who I was and offered props for my honesty, and he said he’d thought I was warming up to him lately. Well, that depends on the issue, doesn’t it? All in all, he seemed like a genuinely nice guy.

More tomorrow.

Wizard World Philly - Saturday

Lines around the block, so nice to walk right in avoiding both the crowd and the Stormtroopers, both in costume and out. The Bride and my friend and colleague Ray are with me today.

The costumes are here in force today. Lots of pirates and ninjas and Star Wars characters as opposed to superheroes though. Yesterday we had a Spider-Man and a hot sexy female Boba Fett, and the Suicide Girls of course, but that was a bout it. Today we have many variations of Spider-Man, of both the black and the red and blue persuasions (mysteriously no red and gold ones). There were quite a number of women with cleavage straight out of the Renaissance Faire (the PhilCon girls spring immediately to, um, mind) and also folks who seem to wear a costume every day of their lives anyway. Let’s face it, these cons attract all types.

The last time I was at Wizard World I attended the Steranko panel and it was my favorite part so I thought I’d check out the Jim Steranko and Carmine Infantino panel this time. The status quo was made at the start, that no stories that had been told before would be told today – all new stuff. And while there seemed to be a bit of disdain for the current state and works of the industry, they still talked some great stuff.

They continued a discussion the two men had started last night at dinner – the origin of the new look Batman. The books were losing money and were about to be canceled. Carmine came in, redesigned the costume, the Batmobile, simplified the whole look of the strip and the feel of the stories – that’s when Lamont Dozier saw the book on the stands and the rest is history.

From there other incidents were discussed where the two of them crossed paths.

Steranko talked of how he was the inspiration behind Mister Miracle. While visiting jack Kirby, the King wanted to know why there were so many magician super-heroes - what was the draw? - asking Jim because he was a magician. Although Steranko had no idea he did note that escape artists were more exciting with more sense of suspense, and got Jack a copy of his book about his own escapes. A few months later Mister Miracle appears. When visiting Carmine later, Jim was shown the book and told, “That’s you.” They also both talked about a project called “Rumbles” inspired by West Side Story. It would have been done by DC but they couldn’t meet Steranko’s price.

After the “Batman” TV show, Stan Lee tried to hire Infantino away for $3000 more than he was getting at DC. He was all ready to leave when Leibewitz took Infantino to dinner. They talked about everything but comics, and at the end of the meal he said to Carmine, “I always thought you weren’t afraid of a challenge, but you disappoint me.” Carmine said to him, “I’ll be in tomorrow morning.”

Steranko at the end of his run at Marvel wanted to do something different and experiment in style. “My Love Story” was a romance comic written by Stan Lee and Steranko illustrated it in an arty ad-style with very simple stark colors. Carmine was so impressed over at DC he bought a dozen copies, brought them into a writers meeting and said, “Top this or you’re fired.”

Carmine then talked about and confirmed something I’ve wondered about for many years. The Silver Age Flash is based more on Captain Marvel than the Golden Age Flash. He had tried to peddle a comic strip called Captain Whiz (based on Billy and named after his comic) and the Colors of Evil in the 1950s but no one would buy it. But when Julie Schwartz said they were going to try a new Flash, Carmine took all his designs for Captain Whiz and the Colors of Evil and they became the Barry Allen Flash and the Rogues Gallery. Cool stuff.

Carmine also mentioned ‘Marston’s book’ and at first didn’t want to talk about it but then relented. After his death the widow of William Marston, the creator of Wonder Woman, gave Carmine a book of his notes for the character. Regarding Marston’s apparent obsession with bondage, female superiority, fetishes, etc. – it’s all true. Everything in Wonder Woman comics meant something twisted. Wertham was right when it came to Marston and Wonder Woman, and don’t even ask about the little girl with the lollipops.

In the press room, Ray and I got to see Hayden Panettiere of “Heroes” fame. She is so tiny and thin that the picture of her on the cover of the Wizard World guidebook should say “actual size.” As a matter of fact when they say on TV, “Save the cheerleader, save the world,” there is a very real chance they really mean, “Give this girl a sandwich.” Seriously, I’m worried she’s not eating enough.

Wizard World Philly - Friday

I arrived late, for reasons I’d rather not get into, and was at first surprised at how empty it was considering the massive lines waiting to get in three hours after they opened. Same security folks it looks like. I guess the Wizard folks like these blackshirts. Early on I ran into my friend Rob of the Aquaman Shrine who was hunting down sketches. He was having a ball.

After walking the floor a bit I went to the Counting Down panel. While waiting for it to start I over heard a guy in his twenties talk about how he hated Flash and Justice League because of all the history involved. Man, was I in the wrong room.

The panel consisted of a few rather silent folks like editors Jim Califore, Eddie Bergenza, Mike Carlin and others and was moderated by Director of Sales Bob Wayne. And Countdown pins were offered as a bribe to sit through the whole panel. Talk about desperate, man.

There was a phone call made to Dan DiDio in Charlotte at the Heroes Con. That struck me as interesting. Heroes was more important that WW Philly? Wizard has taken a few steps down since the NY Con, eh? DiDio joked about Flash being cancelled with issue 13 and there being an All-Flash #1 coming shortly thereafter. There was much kidding about this, and it wasn’t until I got home and read them intranets that I found this was actually true, with Mark Waid returning as writer for the new series. You know it would be nice if these guys took their jobs seriously.

They discussed a few new things like Countdown to Mystery featuring Doctor Fate by Steve Gerber with Eclipso back-ups, a new Suicide Squad by John Ostrander, and a new Infinity Inc. with Steel and his niece. They also promoted the heck out of Countdown Presents, a six-issue series concentrating on the search for Ray Palmer. In the mini, Donna Troy, Kyle Raynor and Jason Todd explore the multiverse, including the Wildstorm universe, the Crime Syndicate’s Earth-Three and the vampire world from “Blood Rain.”

From there I snuck over to the Bendis panel just in time to hear him explain his theories on the return of thought balloons and to watch Mike Oeming and David Mack arm wrestle. No, I’m not kidding. Bendis really explained his use of thought balloons. And my first impression of Bendis in the flesh? A short Curly Howard, but a lot smarter, and almost as entertaining.

More tomorrow.