02 June 2008

Wizard World Philly

Well this past weekend I attend Wizard World Philly. It was a really good convention and I had a fantastic time. I went in thinking that it wouldn't be as good as NY Comic-Con but I really enjoyed myself.

I went on Friday and picked up my badge and did a quick walk through of the convention. There were a lot of booths and a got some good pins at the DC booth. I was pretty tired from spending most of Friday at the King of Prussia Mall so I didn't spend that much time at the con.

I spent all day Saturday at the convention. I started out the day by walking through the convention and hitting up the major booths (DC, Marvel, Top Cow, etc). I got some good free comics. Vertigo gave out the first Issue of House of Mystery and it is very good and interesting. I am definitely going to pick up the next issue, because it has my interest. 

After walking around the booths, I went to the J.G. Jones career retrospective panel at 11 a.m. J.G. was the Guest of Honor, and his panel was awesome. I was surprised that not that many people turned out to the panel, but I think that was because it was so early and people were still getting into the convention. They started out the panel with a slideshow of some of his work. After the slideshow, J.G. discussed what was going on when he was creating different pieces and some interesting facts about the art. It was great to hear his thoughts on his work. After the panel he was nice enough to sign for the fans that where there and he signed my copy of Wanted (which I can't wait for).

The next panel that I attend was for Marvel's Secret Invasion. Secret Invasion is one of my favorite comic series of the season, and it was great to see what was going to be happening in the series in the next few weeks. The cover for one of the upcoming issues was amazing, it was Captain America, Iron Man and Thor and the caption read Reunited. The crowd went wild at the sight of this, and all I have to say is how excited I am. I hope the real Steve Rogers comes back, its just not the same. Another cover has Nick Fury on it, and it will be good to have him finally back. I believe he is on issue 3, which comes out this week. The panel was awesome, Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada was moderating the panel and along with Tom Brevoort answered most of the question about SEcret Invasion. Also in attendance were Brian Reed, Dan Slott, Fred Van Lente, Greg Pak, C.B. Cebulski, and Arune Singh.

During my lunch break I decided to walk around Philly since it wasn't raining. I walked all the way from the convention center to Independence Hall. I really wanted to see the Liberty Bell, but there were no more tickets available, so I walked back to the convention center to have lunch.

The final panel that I went to was Cup O' Joe with Joe Quesada. In this panel they answered the fans questions about anything in the MU. However most of the answers were to keep reading. Some interesting announcements were that: the next Stephen King comic would be The Stand, Daredevils new enemy would be Lady Bullseye, and finally that Marvel zombies would be crossing over into the MU. It's going to be a good year for Marvel comics and a lot of interesting comics are coming out. After the panel, I was able to get Joe Quesada's autograph on Invincible Iron Man Quesada Sketch variant, so that was awesome.

I went back to the convention floor after the panel, I found some great buys. I was able to get the first three Y: The Last Man TPBs for 20% off which was awesome. I already read the books and they are so good, I can't wait to get the rest in the series. I then stopped by the Marvel booth, since they were giving away a bunch of swag, and I got a free comic which was cool, except it was one that I never heard of or that I was interested in. After that the convention ended and I went back to my hotel to get ready for dinner. I went to eat at the Hard Rock with my Aunt, and that was great. I love the Hard Rock, especially since they have the best pins, which I purchased an awesome teal one.

On Sunday I also spend the whole day at the convention, but I was running a little late and didn't get there til close to 12. I immediately went the Marvel: Prize no prize panel. And one lucky fan walked away with the new issue of Secret Invasion. The questions were super hard, and after getting the final one right, the person deserved the issue. I unfortunately still have to wait til Wednesday for my copy. I walked around the Convention a bit, and I went to a J.G. Jones signing at the Top Cow booth. I was able to get him to sign my copy of Final Crisis, a Flash poster, and my TPB of Y: The Last Man. He was such an awesome guy, and pretty funny. He talked about juggling cats, which was amusing. 

I went to 2 more panels, a DC discussion and a Marvel discussion. It was great because the fans were able to talk about what they liked about the comics, characters and reminisce about how comics have affected them. At the end of the DC panel, Batman pins were handed out, and at the end of the Marvel panel, a free issue of X-Men legacy was handed out. I just love free swag. After the final panel, I went back to the convention and got for back issues of Colossus: Bloodline for $1. It was amazing how cheap everything went by the end of the day. After that, I met my Aunt, and we drove home from Philly. It was an awesome weekend and I can't wait for my next convention.


Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting


Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting


Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting


Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting


Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting


Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting


Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting


Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting


Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting


Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting


Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting


Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting


No comments: