Hello Chums,
As I have written before, I love comic book conventions. So going to Wizard World Texas is always a priority. This year it was held Nov. 16th - 18th. Unfortunately fellow convention attender Scott couldn't attend that weekend. After much debate, I decided to attend for one day only. Hearing of my one day plan, Buck (owner of New World Comics) decided he could go too.
We left OKC at approximately 0830. Driving down to the "Texas Metroplex", we talked comics, action figures and the finer points of running a comic book store. We arrived at the Arlington Convention Center at about 1130. Of course, we then had to stand in line for 30 or more minutes. And then the doors opened.
At first I couldn't believe my eyes. Where were all the "cool" booths? Gone were the three 1/2 price trade booths (NOOOO!!! SAY IT ISN'T SO!!). No Dark Horse Booth. No Aspen booth. No Whiz Kids booth (who cares). No Spike TV booth (yes! that booth is always annoying). No IFL (independent fighting league) booth (another yes!, why were they ever there to begin with?). You get the idea. Of course no Marvel or D.C. booths either, but they were not expected.
Basically, what makes that show a decent show (for me) was gone. What happened and why this year? Who knows? The programming has always been VERY light. In the past, a lot of quality guests have been grossly under utilized. But that's never affected attendance. That never caused retailers not to show. Did they raise the table rate? I don't know. Something kept them away though.
Now for the programming. I took four items to get signed. All drawn by Darrick Robertson. Of course he didn't make it. The excuse I got was he missed his flight. But if he's suppose to be there for the whole weekend, couldn't he catch the very next one? Are you telling me there is only one flight from NYC to Dallas for the whole weekend? And that flight is in the wee hours of Friday morning? Totally ridicules.
But the show was not a complete loss. There was plenty of cool comics, toys, prints, graphic novels and trades to see and buy. I talked to a few artists in artist alley, including cover artist Joe Jusko. Uncanny X-Men artist Billy Tan was there. But where was the Ed Brubakers, David Finchs or the Michael Turners? Who Knows? And did I go to any programming? No. There was none worth going to.
At about 1400, We took a break from the show and had lunch at Steak and Shake. Good food and better than spending $10 or more on crappy con food. Then we were back to the con for any final purchases.
We meandered around the con until about 1730. Then it was off to Half Price Books (my favorite book store). If you like books at all, check out a Half Price Bookstore sometime. Their selection is incredible. After picking up a couple of books there, it was time for dinner.
1900: Dinner at my favorite Texas restaurant, Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen. If you like Cajun food, this place is a must. I had the "mixed seafood grill", delicious!
2030-0015: We drive back to OKC talking about the con and the events of the day.
So it sounds like the trip might have been a bust, right? Wrong. I can't speak for Buck, but I had a fun time. Sure the trip would have been way too long if I had went for the entire weekend. There just wasn't enough to do. But this size show was great for one day.
What more could you want from a one day trip?
See you at the cons.D.L.
2 comments:
Hey, New Orleans was pretty cool!
The con organizers for Wizard need to be beat! They have cons with tons of talent and completly blow it on the panels. They need to work a little harder on this or Wizard World texas is gonna vanish.
And that's sad. Dallas (Sorry Texans, Dallas/Arlington/Fort Worth is all Dallas to me) is the 4th largest comic market in the country. For them not to have a first class con in every respect is a shame.
The Arlington venue is a decent /place to have a con. But the organizers need to focus on getting more vendors and better panels before it's too late!
Scott, your completely correct. Wizard has gotten in a lot of nice talent through the years in Dallas, but they have managed to piss it away. Do you think they have ever heard of a creator spotlight? I mean Joe Jucko was just sitting there at his table with nobody around bored stiff. He could have been in a creator spotlight panel talking about painting or cover design. That is one small example of the many talented (known) creators who could have been used to get people off the main floor and see or hear something new. Without quality panels, the show becomes just a market place that you can easily see in one day.
The Dallas market is perfect for a large con. After the show each night there is plenty to see and do. But you have to make your con worthy of a three day weekend. If its not and people go home after the first night then the attendence will drop off. Thats when vendors stop showing up. Then the con drops dead.
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