This past weekend, I had the extreme pleasure of attending the Wizard World Philadelphia 2013 Comic Con. The Convention was held in several halls of the Philadelphia Convention Center, one of the most beautiful convention centers I have ever seen.
Wizard World Comic Cons are some of the best known and most talked about genre gatherings and it is easy to see why. This show was well organized, both in physical layout and in the scheduling of the day’s varied events. Wizard World had many, many representatives on hand, both paid event staff and volunteers, to answer any questions or to address any concerns. Lines for the various celebrities’ autograph and photo opportunity booths were expertly maintained with volunteers at several points to keep the eager fans moving in an orderly fashion and ensuring that no one cut any lines.
The Wizard World Philadelphia 2013 Comic Con program bookletThe massive sales floor was evenly spaced out with ample room for each vender to display their wares. The aisles were wide enough to allow large masses of con goers to look at the vendors’ tables on either side without blocking traffic down the middle. Vendors’ tables were stocked to the gills with all manner of sci-fi / comic / horror / fantasy / etc. items from the entire timeline of their respective genres. Comics from the industry’s “Golden Age” sat side by side with releases from last week, true “Vintage” “Star Wars” figures were shoulder to shoulder with their modern release counterparts, and import items from around the globe shared space with their domestic release brethren. Just about everything a genre fan could want was on hand, and most items were very reasonably priced as many vendors had items priced to move as “show specials”.
Some of the many great vendors' exhibiting at the show.One of the main draws of this convention was the show exclusive “The Walking Dead” Issue #1 variant cover reprint given to all full price ticket holders. Sadly, I was not able to obtain a copy for myself as my Press Pass did not qualify for one, but I was able to peruse the copies my two traveling companions received and they are truly great souvenirs from the show. The book’s cover artist was on hand inside the show to autograph the books for a small fee which made for some nice synchronicity. These books were a hot commodity with dealers inside offering prices from $5-$10 each and desperate non-attendees outside offering nearly twice that to attendees for their copies.
"Doctor Who" fan Michael McDonald enjoying his encounter with a full sized Dalek at one of the dealers' booths.Every good con has an “Artist Alley” where genre artists display their work and meet their fans. This year had a veritable army of illustrators in attendance, the highlights being comic book legends Bob Layton and Michael Golden. Several publishers were also represented including hot talent like FUBAR Press (
www.fubarpress.com), publishers of several great volumes of historically-themed zombie tales.
FUBAR Press's booth.The major draw of modern genre conventions, despite their being called “Comic Cons”, are not the comics themselves but the Hollywood celebrities in attendance and Wizard World Philly did not disappoint. Genre legends such as Marvel Comics’ Stan Lee and “Star Trek”’s one and only William Shatner were on hand to meet their fans, sign autographs and pose for pictures. Other celebrities on the floor included several cast members of AMC’s red hot “The Walking Dead” (actor Norman Reedus, a.k.a. crossbow wielding zombie killer Darryl Dixon, had by far the longest lines all day long and actually had to do an after hours signing for the almost 400 fans - including myself - still waiting when the con closed at 7pm), several “Firefly” / “Serenity” stars, the cast of “Charmed”, and other genre luminaries both old and new.
My Norman Reedus autographed 8"x10"One of the many things that con attendees look forward to at these shows are the cosplayers (costumed fans) in their elaborate genre costumes. The Philly show had no shortage of these dedicated fans in costumes that ranged form heroes known to the general public (Captain America, Batman, Spiderman, etc.) to obscure characters that only genre diehards would recognize (Manbat, Stryfe, etc.). The workmanship on many of the costumes was fantastic, with fans going for an accuracy to the source material that put Hollywood’s best cinematic efforts to shame. Several cosplay groups were even using their fantastic costumes to raise money for charity like the well known “Star Wars” cosplay group, the 501st, who had a “shoot a trooper” booth where attendees could fire NERF darts at various types of Imperial Troopers for a nominal fee.
Some of the amazing cosplayers at the show.I would be remiss if I didn’t say a few words about the Philadelphia Convention Center itself before ending this review. The Philadelphia Convention Center was by far the cleanest convention location I have ever attended a show at. There were custodial workers everywhere constantly sweeping up any litter and several waste cans were located at the intersections of most aisles and they were emptied out repeatedly during the day. The con was also extremely well ventilated so there was none of the usual “con funk” (accumulated body odor from thousands of attendees) encountered at most of the cons I have attended over the last 30+ years. I would gladly attend another function at this great Convention Center.
In closing, I thoroughly enjoyed my experience at the Wizard World Philadelphia 2013 Comic Con and am eagerly looking forward to this month’s New York City show.
Your entrepid site reporter awaiting a ride to the near future for the next convention...
