Issue date: 7/3/08 Section: Arts

Media Credit: Wizard World Fans express their passion for comics in a variety of different ways and degrees.

Media Credit: Wizard World Visitors from all over the Midwest and across the country rally around Wheel of Doom and other attractions in the area's largest convention for the comic industry.

Wizard World Chicago Comic-Con, just like every other comic convention anywhere, carries with it the stigma of being a comic convention. A mecca of nerdery, an orgy of horny, fantasy starved shut-ins. Like any generalization, this is only a small fragment of the truth, but it is potent enough to give a complete picture of such an event to those on the outside with absolutely no interest in actually looking in.

I had never gone to a Comic Con, or any other "con" for that matter, before this year, so my preconceptions were clouded by these kinds of negative images. But I figured that a comic convention must be a lot more fun than, say, one about chartered accountancy or futuristic kitchen tools, and I've always wanted to attend a convention of some sort, so off I went with two of my friends.

It turns out that Comic Con: Chicago Chapter is not just one of these subspecies of strangeness, but more like a combination of two of them - one part pricey, specialized flea market, and one part human zoo. Ninety percent of its clientele arrive with a wad of cash and a back-up debit card at the ready, seeking out rare issues of comic books, half-priced graphic novels, vintage exploitation movie posters, toys, and other assorted ephemera. The pervading mood in the place suggests that this is the one day of the year where everyone can go crazy with the frivolous spending and not wake up feeling too guilty about it the next morning.

Which is good, because a bootleg DVD with a haphazardly photocopied cover, due to its "rare" status, runs $20 or more, and all of the comics that anyone wants are regular store price or higher. A vintage toy set from the '80s containing a kneeling, disheveled Tony Stark (Iron Man's altar ego), a half-finished bottle of bourbon, and an ornate mirror to stare into with his despairing, drunken eyes has a going rate of somewhere between $120 and $150, depending on the booth. There's also an action figure of Quentin Tarantino from his cameo in Planet Terror, if anyone's interested.

In the interest of candor, I must confess that I walked in with $40 and walked out with negative $40 (after borrowing some cash and relying on my overdraft protection), so I'm not saying I'm anything special. But I didn't buy the Tarantino doll!

On to the other ten percent, namely those in the crowd who obviously spent the better part of the past year working on their costumes so as to wander around the floor searching for photo opportunities. One guy dressed as The Mighty Thor strutted around the whole day flexing his fake muscles and pounding his fists in the sky. I didn't see him stop to look at anything once. There were at least 20 Jokers, a handful of Supermen, some Predators and several X-Men. I saw TIE Fighter pilots, their helmets off, smoking in the parking lot, and a Storm Trooper leaving the food court with a gun in one hand and an ice cream cone in the other. I saw a man dressed as Blade, carrying disturbingly realistic weaponry, grab a Wolf-man and hold a huge, shiny gun to his face and then wait patiently for onlookers to aim their digital cameras just right. In one scene, I saw Spiderman perched above a crowd of people as he attempted to capture his own photos of the massive bedecked interior.

The only people who didn't look like they were having quite as much fun were the celebrity guests in attendance. Like Lou Ferrigno, former bodybuilder and star of the '70s TV incarnation of the Incredible Hulk, dressed in a green turtleneck and staring vacantly into space as small children hovered around his booth and a big poster of himself in full Hulk getup towered behind him. Sitting next to him was an elderly, wrinkled little person appearing to fight off sleep. He apparently played an Ewok in Return of the Jedi and Cousin Itt on the Addams Family TV show. The "Artist's Alley" fared better, and offered a chance for visitors to peruse some sample work from burgeoning new artists and see some of the more prominent ones offering signed prints of their artwork for a small fee. This part of the Con had a strangely contradictory mood, however, since most of the artists in attendance didn't seem pushy or the types that particularly want to interact with the wandering guests, but still feel the obligation to in hopes of selling their wares. This led to a lot of uncomfortable "hellos" and awkward questions like, "Do you like comics?" Some of the artists didn't even seem to care, and just sat at their booths sketching, apparently unaware of anything going on around them.

But despite all the negatives, what must be said about Chicago Comic Con is that it's still quite a bit of fun. Watching shy weirdos walk around in costumes is entertaining. Sifting through old junk and picture books (at least to some people) is fun. Seeing celebrities up close, even washed-up ones, is interesting to a certain extent. And what is striking about something like this - where you pay money and travel (some farther than others) for the experience - is that everyone in the place wants to be there. For all the weirdness, and excluding perhaps Lou Ferrigno, it must be said that the negative vibes at the Wizard World Chicago Comic-Con were pretty low. So what do you have to lose? It still beats Chartered Accountant Con any day.

Wizard World Chicago Comic-Con 2008 took place at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center from June 26-29. Next year's Chicago Convention takes place from August 6-9. Wizard World's 2009 conventions take place in Los Angeles, California, from March 13-15; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from June 19-21; and Arlington, Texas, from November 6-8.

bokonon32@gmail.com

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