Wizard World Comic Con - 2011...

After more than twenty years away from the convention circuit, I went to Wizard World at the Pennsylvania Convention Center on June 18, 2011. I took the bus to Broad and Arch and arrived at the convention center at around 10:30am. The line to buy tickets stretched around the block and there were hundreds and hundreds of people converging on the convention center after I was already in line.

Just standing in line was really cool -- there were people from all over who had come dressed up as various characters. I saw a handful of Ghostbusters in full uniform with backpacks and goggles. I saw a variety of Star Wars stormtroopers -- a couple in classic white battle armor, one in black armor and one Imperial officer. Of course, there were super heroes (Thor, Loki, and Lady Death come to mind) and a variety of zombies. There were also a handful of anime characters represented among the fans.

If you're into panels, you could meet some of the people behind Buffy, the Vampire Slayer to discuss Buffy and other topics of interest. Or, if you prefer, and your pockets were deep enough, you could have a VIP luncheon meeting with the wrestler, Goldberg. Later in the day, if you were so inclined, you could discuss Star Wars with Billy Dee Williams or talk about Smurfs with the world's leading Smurfologist, Matt Williams. Or, if Smurfs are not your cup of tea, you could talk with some of the people behind the upcoming Green Lantern movie.

If panels are not your thing, you could wander into the gaming room and compete against other players at a variety of games for prizes. There are also board game tournaments.

On the second floor, is the main exhibit space with dealers of all sorts. There are comic book artists, freelance artists, writers, cartoonists and all manner of dealers hawking their wares. You can buy comic books, souvenir weapons, costume jewelery, toys, video games, DVDs and much more. There were a variety of major and minor stars to meet and greet and get autographs and photos with.

At this particular event, the original Bat-mobile from the 1960's TV series was there along with the original stars from the Batman TV series, Adam West and Burt Ward. Of course, there's an extra fee for photos and autographs. I saw Adam Baldwin (Actor - Full Metal Jacket; Serenity; Firefly; Independence Day; The Patriot; My Bodyguard; Chuck; Angel; Stargate SG-1; The X-Files), Julie Benz (Actress - Buffy; Angel; No Ordinary Family; Dexter; Rambo; Jawbreaker; Saw V; Desperate Housewives; Punisher: War Zone; The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day; Supernatural; Roswell), Richard Roundtree (Actor - Shaft; Diary of a Single Mom; Heroes; Painkiller Jane; Desperate Housewives; Soul Food; Beauty & The Beast; Outlaws), Burt Ward (Actor - Batman [Robin]). There were also dozens of other very talented artists and writers who I didn't know at all. Sadly, anime was not really represented at this convention.

It would have been nice to go with someone, but, after more than twenty years away from the convention scene, I wasn't sure what to expect. Perhaps, next year, I'll make this a family event.