WWTX PROGRAM GUIDE FINISHED!!! WELL, SORTA…

Hey everybody! Wizard World Conventions Programming Director Adam Tracey here. It’s my first time bloggin’ on the Convention Report, so I thought I’d make it an important entry. Brett White, Joe Yanarella, Jodie Westhoff and I have FINISHED THE WIZARD WORLD TEXAS PROGRAM GUIDE! Well, we’ve finished one portion of it, anyway. We’re changing things up a bit this time with the Program Guide and we’re doing it in two portions.

A full-color Program Guide portion (which is the one we just finished) will contain all of the guests, events and exclusives that we have at the show, as well as additional info about FearFest, a Frequently Asked Questions section and a couple other things. A black & white Program Guide supplement (which will be finished next) will contain a complete programming schedule (with a handy grid!), panel listings, signing times, a color map and an index with the Exhibitors, Retailers, Small Press and Artist Alley listings in it. We’re doing that black & white supplement later so that it can have the most up-to-date info in it.

So if you see Brett, Joe or Jodie at the show in Texas, be sure to tell them “Great job!” on the Program Guide. And if you have any suggestions or gripes about the guide or its new format, post ‘em on the Message Boards after the show.

OH, superheroically big props go to Travis Escarfullery and Eric Goodman, the designers and overall Pretty Colors Masterminds behind the Program Guide. Travis will be at the show, too, so hug him!!!
Travis

Jodie

Brett

Hug these people!!!

Now I’m off to get a little shuteye before we get back to work on the black & white supplement. Later!

One tired monkey.

-Adam

Fan Proof

I know it’s said a lot, “we’re fans too,” and that we want a good convention because we still get excited about this stuff. It can be hard to attach a real, back-issue-reading, cheap-X-Men-number-ninety-four-hunting, Storm-with-a-mohawk-doodling, Mr. Sinister-action-figure-posing comic geek to a random name on a message board. Well, if nerd-cred is what you want from me…

…then there it is. And this was for an improv comedy show this past Saturday that my team assembled. So yeah, this wasn’t at a comic convention or a movie opening, the socially acceptable places to wear spandex, makeup and duct tape. So when I say I’m excited about our new Wizard World Texas guests Rags Morales, Craig Rousseau and Matt Wagner, just remember that this is the guy saying it:

A real comic geek.

-Brett

McMutants

Wizard World Programming Director Adam Tracey alerted me to the awesome piece of art below. It was originally posted on Comic Book Resources’ Comics Should Be Good blog, which I subscribe to in my Google Reader (hint hint, faithful readers, or reader).

This image is awesome in a number of ways.

1. It depicts the X-Men as weird tiny-baby-creatures, a phenomenon I absolutely adore and miss. “Muppet Babies” is indeed my favorite show of all time, but let’s not forget the underrated “A Pup Named Scooby Doo” and the, okay, forgettable “Flinstone Kids.” The world needs more adult characters as weird tiny-baby-creatures cartoons!

2. It depicts the X-Men at, in my opinion, their most megastar cool. This is the 1991 relaunch lineup minus Colossus and Archangel. You can’t tell me, oh children of the ’90s, that you don’t think of these costumes when you think of the X-Men. Jim Lee’s redesigns are classic, absolutely!

3. I like fast food, especially the new angus burgers at McDonald’s. Man, now I have much hunger and not even the weird force-feeding thing Jean Grey is doing to Cyclops can deter it!

4. This is the PERFECT EXAMPLE of the type of crazy commissions you can get done at conventions! Honestly, superhero/corporation mash-ups is a great idea for a book, and the more specific superhero/fast food corporation mash-ups is even better. Batman making a run for the border, Ms. Marvel eating fresh, Superman having it his way…come on, the possibilities are endless!

So there you have it. Get your sketchbooks ready because Wizard World Texas is this November 7-9. You can purchase your tickets now online and save up to 20%.

-Brett

WWTX GETS ‘MOORE’ GUESTS!

And that was my lame attempt at a New York Post-style headline. I think I got the bad pun down, but not the grossly inappropriate part. I guess only the New York Post is the New York Post. In all seriousness (you plugging this date into your Google Calendar, because this don’t happen often), we have some truly stupendous things happening with Wizard World Texas (this November 7-9, if you haven’t heard). On Friday we booked Terry Moore, the amazing and (is it too soon to call him?) legendary creator of Strangers in Paradise and Echo.

Superhero fans will undoubtedly recognize his name from his current work on Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane and Runaways.

Now, I love my Runaways. Crying at callbacks, thinking about them when they aren’t around, drawing them bunches and recommending them to everyone. And truth be told, I wasn’t sure anyone could fill Joss Whedon and Brian K. Vaughan’s Fistigons…but Terry Moore has kept the quality up and exceeded all my expectations. Truly great stuff guys, truly great. Check it out, now.

We also have Sean McKeever and Billy Tucci coming to the show now, which is like topping off double-chocolate chip chunk ice cream with a mound of peanut butter and M&Ms. Which, um, means it’s super awesome. I enjoy dessert. Billy Tucci is relaunching the iconic character Sgt. Rock and, from hearing him talk about it and seeing his art, this is the book to read. Don’t believe me? Check this out.

That’s some awesome peanut butter, am I right?

And Sean McKeever is both a super nice guy (who humors my ridiculous game show talk) and the writer who’s carving a name for himself with his slam-bang run on Teen Titans. Seriously, the man’s making waves over there. You gotta see it. He also created this…

I. Love. Gravity. I have that issue signed, actually, by both Sean and the artist (and Wizard World chum) Mike Norton.

Yep, I’m proud of that.

That’s about it for today. There’ll be lots more soon, just you wait!

-Brett

Honky Tonk Gibbler

If you’ve checked the ol’ Wizard World website recently, you’ve seen a couple new guests pop up. We have Tone Rodriguez (Violent Messiahs artist), Jason Henderson (Dracula War writer), Tommy Castillo (Grimm Fairy Tales artist) and Dan Wickline (1001 Arabian Nights: The Adventures of Sinbad writer) all lined up and ready to rock in Texas. And yes, I said rock for the sole purpose of leading into our next just-added guest, wrestling legend Honky Tonk Man. And…yeah, I know honky tonk isn’t rock and roll but, um, honky tonk makes me think of the song “Honky Tonk Women” by the Rolling Stones and…okay, bits aren’t funny if you have to explain them.

Moving on.

Things are still in motion for WWTX too. I’m currently in talks with a bunch of great creators to get them to come out West and, if you’re on our message boards, you saw that we’re partnering with Texas Fear Fest. Unlike my pitches to partner with Texas Crochet Con and the Lone Star State Numismatic Gala, this partnership makes sense and is going to be awesome! Two cons at the cost of one!

And lastly, I asked people to send me questions on the ol’ Wizard Universe Message Board and they did…about “Full House.” Totally fine, didn’t expect that, although I guess I was asking for it when I claimed to know more about that piece of art than anyone else in the building. Thanks, TENIME art, here are your answers!

What was the title of the episode in which Jesse & Becky meet?

I honestly don’t know. I know episode titles to “Buffy” and “Friends,” and most of “Seinfeld” but not “Full House.”

Jesse’s two last names?

That would be season one’s Cochran and the more widely known and used Katsopolis

The name of Joey’s puppet?

Joey, in a fit of creativity, named his woodchuck puppet…Mr. Woodchuck.

What does “D.J.” stand for?

Donna Jo. Her middle name is Margaret. Stephanie’s middle name is Judith. I hope knowing all that makes up for not knowing the episode title.

That wraps up this scattershot edition of the blog! Be thankful I’m too lazy to code a picture of Kimmy Gibbler into this!

Things On My Desk!

I promised behind-the-scenes action in this blog and it doesn’t get more behind-the-scenes-y than the things I stare at while thinking up questions for our awesome Wizard World Texas guests (which you can see a list of right here, you know). Here goes!

I interned at “The Late Show” and have been a huge Letterman fan forever, so this cover always cracks me up. Still not sure why Hawkeye’s fingertips are purple, unless that’s some sorta archery thing that’s over my head. I’m pretty much at the “arrows = sharp” level in archery.

The free table at Wizard is randomly glorious. I’m currently amassing a ragtag assortment of free figures. Pepe the Prawn here, a recent addition to the Muppet family, is totally best friends with Scarlett and Luke Skywalker. Just sayin’.

I. Am. Sanitary.

So exciting, right? Okay, seriously, we have some pretty great announcements coming next week, so hang on! In the meantime, be sure to friend our new MySpace page and facebook page so you can get up-to-the minute updates about all our shows! Wizard World Texas is this November 7-9. You can purchase your tickets now online and save up to 20%.

-Brett

Go Vols!

Being from Tennessee (the Volunteer State, so named because how awesome our volunteers were during the War of 1812) I heard the phrase “Go Vols!” way more than I ever would have liked to. But now here I am, saying it again because Wizard World Texas needs volunteers. Yeah, Wizard World Texas probably won’t become the subject of fifth grade book reports like the War of 1812, but you also won’t lose life and/or limb while stuffing goodie bags or putting your comic knowledge to great use. So you know, it all evens out.

Volunteering at Wizard World gets you all sorts of great stuff, like a free pass for the day, a cool T-Shirt to commemorate and celebrate your servitude, a bag of SWAG and the chance to escort/guard/stand near/talk to some or all of our awesome guests! If interested, e-mail your NAME, ADDRESS, AGE, PHONE NUMBER and AVAILABILITY to wizardworldtexas@wizardent.com.

While I’ve never volunteered at a Wizard World, I can say that volunteering in general is usually a great experience and provides hilarious stories. I mean, through my own volunteering experience I can now talk about driving Billy Ray Cyrus around on a golf cart and watching Toby Keith both ask for and receive his very own little person. Okay, I did a lot of stuff with country music in college. Have I mentioned yet how thankful I am to be in New York City?

-Brett

The Convention Report’s “Brand New Day”

Okay, there’s no Mephisto or nuptial negating in this entry, but that doesn’t mean this change for The Convention Report won’t be as monumental as Peter Parker’s recent foray into memory erasure. Tell your friends, your mothers, your Gchat buddies, this here’s the numero uno place to find updates, insights and vague hints (oh, the vague hints that are to come!) about upcoming Wizard World shows. So lean back in your office chair and close the blinds, let’s get to know each other. After all, you’re going to be coming here every day to get the lastest dish on Wizard World, right? Right?

First, my name is Brett and I’m the Associate Editor of the conventions department here at Wizard. My favorite character of all time is Multiple Man and I annoy my office-mate (Wizard World Programming Director Adam Tracey) with marathon listening sessions of The Kinks and The Strokes on a near-daily basis. Who needs headphones when you have a Mac, especially one with “Serenity” trading cards and a Genis-Vell HeroClick taped to it? Can’t be beat. For the last five months I’ve been responsible for interviewing our guests and getting the word about our blockbuster conventions out to the masses. I’ve also been responsible for posing action figures on my desk. I don’t know what’s harder, writing the perfect press release or getting my Domino figure to stand up.

If I’ve done my job well you already know about how awesome Wizard World Texas (November 7-9 at the Arlington Convention Center) is going to be. We’ve got John Cassaday as our Guest of Honor this year and for someone who just recently discovered Planetary, I couldn’t be more excited! We also have all of your favorite writers and artists, like Ethan Van Sciver, Frank Cho, Brian Azzarello, Shane Davis, Lee Bermejo, Christos Gage, Phil Hester…the list goes on and on! For the full list, head over to Wizard World’s website. Heck, go on and purchase your tickets there too, it’ll save you up to 20%!

And if this blog isn’t enough for you, there are plenty of other places to get your Wizard World fix. We have a newly launched MySpace page as well as a good ol’ facebook page, both of which want to be your friend.

That’s it for today. Have fun on the internet, everybody!

-Brett