Wizard World Chicago Report

I know I am doing this out of order a little, but I thought I'd give a brief report on Wizard World Chicago, even though it's already been a week since I was there.

The wife and I arrived in town on Wednesday, for the primary purpose of catching a Cubs game at Wrigley field. We're both baseball fans, and a visit to Wrigley (or Comiskey) is a must when we are at the show. For once on a visit to a ballpark, the home team won, and I gorged myself on ballpark food, which is always a good thing.



At the show itself, we had a large booth--20'long, and in a nice spot. Setup was pretty easy, although there are always a few snafus along the way.



Sales were good, as Chicago is always our best show of the year, and we had lots of creators to help out, although we were a little short on artists this year.

I did manage to snag sketches from all three of the artists I wanted. Bob Layton, Art Baltazar, and (another) Matt Kindt.





The highlight of the show, however, was spending a little time at the bar with Bob Layton, the creator whose run on Iron Man in the late 1970s and early 1980s is what turned me into a permanent comic book fan. We hung out and talked for like three hours, and I gave him a little Ape swag in hopes that he'd dig our work. Overall, a fun show, and I look forward to next year as well.

Heroes Con Report: And Next Stop--Wizard World Chicago

Heroes Con has come and gone, and it remains one of my favorite shows of the year. Not only is it close to my home, but it has a spectacular guest list. This year I really wanted to meet and get a sketch from Guy Davis, artist of B.P.R.D. The fact that his sketches ended up being free was icing on the cake.

I was set up with the booth for Ape Entertainment, and I couldn't have had a worse location--I was in the far corner, in a dark recess, with a lower ceiling than the rest of the hall. The place was warm as it was, but the lower ceilings made it that much hotter. Fortunately I was next to the guys from ComicGeekSpeak, which made things more bearable. Sales were good, which helped as well. I got some great sketches, which will be posted at http://www.comicsketchgallery.com/pages/kfreeman.

It's always nice to see old acquaintances and fellow publishers--Danielle Corsetto, Jim Mahfood, Chris Pitzer, Matt Kindt, and others. I'm sure I will cross paths with them at Wizard World Chicago this weekend as well.

The wife and I head out to Chicago on Wednesday. We're catching the Cubs game that night (vs. the Orioles--I hate interleague), then it's to work thereafter. We've got 20 feet of table space, same as last year, so the Ape presence should be sizeable. It's always our best show of the year. And, to make matters even better, Stan and I will be together at the booth, signing books for your pleasure. Drop by and say hello!

On my sketch list for Chicago: Bob Layton, Art Baltazar, Bruce Timm (yeah, right). Wish me luck!