Mike Norton: One Reason To Be At The Chicago Comicon

Mike Norton's a great guy, from all accounts. But his sketches at this year's Wizard World: Chicago?

Awesome!

It's the first thing that has made me wish I was there so far. I'd have loved to snag a sketch.

Is Pick On Didio Day Over?

Cuz I just wanted to sneak these bits in:

People seem to identify this problem as being unique to DC, but I would argue that it happens across the entire industry. I would argue that no matter what your expectations are every week, those expectations are unfortunately broken. I would argue that this problem is unique to the business.

Sure, it happens everywhere. But you, Mr. Didio, were those most emphatic about scheduling issues getting fixed. Marvel made the decision that it won't put fill-in artists on a major event and stuck to it. Quesada has said they'd do everything they can on scheduling issues, but did not feel that sacrificing quality for timeliness was an acceptable trade-off.

DC, on the other hand, lets their events run fairly late and then STILL uses fill-in artists. You have to pick a course and stick to it. If you're willing to use fill-ins, then try to have artists ready to fill-in, rather than wait until you're sacrificing both quality (in as much as lack of consistency in art styles) and timeliness.

As Mr. Miyagi said:

"Left side road? OK. Right side road? OK. Middle of road? (SLAP) Squish like grape."

Pick an approach that satisfies timeliness or satisfies quality issues, rather than satisfying neither.

Regarding the use of the multiverse:

DD: The real answer – I just don’t want to approach it in a haphazard manner. Being incredibly candid, I want Grant Morrison to have first crack at it. So realistically, the multiverse is Grant’s toy to play with and use as he likes. I want Grant, when he becomes available, to do the first and best exploration of the mutliverse. He has the best grasp of the concept, and the interpretations that I feel matter.

Geoff did a wonderful job for the Earth-2 story he did in JSA recently, but Grant has so many fabulous ideas for the multiverse that we’re going to wait for him.

That's right. It is an incredibly wise idea to wait for the guy who's work ethic more or less led to you needing to bring in Doug Mahnke to finish Final Crisis and who wants to go off and do Vertigo for awhile. I'm sure we'll get to see that in a reasonable amount of time with the customer base just as anxious and excited to see it.

All that said, I like Didio and think he often gets too much shit from fans (and told him as much at Wizard World Chicago...twice...while drunk). There's just obvious room for improvement.

Shots In The Dark: Wizard World Chicago Coverage

Shots in the Dark at ShotgunReviews.com are currently posting a series of video interviews that were done at Wizard World Chicago. These are gradually appearing at Newsarama (Brian Michael Bendis is up!) as well. There's also an audio only Warren Ellis interview.

They had another kick ass interview set up, but it had to be scuttled due to scheduling issues. It was cool as much for how it was going to be conducted as for who it was to be with, IMO, so I'm not going into further detail. Watching it from off-camera would have easily been one of my highlights of the weekend, though. Just hope I'm lucky enough to be in the vicinity when it eventually happens.

Regarding that Bendis interview: damn, if he didn't capture exactly how I felt about Michael Turner's passing during the convention but couldn't figure out a way to say it without worrying that it would come out the wrong way.

Whither Joe Quesada

One thing I heard over the weekend (from fans and people covering the convention, not Marvel artists or writers) was speculation about why Joe Quesada didn't attend the convention.

None of it was of the type floated about Dan Didio a few weeks ago. Marvel is having great success under Joe, so why would there be rumors of him getting fired?

No, some were speculating that he might be considering passing on the mantle. He's said more than a few times, to my recollection, that this wasn't something he expected to do forever. There are a lot of advantages to stepping away during such a good time for the company. Not only do you leave on a high note, but you're letting the new head honcho start out without having to try to repair any damage done by possibly overstaying your welcome.

In all likelihood, Quesada probably just had personal reasons for skipping Heroes & Wizard World Chicago that have absolutely nothing to do with even considering stepping down. I just thought it was worth mentioning.

Michael Turner Has Passed Away

Michael Turner was a great artist and always seemed to be one of the good ones. He bravely fought through life threatening illness on so many occasions. It is truly a sad event.

June is really becoming a terrible month.

Just An FYI

In case you haven't been following my Twitter, I'm on a first name basis with alcohol this weekend. Translation? I'm being a bad muslim but a good Irishman. Act accordingly, if you see me. Feel free to join me for a drink or talk to me until I treat you to a round. But if you want to come up and give me shit while I'm trying to enjoy a night drinking with my friends? I'm going to be a good Irishman. ;)

Comic Conventions Might Not Be For Me Anymore

Wizard World Chicago closed up at 6pm. I could have sworn they were open later last year. They close at 7pm tomorrow.

There's something retarded about closing up at 6pm on Friday when you have your guest of honor's Q&A 3.5 hours after you close up your convention. How the hell does that make sense?

You have a panel full of top DC & Marvel creators answering questions from fans and just generally bullshitting. It started at 5pm and showed no signs of dying out on its own. Wizard closed the panel down, not because the room was needed, but...well...just because. Apparently, a Japanese ska band would be rehearsing next door and a Wizard rep said the crowd wouldn't have been able to hear anything from the panel shortly.

I can't personally understand why the Bendis Vs. Johns was a Friday panel rather than a Saturday one, but I'm sure there are some good reasons why it shook out that way. But lord...this tendency to put Japanese music acts as some big lure in what is supposed to be a comic book focused convention just bugs me. I'd like for something as special as the Bendis Vs. Johns panel to get treated better than that.

Ah...Chicago!

Haven't been updating the blog over the last few days, because I'm in Chicago.

Wednesday night was karaoke and drinkin' with the Siegels and crew. This included butchering Journey's Don't Stop Believin'. Everyone else...and I mean everyone else...sang very well. This includes the guy who did the version of Sailing Away as Cartman.

During the advanced night of Wizard, I overheard a few people indicating they think the convention is dead. That's not talking about the number of fans attending, because they only had the three hours on Thursday night. No, the layout is what seems to be leading that discussion. The aisles seem to be larger, which, while all comfy for walking around, indicates that there are less exhibitors and possibly retailers.

Less exhibitors at the convention in full force can mean less attendees next year or possibly even this year. I'd have to say that, from the looks of the floor setup, NYCC has already surpassed Wizard World Chicago. We're quickly looking at the two biggest and brightest cons being on each of the coasts. While I'm personally happy about NYCC being higher in the pecking order due to it being much easier for me to attend than Chicago, I don't know if it is good that it comes at the expense of a convention more smack dab in the middle of the country.

If The MJ Statue Caused A Ruckus...

Scream Factory is set to debut their Bump statue at Wizard World Chicago. Here's the press release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE THE SCREAM FACTORY DEBUTS MASSIVE LIMITED EDITION BUMP STATUE AT WIZARD WORLD CHICAGO 2008 THE SCREAM FACTORY will be appearing at Wizard World Chicago, June 26-29 in booth 933, and will unveil a truly unique, amazingly massive and EXTREMELY limited collectible!

The ‘Treehugger’ statue is based on the monstrous characters from the hit mini-series BUMP, featuring a terrifying three dimensional recreation of one of the cannibalistic minions of supernatural serial killer Eddie Dill, shown in all its bloody glory.

The statue was sculpted, cast, individually hand-painted and completely produced by Special Effects legend Robert Kurtzman and his 'Creature Crew' effects team (who also handle the special effects for the film), based on designs from BUMP creator Mark Kidwell. The piece is an imposing 22" tall by 12" wide and 12" deep, and features a scalp with real hair!

This is a Wizard World Chicago 2008 debut, and is available in EXTREMELY limited quantities. These are not "mass-produced" works, Every statue has been completely hand-crafted by Kurtzman and his team in preparation for the film’s special effects sequences.

About BUMP (the film and comic book series):

Directed by Special Effects legend Robert Kurtzman (director of WES CRAVEN'S WISHMASTER, creator of FROM DUSK 'TIL DAWN and F/X guru behind ARMY OF DARKNESS, KILL BILL, RE-ANIMATOR and many many more) and starring Tobin Bell (Jigsaw from the SAW franchise), Sean Patrick Flanery (THE BOONDOCK SAINTS, YOUNG INDIANA JONES) and Ashley Laurence (HELLRAISER, HELLRAISER 2), BUMP is based on the comic series of the same name by writer/artist Mark Kidwell and is a supernatural tale of extreme horror, where even the confines of the grave aren’t able to contain the brutal spirit of serial killer Edgar Dill, and his legion of monstrous Treehuggers! For merchandise and more info on BUMP visit www.bumpmovie.com.

About The Scream Factory:

THE SCREAM FACTORY, an alliance of film, music, literary and comic book professionals, offers a stunning selection of quality horror titles online. We take fiendish delight in telling readers that they can find the offerings at www.wowio.com at absolutely no charge!!! Get your latest Scream Factory news at www.myspace.com/thescreamfactory and www.bumpmovie.com

The statue?

OK, that goes further than bending over doing laundry, doesn't it? ;)

(I'm joking...there's no way that this stirs up the same controversy)

Scream Factory Does WWChicago

Scream Factory will apparently be at Wizard World Chicago in force.

They're bringing Robert Kurtzman, special effects legend.

They're bringing Sean Patrick Flanery, star of Boondock Saints and the upcoming movie based on the SF property, BUMP.

They're bringing Jesse Blaze Snider, hit sensation from MTV's Rock The Cradle and writer of SF property, STRANGELAND.

They're all featured guests, too.

I'm just wondering if Jesse will be bellying up to the bar this year. Hanging out with him and the rest of the gang that went on to form Scream Factory was one of the highlights of the con last year. Of course, Troy Brownfield thought the highlight of the night was tied between the Koben Kelly saga and my bar tab.

Fun With Press Releases: Wizard World Chicago Needs A Dictionary

Wizard has sent out their latest press release for Wizard World Chicago.

Wizard World Chicago will feature a very rare appearance by Alex Ross on Saturday. Wizard World, the largest family-friendly comics and pop culture convention in the central US, returns to Chicago June 26-29 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center. For more information and to purchase advance tickets, please visit www.wizardworld.com.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but he appears at Wizard World Chicago every single year, because it is in his backyard. The only thing that changes about his appearances are who "sponsors" him driving into the city from the suburbs.

And so very rare that he was at NYCC about four months ago.

Someone there needs to be disabused of the notion that an annual appearance that is actually the second convention appearance of the year can qualify as rare, let alone very rare.

Update: As pointed out to me by a friend and the comment below, Alex Ross has a booth for his artwork to be sold by others every year but doesn't put didn't put in any official appearances at the con for years.