National convention organizer Wizard World will be hosting key cast members from across the 56+ years run of the BBC’s Doctor Whotoday as part of its Wizard World Virtual Experiences tour taking place through the summer. From the 7th Doctor and his Companion, to a memorable sort-of Doctor, to the head of Torchwood, to members of the Paternoster Gang, and notables William Shakespeare and Winston Churchill and more–fans can see them all free on a live-streamed panel and/or check out individual opportunities for photographs and autographs for a fee. It all happens today, June 17, 2020, online at noon Central Time.
In a matter of two days, parts of the entertainment industry have been significantly carved back in their ability to reach audiences because of the rapid movement of coronavirus/COVID-19 and new guidelines from the Center for Disease Control recommending social distancing to stave off further spread of the disease. While publishing, whether books or comics (hard copies, ebooks, other digital, or online), music (except live events), and TV and movies at home (it’s still debatable whether theaters are safe spaces or not) become safe alternatives to turn to, live sporting events are out, as are most pop culture events like comic book conventions and Renaissance faires–at least for the immediate future. So this will be a time where creativity must lead the way. “Necessity is the mother of invention.” Creators will need to come up with new ways to reach consumers, and the better that businesses–large or small–are able to solve novel problems and innovate quickly, the better they will be able to get through the next few (or several) months. We’ve seen two new great ideas that arrived right away worth checking out.
The first is Faire Relief 2020, a Facebook group that turned from nothing to nearly 3,000 members within its first day yesterday. You can find the group at this link (there are no requirements to join). From the group’s page: “Due to the COVID-19 outbreak a lot of events have had to be cancelled. For those who make their living doing Renaissance Faires and Festivals this can be a devastating blow. This group is to help aid those Merchants, Artists, Performers and the like by allowing them to put their Wares up for sale or sharing their contact information and Facebook pages so that people may purchase from them.” You’ll find anything and everything there, from custom wood designs, jewelry, candles and incense, food and drink, and leatherwork, to custom cosplay like chainmail and other clothing (historical and modern fashions), pottery, and even gifts and collectables like wax seals, sculpted dragons and dragon egg statues.
Wood, Willow, and Whatknots–one of the Renaissance faire small businesses–offering jewelry, oils, fragrances, and wood burning. Find them at http://www.woodwillow.com.
At the same time, Wizard Entertainment, the company behind many nationwide comic conventions, distributed a press briefing previewing its new Wizard World Virtual Experiences, an attempt to bring pop culture conventions online. For more than 20 years Wizard has produced “Wizard World” events where attendees meet celebrities, participate in Q&A panels, collect autographs and chat with their favorite celebrities, writers, and artists in gatherings at convention centers across North America. Now Wizard wants to bring that experience to fans at home.
Fans of pop culture and comics have one more day to attend the fourth annual Wizard World Comic Con in Des Moines this weekend. Held at the Iowa Events Center in downtown Des Moines, thousands of attendees from Iowa and neighboring states toured the halls and giant celebrity autograph and photo-op room, many in cosplay garb Friday and Saturday. Even more people are expected to turn out for the show Sunday as Wizard World rolls out a “bring a friend free” promotion. The show continues today 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Check out the event website here for more information. Wizard World continues its national presentation of comic book and pop culture conventions next week as the show moves on to Columbus, Ohio. After the success of the first two days of this year’s event in Des Moines, the fifth Wizard World Des Moines show is already being planned by show organizers for next year, to be held May 10-12, 2019.
Doctor Who’s David Tennant and Black Panther’s Winston Duke, and many other celebrities talked with fans in the show’s celebrity row signing area. Comic book creators talked about books, and autographed books and art for fans. We loved this new Green Arrow print from guest comic book creators Phil Hester and Ande Parks (with color by Mouse Baumann):
Even more than 20 years after the last episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, James Marsters (Spike) maintained a steady stream of fans waiting in line to meet him all day Saturday:
Star Trek icon Nichelle Nichols returned to the Midwest. Here she is being interviewed at the event for a local radio station:
Genre actor Jim Beaver (Supernatural, The X-Files, Deadwood, Enterprise) met and signed autographs for crowds of fans:
Nationally-known comic book creators were well-represented at this show. Artist Phil Hester returned to Wizard World–here he is featured on the creator stage demonstrating illustration techniques:
For the fourth consecutive year, Wizard World will be invading the Iowa Events Center this June, bringing comic book writers and artists and celebrity guests to meet thousands of attendees for Iowa’s largest comic and pop culture convention. Wizard World Comic Con Des Moines will again feature non-stop live entertainment, gaming, panels with celebrities, and cosplayers. Celebrity guests scheduled to attend the show include Winston Duke (Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War),James Marsters(Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Nichelle Nichols (Star Trek), Charisma Carpenter (Buffy the Vampire Slayer),Matt Ryan(Legends of Tomorrow, Constantine), Jim Beaver (Supernatural, Deadwood), Lisa Berry (Supernatural), Gregg Sulkin (Runaways, Faking It), hosted by Kato Kaelin.
Comic book creator guests include Phil Hester (Green Arrow, The Bionic Man, Shipwreck, The Irredeemable Ant-Man), Ande Parks (Green Arrow, Capote in Kansas, The Lone Ranger),Chad Hardin(Harley Quinn, Justice League),Tom Cook(Masters of the Universe, Smurfs), and dozens of other writers in artists in the event’s Artist Alley. Purchase books, sketches, and other original art, and get autographs from dozens of creators and entertainers.
Even more celebrity guests and creators are expected to be announced in advance of the event.
Wizard World Comic Con events bring together thousands of fans of all ages to celebrate the best in pop culture movies, television, gaming, live entertainment, comics, sci-fi, graphic novels, toys, original art, and collectibles.
Show hours are Friday, June 1, 2018, 4-9 p.m.; Saturday, June 2, 2018, 10 a.m.-7 p.m.; and Sunday, June 3, 2018, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Kids 10 and under are admitted free with paid adult admission.
Excelsior! Legendary comic book writer, editor, actor, producer and publisher Stan Lee will be making a special appearance at Wizard World Comic Con Des Moines tonight and Saturday, May 20. The most iconic and well-known of all comic book legends and the spark that lit up the current heyday of comic books and comic book movies, Mr. Lee has done it all–the man behind Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, X-Men, The Fantastic Four, Iron Man, and hundreds of other characters, he is a member of both the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame and the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame. This weekend he will greet fans, pose for photos, sign autographs, and conduct an interactive Q&A at the Iowa Events Center as Wizard World Comic Con celebrates its third year in Des Moines.
Mr. Lee will be joining fan-favorite genre actor John Cusack, another late addition to the headliners appearing at this year’s event. Cusack’s impact on a generation of moviegoers can’t be overstated. Most first saw him as a kid in Sixteen Candles and Stand By Me. He became a household name in teen flicks like The Sure Thing, Better Off Dead…, and One Crazy Summer, but it was Say Anything… that made him a star as the lovable Lloyd Dobler, the boyfriend with the boom box. His adult drama work resulted in many cult classics, like Eight Men Out, The Grifters, Grosse Pointe Blank, and Pushing Tin. Films like Woody Allen’s Bullets Over Broadway, Clint Eastwood’s Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, Spike Jonze’s Being John Malkovich, and Robert Altman’s The Player proved he was the real deal, and later films High Fidelity and Hot Tub Time Machine proved he’s willing to return to his roots as the everyman good guy that audiences love.
John Cusack and Charlie Sheen in the baseball film classic Eight Men Out.
This weekend Cusack joins a big pantheon of celebrities including Eight Men Out co-star Charlie Sheen, plus Dean Cain(Lois & Clark, Supergirl),James Marsters and Emma Caulfield(Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Marina Sirtis (Star Trek: The Next Generation), Kane Hodder (Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th), Holly Marie Combs and Brian Krause(Charmed),Barry Bostwick(Spin City),Micky Dolenz(The Monkees), and more.
The convention will be held at the Iowa Events Center at 730 Third Street in Des Moines, beginning May 19, 2017, opening at 4 p.m. and continuing until 9 p.m., Saturday, May 20, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday, May 21, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
A full list of Wizard World Comic Con Des Moines programming is available here (subjects, guests, times and rooms subject to change). For more on the event, visit the convention website here.
Ever thought about checking out what is in those monthly surprise boxes that have become more and more popular in the past few years? Some of our friends have been buying Loot Crate and Nerd Block for several months, and when our friends at Wizard World dropped us a note about their new Comic Con Box we decided it was time to check these out. We got in on the first three Wizard World Comic Con Boxes and three boxes from Loot Crate (we haven’t checked out any other companies’ boxes yet). So what did we learn?
Loot Crates run about $20 including shipping per month per box, and Comic Con Boxes roughly $37 including shipping. Each contain coupon opportunities, some with downloads, app opportunities, and similar items in addition to the main draw of the boxes–the shirts, comics, and collectibles. You can sign up for one or multiple months and can terminate membership so long as you do so before the next box ships. Customer service for these is very easy-going and helpful to explain if you think you messed up your ordering. Themes are pre-announced, so you can skip months with themes that don’t interest you.
The companies each insert random bonus items in boxes and have a deluxe box opportunity worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars that some lucky subscriber will get. And if you film your “unboxing” and upload it to YouTube you can be eligible for other prizes, and other contests are also available throughout the year. We didn’t get the big prize pack in our three months of boxes but did get a good bonus item in one box and in another we got a 1 of 2 variant that ended up being a rare insert. The bonus item came with a Comic Con Box, and it was an authenticated, personally autographed photo of actress Karen Gillan in her Nebula garb from Guardians of the Galaxy. Her autograph can sell for $70-$85 so this was the big win of all the boxes. A close second was a Greg Horn rare variant cover for the recent issue of Wolverine #1 also in a Comic Con Box. It also was selling online for around $70-$85.
Of the regular boxes we were most impressed with Loot Crate’s “Cyber” theme box. The exclusive Terminator Genisys half-scale skull was just dead-on for our love of sci-fi and borg tech. And that’s the thing about these boxes: The broader your interest in pop culture, the more value you’ll get for your dollar because each company varies the licenses/franchises in each box. You can easily add up the price of each item and tally more than the price of the box but ultimately it is your own taste that will be the judge of value. If you have a spouse or friends or kids to share with or friends to trade items with, or if you’re accustomed to selling on eBay, then it can be easy to make these boxes a “win”. Expect to see plenty of “trinkets” and the kind of swag you might find at San Diego Comic-Con plus a few higher valued items in each box.
So what exactly can you expect to find in the boxes?
Wizard World Des Moines combined all the right elements this past weekend to create a new annual Midwest destination tradition. A mix of big name celebrities, comic book creator icons, fanboys and fangirls attending in costume, a variety of vendors, gaming opportunities, current genre properties, the unexpected, taking along family and friends (and meeting new ones and catching up with old ones) and taking in some good food. And thanks to the success of its first effort, Wizard World will be back again next year at the Iowa Events Center, May 13-15, 2016.
If you missed it, check out our coverage at borg.com yesterday here.
A comic and pop culture convention is even better when your own favorite character seems to have his own theme at the show. Take our own favorite, Green Arrow, for instance. This weekend you could have met the artists for the three best Green Arrow series ever produced, including artist/writer Mike Grell:
Artists Milton Bunce and Mike Grell at Wizard World Des Moines 2015 Sunday.
And as luck would have it, Mike found a lost piece of original art he brought to the show, a cover prelim/rough for a 24-year old annual issue he created:
There’s no place better to pick up original comic book art than a Comic Con, whether it’s a sketch commission or original pages that artists bring to the show to gawk at or even purchase. (Thanks for bringing this one, Mike!).
And there’s one of the other of the three major artists known for his Green Arrow work (he’s done Batman and a ton of other characters, too), Neal Adams:
It must be one of the best-attended Comic Cons for a first-time event: More than 25,000 fans of print and film superheroes and celebrities attended this weekend’s Wizard World Des Moines comic book and pop culture convention at the Iowa Events Center in downtown Des Moines, Iowa. And the show’s management believes the attendance assures Wizard World will return to Des Moines next summer, establishing the next major annual Midwest comic book fan convention.
Fans from Iowa and neighboring states toured the halls and giant celebrity autograph and photo op room, many in cosplay garb. The highlights include a premiere slate of comic book creators in Artists Alley and celebrity appearances that gave everyone something to be excited about.
Star Trek fans barely had to wait in line to meet sci-fi icon William Shatner, who also spoke to a crowded house of fans Saturday afternoon. If you like superheroes, you could meet the two most popular Green Arrow creators of all time: artist Neal Adams and writer/artist Mike Grell, Superman actors Brandon Routh (Superman Returns) and Dean Cain (The Adventures of Lois and Clark) (Routh also appears as The Atom on CW’s The Flash),DC Bombshells creator Ant Lucia, Rogue creator and long-time Marvel artist Michael Golden (above), and Mike Zeck, artist for Marvel Comics classics like the Marvel Superheroes Secret Wars series:
The Walking Dead fans met series star Michael Cudlitz, and received an exclusive variant Issue #1 from the comic book series, drawn by Iowa artist Phil Hester. And horror fans got to cross off their list one of the modern Big 3 of horror icons, Nightmare on Elm Street’s Freddy Krueger himself Robert Englund. Fans of the cult film Boondock Saints met up with star Sean Patrick Flannery.
Convention planner Wizard World is holding its first pop culture convention in Iowa this weekend, introducing Midwest genre fans to sci-fi icon William Shatner (Star Trek), horror icon Robert Englund (A Nightmare on Elm Street), Billy Dee Williams (The Empire Strikes Back), Alex Kingston (Doctor Who, Arrow), and Jewel Staite (Firefly), plus Emily Kinney and Michael Cudlitz (The Walking Dead), comic book writer/artist Mike Grell (Green Arrow), Iowa’s own Brandon Routh (Superman Returns, The Flash) and a giant roster of other celebrity guests from film and TV, past and present.
Brandon Routh as The Atom and Superman
Other familiar genre actors scheduled to attend include Manu Bennett (Arrow, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey), Dean Cain (Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman), J. August Richards (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Angel), Michael Rosenbaum (Smallville), Lou Ferrigno (The Incredible Hulk), Ernie Hudson (Ghostbusters, Psych), Cassandra Peterson (Elvira, Mistress of the Dark), Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad), and both Sean Patrick Flanery and David Della Rocco from Boondock Saints.
Alex Kingston, River Song from Doctor Who, and Dinah Lance from CW’s Arrow.
Several well-known comic book writers and artists will be featured in Wizard World’s Artist Alley in addition to Mr. Grell: Des Moines’s own Ant Lucia (DC Comics “Bombshell” covers and posters), Neal Adams (Batman, Green Lantern/Green Arrow), Mike Zeck (Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars), Iowa-based artist Phil Hester (Green Arrow, The Flash), Michael Golden (Star Wars, The ‘Nam), our pal Jai Nitz (Dream Thief, Tron: Betrayal, El Diablo), and many others.
You can now treat yourself like your birthday is every month with a subscription to one of many surprise content subscription services in the tradition of coffee-of-the-month, flower-of-the-month, and food-of-the-month clubs. Following the successfull pop culture services Loot Crate and Nerd Block, comic book convention promoter Wizard World is launching ComicConBox, its new subscription-based premium monthly grab bag service which offers subscribers the opportunity to receive exclusive collectibles, toys, technology, games, licensed artwork, comics, apparel, Wizard World ComicCon tickets, VIP discounts and more, delivered right to their doors. The first box will be shipped this week.
The service, priced at $29.99 per month plus shipping with no contractual commitment, will also feature “Epic Grand Prizes” in random boxes. Differentiating the new service from other companies, Wizard World CEO John Macaluso said, “Wizard World’s unique access to leaders in the entertainment industry and some of the most popular celebrities, creators and publishers means that ComicConBox will have the best quality and variation of products possible.”
Select boxes will include Mystery Items. You can subscribe for only one month or set up automatic monthly shipping, and Wizard World offers premiums for those that commit to three months at once, such as the exclusive Marvel Comics Secret Wars variant cover issue shown above.
