Quality control for AA is an interesting idea. I think my biggest problem with it currently is that it seems that most of the exhibitors are just selling super-hero prints – not even comic books they created. It would be interesting to have the actual comic creators in one section, and those selling just prints in another.

As far as indy creators attending, I know they visit, but they may not have a table. I ran into Josh Cotter and we talked a bit; no table, but he was there hanging out. I don’t know if part of the problem is that most of the artists in the Midwest are more into super-heroes versus literary content or not (it seems like it at least – I don’t meet many people from around the area that do minis).

Next year should be interesting with it moving to June.

However, I thought the response was good. I was swamped on Saturday with Sunday and Friday being a little slow although certainly productive.

A great move on Wizard’s part was that all the guests that did show up (Jim Calafiore, Phil Hester, and many more I can’t think of right now) who appeared on panels and such were also given spots in Artists Alley. That brought quite a few fans into the area.

I agree that Wizard needs some kind of quality control in Artists Alley but have no idea of how you would go about that and quality is certainly subjective.

The reason for lack of pubishers there is probably the cost. San Diego and NY (already!) deliver on fans. Chicago’s booth space is just too expensive, especially since the spots are usually in low flow traffic areas. I’d be pissed if I were some of the exhibitors.

The Detroit show, as sad as it makes me, is not really a comic show anymore. Very few comic fans attend compared to the size of the “media” side of things.

It seems that shows that want to be comic shows but rely only on media guests (its coming down to soap opera stars now…)should just drop the comics from the name.

Artist Alley should be in a different spot. That said, the New York con had Artist Alley in a different section of the Javits center on a different floor with no signage telling anyone where it was. I don’t see people running from the New York show.
Most of the average con goers don’t even know what Artist Alley is. Every (big) con you’ll see people wait in line at the Marvel or DC booth for a creator they can find any other time of the con sitting quietly at their artist alley table.

So to make WWChicago a better con they need to:
Reschedule it farther away from San Diego – check
Redirect the amount of promotion given to exclusives -
Redesign the layout of the con to be more creator friendly -
Attract more small press and alternative publishers -

If you want to talk more immediate economics, the reason not to promote exclusives as heavily is this: if your visitors spend all of their money on them, then they don’t spend any money with retailers or smaller exhibitors, and those people quit buying tables. Which is what’s happening, with people going public about why.

I think Wizard also treats Artist Alley like an afterthought and so do the vast majority of Wizard show attendees. The show layout is horribly flawed with Artist Alley being placed in the far back area but also split up with a 2nd smaller section that had maybe half the traffic of the main area. Convention shows should be like the grocery store with high demand things placed at the back to ensure visitors go THROUGH those areas- put DC and Marvel at the back and put Artist Alley in the middle or the front.

Wizard as a magazine likes to hype the “next big thing” and at least give lip service to mainstream-friendly indy comics but their shows have ZERO interest in doing the same. There’s a reason the other shows are taking over the Wizard shows- because they try to appeal to the WHOLE industry and not one small demographic.

By the way, I would actually like to see a con with a juried artist alley- keeping a certain thresh hold of quality might attract more fans and reduce the “carnival barker” mentality among alley exhibitors which keeps some fans away.

But those aren’t things that Wizard would agree with or see benefit in.

I’m sorry your local show is getting a bad rap, but I think the way to fix that is somehow convincing Wizard that their current way of operating needs improvement. I’d love to want to come back to Chicago again, but that will require changes in guests and policies.

Fours cons of national renown is “not enough”? The Southwest has the struggling (dead?) Wizard World Texas, the small (but growing – FREE PLUG!) Phoenix Cactus Con, and… I have heard nothing out of UT, CO, or OK, and while I lived there New Mexico couldn’t even support a one day, store sponsored con. It would be great if our home towns would live up to our ideals, but frankly, Chicago is blessed just to have a regular show.

“It’s a full year, shame to waste it all on three months.”

The Phoenix Cactus Con is in January. We moved it out of September because that was just insane. And we had to move it out of April because it kept conflicting with Wondercon, APE, Wizard World L.A., and a host of growing regional cons that were all drawing on the same talent pool. And then it runs pretty solid all the way down to Mid-Ohio Con over Thanksgiving. December is the only month without an on-going convention, and I am sure someone will try and hold one then too, if they can just kidnap enough creators’ loved ones. A very common complaint is that there are now too many conventions, and many popular creators would never get any work done if they went everywhere they were invited. Any more local cons get big, and we are going to have to invent a thirteenth month just to hold them all. And perfect cloning.

Fair enough.
99% of us don’t fly to other cities just to visit Comics Shows. I’m trying to put it in the context of (like I said above) Midwest/Great Lakes/Big Ten Country). Not to do so, then shows like SD and NY will win hands down. But what’s next?
I know it’s very hard to compare. Attendance, companies and creators (artist and writer – indy and mainstream) all play into what makes a good show.
Nationwide shows like Heroes, Emerald City and Wonder Con are fast becoming good shows to attend. But isn’t sad that no Midwest shows are getting any pub. Sure there is Chicago, Pitt and Mid-Ohio and even Motor-City Con, but again that’s not nearly enough. And personally I don’t think it’s true.
Is Wizard Chicago getting a bad rap because of the magazine everyone loves to hate? I hope not. Wizard is making strides to improve — as are all the shows. It’s a dog-eat-dog schedule. Changes must be made in order to succeed. Am I coming across as a Wizard lover, no? I’m coming across as a Chicago supporter, without discounting other shows, especially Heroes. But business it s business and it’s damn competitive.
I truly think that with all the Cons lumped together in what seems to be a three month period, some will win and some will lose.
But mostly it’s us, the fans who will lose. It’s a full year, shame to waste it all on three months.

And though I have never been, I have always heard good things about Mid-Ohio Con. I know people going to it, from AZ, over San Diego.

I don’t think that’s the point. People aren’t arguing that WW conventions should put less emphasis on superheroes to elevate comics as an artistic medium, but because they’re not so interested in superheroes and the heavy emphasis on superheroes is a major reason why they don’t attend Wizard World.

I agree that “spreading the awareness of other genres” isn’t (necessarily) the job of convention organizers. However, Wizard World needs to acknowledge other genres and creators not for the sake of the industry, but that’s where the interest of convention-goers, their customers, have gone.

This is still a superhero dominated medium

No, it isn’t. The direct market is dominated by superheroes, and if you’d said “industry” instead of “medium”, I’d agree with that, too, but the medium? No way. There’s a lot more diversity out there, so whether you’re talking sheer numbers, sales, or influence, the superheroes no longer come first. And Chicago had a history of supporting that diversity, before Wizard took them over.

But manga and alternative books, to name two large areas Wizard ignores, have their own shows now, where they can attract a more interested, focused audience. So maybe Wizard’s just specializing, the same way everyone else is. I’ll keep an eye on SPACE for Midwest convention growth; that’s more suited to my tastes.

As for your other point, about the particular weekend selected, it may be that folks are looking for an excuse to skip Wizard, and “it’s too close to another convention” is one that doesn’t burn bridges. “Sorry, can’t do both” sits better with the person you’re turning down than “your show sucks these days”.

The biggest problem I have is that Wizard is rescheduling the Chicago show to a date that should make it a major stop on the convetion circuit again, but the bad taste of the Atlanta disaster is still fresh in the mouths of creators and other pros. Moving the show to the end of June is going to be viewed as another attempt to kill Heroes, and I don’t know if that is the case. It makes a lot of sense on multiple levels to move the show, but it comes down to the fact that there are too many convention competing for too few weekends.