Wizard World 2000 (Chicago)

Wizard World 2000
Chicago

On August 4th through the 6th my friend Jeff and I attended Wizard World 2000 in Chicago. Technically the show was in Rosemont, IL just down the road from O’Hare airport. We stayed at the adjoining Hyatt hotel which was very nice. Interestingly enough there was a Beatles Convention going on in the hotel which was a bit amusing.

Here’s a photo history of our trip:

This is the Hyatt. The view is from outside our third floor room looking down to the second level where the main restaurant was.

Here’s another view of the hotel. You can see the exposed elevators in the center column and each of the floors. All of the plants lining the walkways appeared to be real. It was quite nice.

Here’s Jeff just outside the show floor. There’s a series of long walkways connecting the nearby hotels and the Rosemont Convention Center.

This is the show floor as seen from windows looking out from the corridor which connects the hotels to the convention center.
Mostly you can see the exhibitor area which was nicely carpeted.

To the left of this area is the vendor area where hundreds of boxes of comics await to be looked through and purchased. Of course you must be sure to haggle to get the right price.

As soon as we entered the show floor we noticed a guy inside a clear tube at the Fandom booth trying to grab as much cash and Wizard dollars as he could.
Neither of us tried this because the line was a bit long and those quarter boxes were waiting.

Jeff saw Bart Simpson and Spiderman and really wanted his picture taken with them. You can just see the tears in his eyes looking at Bart and the awe he felt when he saw Spidey getting ready to spin a web.

Well, if Jeff could mingle with the booth characters then I figured I could too. So at the Fandom booth I spoke with one of their animated characters: she’s in silver.

Then Jeff ran right over to the Mystery Machine and chatted with Shaggy and Daphne. Shaggy was a bit surprised but Daphne was quite impressed with Jeff.
He was really excited that Scooby was outside and needed attention. Unfortunately Jeff forgot to bring along some Scooby snacks.

I found more cartoon characters of my own. The ones at left I think mistook me for James Bond or someone. Funny how that seems to happen to me wherever I go.
At the right I'm posing with cel-phone-woman. I’m not sure what other super powers she had because she was just too busy talking on the phone.

Jeff and I both had to get our pictures taken with Locutus of Borg. Luckily though we weren’t assimilated. It was a close call.

Next Jeff visited with the Dark Knight a bit. Jeff was trying to convince Batman that he should be the next Robin but Batman said Jeff just wouldn’t look good in those tights.

I had a nice chat with Ruth Guerri, Playmate of the Month for July, 1983. I think Jeff was still talking with Batman.

Finally, the next morning Jeff and I spotted Kevin Smith and that other guy having breakfast at our hotel. You might know these guys as Jay and Silent Bob in the comics and movies.
This picture was taking from our third floor balcony.

That about wraps it up for the comic convention this year. Overall it was a pretty cool show. I think we both walked away with pounds and pounds of comics. My favorite were the five for a dollar. Yes, Sam, that’s only $0.20 each! :)

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This is the Hyatt. The view is from outside our third floor room looking down to the second level where the main restaurant was.
	Here’s another view of the hotel. You can see the exposed elevators in the center column and each of the floors. All of the plants lining the walkways appeared to be real. It was quite nice.
	Here’s Jeff just outside the show floor. There’s a series of long walkways connecting the nearby hotels and the Rosemont Convention Center.
	This is the show floor as seen from windows looking out from the corridor which connects the hotels to the convention center. Mostly you can see the exhibitor area which was nicely carpeted. To the left of this area is the vendor area where hundreds of boxes of comics await to be looked through and purchased. Of course you must be sure to haggle to get the right price.
As soon as we entered the show floor we noticed a guy inside a clear tube at the Fandom booth trying to grab as much cash and Wizard dollars as he could. Neither of us tried this because the line was a bit long and those quarter boxes were waiting.
	Jeff saw Bart Simpson and Spiderman and really wanted his picture taken with them. You can just see the tears in his eyes looking at Bart and the awe he felt when he saw Spidey getting ready to spin a web.
Well, if Jeff could mingle with the booth characters then I figured I could too. So at the Fandom booth I spoke with one of their animated characters: she’s in silver.
	Then Jeff ran right over to the Mystery Machine and chatted with Shaggy and Daphne. Shaggy was a bit surprised but Daphne was quite impressed with Jeff. He was really excited that Scooby was outside and needed attention. Unfortunately Jeff forgot to bring along some Scooby snacks.
	I found more cartoon characters of my own. The ones at left I think mistook me for James Bond or someone. Funny how that seems to happen to me wherever I go. At the right I'm posing with cel-phone-woman. I’m not sure what other super powers she had because she was just too busy talking on the phone.
	Jeff and I both had to get our pictures taken with Locutus of Borg. Luckily though we weren’t assimilated. It was a close call.
	Next Jeff visited with the Dark Knight a bit. Jeff was trying to convince Batman that he should be the next Robin but Batman said Jeff just wouldn’t look good in those tights.
	I had a nice chat with Ruth Guerri, Playmate of the Month for July, 1983. I think Jeff was still talking with Batman.
	Finally, the next morning Jeff and I spotted Kevin Smith and that other guy having breakfast at our hotel. You might know these guys as Jay and Silent Bob in the comics and movies. This picture was taking from our third floor balcony.
That about wraps it up for the comic convention this year. Overall it was a pretty cool show. I think we both walked away with pounds and pounds of comics. My favorite were the five for a dollar. Yes, Sam, that’s only $0.20 each! :)