Gary Walters' Wizard World Chicago Con Diary: Portrait of a Writer

by Gary Walters

FRIDAY AUGUST 5th
5:30 AM Up most of the night! So excited about Chicago! The Big Windy! All packed, I think. I really wanted to have my Teal'c costume ready by now but it looks like I'll be doing Jack O'Neill one more year.

6:00 AM Driver seems to be running late.

6:05 AM No driver.

6:10 AM Still no driver.

6:12 AM Wish I drove!

7:00 AM Driver never showed. Had to arrange other means of transportation. Sometimes it sucks having to depend on others. But sometimes it can be rewarding, too. Anyway, I'm finally at the airport. I'm kind of anal about flying (who isn't after 9-11, LOL), and like to get to the airport a little early. For security and everything. And there's always ways to kill time at the airport if you end up getting there a little bit too much early.

9:00 AM Got yelled at for reading magazines in the newsstand. $4.00 for a bagel? Seriously?

10:00 AM Watching CNN. Same damn stories over and over. Wish I had an iPod. Those look cool. B-O-R-E-D. Let us on the plane already! $2.00 for a soda?

11:00 AM Finally boarded the plane. Getting excited about Wizard World! Chicago! Man, this is cool. Can you believe they charged $4.00 for a hot dog?

3:00 PM And... they lost my luggage. All I have to my name is what's in my carry on. And that's mostly empty for carrying back comics. Man, I shoud have packed my suitcases myself. I'll be even more upset pissed off if it turns out I don't have my outfit.

3:10 PM Yep. Outfit's in the lost bag. Darn darn darn darn darn. Alright. Okay. Lemonade. Better repack this bag and catch the shuttle bus.

5:00 PM For goodness sake. Did you know there are TWO Hyatts? And that the Hyatt Rosemont IS NOT the Hyatt by the Rosemont convention center? I'm wiped. I'm going to just start fresh tomorrow. Another day and all.

7:10 PM You have to specify a non-smoking room. I really should have made the reservation myself.

8:00 PM $7 for a hamburger?

SATURDAY AUGUST 6th
7:00 AM Friggin' wake up call. I do not feel well. At all. Eyes are watering. Nasel congested.

11:00 AM NOT. FEELING. WELL.

11:15 AM CRAP.

2:30 PM Cable here sucks.

6:30 PM Someone did pack some medicine in my suitcase! THANK YOU! And thank you, Benadryl! Finally feeling better. Finally. Wizard World!! CHICAGO!!!

8:00 PM Spiderman 2 is on. Can't beat that. Best superhero movie ever. Way beter than Superman 2 and X-Men 2 and Batman 2. The characters are so real. And they grow. Peter Parker develops a lot and by the end everyone knows he's Spiderman, creating conflict for the next movie. Which I hope stars Venom, Spiderman's evil doppelganger and his true arch-enemy. Venom kicks ass. Cna you imagine him all CGI? I wonder if Sony (the movie company that makes Spiderman) is here at Wizard World?

10:30 PM Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. Arnold's in good shape for a 60 year old politician! The governator comes back in time again. This time to governate a evil girl robot. They drive around a bunch. But you can't escape fate. John Connor must grow up to lead the resistance. Connor's played by the guy from that Carnivale show. Which is also on HBO. Coincidence? Clare Danes is cool. I think I like this one second most. After TS, but before the first one.

SUNDAY AUGUST 7th
10:00 AM $16 for a buffet?

11:00 AM Line.

11:24 AM Line. Line. Line.

11:45 AM Wow. This place is huge. There's so much stuff! Way bigger than Wizard World Philly. WAY! The big Windy! Chicago! But $3.50 for an ATM? WTF?

12:00 PM Bought so much swag already! They had the old McFarlane Youngblood action figures! I got a Green Lantern t-shirt! Hal Jordan's back! And they had the Crossgen trades super cheap!

1:00 PM I need to plug this great comic I found at Wizard World Chicago. This thing is fricking awesome. I hope I can get my comic looking this good. They even got a glossy cover for it. It's called "The Soulscythe" and this character fights demons.

That was great. It was just a preview, but you should totally check it out once it reaches stores! I know I will!

So cool.

2:00 PM Holy crap! Adam Hughes was at this convention!

2:30 PM So was that guy who draws the weird funny looking people comics. Did that Ultimate Team Up issue with the Ultimate Fantastic Four.

4:00 PM Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. So much to see. This convention was awesome. It was a lot to take in in just one day. But anymore than that would probably have been too much to handle. And it was cool meeting some fellow YMBers! And to that guy I met in artists' alley, send me your email, I can't find where I wrote it down. So to sum up: This convention was cool. Make sure you make plans to attend Wizard World Chicago next year! I've got a plane to catch. And don't worry, I'm not checking any luggage this time! LOL!

Read Volume 1, Issue 4 of The Tricks of Turning Pro.



Discuss this article in our forum.