Austin is a comic book town.
There are several very good comic books shops in the area; four come to mind immediately, and at least one of them could make a fair argument for "world-class" status. A handful of comic creators — including Rob Osborne, Paul Benjamin, Matt Sturges and Paul Maybury—make their home here, and that's not even including the indie creators and people I'm sure I've overlooked. Austin is also where you'll find the ever-awesome Staple! expo and the Webcomics Rampage event.
And according to Wizard's announcement yesterday, it's now going to be the site of a full-on comic book convention when the Wizard World — Austin Comic-Con debuts in November. Wizard Entertainment CEO Gareb Shamus was quoted in the press release as saying:
“The fans have spoken and they want us back in Texas. We previously had a great experience here and are thrilled to be back,” Shamus said. “It's a great city with a top-notch convention center and we're really looking forward to seeing our fans at the type of pop-culture festival only we can bring."
That tap-tap-tapping you hear is me doing a happy dance.
I'll confess, I've never been to a Wizard con, but I can't remember hearing anything awful about one. And C'MON, it's a con that's going to be a 15 minute drive from where I live! Maybe — traffic is about as bad as you've heard if you're not already Downtown.
I pretty sure Wizard World will find a warm reception here. As I said, Austin is a comic book kind of town with a lot of experience in dealing with large events *SXSWcoughACLFestcough* showcasing music, movies and everything in-between. I'm sorry the con won't be in the Dallas area anymore (not really), but I'm glad it'll be coming to my home base (yes, really).
In the coming months I'll be putting together a survival guide for people who'll be here for the Austin Comic-Con, so if you think you'll be coming to town let me know what kind of information you'd like to arm yourself with in the comments. (First tip: Book a hotel room early.)
Now if you'll excuse me: tap-tappity-tap-tap-tap ...
Wizard World — Austin Comic-Con
Nov. 12-14, 2010 (Friday-Sunday)
500 E. Cesar Chavez St. Austin, TX 78701
Go to the Austin Comic-Con site for updated ticket, guest and other information.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Pro on the Con: Wizard is coming to Austin
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4 comments:
Thanks for the "world-class" compliment, Maxo.
We're pretty jazzed about the con, and looking forward to the tips you share with the out-of-towners.
The Wizard Cons I've been to (NYC and Philly) were run smoothly and efficiently, from what I saw.
They lean a little more heavily on the Autograph/Celebrity Guest side of the con rather than the Comics, but all in all they do good shows.
I'm so happy about this! I'm in Oklahoma and was really disappointed when they canceled Wizard World Texas last year because it was so close to me.
Brandon: You guys keep getting better all the time. Hopefully, the con will be good for all the shops in town. Do you think you'll have anything special planned?
Rob: Yeah, the kinda sounds like what you'd expect from a Wizard show, but I can live with it. "Smooth" "efficient" and "good" sounds pretty good to me!
Slackerlibrarian: That's awesome! So does that mean you'll be coming down for the Austin Comic-Con? I've heard it can mean more of a drive from Oklahoma, but hopefully that won't keep people from showing up.
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