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Home Columns  by Scott Tipton  by Chris Ryall  by Scott Bowden  by Joshua Jabcuga  |  Ron Twoeagle |
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Home Columns by Scott Tipton by Chris Ryall by Scott Bowden by Joshua Jabcuga | Ron Twoeagle |
| COMICS 101 By Scott Tipton 2006-03-18 - COMICS 101 EXTRA! Live from the Floor at Wizard World Los Angeles March 18, 2006 
And look at those crowds. Or not so much. Although it was a much bigger venue here at the Convention Center, it didn't seem like that much bigger of a crowd. The lineup at the ticket booth seemed much the same as the Long Beach shows, with a brief four-or-five-minute wait to get your badge. For a Saturday morning at 10:30, that's not real promising for the success of the show. Try showing up with no ticket at San Diego on Saturday morning, and you might get in by noon. 
And here, the gateway up the escalators to the dealer's room on the main floor, isn't exactly teeming with con-goers either. Despite the much larger venue at the Convention Center, the show itself didn't seem that much more grand or impressive than it was in Long Beach, with plenty of unused space on the floor. Although the crowds did pick up later in the day, it never had that big-time feel you get at San Diego or Chicago, instead having more of a local-show vibe to it. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I doubt that's what Wizard was aiming for when they decided to expand to the Los Angeles market. And if today seemed like it was slow, I can only imagine how empty it's going to be tomorrow. You see, tomorrow is the Los Angeles Marathon, and any Angeleno who's lived here more than half an hour knows not to venture anywhere near downtown on Marathon Sunday, for fear of being endlessly trapped in a labyrinth of street closures, detours and dead ends. And Mile One of the Marathon runs right past the Convention Center. Ay caramba. 
Mattel brought their full convention setup this year, despite not having a con exclusive to offer here. 
Wizkids was also here in full force, with their usual array of exclusive miniatures and gaming tables. 
Spike TV showed up with a big beat-pounding structure, complete with classy short-shorts-wearing babes and a deejay up top on the ones and twos, pushing their new BLADE TV series and weekly TNA IMPACT! wrestling program. 
Convention fixture "Guy Who Kinda Looks Like Christopher Reeve" shows off a bit of memorabilia to a barely interested Mattel employee. 
Mattel isn't letting Cartoon Network's seeming apathy towards their best series, JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED, deter them from cranking out the best and most diverse assortment of characters ever seen in a mass-market action-figure line. I mean, Shayera in the track-suit! Come on! 
Somebody needs to floss... 
Nothing looks cooler than the Reverse-Flash. Period. 
Where's my Question figure, dammit! 
Shining Knight and Zatanna in the same package? Nice. 
Judging by Katma Tui's outfit, Green Lantern Corps dress code has apparently loosened up... 
Whoo-ee! As I live and breathe, is that a Vigilante figure I see? Yeee-haa! 
"Whaddaya mean, I'm dead! I just got an action figure!" 
Every girl crazy 'bout a sharp-dressed man... 
I'd probably have preferred the classic green half-face, but that's a pretty sweet sculpt nonetheless... 
"Green is the new black, don't you know." 
These empty chairs notwithstanding, Artists' Alley was fairly busy all day, with most artists seeing a steady flow of folks stopping by for a signature or a sketch. 
Someone oughtta tell TNA wrestler Jeff Jarrett he's got something on his shirt. At least he wasn't sporting the white 501s. Meanwhile, fellow wrestler Jackie Gayda gives her best fake smile... 
"La-Z-Boy Shootout! Aaaaaand...GO!" 
"Yeah, and I invented sitting down, too! All hail Shatner!" 
Apparently VH1 isn't the only one who loves the '80s... 
"Who's in limbo, now, fanboys? Boo-ya-kah!" 
I hadn't heard this variant announced, but it should please you SECRET WARS fans out there... 
I just need to write a Giles comic and I'll really have a reason to buy this... 
Marvel's booth saw a steady stream of foot-traffic all day... 
...as did DC's, although with Wizard's bewildering system of setting up phantom lines all over the dealer's room floor for various signings and giveaways, it was hard to tell who was really waiting for what. 
Most dealers seemed to be doing okay business, although you didn't see con-goers walking around with armloads of merchandise the way you so often do at Comic-Con. 
However, when they were carrying something big, it was this: Wizkids' convention exclusive "miniature" for '06, the truly astounding Spectre. Towering over the Galactus they offered in 2004, this monster is beautifully sculpted and painted, and is worth buying just to display as a statue. And if you do play the Heroclix game, I've gotta imagine just slamming this big boy down on the table adds a certain...intimidation factor to the competition. 
Galactus takes a moment out from his busy schedule to answer a few questions from a distinguished member of the press... So there you have it. From my selfish perspective, the show was better downtown, simply because it was a lot more convenient, but they might be better off returning to Long Beach in the future, as they probably lost some attendees who might be willing to spend a weekend in Long Beach by the ocean, but are less inclined to do so in what is, putting it politely, a much less inviting locale. 
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