Wizard World Chicago 2012 Days 2 and 3

On the second and third day of Wizard World Chicago, I got right down to business and began to find celebrities to meet, great things to buy, and fantastic photos to take. Friday and Saturday usually were the biggest days and there was nothing but enthusiasm surrounding me.

August 10th, 2012

The first thing I did when I arrived was go directly to the Photo-Op room. When I first perused the Wizard World website and found out that Stan Lee would be attending this year, I knew I had to get a picture with the man. I bought my ticket for Sunday, when the crowds will be smaller and there would be fewer people in line to meet Stan the Man. Right next to the Photo-Op room was the Artist Alley and being the lover of art that I am, I wandered around that section, only to be surprised at all the fantastic artists there. I walked past Art Balthazar, George Perez, and the man himself, Neal Adams.

Since I’m such a big Harry Potter fan, I knew I had to meet Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy). LeakyCon was in Chicago this same weekend and I wanted to know if he was going. I stood in line for a couple of minutes, talking to some first-time attendees of conventions (very enthusiasm and completely geeking out over Bruce Timm) when, surely enough, the man of the hour stepped forward. He signed every thing that was given to him with a smile and talked enthusiastically with all his fans. When I went up, I shook his hand, chatted for a couple of minutes, and moved on, not wanting to hold up too much of his time.

Wandering around the floor once again (I do that a lot), I admired all the cosplayers that were dressed up. Some of them had extremely impressive outfits and were more than glad to pose for pictures. Tired, I walked towards the front of the con and collapsed on one of the bean bag chairs, admiring the Starfleet uniforms. This year, the exhibitors went above and beyond in showcasing what they had to offer and I saw many amazing artifacts, including a very accurate duplicate of the TARDIS, from Doctor Who. Later, I saw people posing with a Dalek.

After a couple of hours, tired and ready to go home, I sat down at the restaurant and had myself an extremely delicious pizza.

August 11th, 2012

I decided to take a day off on Saturday and only arrived at the con during its last few hours. Knowing that much of my energy would be expended on Sunday with Stan Lee, I mostly took pictures and admired the props. Outside the exhibit hall, there were props of the Batmobile (60s Batman) and the DeLorean (Back to the Future). I had to take shots of them.

As I went into the exhibit hall, I was really excited to see Bruce Campbell. He attends Wizard World every year, yet I always miss him. Sure enough, he had already left by the time I reached his table. Though disappointed, I was still eager to meet Stan Lee the next day. It was late and I went to the nearby Hyatt to have dinner with a friend. As we walked to the restaurant, , a tall intimidating man in a suit walked past us.

It was Bruce Campbell!

Slightly star-strucked and searching for words, I managed to utter his Evil Dead catchphrase…GROOVY! He smiled and replied, “Groovy.” right back at me and after a bit of chit-chat, I walked away a very happy man.

Stick around tomorrow for my coverage of Day 4 and the encounter I had with the legendary Stan Lee!