Wizard World Chicago

Wizard World Chicago 2008 Contest: How Many Pictured Superheroes Can You Guess?

HollywoodChicago.com — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 13:57:33 -0700

CHICAGO – Greetings, true believers! Another year of Wizard World Chicago has come and gone. To help hold you off until next year, HollywoodChicago.com is hosting a contest to see who knows their masked crusaders best!

Following our pre-show coverage and pre-show slideshow, senior staff writer Dustin Levell managed to press the flesh with scores of heroes and villains on the floor of Wizard World Chicago 2008. Whether it be the Justice League of America, Legion of Doom, Alliance, Rebel or even hot girl or really scary guy, Dustin was there to meet them.

See how many of these 54 pictures of icons from the realm of comic books, sci-fi and anime you can identify. As a bonus, we’ve added four pictures for extra credit that we aren’t quite sure are identifiable characters.

The entries with the most correct answers will be entered into a drawing to win fun prizes. We promise you this is challenging, fun and worth your time. We have built an online form for you to submit your answers. Keep this slideshow open in one window to see the pictures and the online form in other to submit your answers.

As you scroll through the photos, swap between the two windows and enter your answers in the online form. Submit your form when you’ve answered as many as you can. You can click “Next” or “Previous” above or jump directly to individual photos below. Good luck, and excelsior!

See our 54-image Wizard World Chicago 2008 superhero and villain slideshow and submit your answers online!

By DUSTIN LEVELL
Senior Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
dustin@hollywoodchicago.com

Wizard World Chicago 2008 Contest: How Many Pictured Superheroes Can You Guess?

HollywoodChicago.com — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 12:56:32 -0700

Submit your Wizard World Chicago answers online here!

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Submit your Wizard World Chicago answers online here!

By DUSTIN LEVELL
Senior Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
dustin@hollywoodchicago.com

Wizard World Chicago in Full Swing; Geeks Rejoice as Comic Expo Will Be Largest in Local History

HollywoodChicago.com — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 14:11:21 -0700

CHICAGO – Thursday kicks off the annual Wizard World Chicago comic book convention, which runs June 26 through June 29, 2008.

Comic book and toy collectors from around the world are gathering at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont to hock goods, spread rumors and revel in all things geeky. Here’s a breakdown of some of the fun.

See our 12-slide Wizard World Chicago 2008 image slideshow.

“Batman: Gotham Knight” (the film that bridges the gap between 2005’s “Batman Begins” and 2008’s “The Dark Knight”) will have its world premiere on Saturday night.

Following the premiere, writers Brian Azzarello, Alan Burnett, Josh Olson, Greg Rucka and executive producer Bruce Timm will take part in a special panel and Q&A session moderated by DC Comics senior vice president of creative affairs Gregory Noveck.

The creative team will then participate in a public signing on Sunday morning.
Special guest Missy Peregrym from the hit TV shows “Reaper” and “Heroes” will sit down with Kevin Mahadeo from Wizard Magazine during a Saturday Q&A panel.
Guest of honor Warren Ellis will be at the show every day from Thursday to Sunday courtesy of Avatar Press. During his special nighttime event on Friday at 9:30 p.m., Ellis will discuss a variety of topics and give fans a rare glimpse into his unparalleled personality.
On Saturday at 2 p.m., you can learn how students at Chicago’s Flashpoint Academy are working on the exciting visual effects for the soon-to-be-released film “Space Pirates”.

The visual effects supervisor for the film “Space Pirates” (also chair of the visual effects and animation department at Flashpoint Academy) will be on hand to show how the effects are being created. Work representing the students and professionals will be discussed.
Venom and Phoenix from the hit NBC series “American Gladiators” will be showing clips and giving away behind-the-scenes secrets during their question-and-answer session on Friday.
The creators of the “[adult swim]” series “Moral Orel” will participate in a panel on Saturday during which you’ll hear about the making of this Emmy Award-winning, stop-motion animated show. Present at the panel will be Dino Stamatopoulos (“Late Night with Conan O’Brien”), Chicago’s Scott Adsit (“30 Rock”) and Chris McKay. They’re oh-so offensive and oh-so funny.

Six of the seven artists who formed Image Comics, which has gone on to be one of the biggest comic companies of all time, will reunite on Saturday.

Todd McFarlane, Rob Liefeld, Whilce Portacio, Erik Larsen, Marc Silvestri and Jim Valentino will discuss the past, present and future of the company that brought you “Spawn,” “WildC.A.T.s,” “Savage Dragon,” “Youngblood” and more.

Wizard World Chicago takes its first step into the world of live music with the invigorating J-pop sound of ORESKABAND, which is currently one of the hottest bands in Japan.
Photo credit: Wizard Entertainment

With the “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” movie and TV series hot on the horizon, Lucasfilm “head of fan relations” Steve Sansweet will have much to share with fans at Wizard World Chicago.
Sansweet’s presentation will reveal exciting looks into the upcoming animated movie and series as well as into LucasArts’ breathtaking new game “The Force Unleashed”.
Image Comics’ writer Robert Kirkman will be the subject of a look at his work on “Invincible,” “The Walking Dead,” “The Astounding Wolf-Man” and “Brit” during a panel on Friday.
On Thursday night at 7 p.m., all 100 original Hulk covers for Marvel’s recent Hulk No. 1 will be on display for the first and only time at a “green-room event”. Only 200 admission tickets will be sold with all proceeds going to benefit the The Hero Initiative.

“The Great Debate: Bendis vs. Johns” pits two of the hottest writers in comics – Marvel heavyweight Brian Michael Bendis and DC Comics titan Geoff Johns – against each other as they debate some of the most controversial topics in the industry.

Special guest Missy Peregrym from the hit TV shows “Reaper” and “Heroes” will sit down with Kevin Mahadeo from Wizard Magazine during a Saturday Q&A panel.
Photo credit: Wizard Entertainment

The convention takes its first step into the world of live music with the invigorating J-pop sound of ORESKABAND, which is currently one of the hottest bands in Japan.
The concert, which is free to convention attendees, will take place on Friday evening. Prior to the concert, ORESKABAND will be signing autographs on Friday at 1 p.m. in the fountain area.
In Saturday’s “Spawn to the Future” panel, “Spawn” creator Todd McFarlane makes a special guest appearance at Wizard World Chicago to introduce the new “Spawn” creative team.

Writer Brian Holguin, artist Whilce Portacio and McFarlane himself who will co-plot the stories and lay out the pages while revealing secrets about the book’s upcoming new direction.
There will be two tournament halls set up for gaming. Players will be competing all weekend in scheduled HeroClix battles for the title of North American national champion in the WizKids tournament hall. There will also be non-stop, around-the-clock gaming in the Wizards of the Coast hall.
There will be a “Women in Comics” panel on Sunday at noon. Gail Simone (“Wonder Woman” writer), Kristin Allen (“Aliens vs Predator: Requiem” and “Women of Marvel” sketch card artist) and Katie Cook (licensed artist for “Star Wars,” DC and Marvel) will share their experiences and tell you how to survive and thrive in the comics industry.

They will be joined by Agnes Garbowska (“Peach and the Isle of Monsters” and “Polar Bear Princess”), Eva Hopkins (“Dark Ivory” and colorist for “Dawn”), Jann Jones (senior coordinating editor for DCU) and Carly Spade (colorist for Particle 9 Productions).
During his Saturday “Wizard School” panel, Bob Layton (Marvel’s legendary creator of “Iron Man,” “X-Factor” and “Hercules: Prince of Power”) will discuss and demonstrate some “simple rules of thumb” that any beginning artist can apply when attempting to create a comics page.

You can learn on Sunday at 11 a.m. from this visionary veteran of the comic book industry and see how to apply his knowledge and experience to your own comics work.
Mitch Breitweiser (“Captain America: The Chosen” artist) will join Ethan Van Sciver, Shane Davis, Adi Granov, Greg Horn and Aaron Lopresti for the first “Wizard World Win, Lose or Draw” panel on Sunday at 1 p.m. The assortment of artists and two fans will play for prizes.

Attendees must purchase a raffle ticket for the chance to compete on stage. All proceeds benefit The Hero Initiative.

Also, stay tuned as HollywoodChicago.com writer Dustin Levell offers his reactions and thoughts from convention attendees in the next edition of the HollywoodChicago.com podcast!

See our 12-slide Wizard World Chicago 2008 image slideshow.

By DUSTIN LEVELL
Senior Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
dustin@hollywoodchicago.com

Wizard World Chicago 2008 Slideshow: The Images of All the Action

HollywoodChicago.com — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 10:55:53 -0700

CHICAGO – Wizard World Chicago 2008 takes place from June 26 to June 29, 2008 in Chicago. The jam-packed program promises to be the largest Wizard World Chicago in history. Here are the images to take you right into all the action. All images are credited to Wizard Entertainment.

Wizard World, which is the convention division of Wizard Entertainment, is a four-city tour that brings the best in comics, film, TV, anime and collectibles to Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago and Texas. Wizard Entertainment is an industry leader in the comic book and collectibles market.

Captions and direct links to each image in our 2008 Wizard World Chicago slideshow are below. Our June 26, 2008 pre-show coverage on Wizard World Chicago can be found here.

wizardworld1.jpg: “Batman: Gotham Knight”
wizardworld2.jpg: Brian Michael Bendis
wizardworld3.jpg: The creators of Image Comics
wizardworld4.jpg: Missy Peregrym from TV’s “Reaper” and “Heroes”
wizardworld5.jpg: From left to right: Dino Stamatopoulos (“Late Night with Conan O’Brien”), Chicago’s Scott Adsit (“30 Rock” and Second City) and Chris McKay of “Morel Orel”
wizardworld6.jpg: “Batman: Gotham Knight”
wizardworld7.jpg: “Batman: Gotham Knight”
wizardworld8.jpg: “Batman: Gotham Knight”
wizardworld9.jpg: “Secret Invasion” by Brian Michael Bendis
wizardworld10.jpg: “Stare Wars: The Clone Wars”
wizardworld11.jpg: Warren Ellis
wizardworld12.jpg: ORESKABAND

By DUSTIN LEVELL
Senior Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
dustin@hollywoodchicago.com