VOICE FROM THE LONGBOX

As I sit here in my comic book castle, I reflect back upon the Wizard World 2002 comic convention in Chicago-- the second largest comic book convention in North America. It\'s an annual pilgrimage I\'ve made for more than a decade. The convention brings fans and comic creators together, and this year’s convention was enjoyable and successful. My wife and daughter attended the show with me for the first two days. Sonic Erica shows a real interest in our hobby, so we took turns walking her around. Her favorite item of purchase this year was Universal Monster Beanie Babies. Her favorite booth was something called Kaiju Big Battel (kaiju.com) which featured a mock cityscape being crushed by odd-costumed monsters.It was kinda like professional wrestling meets Godzilla, via New Zoo Review. My favorite booth belonged to DC Comics. However, CrossGen Comics deserves honorable mention for their well-run area. Hasbro Toys had an excellent area showcasing their various lines (GI Joe, Transformers, Micronauts and Star Wars). Marvel Comics deserves a smack for not bothering to have a booth. They just had a row of tables and some stanchions for lines. Considering the $400 million Spider-Man movie, you\'d think somebody at Marvel would pay some schmoe to dress up as Spidey for pictures with kids. I enjoyed the interaction I had with writers and artists whose work I admire. Specifically, Geoff Johns who writes JSA and Hawkman, Todd Nauck who pencils Young Justice, and Mark Waid who writes Ruse and has a Superman project coming soon. The Con wasn\'t limited to comic books. The Dealer Area was filled with bootleg videos, Anime, action figures, t-shirts and statues. Media guests included Luke Perry, Michael Rosenbaum (Smallville\'s Lex Luthor), the WWE\'s Al Snow, and the seemingly eternal Star Wars: Men Behind The Masks. My biggest complaint has to do with panel programming. Wizard has never been more than a \"What\'s Hot Right Now\" magazine. It ignores most of comics\' rich history and considers anything from the ‘90s to be \"really\" old. However, comic audiences (like me) are aging. I just wish there was more attention paid to the past than the flavor-of-the-moment. But, sadly, this is a complaint I have every year. If I only ran the circus.