Well, That Sort Of Figures, Doesn't It?

In a summer that's featured a wrecked pool liner and dying air conditioning, the loss of a beloved family pet as well as the return of a health issue that's sidelined my swimming for a month now, it stands to reason that the 2010 edition of the Chicago Comic Convention would be a complete and utter bust, doesn't it? And sure enough, this year's trip to the Windy City was the worst waste of time we've ever experienced there. It seems the programming for the convention has attempted to follow the San Diego model by filling a lot of panels with movie and TV celebrities (e.g. Linda Hamilton, William Shatner, Brent Spiner) at the expense of any comic topics. When we got there on Friday and I scanned the agenda for the three day span, it was like I was looking at something made up for a Sci Fi get-together, rather than a comic one. If there was one comic-related panel each day, we were lucky. And while I like SF as much as the next guy, I don't like having to line up for hours to get into panels for it. (For most comic book panels, you can arrive a few minutes before they begin and get a reasonably good seat.)

It didn't take long for us to realize we were witnessing the end of an era, and to decide that one day would be enough to take in what little there was for us. I spent a few hundred dollars on some old Thor comics, bought a few gifts, met and got to chat with Rich Johnston (from Bleeding Cool) and came home with most of the money I'd taken with me to spend. We saved over $150 by not staying in Chicago through tonight but wasted $50 by paying for the full weekend at the Con when single day passes would have sufficed. Oh well... it was a nice run while it lasted!

(Oh, and in case anyone cares: No, the Silver Age Trivia Panel wasn't scheduled for the convention, but I knew that before I left. Just one more change for the worse, if you ask me.)