Last week, I attended Wizard World Comic Con in Rosemont, Ill. Wizard World is a tremendously popular and well-run convention featuring celebrities, vendors, speakers and exhibitions. It all started in 1991, when Gareb Shamus founded Wizard Entertainment, and it has been growing ever since.

This year, the big guests were Adam West, Julie Newmar and Burt Ward from TV’s Batman, along with William Shatner of Star Trek fame. Long lines of fans waited to meet their favorite stars.

Even some of the stars wanted to meet the other stars. Pro-wrestler Shane Douglas was hoping to meet West, a childhood favorite. Douglas talked about his passion for comics and how excited he was to attend the convention. Being the intrepid reporter that I am, I came away with a celebrity scoop.

Actress Beth Horn, who appeared as ‘Venom’ in the 2008 season of American Gladiators, told me about plans for an American Gladiators movie next summer, and she will be auditioning. Horn is also excited about the upcoming release of her film Fancy Pants. Horn’s favorite vacation spot is Florence, Italy, because she loves the people and culture.

Not everyone is interested in the celebrity aspect, however. Attendees Dave Pauwels (of Sisters Grimm Comics) and Joey Rodriguez were more interested in the Artist Alley. Rodriguez thought the event was pretty cool, but was disappointed that Marvel and DC and some major publishers such as Darkhorse were not there. Hopefully, as Wizard World continues to grow, this will change.

Conventions like these are huge business. Unfortunately, attendance figures are not released. As an indicator, all hotels in the area were booked solid, according to the concierges. That doesn’t even take into consideration all of the local attendees. Additionally, since most people spend a major portion of each day at the convention, they tend to dine nearby (thus bringing more money into the area). The total revenue it brought into the Rosemont area was tremendous.

In 2010, there were Wizard World conventions in nine major U.S. cities, and there are plans for adding five more cities in 2011. Wizard World keeps growing and improving every year. My friends and I are already looking forward to the first announcements about next year’s convention.

— John Wroblewski, distribution specialist