Polite Dissent

We arrived early again for the final day of WizardWorld as we learned that was the best time for hitting the Dealers’ Room and Exhibition area. I picked up some copies of Invincible and had Robert Kirkman sign them at the surprisingly small Image Comics booth. I also gave him two words of advice regarding his upcoming Marvel Team-Up series: Brother Voodoo.

We swung by the NC Soft booth and I managed to win a copy of City of Heroes and the accompanying strategy guide by proving that I know way too much about Black Goliath (thanks to a misspent youth of reading Marvel Two-In-One). I had been hinting that I wanted the game for Christmas, but now I get to play it sooner. We also picked up some Love Hina and Princess Ai at the TokyoPop booth for the Polite-Wife, and Planetes for me.

The first panel we attended today was the Marvel X-Men panel. Joe Quesada was emceeing and most of the X-creators were there including Mark Millar, Chris Claremont, and Joss Whedon. There were no real surprises at the panel: Wolverine is everywhere and Phoenix is returning. There was a promise that inter-universe continuity will be stressed more not only in the X-titles, but the entire Marvel Universe.

The Vertigo panel was fairly brief, since much of it was taken up with an extended clip from Constantine and a Q&A session with its director. There was mention of a new Grant Morrison Bollywood-based mini-series to be illustrated by Philip Bond. Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere story will be out as a nine-part mini-series adapted by Mike Carey. Lucifer will apparently end at issue #75, with the third of three “acts” just starting now. Issue #30 of Y: The Next Man will explain why Yorrick survived the plague, and then the characters will travel out of the United States. Several Hellblazer projects were announced to coincide with the February release of Constantine, including a Papa Midnite miniseries and an original graphic novel.

In terms of Constantine, the movie definitely has style. The clips certainly intrigued me, and Keanu Reeves actually held his own. The only part I really didn’t like was the scene when Constantine was shooting a combination cross/shotgun at a roomful of demons; the Constantine in the comics would never get his hands dirty in actual combat and the scene was too reminiscent of a first-person shooter. Otherwise, the clips mostly focused on his encounters with demons, conversations with Papa Midnite and his coping with the realization that he has lung cancer. In addition to the variety of demons shown (including one composed of swarming insects), there was also a scene with a slightly-feminine-but-mostly-androgynous archangel (I don’t remember which one. Michael? Gabriel? Airwolf?). While there were a few too many instances of monsters popping into the screen suddenly to startle the audience, there was a genuine feeling of dread and suspense instilled by the movie. It surprises me to say that I am now looking forward to seeing this movie, but I don’t think it will be for everyone.

Overall, we had a very good time at WizardWorld. I was able to find some hard-to-find comics and meet some nice people. I wish the panels had been more mixed and topically diverse rather than company presentations and I wanted to see more independent publishers in the exhibition room and on the panels. Still, it was a well-spent weekend and we’ll undoubtedly be back next year.