Spencer: Throughout the course of this weekend I’ve been helping my friend run his booth on Artist’s Alley, but at the end of Saturday, he told me he thought he was catching a cold (the dreaded Con Crud got him) and was simply too exhausted to go on. A weird, meloncholy feeling overwhelmed me; I was pretty exhausted myself and would’ve loved to stay home and sleep all day, but I also didn’t feel finished with Wizard World just yet. So I broke out a notebook and wrote down everything I wanted to accomplish on the final day of Wizard World, to see if it was worth attending. As you can see, I decided it was, and the renewed sense of focus led to a productive, fun day and the sense that I got everything I possibly could have out of this Con. Continue reading →

Spencer: Nothing could have prepared me for day three of Wizard World. Since it was Saturday, it was the busiest day of the con, and since it was the busiest day of the con, it was the day all the big name celebrities were there. I’ve spent the last two days mostly concerned with comic books, but today I tried something new, and the combination of literally suffocating crowds, my own ignorance, and Wizard World’s poor explanation of their policies as well as their outrageous prices derailed my entire morning. Fortunately, today’s session was so long that it felt like two days, and the afternoon proved to be much more successful.

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Spencer: My whole con experience is colored by the fact that I’m spending a portion of each day working at Artist’s Alley. There are some downsides — both of us can’t be away from the table at the same time, none of us like to be left alone for too long, etc. — but I feel like the upsides more than make up for it. Beyond saving a bundle on food so far, I also enjoy having a home base I can return to to sort out the increasingly growing contents of my backpack, but the greatest advantage of all is having access to the floor an hour before it opens. By the time guests started rolling in, I was already talking to the first artist I wanted to meet, and I ended up meeting all four of the creators on my wish list before lines could even form. It was an auspicious start to a fantastic day at Wizard World. Continue reading →

Spencer: Thursday was a weird day at Philadelphia Comic Con. It was really only a half day — open from 3-8 — and none of the celebrities and hardly any of the more recognizable creators were there yet. While there was a fair amount of people in attendance, it was a far cry from the jam-packed crowds I’m used to seeing in pictures. A part of me almost wonders what the point of having a four-day con is at all, but as a first-time convention goer, I was grateful for the chance to acclimate. When things get busy tomorrow, I’ll be prepared.

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