Wizard World Philadelphia is a massive comic convention with celebs (“celebs” and real ones mixed in) as diverse as Patrick Stewart and teabagger/right-winger Stephen Baldwin. The guest list also included Bruce Campbell (Evil Dead, Brisco County, Burn Notice), James Marsters (Buffy, Smallville, Torchwood), Linda Hamilton (Terminator), Ernie Hudson, and Adam West. Many more pseudo-celebs were also there and most seemed nice and energetic, with a few exceptions. Here’s a timeline of my day and first time going to a convention as “press” for our most excellent site, NERDociety.com:

8am: I get up, skip breakfast and hop on the El downtown with my dawg and fellow NERDSociety writer Paladin and we head to the con.

9:55am: We wait in line to get in with the rest of the peons. Data (Brent Spiner) walks by us and up the escalator. Johnny Fairplay (Survivor, all around asshole) walks by us with a drag queen in blue spandex sneering at us to “have fun waiting in line, nerds”. I was not offended being called a nerd by a reality whore in a clown suit…….I was offended that he was even invited to Wizard World in the first place. He’d be better off doing appearances at strip clubs at midnight where he can drink and sexually harass dancers and possibly some random men.

10:10am: We go to the press registration booth to get our wristbands that say press on them and badges. We go into the main hall and plan our day. Me and Palidin split up and then I snap a picture of a woman dressed as Poison Ivy and hand out some of our awesome nerdsociety.com business cards. I go to Stephen Baldwin’s booth to harass him, but sadly, he’s nowhere in sight. It should be stated at this point that the crowd of thousands is docile and the fans were mostly terrific. There was little pushing and shoving and only some annoying volunteers made the day difficult. According to first-hand accounts on facebook, Adam West’s volunteer was screaming at fans not to take his photo…….what a tool. I hope someone got that person and posts THEIR picture. There’s no reason to harass people who just paid good money to come in.

11:30am: I run over to the food line to buy an overpriced and tasteless chicken caeser wrap, some chips and a nestea. 12.25 down the tubes. I go wait in line for the James Marsters Q and A. Marsters is energetic and witty and only during a question about the Buffy rape scene (a sad misstep towards the end of the show’s run, which was overall pretty bad) does he get serious. It sounds like he didn’t want to do the scene and who could blame him.

1pm: After the Q and A with Brainiac from Smallville, I head back to the convention hall and down some free glasses of Venom energy drink……which tastes like syrup. I guess it’s an improvement over Monster Energy, which tastes like battery acid. I see a lot of people snapping photos and notice that Sir Patrick Stewart has arrived, in an England soccer jersey no less. I elbow a few people and get in for a sweet photo of Patrick talking to his Next Generation co-star John De Lancie (Q). Patrick is charging 60 dollars per autograph which I found both sickening and dispiriting, but that rant is for another time.

2pm: I cut the line and run in to see Bruce Campbell’s Q and A. Bruce was HILARIOUS but the questions were shitty for the most part as a lot of fans can’t complete a sentence. Most questions went nowhere slowly. Bruce was gracious, self-deprecating and funny though and I had a blast.

2:45 pm: Back in the convention hall for more brooding about toys and statues I can’t afford, and another cup of pure sugar called Venom. I then go to artist Greg Horn’s booth and immediately spot a Spider-man art print that I must have. Greg signs it and puts it in a plastic sleeve. 25 bucks well spent :).

3:00pm: Q and A with John De Lancie and Brent Spiner. Spiner is late but far more engaging as a speaker. He was witty and charming and gave the audience great answers. Yes……we all still hate Star Trek Nemesis.

4:00pm: I drop some more NERDociety.com cards for everyone and we head home. An exhausting, fun, eye-opening day.

I’ll be back again soon with more articles, in-depth looks at each Q and A session, and of course, my rant on autograph pricing. Thanks to Wizard World for providing press passes to us and we’ll see everyone back there next year. Time to retire to my fortress of solitude on the Kent Farm and brood to Lifehouse tunes. CCFMDS Out !

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