The end of Wizard World?

To be fair, Wizard World has never been my favorite convention. It was decent. But never anything special. To quote Gwen from WWLA07: "I'm bored". To quote Gwen from WWLA08: "I'm done". 45 minutes in, Nick and Gwen were both mentally gone. I was, too.

We were sitting in a sun-striped dining area a few feet from a few DC big shots, and one of them looked bored out of his skull. Moments before the DC panel, it looked as if he was grabbing anyone he could to keep him company. Gwen got to sit in on the panel due to this, plus she had already been on the Big Guns panel of SDCC08 when she was dressed as Evil Mary Marvel. I talked to fellow indy filmmaker Marcus Perry for a bit, and then vacated the pathetic dealer's room before the Rock Band competition could butcher Welcome To The Jungle. I heard the opening cords and feral yell, my head turned, and I knew that I had to flee.

It was no surprise that Marvel and DC pulled out of WWLA09.

But then I heard that they pulled out of Philadelphia, and that they canned Texas and LA.

Is this it for Wizard World as we know it?

Now, I doubt this will change the face of geek lifestyle, but it begs to ask the question of how long can conventions hold out in this economy? San Diego Comic-Con makes so much money that it can float on its own, and publishers as well as exhibitors know that a spot at SDCC's dining room table means exposure. But what about the smaller cons, such as Wizard World. Is Wizard itself to blame? Or is it 50/50? Will APE see the gallows on the hearth? Will WonderCon? How will the anime con industry survive? What of the fan cons, the mutated bastard child of the convention mindset? When you think about it, cons ARE a healthy stimulator of the economy: a packed room full of vendors selling to a packed room full of their demographic. By my Asperger's-fueled calculations, SDCC is set to make over $150 million this year on tickets alone.

That's $150 million more than Wizard World is making.