And so begins my weekend at Chicago Comic Con. I haven’t been back in several years, so it should be interesting, to say the least. I’ll be resurrecting my typical battle plan: Day One – scour the booths for 50% off graphic novels and novelty items, armed with a prioritized list; Day Two – check out panels/celebrity Q&As. I’ll also be taking time to hang out at my friend’s booth in Artists’ Alley helping him model screened t-shirts and hand made masks when not working on my fireswords. He did get me those discounted weekend passes after all. (If you’re going to be there, stop by Dreamore’s table at Artists’ Alley!)

There are a decent number of celebrities attending this year: LeVar Burton (Star Trek: TNG, Reading Rainbow), the child cast of the Gene Wilder Willy Wonka film, Bruce Campbell (Evil Dead, Burn Notice), Kai Owen and Gareth David-Lloyd (Torchwood), and of course, the headline appearance of Sir Patrick Stewart (Dune, Star Trek: TNG). I might just be willing to spend most of my Saturday morning waiting in line to get into Sir Stewart’s Q&A because I sure as hell can’t afford to cough up the $70 for a photo op and autograph.

The original five Wonka kids.

The Wonka kids all grown up: (left-right) Michael Boellner (“Augustus Gloop”), Denise Nickerson (“Violet Beauregard”), Paris Themmen (“Mike Tee Vee”), Julie Dawn Cole (“Veruca Salt”) and Peter Ostrum (“Charlie Bucket”),

Oh yes, and James Marsters (Buffy, Torchwood) is not only doing a Q&A panel, he’s also holding a small concert with his band on Saturday night.

Now this I have to see, if only on the tiny off chance that he’s got a song called “The Wanton Folly of Me Mum.”

Wizard World’s Comic Con Chicago: Thurs-Sun, Aug. 11-14, Rosemont Convention Center, Rosemont, IL. Daily passes $25, 4-day weekend long passes $55.

Tags: artists, Bruce Campbell, celebrities, Chicago, Comic Con, Ghost of the Robot, James Marsters, nerds, Patrick Stewart, Torchwood, Willy Wonka, Wizard world
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