One of the biggest and best comic conventions is coming to town shortly, but that’s what they say about every convention right? For years the big convention in Illinois was the CHICAGO COMIC-CON. Usually held downtown at the PICK CONGRESS HOTEL, or CONGRESS HOTEL or AMERICANA HOTEL whatever name change they went through at the time. DC COMICS was there, MARVEL COMICS was there, ECLIPSE, FIRST COMICS, DARK HORSE COMICS, INNOVATION, NOW COMICS, all the big publishers at the time were there. You got to meet artists, writers, editors and talk to them first hand about books they had coming out, or attend panels where you were the first to hear
about it. Eventually that show moved to Rosemont and was bought out by WIZARD magazine and it became known as WIZARD WORLD. Man did I hate that name, it sounded like a Harry Potter convention; normal people had no idea what WIZARD magazine was, but at least I didn’t have to explain that the CHICAGO COMIC-CON is actually in the suburb of Rosemont.
So about 10 years ago another convention organizer decides CHICAGO proper needs to have a comic convention and starts C2E2. Some of you attended, it was the first year, nicely run but not a huge show yet. Suddenly comic conventions became a ‘thing’ to normal people and there were shows everywhere. Wizard went from 6 to 12 shows a year to 24 or more shows a year, there was constantly a convention happening everywhere in every town. The publishers had to make a decision. Spend time concentrating on running their core business or constantly send their staff out on the road to promote the business they should be running. They opted to stop attending so many shows. They simply didn’t have the time or manpower to do so.
Meanwhile customers kept complaining to us, MARVEL & DC don’t show up any more, there’s only a few smaller publishers, it doesn’t feel like a comic convention to me.
This is the year you need to check out C2E2. They’ve got both DC COMICS & MARVEL COMICS setting up booths, IMAGE, BOOM!, DARK HORSE, VALIANT, IDW, ONI PRESS, LIONS FORGE and more.
Some of the biggest writers in comics, MARK MILLAR, JASON AARON, BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS, TOM KING – you’d be hard pressed to top that list! But if you like attending a COMIC CONVENTION because you’re in to comic books, then you need to let the publishers know your thoughts. Stop by the DC COMICS booth, the MARVEL booth, talk to the publishers, talk to the writers/artists. If you want DC COMICS to come back again next year, they need to hear from you. What you like about their books, what you dislike, what you wish they would still do or would prefer they no longer do. 
If they fly out their top names, tie- up their free time on a weekend to visit Chicago and all they get back from it is that you miss Captain Carrot and wish they’d bring him back, odds are they won’t be coming back. We want them to leave Chicago thinking ‘Wow, these people are passionate about their books – I got so much feedback from so many people!” Give them something to think about, help guide the publishers in the direction would be of most interest to you – their customers!
If you don’t want to wait another 10 years for all the major publishers to setup in Chicago again – then you need to have your voice heard. We hear it every week when you visit the shops, now is your chance to talk directly to the people in control of the characters/books you love! Plus, seriously, this is one of the greatest comic conventions you’ll ever attend! Reasonably priced (you can still buy tickets at any of our 11 locations – at a discount even) – beautifully setup (check out booth #355 
– it’s a stunner!) and an opportunity to meet some of the greatest writers/artists currently working in our industry!
C2E2 is running April 6th – 8th at the McCormick place in Chicago.