It seems like the increasingly defunct Wizard Magazine is breathing new life, and creating scheduling conflicts. Wizard owner Gareb Shamus has scheduled a convention in Anaheim, California to be held the exact same weekend as C2E2, which is brought to you by New York Comic Con owners Reed Exhibitions.
Gareb Shamus, CEO of New York based Wizard Entertainment, announced today the launch of the first-ever Anaheim Comic-Con, to be held at the Anaheim Convention Center from April 16-18, 2010. Richard McWilliam, Upper Deck Chairman/CEO said, “Gareb and I have been friends for many years now, and I’m happy to see him once again back in Southern California. On behalf of myself and Upper Deck, we congratulate Gareb for bringing the fans here another great Comic-Con.”
Upper Deck recently announced a licensing agreement with Marvel Entertainment to create products based on Marvel characters, including Trading Cards, TCGs and Miniatures Games.
Anaheim will be the fifth Comic-Con city for shows produced by Gareb, joining Chicago, Philadelphia, New York and the recently-purchased Toronto event. Attendees can anticipate the strong caliber lineup of stars and exhibitors that fans across the nation have come to expect.
“We had an outpouring of requests by fans and partners to return to Southern California, and felt that Anaheim was the best place to come back to,” said Shamus. “There is a real desire here for a comic based pop-culture experience, and I feel privileged to get back in touch with our west coast fans in this way. This will truly be an event for families and people of all ages.”
Ahmet Zappa, Publisher of Disney’s Kingdom Comics said, “All of us at Kingdom Comics are thrilled to be working with our friends from Wizard, as they get ready to add the Anaheim Comic-Con to their line-up of spectacular fan events. They have a reputation in the industry for putting on great shows in Chicago, Philadelphia, and New York, and the Anaheim Comic-Con will bring exciting entertainment to our own backyard.”
Kingdom Comics is developing entertaining new graphic novels, and re-imagining motion pictures from the Disney live-action vaults, and plans to use the Anaheim convention to showcase new projects to the fan community.
Now, if you add this with their Big Apple Con coming this October that clashes with the future date of the New York Comic Con, which we won’t see again for another year and some change. So. Yeah, should see a ton of New York comic creators / retailers feeling even more stretched thin between the conventions in the next couple of years.
