Wizard World Austin Comic Con

I’ve been to a few Austin Comic Cons and they have gone downhill. The best thing about the one’s I’ve really enjoyed was the 501^st legion and the other Star Wars characters that show up with them and Comic Con hasn’t had them for the last couple of years. Everyone else wants to charge money just to get an autograph or take a picture of them sitting at a table, the Star Wars community was there for the fans, taking pics all day and raising money for charity. Bring ‘em back Wizard World.
Tons of people still show up, not sure why since the «talent» is largely pro wrestlers and reality show stars. Its only worth going if you have a kid AND you can get a deal with groupon or something similar.

This is the only con I have ever attended, so keep in mind with my review that I don’t have much to compare it to. I have attended Wizard World the last 4 years and am planning on attending this year. The first year I attended was so swamped, it had me hooked based on the merch alone. The second and third year I finally got into the cosplay and attended the panels, finally partaking in an entire weekend’s worth of activities. Unfortunately, last year’s con fell during one of ACLs weekends and I think this effected ticket sales greatly. Because of this, every guest I was excited to see seemed to drop out of the list one by one and I was left feeling very let down. We ended up only attending one day last year. This year the con will fall on Halloween weekend and I’m wondering which way this will effect ticket sales. Unless they can get some guests and bring back Jarrett Crippin as mc, I might not be attending. I will say, the one plus of last year compared to the first 3 I attended, the food court was greatly improved both in cuisine offered and with seating. I’d say overall, the con has earned my 4 star rating, but if I was reviewing last year alone, it would have received only 3.

I went the first couple of years then stopped. Don’t think it’s worth it anymore. Raising the entry prices that much every year just to see pretty much the same stuff every year, not cool. If your a collector you can just find better deals online now a days.

I felt like a bit of a downer each year that I’ve told people that our local «comic con» felt like a bust, but apparently I’m not the only attendee who felt this way. Ignore reviews from those who didn’t attend and simply cry about the entry fee.
I’ve been to plenty of cons, and while I don’t attend all of them, every year, this one just keeps coming up short for me. I attended the first Wizard World Texas in 2003 and it was a blast, headliners I recall from the comic world were Jim Lee and George Perez. While the con has since relocated to my own city, which I appreciate, I can’t say that it’s selection of vendors or artists/​talent have really improved. Instead it feels like a larger scale version of the Sci-​Fi & Action Figure expo that are held in lesser venues.
When walking the sales floor I couldn’t help feeling that attendance felt skimpy for the square footage of the floor. Even the recent (and local) MondoCon felt like a much greater overall success than this, as it was packed & pretty much all booths seemed lively. MC was arguably a more niche event and Mondo (the company behind it) has a pretty healthy following.
Had I not won my ACC passes on the radio, I’d regret the money spent on this experience. Also, I’ll always prefer Fri-​Sun cons over Thurs-​Sat cons, but to each his own (I’m guessing the convention hall was already booked for Sunday).
I really wish that they’d either lower booth prices or offer incentives to local (IN TOWN) businesses to take part. I was bummed to see that all of the shops I frequent were not represented, and couldn’t help but feel that either booth prices or timely awareness were to blame. Surely if more local toy/​collector stores and game/​comic shops were present, surely they’d get some new regular customers who may have been previously unaware of them. This has the potential to bring both local businesses out as well as big national brands and vendors, but it just felt so shoddy this year I couldn’t be bothered to buy a single thing.

Didn’t go to Wizard World 2014 due to the $ 50 entry fee for one day and usually the celebs overcharge for their autograph or pics. Yes the lines are ridiculous…
Also this years not too many notable celebs there.

Loved it — had a great experience with my older two kids. Hopefully it starts a lifelong love of comics for them.

Well the thing that stupid out at this event was the FULL BAR. There was and amazing transformers toy exhibit. Lots of great stuff. The reason I came. I got Bruce Campbell’s autograph. He signed my BubbaHoTep!

First time ever this past November. I went on Saturday, and did I mention how cold it was? Not to mention that I took the bus to not hassle with parking, which was a mess. Long line to begin with but the staff handled it real well. I liked getting the Walking Dead first comic as part of the ticket entry. It was very crowded and many, many, many people were dressed for attention. Thank you ladies for braving the cold weather to get peoples’ attention! I liked walking around and seeing what was for sale and the stars who had their own booths (sorry, but those tix were pricey) but the real deal for me was the speakers and the Frank Frazetta «museum» that Robert Rodriguez brought with him. I also watched a couple of short films on the second floor. I got to see Bruce Campbell put on a hilarious performance, and listen to Robert Rodriguez talk about El Rey Network, Frank Frazetta, and Sin City 2, along with Fire and Ice. Just awesome stuff to hear that he will be working on.
The one bad thing about this is that there was a poor selection of food at the convention and very few vendors that just sold pizza or burgers. In this city, I would have expected a lot more variety and vendors. Someone please fix that soon. Hopefully the weather will cooperate this year too.

Great venue, great volunteers, great experience! This was my first comic con and I am not really into that scene but I had a really good time. It was well organized and people were so friendly. Would highly recommend!

I absolutely LOVE Wizard World. It is the date weekend for my husband and I. So much fun to be among kindred spirits, star gaze, meet new people, emerging artists and those that have a very storied history. I work as a politician… but here, it’s ok for me to just be me.

Pretty awesome Comic Con for it not being the real thing. But regardless, you will see me every year at the Austin Comic Con until I go to San Fran.

I have gone two years in a row. i plan on going every year from now on!

Enjoyed seeing my son and friends totally geek out. First time attending this or any kind of convention. A bigger venue is definitely needed. Overall, pretty enjoyable… especially the people watching.

Each time I go its great! Absolute fun!

Really fun. Love the vendors and costumes. I hope this gets bigger every year!

Last year I went to both the Austin con and San Diego. Of the two, I had way more fun at the Austin one.
It’s a very small con — it took up less than half of the convention center and there were much fewer people, especially costumed people, than I expected. The guests weren’t anything amazing but the comic artist panels were pretty cool, and so were a lot of the writers.
Lines were manageable and the dealer room/​artist alley was easy to navigate. I got some good deals on hard-​to-​find comics and things. All in all I’d definitely recommend the convention to friends of mine who are into comic books and to casual fans as well.

It was fun. We met some awesome artists and got some rad autographs. I’ve heard lots of criticism from fellow nerds, and will have to agree that it certainly wasn’t the best con ever, but was enjoyable enough for an event I didn’t have to leave Austin to attend. I’ll be back next time, and will continue to be optimistic about the event’s growth.

Bought the groupon for my husband and son to have a guys day. My son really enjoyed it, especially all the costumes. They came home with swords, knives, and other assorted paraphernalia. I guess you could call that a success?

Had a good time Friday night. They did not do the best job of announcing autograph sessions so I missed one the kids would have liked, but all in all a good couple of hours. Looking forward to going back tomorrow.