Tag: Chicago

Continued After the Next Page #022: Planning Panels and Conventioning in the Windy City and Ithaca

Continued After the Next Page #022: Planning Panels and Conventioning in the Windy City and Ithaca

In the “before times”, people would come to the gathering place and wander the concourse taking in the sights purchasing shiny wares with no fear of deadly disease. That was three years ago. Are we back to that point? Probably not, and probably not for a while still, but we are getting closer.

Comic convention season is back in full force. That break in con scheduling that we normally have from before the December holidays until late February didn’t really happen this year. Most people seems to be willing to return to the circuit with little concern for the pandemic creating coronavirus. The best part of this is that my social media feeds are not filling up with tales of infections or even the dreaded con-crud.

All of this has me even more excited to begin my 2023 convention season in a couple of weeks. Your intrepid correspondent will be part of the press contingent at the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo, more commonly known by its geek friendly acronym C2E2. I will be walking the floors all three days talking to exhibitors and fans and checking out some of the interesting panel programming.

However, the most exciting panels, in my not so humble opinion, will take place on Sunday April 2, 2023. I will be hosting two panels a Reed event for the first time in my career, and I am beyond excited. Continue reading “Continued After the Next Page #022: Planning Panels and Conventioning in the Windy City and Ithaca”

C2E2 Recap: A Big Con with Something for Everyone

C2E2 Recap: A Big Con with Something for Everyone

Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo (C2E2) was held on Friday March 22, 2019 through Sunday March 24, 2019. If you are a follower of our site, you will know that we were on hand for all three days of the festivities. Now that we have had time to recover from the great weekend that was C2E2, we want to let you know just what we thought of it.

Before we get into the details of what we saw and the review of the show, it is important to set the stage. We are extremely grateful for ReedPop providing PopCultureSquad with Press Passes for this convention. This was our first time in Chicago and the first time that I personally attended a ReedPop convention. We travelled from Baltimore to Chicago on Thursday night before the show started and stayed in one of the hotels that adjoined the McCormick Place Convention Center using the group discount rate negotiated by the Con.

Security and Entrance

First, a bit about security. In order to get into the con hall, all visitors, guests, and exhibitors were required to go through a metal detector and have their bags and packages checked. There were even bomb sniffing dogs on site to check bags. Once through security, the staff hearded visitors into large sectioned-off areas to wait for the show to open. Once the 10:00 AM hour was reached, thousands of people made their way through the entrance to the main hall in a very organized and orderly manner. Access into the show was really well done and not really a hassle for us on any day of the Con.

Location and Layout

The Con was located in the large halls of South Building of McCormick Place on the third floor of the building. The majority of the panels were held in the fourth and fifth floors of the hall which is just an escalator ride up from the floor.

Continue reading “C2E2 Recap: A Big Con with Something for Everyone”

Empire’s Jussie Smollett hospitalized after a racist, homophobic attack [Vox]

Empire’s Jussie Smollett hospitalized after a racist, homophobic attack [Vox]

Police are investigating the assault and battery, which occurred early Tuesday morning.

Source: Empire’s Jussie Smollett hospitalized after a racist, homophobic attack – Vox  

Last night in Chicago an African American man was assaulted. Homophobic and racial slurs were hurled at him by his MAGA-supporter attackers. They poured bleach on him. THEY TIED A ROPE AROUND HIS NECK.

That this horrific attack was against the actor/singer Jussie Smollett shouldn’t be the only reason this story is newsworthy. Smollett is best known for his role of Jamal Lyon on FOX’s Empire. The idea that a gay man or a black man or a gay, black man cannot safely leave a restaurant and walk down the street in a major US city should enrage us all.

Smollett also recently received a death threat in the mail from self-described MAGA-supporters. The imagery included a poorly done drawing in red marker of a a gun firing at a frowning stick figure that has a noose around its neck. The words “You will die black fag” were cut from magazines like a tv-show ransom note.

Jussie has been a social activist since before gaining stardom on Empire and has used his capital to continue his activism.

Brainiac On Banjo #005: Nostalgia Is Just Another Word For Nothing Left To Read

Brainiac On Banjo #005: Nostalgia Is Just Another Word For Nothing Left To Read

I see by the internet that the print version of The Comics Journal will be returning to our friendly neighborhood comics shops this coming January. That’s cool. I appreciate their work in expanding the purview of the medium while establishing a language for criticism and education. That’s grown-up stuff for a medium that used to be perceived, and often continues to be perceived, as sophomoric clap-trap.

But I come here today not to praise intellectualism in comics journalism. I find myself thinking back to the days when comics fans were fraught with nostalgia, reminded by the fact that The Comics Journal originally was called The Nostalgia Journal. 

Ah, good times. But my mind’s unstoppable WABAC Machine is stuck in reverse.  Continue reading “Brainiac On Banjo #005: Nostalgia Is Just Another Word For Nothing Left To Read”