Thoughts About C2E2 2016

The annual Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo (C2E2) occurred last weekend at the South Building in McCormick Place. Here are my thoughts about this year’s event.

As a whole, large scale conventions in the Midwest (especially those in the Chicagoland area) have lacked presence and support from well-known publishers – Marvel, Image, and DC – for the past two decades, however C2e2 is usually always the exception but this year was a huge disappointment for anyone expecting elaborate presentations from any of those companies. I guess the big two already know with both having blockbuster movies and comic event books on the horizon that they’re gonna get our money, right?

Sure, there were some MINOR announcements from Marvel about their upcoming Civil War II story arc but hardly noteworthy and every writer and artist in attendance that are currently/reportedly/assuming still in DC’s employ were mum about everything even general questions like, ‘Hey fill-in-the-name, what can fans expect in terms of overall tone when Rebirth is launched this June?’ The unanimous answer reply was, ‘You going to have to wait for WonderCon to get an answer.’ Image Comics in earlier years at C2E2 have had a huge booth that hawked their wares; t-shirts, figures, and comics but this year, instead, fans were treated to literally what appeared to be a 16 sq ft display.

It’s obvious that Funko gives a damn about their Midwest consumers.

The overall lack of publisher prominence was certainly made up for by the presence of comic talent. My two examples shown below:

Art Baltazar of Aw Yeah! Comics

Legendary DC Comics Artist Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez

Bottom Line: Despite Reedpop continuing to put on one heck of a comic-con for the Chicagoland and the greater Midwest region which is accented by the tremendously courteous staff and volunteers at McCormick Place, this show and the fans who attend it deserve to be treated to bigger and more prominent interaction with most of their favorite comic book publishers and toy companies with exclusives announcements and merchandise because this is after all “The con Chicago needs. The con you deserve!”

C2e2 will happen again during 04/21/17 – 04/23/17  at McCormick Place in Chicago, IL

Deadpool Movie Review (Spoilers)

The highly-anticipated Deadpool movie opened this past weekend and while I'm not a fan of the character in the comics, the trailers and commercials for this film caught my interest enough to go see it at the theater.

The story centers around Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds), a mercenary with a 'soft spot' for those in need and who appears to take jobs that are justifiable. Even his buddy, Weasel (T.J. Miller), at one point in the movie says to him, 'You're too warm-blooded for this business.
Along the way he meets Vanessa (Morena Baccarin)  who turns out to be the girl of his dreams  - actually she'd be the girl of anyone's dreams. Just when their life together appears to be going great, Wade gets diagnosed with cancer.
In a desperate attempt to save his own life, Wade agrees to be the subject of some experiments by which he is granted amazing healing powers strong enough to keep his cancer at bay, however, they leave him horribly disfigured and after a series of events he's left for dead.
Ever resourceful and purely resilient Wade becomes the masked Deadpool, feeling he is unable to return to his life and his girlfriend until he gets revenge on the man who performed the experiments on him named Ajax (Ed Skrein).

Folks, from what I know of Deadpool and the comic stories featuring him, this movie is possibly the most accurate depiction of any comic character on film since The Watchmen. The jokes are great (Who knew Colossus could be a great comedic character?), the action sequences are well-executed, and Deadpool's trademark breaking-the-fourth-wall (when a fictional character talks to the audience) is not overdone.
Most importantly and the reason I decided to share this review here is that the romance between Wade and Vanessa works with Reynolds and Baccarin having an almost natural chemistry onscreen. Many comic/action movies seemed to fall flat when it comes to romance between their two leads (Dark Knight Rises anyone?) and in Deadpool you actually care if these characters stay together at the film's finale.

Bottom Line: This movie is a must-see and if you've already seen it, see it again - that's how good this movie is. Just a heads up though, even though Deadpool is from the comics and bares the Marvel brand, this movie is not for kids. Deadpool is a definite hard R-rated film.

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