Wizard World, After Hours

It's late, we're headed into the last day of Wizard World '07 and there's plenty I could write about -- how I finally got a chance to hang out with Patrick Gleason, who drew my brief AQUAMAN run back in 2005 (and who I haven't seen since before we actually started our stint on the book); how I had a swell time talking comics and pop cult with the guys from Around Comics and John Siuntres of Word Balloon, a couple of great Chicago-based podcasts; or how jealous my wife is because DC's Saturday afternoon DARK KNIGHT panel actually featured appearances by Aaron Eckhart, Gary Oldman and, yes, Christian Bale. But let's be honest: The only thing people curious about this con really care about is how the new bar over at the Hyatt measure up to its predecessor, the overpriced, overcrowded, overloud sports bar "Knuckles," lovingly nicknamed "Fisters" for reasons obvious to anyone who every had to pay for a drink there.

Contradicting earlier reports, I'm going to give the new bar -- called The Red Bar -- a thumbs up. Yes, it lacks the raucous ambience and Golden Tee Golf Game of Knuckles, but it's also a lot more open. It's in a new, more central location, spilling out into the second-floor lobby area and making it much easier to (a) find a seat, (b) have an actual conversation and (c) get a drink. Sure, with $13 martinis you won't get one cheap, but beers are a normally obscenely expensive $5 or so. Hell, any enterprising young alcholic comic book fan should be able to figure out a way to bring his (or her) own suds into the bar area, thus saving plenty of money for buying varient covers and pogs at the show the next day.

On Saturday night -- the traditionally biggest boozing night of the show -- the place was pretty crowded without being fire-code-violatin' like Knuckles tended to get. Plus, thanks to the presence of a couple of guys in suits near the entrance selling beer, you could easily obtain a nice cold overpriced bottle of run-of-the-mill beer for your very own within seconds. This, as anyone who spent the entire con weekend waiting to be served at Knuckles knows, is no small improvement. And apparently, the Red Bar was having an effect on business at the Sofitel lobby bar, which had become the de factor drinking-and-talking location in recent years. The place was sparsely populated late Saturday night (aka early Sunday morning) while the Hyatt was still hopping.

Hope this review proves useful to all would-be drunkards planning to join us here for Wizard World '08. Bottoms up, true believers!