From Friday March 17th to Sunday March 19th, Wizard World L.A. took over the convention center in downtown Los Angeles, a first since it was previously held further away in Long Beach, CA. This event, while not as big as the San Diego Comic Con drew fans of comics, sci-fi, and fantasy from all areas. Evidently the move was a success for Wizard Entertainment as well according to Gareb Shamus CEO of Wizard in his posting on the official site.

"Wizard World Los Angeles was a wonderful time for fan and pro alike," says Shamus. "I would like to extend my sincere thanks to everyone who attended and made the show as successful as it was."

Marvel Comics had a strong presence at the show, which is great to see, since they have been a bit weak in the representation of their company to fans. They had a large central booth set up with HUGE banners featuring artwork from all of their current best sellers and up coming books like MOON KNIGHT and CIVIL WAR. CIVIL WAR promises to be the big cross over event of the summer for Marvel with the entire universe divided into two warring factions of heroes.

"CIVIL WAR basically shoots off from the events of HOUSE OF M," Joe Quesada, Marvel’s editor in chief tells iF. "There’s an horrific event that happens in the Marvel Universe and the government asks for the superhuman registration act. The heroes are forced to give up their identities and register with the government and in some cases, receive specific training."

Marvel had several panels, and signings, and sketching sessions with artists where fans could get sketches and autographs for free. During one of the panels Joe Quesada also dispelled rumors that Spider-man’s new costume would be forever.

"It is not permanent," he admits. "It is there for a particular reason, we didn’t do this as a stunt to spike the book. Joe (J. Michael Straczynski) actually wrote the story where Peter Parker and Tony Stark (IRON MAN) start to become close and form a father/son relationship kind of thing, and Tony designs a new costume for him. Then we had to design a new costume. It was unintentional, but every time we change Spidey’s costume the sales increase. I know the costume always sucks, but it was based more on story. Part of that story is that he won’t be wearing it anymore."

DC was equally on the scene, if not more so, since they were hyping the release of SUPERMAN RETURNS. They had a massive central display full of SUPERMAN product both for sale, and also full of prototypes to let fans know what sort of merchandising onslaught to expect for the summer.

Booster Entertainment (responsible for the FLANVENTION which you can find an article in the iF Magazine archives about) made their first foray into the world of comic book conventions with this show. They showcased a wide variety of stars from various fan and cult-favorite TV programs. On hand they had Michael Muhney (Sheriff Lamb from VERONICA MARS) and Bruce Michael Hall (Reese Durkee from PASSIONS) on Friday. Saturday they featured cast members from Joss Whedon’s ANGEL: Christian Kane (Wolfram & Hart’s evil Lindsey), Stephanie Romanov (Wolfram & Hart’s evil Lilah), and Elizabeth Rohm (Detective Kate). Sunday was the all FIREFLY day for the booth with Christina Hendricks (Mrs. Reynolds) and Mark A. Seppard (Badger). Booster offered photo opportunities and autographs with each star.

On the other side of the con’ was Las Vegas Autographs with actors from STAR WARS and LORD OF THE RINGS and a few more ANGEL and BUFFY alumnus. Ray Park (Darth Maul), Daniel Logan (Boba Fett in EPISODE II) and Sala Baker(Sauron in LORD OF THE RINGS) held court all weekend. They were joined by BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER alumnus Clare Kramer (Glory) and Andy Hallett (Lorne from ANGEL). Efren Ramirez (Pedro in NAPOLEAN DYNAMITE) was on hand on Sunday, and Charisma Carpenter (BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, VERONICA MARS) caused quite the traffic pile up in the booth on Saturday.

The celebrities were delighted to be at the convention and to have a continued fan following. Clare Kramer revels in the popularity of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER where she played God Glory during the show’s fifth season.

"I’m not surprised that Joss Whedon’s shows have such a fan following," Kramer tells iF. "He’s such an unusual and classic writer. I think that he really tapped into a certain sensibility with his writing that is lacking in the rest of television. It doesn’t surprise me at all that people continue to admire his work and re-watch things and find new things about his shows."

Other Sci-Fi actors were just happy to be amongst crazy people and beautiful women respectively.

Sala Baker found himself at home in the crowd noting "It’s definitely interesting, because you see so many different types of characters and people that it’s fun to be here. I enjoy it, there are lots of crazy people around like me, so I like it."

Daniel Logan was there for the women and was not shy about admitting it.

"I like the ladies," he says. "There are some very beautiful ladies at these shows, and I can’t complain about that. It’s cool how everybody dresses up. They make their own costumes and sit at home for months on end, and they perfect the costume and finally get to wear it out. Some people might think it’s a crazy in a way, but I just think ‘more power to you!’ "

Meanwhile Ray Park considers himself fortunate and flattered by the fan following his film career has created.

"I actually really enjoy it [being a part of pop culture]," says Park. "I tried to deny it in the beginning and it has changed a great deal. I was sort of known and respected in the martial art world, but now people really admire the work you’ve done with such an iconic character [Darth Maul]. It’s a lot to live up to. You’ve played the character, but you’re not the character and it’s tough to live up to. It takes my breath away that people want to come and meet you."

Andy Hallett was there to meet and greet fans as well, but his plans for the future are moving out the realm of acting and into, not so surprisingly, music. Hallett has been working on a new album and is deciding on a way to release it.

"I’ve worked on several songs with my friend John Allen who is a wonderful songwriter," reveals Hallett. "I’ve recorded six songs with John already, but we don’t know exactly where to go from here. One place wants to do the album as a ‘Lorne’ type of thing and another does not, and I just don’t know which is the better option. One would be more recognized as being part of the show ANGEL, but I’m not sure."

Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes were on hand as well to discuss the upcoming PASSION OF THE CLERKS sequel, which sounds to be a very promising return to Kevin Smith’s original filmmaking style. The presentation ended with a scene from CLERKS II, featuring Randal arguing with a co-worker and a customer about the LORD OF THE RINGS movies, and followed that up with the first theatrical trailer. Smith had many things to say about SUPERMAN RETURNS, but most importantly: "Any Superman film is better than none, except for SUPERMAN IV: THE QUEST FOR PEACE."

The writer-director is looking forward to it (SUPERMAN RETURNS), and expects that Bryan Singer will do a good job. Smith pointed out that the Singer directed X-MEN movies were allegories of how homosexuals are treated by the outside world, and of course couldn’t resist joking that the third X-Men film would have been called BROKEBACK MUTANT if directed by Singer.

SPIKE TV had Geoff Johns in their booth on Saturday to talk about and show a trailer for the new BLADE television series that will be premiering on June 28th. Johns hopes to expand on the BLADE mythos with the series.

"Blade’s always been a great character in the comics, but [a lot of the material] never made it into the movies," says Johns. "So there are a lot of things we’re going to be bringing into the show from the comics."

Let’s sincerely hope that the series in not quite as hokey or corny as the previews made it out to be. It seemed a bit like a watered down BLADE knock-off, and Sticky Fingaz is certainly no Wesley Snipes. The visuals on the presentation seemed like things we’ve already seen in the BLADE films, and the acting was taking itself too seriously for the genre in which it is set.

Marvel Animation showed a sneak preview of ULTIMATE AVENGERS 2, which looks just as amazing as the original. This time around things get a bit more jungle oriented, and the story revolves around the character of the Black Panther. The animation looks as slick and stylized as the original, and we can expect a release of this sequel this summer.

There were several exhibitors including Diamond Select Toys offering an inside look at upcoming products for several popular lines including: BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, ANGEL, STARGATE: SG-1, STAR TREK (in all it’s forms), and of course MARVEL and DC.

The dealers’ booths were crammed with an amalgamation of products and comics from all of the past decades and from all countries. The artists’ alley was located behind the dealers, and fans could purchase original art, get free sketches, and just chat with the artists that have been making their favorite characters come to life.

Of course there were so many levels to the convention that one person could not possibly get to every single thing that they wanted to. Joss Whedon was one of the celebrities that were wandering the floor as a patron, and there were more than enough chances to encounter celebrities that were in the crowd as fans.

The convention was a blast for comic fans of all sizes, shapes, colors, and ages. iF Magazine was in the thick of most of the panels, and got exclusive interviews with several of the celebrity stars on hand so be sure to check back for the complete run-downs of those sessions.

However, the Marvel editors summed up the flavor of Wizard World L.A. when they were asked if they had reservations about killing X-Men character Banshee (an Irish mutant with the ability to use his wail as a power).

Tom Brevoort just raised his glass and said "Happy St. Patrick’s Day!"