The first comic convention I ever attended was Wizard World Chicago. I was new to self-publishing and I mostly roamed around the convention floor in awe at all the cool shit there was to see. I scoured every table for free giveaways and filled up an extra suitcase I brought with comic-con booty. I met some of my favorite creators, attended a “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” party where I got to meet James Marsters and “Savage Dragon” creator Erik Larsen told me he liked my t-shirt (it was a Spiderman shirt).

Wizard World Chicago 2006 started at 10am today and, as the first day of the con comes to a close, there has been a flurry of announcements already made. As usual, if you want extended coverage of all the goings-on at the con you should check out the always reliable Comic Book Resources or Newsarama websites.

Here’s my picks for the best of Day One:

• Marvel will release a NEW five issue Illuminati mini-series, written by Brian M. Bendis and Brian Reed with art by “Young Avengers” artist Jim Cheung. The series will focus on the secret team (made up of Reed Richards, Charles Xavier, Namor, Dr. Strange, Black Bolt, and Tony Stark) and their history within the Marvel Universe. As Bendis explained, this was always in the cards but got pushed back due to the “Civil War” storyline.

Newsarama has this quote from Bendis:

"This goes back before the special - the Illuminati story line was going to be either my summer or my fall storyline on New Avengers, pre-Civil War," Bendis said. "So I was gong to do this story which takes place both in flashbacks and in the modern day Marvel Universe. How did the Illuminati, if they’ve been around since the Kree-Skrull War have affected events like Atlantis Attacks, and the Infinity Gauntlet storylines - plus, in modern day, what would happen to them?

"The response to the special was so loud, and I was really happy about that, because we got so much mail that was all about people imagining things about the Illuminati. Even when we did it in the Sentry arc - the real key was that it was a concept that captured people’s imaginations, and it did mine too, and I had always been planning on telling their story."

And this quote, also from Bendis, which really sells me on the series:

"The hook of the book is that you find out all the stuff they did, and what they did - right after Kree-Skrull War, they did something big, I can tell you; and then you’ll go up to modern day, and in the modern day, they get “outed” to their families - the X-Men, the Avengers, the Inhumans, and the Fantastic Four all find out what these guys have been doing behind their backs. There are a lot of people who’re upset with them. "If you would like to see a double-page spread of all these characters standing around the Illuminati with the look of ’What the f___ did you just do?’ We’re you’re book."

• At the Marvel panel today Tom Brevoort reiterated that the upcoming “Blade” ongoing series will take place in the current Marvel Universe and will see Blade fighting on a S.H.E.I.L.D. Helicarrier, as well as Blade working for Dr. Doom!

Blade and Doom? Kick ass! The only downside for me is that current “Wolverine” scribe Marc Guggenheim, who has yet to “wow” me with one of his comic scripts, is writing the series. I hope for the sake of the series and the character that he’s able to “knock it out of the park”, to use a Drunken Dave-like baseball reference.

• Clint Barton fans rejoice, HAWKEYE IS COMING BACK! New Avengers #26 where is all begins and as Clint Barton makes his return, he’s not alone. "It’s a story called ’The Ballad of Clint Barton and Wanda Maximoff,’" said the always talkative Brian Bendis in an interview conducted by Newsarama [LINK].

Bendis also said:

"It’s not only the return of Hawkeye, it’s the return of the Scarlet Witch. It’s them coming face to face after the events of House of M. It’s where they’ve been since House of M, when they found his costume," Bendis continued. "This issue connects a couple of moments in House of M #8 - we see a little hint of Wanda at the end, and we see the costume on the wall in Avengers Mansion. We see how that costume got there, and we see what Hawekeye’s been doing, and how he basically can’t get on with his life until he confronts Wanda. So he’s looking for her, and he finds her. So it’s what they’ve been doing, and what the future has in store."

I’m not a Hawkeye fan or anything, but the above quote and the fact that Alex Maleev will be providing art makes this an event to anticipate.

• Finally, in the category of Most Random News of the Con, TOKYOPOP and The Jim Henson Company will be publishing a sequel to the 1986 film, “Labyrinth”. The manga series will be called (wait for it...) “Return to Labyrinth”. The story focuses on Toby, who was an infant when his sister Sarah (Jennifer Connelly) wished him away to the Labyrinth and into the arms of Jareth, the Goblin King. Toby, now 13, is once again pulled into the mysterious Labyrinth where he begins an adventure that will bring in new characters as well as several familiar faces from the 1986 film.