Newsarama has broken the story that both Wizard World LA and Wizard World Texas have cancelled their upcoming shows.
WizardWorld LA was scheduled for March 13-15 at the Los Angeles Convention Center; and Dallas for November 6-8. Newsarama confirmed the information about the L.A. show early Friday afernoon when a spokesperson for the L.A. Convention Center said that they that had been notified via voicemail on Friday morning that Wizard was canceling its show. Other sources have confirmed for Newsarama that the Texas show has been cancelled as well.
This is both something expected and a bit of a shock. Wizard World LA is just a couple months away, and already had a line up of guests scheduled to appear. Both shows were already preselling tickets, and presumably vendors have already placed and paid for booth space. Considering the Wizard World shows haven’t had big showings outside of Chicago and possibly Philadelphia, and the recent “restructuring” the company has undergone in the last year, shutting down some its less attended shows in a time of economic crisis makes sense.
Some may remember the outcry that occured when Wizard World Atlanta tried to take over the weekend usually reserved for Heroes Con in Charlotte, NC. Wizard quickly resolved the issue after a massive write in campaign, but I have to wonder if that blunder wasn’t the beginning of the end for Wizard World.
The Wizard World website still has the shows listed on its site, and is still claiming Stan Lee is the guest of honor at the LA event, so let’s see how this story develops.
UPDATE:Â HERE’S THE OFFICIAL STATEMENT FROM WIZARD ENTERTAINMENT
Congers, NY (January 9, 2009) – Wizard Entertainment announced today that it has postponed its 2009 Wizard World Los Angeles show slated for March 13-15 and cancelled the Wizard World Texas show November 6-8 due to the current economic climate.
The successful Philadelphia and Chicago shows will go on as planned. Wizard World Philadelphia, featuring Guest of Honor Garth Ennis, is June 19-21 at the Philadelphia Convention Center and Wizard World Chicago, featuring comic legend George Perez, is August 6-9 at the Rosemont Convention Center.
For tickets and more information about Wizard World Philadelphia and Chicago, be sure to visit www.wizardworld.com.
What say you, Major Spoilers Legion, is this a big deal or not?
Peter Bickford from Human Computing, the makers of that awesome ComicBase comic inventory system, sent us a quick note letting everyone know about the company’s Wizard World LA schedule.