Gareb Shamus vs. George Lucas: Gareb Forfeits
Just as the whole “Con-Wars” story seemed to expel a wheezing death rattle, this interesting piece of news made its way into the PanelsOnPages.com inbox via a press release from Wizard Entertainment:
Wizard Announces New Dates for Chicago Comic Con 2010
Moved to August 19-22, 2010 (Thursday-Sunday)
Donald E. Stephens Convention Center
5555 N. River Road
Rosemont, IL 60018
New York, NY (December 3, 2009) – Gareb Shamus, CEO of Wizard Entertainment, has made the decision to move Chicago’s largest and longest running Comic Con, to the following week, August 19-22, 2010 due to the recent announcement of Star Wars Celebration.
“We respect our 20 year relationship with LucasFilms and everything Star Wars has meant to the fan community. In deference to our attendees, guests and friends at Lucas, we are changing dates. We are all fans of the Star Wars films, and this slight change enables us to bring the type of presence the fans would expect at our annual Comic Con,” Shamus says.
This move enables everyone who comes to Chicago to still get a taste of one of their favorite franchises.
Tickets will start at $25 and will be on sale soon.
Essentially, Wizard (read: Gareb) moved the crown jewel of their convention lineup out of the menacing sights of the Death Star, when previously, Wizard Entertainment seemed to go out of their way to schedule their Media-Cons to conflict with shows put on by the Rebel Alliance to their Empire, Reed Exhibitions (Gareb Shamus Throws Down the Gauntlet in 2010!)
Was this a genuine display of “good will towards men” from Tha Wiz considering their recent Scrooginess, or did Wizard fear the backlash from Lucasfilm, endangering whatever relationship the two still share? The kicker to the whole news item is this: The Star Wars Celebration is a Reed event (source: OrlandoSentinel.com) ! Reed fired back in the notorious Con-Wars, and Wizard could not run for cover quick enough. Wizard didn’t have the presence of mind to avoid scheduling their Anaheim Comic Con the same weekend as Reed’s C2E2 in Chicago, or their Big Apple Comic Con in New York the same dates as Reed’s New York Comic Con, yet George Lucas waves his light-saber around, and Shamus scurries to prevent getting majorly fucked by some feral teddy bears.
I sense a great disturbance in the force.
Either way, you can guarantee PanelsOnPages.com will be on hand in Orlando for Star Wars Celebration 2010!
–Knize
Filed Under: News
Don’t fuck with the Jedi Master, son.
The power of the force!
I didn’t know that Reed ran that event.
This will be the first year of the Reed-run SWC.
You would think Gareb’s kinda sitting back thinking…”Why didn’t George Lucas pick us?”
Sure. Unless, y’know, Lucas has BEEN to one of Gareb’s recent cons…
I just read through the “Weapons Policy” of Star Wars Celebrations, and they don’t allow anything… unless it’s made of cardboard, soft plastic, soft foam or soft wood.
Which eliminates a good majority costume weaponry. Including all lightsabers but the toy ones.
http://www.starwarscelebration.com/en/Overview/Weapons-Policy/
You guys just love this picture of Gareb.
if knize is covering a star wars con, he better go in disguise. i think the rancor is serious with that restraining order.