Chicago ComiCon

If you recognize an Alex Ross painting quicker than an Anson
Maddocks original, Chicago ComiCon was
the place to be.

The Wizard Press-sponsored convention,
held in July at the Illinois-based Rosemont
Convention Center, met with record-break-
ing crowds of 25,000+ and brought in such
"Star Trek" celebrities as George Takei (Sulu),
Nichelle Nichols (Uhura) and John de Lancie
(Q). Famous comic creators like Frank Miller,
Jim Lee, Joe Madureira, Kurt Busiek and Alex
Ross were also there. Even fantasy artists made
a showing with the likes of Phil Foglio and
Ed Beard Jr. on hand.

Gaming was round-the-clock with CCG
tournaments for BattleTech, Magic, OverPower,
Star Trek, Star Wars, X-Files - and lots more.
OverPower and Highlander held their national
championships during the ComiCon.

CCGs are about skill, not luck, so it's no sur-
prise last year's OverPower champion, Cherie
Briggs from southern California, repeated and

claimed the $5,000 grand prize; fellow Californian Aaron
Schoenke took second and walked with a cool grand.

The InQuest Classic Invitational saw the top prize go to
Chris Czuba from Oakbrook, Ill., The 33-year old had a DCI rat-
ing of 1799 going into the tourney and his deck decontained
seven of the restricted "Power Nine" cards.

Next year the Chicago ComiCon will be at the same bat-
place, different bat-time: It'll be a week later, July 17-19, 1998.
For information on next year's con, call Peggy Rynearson at
(608) 226-0200.