The second annual Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo (C2E2) drew 34,000 attendees, a significant improvement from last year's show. Organizers say increased local awareness and branding that emphasized the "comic" part of the show’s name, helped boost attendance at the show.
While the show floor on Saturday buzzed with the typical comic on mix of costumes, collectors and creators, sales seemed mostly concentrated in Artist Alley, which had the biggest crowds throughout the show. Perhaps reflecting the slow local economic recovery, sales were mostly low ticket items—big spenders for original art were not plentiful.
On the exhibition floor Marvel and DC heavily promoted their big summer movie releases—Thor and Captain America for Marvel and Green Lantern for DC. The two publishers also emphasized their dueling big event-series for 2011—Marvel's Fear Itself and DC's Flashpoint.
On the book side, Archaia announced A Tale Of Sand, an original graphic novel based on a long lost screenplay by Muppets creator Jim Henson. Described as "an existential tale" involving a man fleeing mysterious creatures across a hostile desert, the script will be illustrated by cartoonist Ramon Perez.
