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    Ghost Busters at Wizard World Comic Con 2021. Photos by Andrew Davis
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    Ghost Busters truck at Wizard World Comic Con 2021. Photos by Andrew Davis
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    Comic Con attendee in Batman phrase suit. Photos by Andrew Davis
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    Attendee at Comic Con 2021. Photos by Andrew Davis
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    Michael Wilson/Knightmage as The Jackal, from the movie Thirteen Ghosts, at Comic Con 2021. Photos by Andrew Davis
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    Silent Hill characters, including Pyramid Head (left) at Comic Con 2021. Photos by Andrew Davis
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    Attendee dressed as Wonder Woman at Comic Con 2021. Photos by Andrew Davis

After being canceled last year because of the COVID pandemic, Wizard World Comic Con Chicago returned to Rosemont’s Donald E. Stephens Convention Center on Oct. 15-17—and thousands of people attended.

People ranging from attendees to vendors seemed to be grateful for the event’s return. Event spokesman/organizer Jerry Milani also expressed his gratitude to Windy City Times before adding, “It’s been 26 months since the last event here—and I only had two months to organize this.” (The event was originally scheduled for Aug. 20-23, 2020, before being moved to June 24-27, 2021. It was then postponed until this month.)

Milani also noted that this event was special, as this is the last year and site it would be branded under the name “Wizard World Comic Con.” Wizard World’s events in Chicago, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Portland, Cleveland and St. Louis will be rebranded as FAN EXPO events in 2022. Wizard World will continue to operate the Wizard World Vault and will be participating at all FAN EXPO events.

The Chicago show—which started as Chicago Comic Con in 1972 and became Wizard World Chicago in 1998—has attracted tens of thousands of fans each year as well as celebrities and creators like Stan Lee, Michael J. Fox and Carrie Fisher. This year featured stars such as William Shatner, Lou Ferrigno, James Marsters, Stephen Amell, Colton Haynes, Paige O’Hara, Robert Patrick and Dean Cain. (Shatner and Cain have been in the news recently, for very different reasons. Shatner, 90, recently went into space in Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket ship, and subsequently engaged in a war of words with former Star Trek co-star George Takei over that event; and Cain—who has played Superman on a TV series—courted controversy by criticizing a comic-book development that has Clark Kent’s son, Jon, coming out as bisexual.)

Dates for the 2022 events are still being confirmed and will be announced soon.

—Andrew Davis