Broken Frontier

Gareb Shamus, CEO of Wizard Entertainment, and owner of Big Apple Comic Con, the tri-state area's largest pop culture festival, today announced this past weekend's convention broke the event attendance record for Pier 94 in New York, putting a cap on a year of great growth. This sets the stage for a very strong 2010, which currently features events in five cities, including Toronto, Anaheim, Philadelphia, Chicago and the Big Apple.

“The hyper-growth of Big Apple Comic Con's turnout, in fans, media and celebrities, is a testament to the brand we have been cultivating for the past twenty years. Our Comic Cons consistently provide compelling events for the entire family,” said Shamus.

Over 600 media outlets from countries ranging from all over North America to the UK, Germany, South America and even Russia attended or covered the three days, as well as many major domestic television, print and radio outlets, including People magazine, the Wall Street Journal, Crains, AOL, National Public Radio, CBS, ABC, NBC, AP, Reuters, Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood, Variety and more.

The weekend featured over 500 exhibitors of brands ranging from Nintendo, Hasbro, LEGO, Warner Bros. and THQ displaying new products and conducting competitions and contests. More than 250 entertainment and sports celebrities, including William Shatner, Adam West, Linda Hamilton, Ric Flair, Pete Rose and Doc Goode, from hit movies and TV shows like Batman, Star Wars, The Sopranos, X-Men, The Dukes of Hazzard and The Terminator were on hand, along with stars from current hit shows like Battlestar Galactica, American Idol, Survivor, Dollhouse, Warehouse 13, The Real Housewives of New Jersey and Smallville. The stars signed autographs, posed for photos, conducted seminars and met with fans, while hundreds of comic book illustrators and vendors also sold and signed original art and comic books. The weekend also featured a full evening lineup, with performances by Grammy Award-winning artists Naughty By Nature (Friday night) and Taylor Dayne (Saturday night.)

The full slate of weekend activities as well as photos and links to media coverage can be found at www.wizardworld.com.