Shamus immersed himself in the world of mixed martial arts fighting before realizing he needed to again guide his company through the no-holds-barred, ultracompetitive world of comic-book conventions.
Dimming star power, bad scheduling decisions and reports of declining attendance at Wizard shows nationwide had rumors flying fast and furious that the shows would soon be phased out - which only accelerated when the Wizard shows in Los Angeles and Texas were canceled last year. Philly was rumored to be next.
"These shows take a lot of time and a lot of money," Shamus said. "I thought others could handle them, but then decided I had to get back to the company.
"The thing is, the shows were never in danger. The contraction last year was all just part of a grand plan dating back to when I came back in 2008. We had already decided that Austin [Texas] would be better to have a show than Arlington and Anaheim [Calif.] would be better than Los Angeles, so why put the time, effort and money even for one more year where we knew we wouldn't get maximum benefit? We needed to realign and put our time, effort and money on making sure that worked long-term. But we have never failed. Some people laughed when we did Boston for one year and stopped. Well, guess what? We're doing a Boston show again."
Shamus said that because Wizard has been so successful, it is a target for everybody - from fanboys on the Internet to writers and artists who are used to being coddled at smaller shows.
"A lot of those people who complain want something for free," Shamus said. "We will work with people as much as they want to work with us."
He's also amused by those who say smaller shows are better because they get more time to talk and aren't as "crazy" as Wizard.
