I don’t obsess over filling single-issue gaps in my comic collection. I don’t have a wishlist of rare action figures or other collectibles that I’m hunting down. I don’t like to play dress up. In short, I’m not much for comic conventions.

This doesn’t mean I’m not glued to my computer refreshing all the announcements and soaking in the spectacle of these events as relayed by the comic and pop culture media embedded in the trenches. But it’s a heck of a lot cheaper and less stressful to find out Brian Bendis’s plans for the Avengers from the comfort of my own home. A trip to San Diego to be stampeded by Storm Troopers and zombies isn’t worth it to me, when I can catch all the highlights online and on G4 sans Nerd Flu and travel expenses.

But when Reed Exhibits decided to bring the San Diego model to my own New York City a few years ago, offering the East Coast its own Comic Con, I had to get my aspiring comic scribe/life-long fanboy ass to the Jacob Javitz Center. And when my efforts at that first show led to my comic Division 18 getting published, I was hooked. I got to sign and sell my own book at NYCC 3. One of my best friends was a guest of honor at NYCC 4, which also happened to be my daughter’s very first big comic-centric event. The New York Comic Con is my show. So you can imagine how I might take offense at Wizard, the new sponsor of the Big Apple Comic Con, for announcing plans to pit the BACC directly against NYCC in 2010.

This is not the first time Wizard has done this with their events, but it is the first time it has threatened to complicate my own social plans.

Is this a cheap stunt to get attention for the show that used to take place in a hotel lobby? From what I’ve seen and heard from those who attended, minus the presense of Marvel or DC, and despite the all-new, all-bigger venue at Chelsea Pier, this past weekend’s first showing of Wizard’s BACC wasn’t much more than a flea market with a cover charge. Pay to get in so you could pay for more stuff inside. No event vibe, no exciting announcements or debuts, and a lackluster showing of celebrities and creators.

I’m sure there are plenty of fanboys and fangirls happy for the excuse to gather, in costume or not, at this sort of event…but why would Wizard take advantage of those fans’ natural geek OCD by canibalizing their already-planned NYCC weekend? BACC could be the warm-weather alternative for East Coast comic con goers, but instead, it is going to be the source of confusion and headaches for the children of all ages who have to choose to either trudge back and forth between venues or choose one show over the other. Most likely, Wizard will once again have the weaker line-up…but that just means any creators and other vendors who have loyalty to Wizard will suffer as well.

Really, the only reason I can see for Wizard scheduling their next show head-to-head with NYCC is to stick it to Reed Exhibits and the NY show itself–the act of an impetuous child, just like you’d expect from the people who publish Wizard Magazine. If you don’t believe that the people running Wizard’s event are childish, consider this story from this weekend’s BACC.

So what is up with Wizard and the new BACC? My choice is easy for October 2010–the rest of you have a year to sort through the convention clutter. But unless Wizard has a master plan that will see October declared comics month in New York, with geek-geared fun coinciding with the simultaneous shows citywide, we may all be better off staying home and “watching” the shows online.