Wonder Con came and went all too quickly this year. I ended up skipping Sunday after staying late doing photography for Saturday night's Masquerade only to be greeted to a dead car battery afterwards. It was time to catch up on some sleep after two crazy days and my adventures of concert hopping the weekend before. Just as well as I heard Sunday was super busy and the Dr. Who panel is already up on the interwebs.
In truth, all three days were busy and I hear Saturday even sold out. The San Diego Comic-Con people, who run Wonder Con, swear that they don't want to turn WC into another SDCC but we are quickly approaching that with max capacity and the long lines for the Hollywood panels like GREEN LANTERN on Friday. That panel was so popular that even a buddy of mine, who was on his very first panel at a con, even had his wife skip out on him to see Ryan Reynolds at the GL panel at the same time.
Friday was a very good day for me as I got the bulk of my shopping done. I found some artists sketchbooks, which I like to collect, including one from artist Brian Stelfreeze, who never makes it out to these parts. He even said this was his first trip to San Francisco. Adam Hughes was also in attendance and filled a large room for his own panel. Another artist who I had not seen out this way was Frank Quitely. He brought his thick Scottish accent as well but we could make out his words most of the time.
I found some good deals on books including a Gary Gianni Prince Valiant book, hardcover and in a slipcase, for only $20. Half off!! I already had the regular hardcover but a slipcase HC for Flesk Publication's Steve Rude book was also only $20. And at the Bud Plant booth, which I seem to spend less time at over the years, they had a nice book on how to draw the Simpsons which could come in handy during the summer for a teaching gig. Also keeping the teaching gig in mind, I picked up some cheapy old comics from the 70s that I might be using as instructional devices.
(Table #2 at the Canton dinner)
The highlight of the con, for me, was not actually during the con but rather afterwards where I met friends for our usual Friday night dinner at the Canton. We were tempted by James Simes of The Isotope and his Robert Kirkman Zombie Pub Crawl but I'm really too old for such things anymore and opted, as most did, for a beer or two at the Kate O'Brien's pub, which is also a tradition. We usually bust out the sketchbooks and pass them around for "Bar Con" and have everyone do a drawing, artist or not, sober or not, but this year I started the sketching early at the Canton.
(Gender Bender JLA: Mia Ballistic as Green Lantern, Roxanna Meta as Aqua Woman, Kit Quinn as Superwoman, Tallest Silver as Batwoman, Psykitten Pow as The Flash)
Saturday at the con was spent taking more photos, which I do a lot of at these conventions. The days of getting into the big movie panels and snapping some shots of the celebrities is over but I can still get some great photos of the cosplayers and artists. The best cosplay of the con was a group of Justice League of America cosplayers who switched the genders on all the characters. Saturday night was reserved for photographing the Masquerade. Wonder Con's show gets better and better each year as does our photo area backstage, which is a far cry from that first year 6 years ago when he had to shoot out in the hallway.
(Cosplayer Valerie Perez as Zatanna)
In all, despite only two days, I had a great con. The social aspects like seeing and chatting with friends and the diner were the best parts for me that help make large conventions more small and personable, something I've learned over the years with the super colossal beast that is the San Diego Comic Con. Other than the crowds starting to get too thick (bad for the patron, good for the dealers who need the foot traffic) and the parking (about $32 a day), it was a good con.
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