- by Ken "Chaobo" Serra
- Posted on March 19, 2012 @ 4:00 PST
Wondercon 2012 has come and gone, but the interesting things present at the event won’t be forgotten. Simplicity at its best, Wondercon brought together a good mix of every nerd’s life wonders while at the same time, keeping the event low key and easy to get through. A celebration of pop culture and all things geek boomed through the halls of the convention center with plenty of people in the costume of their favorite characters and a plethora of amazing works of art ranging from figurines to sketches.
Wondercon opened on Friday, March 16th and went on through Sunday, the 18th at the Anaheim Convention center. The event itself is cheap, ranging from $10 to $25 depending on which day you go or $40 for a three-day pass. That’s dirt cheap compared to most other events like San Diego Comic-Con with ticket prices well over $100. Surprisingly, I didn't see the tickets ever sold out which made it highly accessible to everyone who wanted to go. Don’t let the cheap ticket price discourage you from going, thinking the event will be sub-par. There were plenty of booths to browse, panels going on the ENTIRE time, and plenty of special guests from famous comic book artists like Todd Nuack and Jim Lee to industry legends like Mark Waid and Hiroshi Matsuyama. Essentially, I found the event almost better than the bigger ones because of how easy-to-access everything was.
The event had plenty of booths to browse ranging from all sorts of genres. Nintendo and Capcom had booths for gamers showcasing their latest games while comic titans DC Universe and Marvel both held booths with their most well-known artists doing free sketches at certain times. Yes Anime was present as well as plenty of other exhibitors showcasing plenty of Japanese anime and rare collectible figures. And for those who are in to technicalities, Quantum Mechanix was there showcasing their movie quality models as well as plenty of other booths like “How to build an R2 Unit”. For the collector, Bluefin Distribution had Gundam models most people thought never existed. Basically, there was something for everyone. Heck, there was a booth just for the Power Rangers too!
Artists Alley and the Autograph Area were both interesting places. Whenever the Marvel and DC artists were done with their panels, you could meet and talk to them at the artist alley and pay for a signed high-quality sketch if you want. The Autograph Area held people like Ray Park who played as Darth Maul in Star Wars: Episode I as well as Peter Mayhem, who played the original Chewbacca from the classic trilogy. Setting the well-knowns aside, there were plenty of aspiring comic book artists and writers present at the event. Some of those writers and their pieces of work will be famous one day I'm sure. So you could potentially own a signed comic before it became “cool”.
Anyways, that’s Wondercon in a nutshell. A pretty well done convention with a good mix of everything in one compact, yet epic, package. I’m sure every year, the event will grow bigger in size but it’s a nice thing to attend if you’re unable to go to the larger-scale conventions. Would I recommend Wondercon? Absolutely. Though, as someone who just wants to check it out, one day is enough and should barely dent your wallet. A day is really all you need to view everything. If you want more, like autographs and panels, then a three day pass is for you and doesn’t cost much more than a single day.
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So how does this con compare to the Anaheim convention? I'm curious on your thoughts.
