WonderCon 2009 SF Trip Report

Yes it's that time again. It was WonderCon 2009 this weekend in San Francisco. I walked through the floor on Saturday and partial day on Sunday.

First off, I would have to say that the show looked very healthy, very large crowds as it was packed even till 5pm when I left. Talking to the folks working and selling original art, toys, comics, etc from the booths, everyone said that sales were very good and people were definitely buying! The line to get in on Saturday could have wrapped around the large Moscone Center block if they hadn't started to let us in. I was in line watching the end of my line wrap around my line and block the sidewalks completely. The lack of rain on Saturday also helped. If this is any sign, I think Comic-Con in San Diego later this year will be big as well.

I started the show by hitting the booths that were related to original comic book art --Albert Moy, 100 Auctions (Bechara Maalouf), Anthony Snyder Collectibles, The Donnelly's, Heroes Comics Book (Alan Bahr), Schanes Animation Art (awesome stuff!!), Scott Eder Gallery, etc. I didn't find Romitaman but I heard he was there as well. As always, there were plenty of original comic book artwork gems lining their booth walls. Impressive pieces I saw included a Giant Size X-Men 1 page, various Neal Adams' Green Lantern covers, some Dave Gibbons Watchmen pieces, Kirby splashes, Jim Lee covers, early Amazing Spiderman covers, etc etc really just too many beautiful pieces to list here. There were also some bargains to be had as well, and I couldn't resist. :)

Cutting through Artist Alley on Saturday, the commission lists were full for the top artists it seemed. If Jeff Scott Campbell wasn't sketching commissions, he would be selling those great looking prints from his table. Same for the Jim Lee table manned by Eddy Choi with a sign that read "I'm not Jim Lee". Lots of great looking high quality color prints for sale there and it was tempting to buy. I wandered to Travis Charest's table to find Travis there sketching (no fans surrounding him) and selling a couple stacks of Space Girl Vol 1 books still available at $20.00/each. I bought another! Great book if you haven't bought it yet!! I also spent some time at Mike Royer's table --the long time Jack Kirby inker, and had a chance to talk to him and show him some of the pieces I picked up that day. He also signed my Kirby page (Thanks again Mike!). I appreciated his insight and great stories about how it used to be when he first started. If you don't know who Mike Royer is, I recommend you stop and talk to him, and buy something from him at the next show you see him at which will be San Diego Comic Con. He's done some great work on Winnie The Pooh, various work at Disney, etc.

Best costume prob goes to either the Batman and Catwoman duo, or the woman in the Planet of the Apes with FX makeup, hair and costume. I did a double-take when I saw her. She looked so unassuming walking the show. If I didn't know better I'd say she walked off a tv/movie set.

I guess with the New York Comic Con couple weeks ago and WonderCon this weekend, it is officially the opening of comic book convention season in 2009. Get your pocketbooks out and enjoy the shows. :)

cheers.

X-Men move to San Francisco

Always get a kick out of reading the local newspaper and finding a comic book related story. With the X-Men moving out of their digs in Westchester County, NY, I guess they've found a new home in the City by the Bay. There goes the neighborhood. ;)




Link to SFGate.com article

X-Men go west, to San Francisco

If you pay attention to the national news, it's been the world against San Francisco lately. If we aren't getting hammered for the city's activism in the gay marriage debate, our role as a "sanctuary city" routinely causes controversy.

But San Francisco just got some pretty big (albeit fictional) allies in its progressive fight for equality: The X-Men have moved to the Bay Area.

This isn't a small deal in the world of comic books. The X-Men, who settled in the Bay Area in the just-released 500th issue of the Uncanny X-Men, are arguably the most popular and recognizable superhero team in comic book history. And they've spent most of their 40-year existence based out of a mansion in Westchester County, N.Y.

But it should be no surprise. The trials of the X-Men, who discover at puberty that they are mutants, and are often forced to hide their true identities out of shame, have a lot in common with left-leaning causes, most notably the gay rights movement. In the comics, the X-Men have had gay and bisexual team members and associates, and their numbers were once decimated by a virus that had strong similarities to the AIDS epidemic.

Marvel Comics Executive Editor Axel Alonso says the city will be more than just a backdrop for the comic.

"The X-Men moving to San Francisco isn't just a physical move, it's a spiritual move. I love San Francisco and we want to see it really represented," says the city native during an interview last week at Isotope Comics in Hayes Valley. "Anyone who looks at the X-Men, the analogy is right there: If you're different in any way due to race or sexual orientation or just being nerdy, there's an X-Men character for you. They're about being different and finding strength in that weakened position."

Action movie fans will note that the X-Men and their nemeses have already been to San Francisco, destroying the Golden Gate Bridge and much of Alcatraz in the 2006 film "X-Men: The Last Stand." But for that sequel, the filmmakers didn't do any meaningful filming in the Bay Area. The movie was shot in Vancouver, and visual effects were used to add a few landmarks to the background.

The comic has much more of an insider's vibe. Marvel Comics artists will be visiting San Francisco frequently to get a feel for the fashion, architecture and even the way residents walk and talk. There are no cable cars in the first issue, but the artists did include a KRON TV news truck and a panel where the iconic mutant Wolverine walks through Noe Valley. The heroes make their base in the concrete bunkers beneath the Marin Headlands and join the protest of a controversial art installation at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Perhaps most significant, they seem to appreciate San Francisco's much publicized (and recently criticized) role as a sanctuary city.

"San Francisco is now a mutant sanctuary," X-Men group leader Cyclops proclaims, near the end of Issue 500. "Any of you - and your family or loved ones - are invited to join us here, and know safety and protection our kind has never known."

Of course, this being a comic book featuring a guy who looks like a giant blue cat, there are a few moments of pure fantasy. While the leader of San Francisco in both worlds is a young attractive politician with great hair who seems more than a bit starstruck, in the comics, the mayor is a woman not named Gavin Newsom. And the X-Men somehow establish their enormous base without a historical society protest or a single tree-sitter in sight - although, to be fair, they do set up a hippie-friendly hydrokinetic power plant, presumably using tidal power from the ocean.

"We believe that homo sapiens superior represent the future, so we better start living like it," says X-Men member Beast, sounding as if he's about to run for governor. "Soon the X-center won't just be green, it'll be positively viridian."

Whether the X-Men will settle here for the next four decades isn't known, although Alonso says the story arc is mapped out for at least a year. Marvel Editor in Chief Joe Quesada says the length of their stay has a lot to do with reader reaction.

"Temporary or permanent is a weird thing in the world of comics," Quesada says. "As far as we're playing it right now, we just got to San Francisco. We're not planning to leave any time soon."

X-Men and the sanctuary city

Parallels between the X-Men and the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender movement have been so strong that some real-life conservative groups have denounced the comics and movies for being pro-gay rights. Here are a few themes from the X-Men comics:

-- The X-Men don't discover their super powers until puberty. They often try to hide their differences until finding others like themselves.

-- The mutants suffered (mostly in 1990s comics) from the Legacy Virus, which wasn't understood at first and killed many mutants before treatment was found.

-- Anti-mutant slurs are frequently heard in the Marvel Universe. ("Mutie" is a common one.)

-- Efforts have been made to "cure" mutants by changing them back into nonpowered humans.

-- One of the biggest struggles for the X-Men is a political: establishing rights for mutants that are equal to humans without powers.

- Peter Hartlaub

Wondercon 2008 impressions

It was rainy but I made it to Wondercon 2008 @ Moscone Center SF. Even met up with some art collecting friends which was great to catch up with them. And of course, I saw lots of superheroes including a few that let me take photos with them. Long story there and I'll save those pictures for another time. :) I would have tried to squeeze into my bright red spandex Flash costume for a quick jog around the show but...

There were a couple original art booths there including the few art dealers that annually make it to this show including Allan from Heroes Comics, Moy, Donneley's, etc etc. Also made it to Artist Alley to see who was signing/sketching including Ryan Sook, Art Adams, Ron Lim, Ernie Chua, Tony DeZuniga, JS Campbell, etc etc. Saw Jim Lee at the CBLD sketching event along with JJ Kirby, and couple other artists. They had a couple nice Lee sketches go for upwards of 800 (Sue Richards, Colossus, Ironman). Also was able to flip through the portfolios at Michael Turner's Aspen area (little more than I want to spend for those nice pencils), and saw Ale Garza and others doing a 90 minute Hellboy sketching battle.

It seemed fairly crowded inside for a Wondercon, but then again, weather wasn't great and Saturday tends to have some cool talks and presenters including the CBLD sketching and live auction, movie previews (Wall-E from Pixar Animation Studios), and other special guests, which tend to bring people off the main exhibit floor. The line out front buying tickets was long --I had to wait at least 30 minutes queued up out front and this was at around 1pm. It looks like the comic book industry is strong, and has a lot of influence out there. More and more movie/tv studios send stars and directors down to preview and talk up their projects.

And where else can u see Wolverine walking around, and then you shout, "Hey Wolverine, how about a photo?!?" and he goes into an iconic pose right then and there. Awesome. :) Of course there were the snickers and comments like "Looks like Wolverine doesn't have his healing power to lose more weight" and other zingers. But no matter. This is a comic book convention. It's normal to dress up as your favorite character and walk around the show with 100,000 of your other friends. :)

SD Comic-Con and SF WonderCon 2008

It's comic convention season already.

Just wanted to give a notice to those of you that will be attending the big convention down in San Diego later this summer, Comic-Con 2008, July 24-27. Today is the first day to book hotels through their website [Link to comic-con.org] and get some discount on the rooms. Rooms go fast.



Also WonderCon 2008 San Francisco, Feb 22-24 is coming up fast. Get your tix and travel accommodations lined up since it is almost 2 weeks away. Announced guests for this show include:

» Sergio Aragonés
» Kurt Busiek
» Mike Choi
» Becky Cloonan
» Darwyn Cooke
» Terry Dodson
» Mark Evanier
» Jim Lee
» Steve Leialoha
» David Mack
» Terry Moore
» Noel Neill
» Tim Sale
» J. Michael Straczynski
» Ben Templesmith
» Bruce Timm
» Herb Trimpe
» Bill Willingham
» Brian Wood

Here's a link to the Exhibitors and those that are scheduled for Artists' Alley.