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We have attended this event on and off since the early 90's and felt that the event had slowly declined over the years. In 2002 Comic-Con International acquired WonderCon. Before that WonderCon was owned by partners Mike Friedrich and Joe Field.
With this change in ownership, we were eager to see if much had changed since 2001. We decided to purchase 3 day pass for the first time so we could get a good feel for the Con.
Over all the Con seemed to be about the same size as last year, but slightly better organized. The programs books were definitely the smallest that I have seen and the list of guest and autograph signers was at a minimum for this Con. There were 13 guest listed and due to time constraints we were only able to hear from John Romita Sr. and John Romita Jr. who were a delight to listen to as they fielded questions from the audience regarding their work on the Spiderman Comics and their thoughts about the soon to be released Spiderman Movie.
As for autograph signers, the list was small but included Erin Grey (Buck Rogers and Silver Spoons), Gerard Christopher (Super Boy) and Richard Hatch (Battlestar Galatica and The Streets of San Francisco).
For us this year, the highlight could be found in the Small Press area. We enjoyed being introduced to new artist and their comics. Two artist and comics that stand out are Dan Cooney and his comic Valentine and Jerry Williams and Jesse Vail at Off Panel Comics. If you ever have a chance to visit a Comic Convention, take a moment to visit the Independent Press area. There are some great artist and comics out there just waiting to be discovered.
There were many vendors this year, I would guess as many as last year, so there certainly were things to buy. Unlike past years, the number of former Playboy Playmates and Models that were running around the floor seemed to be at a minimum.
Even though there wasn't an official Masquerade Event, you can count on seeing costumes at WonderCon and this year was no exception. Some of the costumes there included members of the Central 501st Garrison Star Wars Costuming Fan Club.
Over all, I think that I would rate this Convention to be a 3 out of 5 stars. It is my hope that the folks at Comic-Con International will treat this Con much as they do the San Diego Con and have Masquerade Contest, more guest and more panels, so that this Con will grown to it's fullest potential. I know that this is only the first your under this ownership, so I expect more for next year.
Oh yea...speaking of Cons, did I mention that hotel space for the San Diego Comic Convention is filling fast. So if you are thinking about going...book those rooms today!
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