This year WonderCon was held at the Los Angeles Convention Center. I was only able to attend Friday, so it was a short day and I was a little disappointed, but grateful at the same time. Since it was the opening day, it wasn't super crowded (I heard it got ridiculously cray over the weekend- sold out both Saturday and Sunday!), so it was easier to move around the floor and to get into some panels.
Badge getting was quite the experience. We parked in the parking garage right under the convention center (yay for minimal walking!), and there were like no signs telling you where to pick up your badges. So we find our way inside the convention center, and even up to where the badge pick up is supposed to be, only to be told that we need to find the end of the line. The end of the line that was all the way outside and not too far away from the Staples Center. So it was quite the walk to get to the end of the line, only to walk right back to where we just were. And then, once we were inside the badge area, they did the whole, break the lines into cattle herds type of thing. The whole get up close and personal with your neighbor thing doesn't sit well with me, so I was less than impressed. And they had three of these line blobs set up. It looked like they were letting each line flow into the badge pickup area for about ten minutes at a time, then letting another line blob do it, etc. Well, the line next to us was getting crazy when it was our turn. First they tried the whole "think of the children!!" routine, and when that didn't work. they went straight hood. Mob mentality is stupid, and it particularly doesn't have a place at a comic book convention. And because they started cussing and screaming and causing such a fuss, after my line's ten minutes were up, instead of going to the next line like they should have, they went back to the first line that was screaming and let them go through. That should not have happened. They should have made those fools wait like everyone else. But whatever, that's just me. Once we got to the badge pickup though, everything went quickly. And I was surprised to see that WonderCon has also gone the RFID route, except they still have badges, not tiny bracelets. If you didn't tap in and out though, your badge went defunct and they had to reset it for you, so that was a hassle (didn't happen to me, thank goodness, but I understood why the guards were yelling at people). Tapping in and out also went a lot smoother compared to
SVCC because the area in which you were tapping was larger.
The first panel we went to was for Tee Fury (I love their shirts!). They gave out little pins and had some of their artists talk about how they design shirts for the company. It was pretty interesting to hear what inspires them to create the mashups that they do.
Right after that was the Her Universe Fashion Show update panel. I had no idea that was the next panel, but once I found out, I stayed in. I love Her Universe and I'm always so bummed that I can never make it to the fashion show at SDCC. They talked a lot about what they're looking for this year. They're going to have three winners this time- the Judge's Pick, Audience's Pick and Audience at Home's Pick. And if you're wondering how people at home are going to pick, its because they've partnered with
ComiConHQ to film the entire process! Its going to be really cool and a chance to really get to know the designers. Plus, there's going to be an open casting call on April 23rd at Hollywood and Highland to show off your skills!! Applying online is still very much encouraged (required?). They also showed a very tiny sneak peak of the Star Wars The Force Awakens collection for Hot Topic collection that last year's winners designed, and that will be coming out just in time for you to celebrate May the Fourth be With You in style!! They also touched on the Marvel active wear line that Her Universe is selling at
Kohls right now and it is all so great! I can't wait to wear some to the gym!
After this panel, we hit the convention floor, and I was so relieved to see my favorites lol. All the big name comic companies were there, all my favorite geeky apparel places....its what a convention floor is supposed to be. Didn't really do much spending though. I was on the hunt for a few She Hulk comics that I'm missing and I could not find them anywhere! My husband got an autograph of one of the Aquabats for his friend's son, and that was about it. We did stop by the Geek and Sundry booth, and we both rolled this big foam dice thing and won awesome The Guild prizes though- so that was pretty awesome.
Since roaming the floor wasn't too fruitful, we decided to hit up some more panels. We did a spotlight on Jim Lee, who is my husband's favorite comic artist. He was very funny and drew some pictures that he gave away. We didn't get one of those, which was a bummer, but my husband did get to take a picture with him after the panel, which he was really excited about.
We scooted over a room to the Rotten Tomatoes panel, which was actually our way of room camping for the Preacher panel that was after that. But the Rotten Tomatoes panel was actually really funny. People get to state why they love or hate a movie, and then the panelists will basically argue with you. Some people had clearly done it before, one dude even came with notes that he handed the panelists. It was a high energy panel and the hour went by really quickly.
The end of our WonderCon day was with a screening of the pilot episode (the whole thing! not just clips *cough*
SVCC*cough*) of AMC's new show Preacher. Its based on a comic I've never read, but the show was so amazing. We weren't allowed to record or photograph anything that was on the screen while the show was playing, but it was very good. Its kinda Walking Dead-esque, as far as graphic-ness and language is concerned, so for the comic fans out there, I don't think you'll be disappointed. And boy, does AMC love them some UK actors lol. After the screening, there was a brief panel with two of the show's stars and the show runner or some dude that's important. The guys seemed really eager to be there, the girl did not. She looked incredibly bored and was playing with something (her bracelet? her phone?), when people were talking, so that was a little off putting. And the WonderCon employees that were yelling at people....so uncalled for. It was the last panel of the day in there, but they were yelling at people to keep their questions short, and after it was over, people were trying to take pictures with the cast and they were doing it, and the WonderCon people were yelling at them to stop and to leave.
WonderCon was a lot of fun, and I wish we'd been able to attend more than one day. There was a lot of space in the LA Convention Center, but at times it almost seemed like too much (although, it wouldn't be too much if they were looking for a place to move a larger convention like say....SDCC...). The walk between the exhibit area and the panels area was long, but it was a lot cooler inside the LA Convention Center than its ever been in the Anaheim Convention Center, and I appreciate that. It seemed like there was a lot more food choices in LA too, but maybe its just because of all the food trucks. Next year WonderCon is scheduled to be back in Anaheim, March 31st-April 2nd, 2017, so any complaints or loves about this venue will basically be invalid (again, unless they're looking to hold a larger convention there some time in the near future).
Did you attend WonderCon this year? Did you love it in LA or are you ready to have it back in Anaheim? Let me know!
