Like I said earlier I’m trying to be more prompt when getting my write-ups up online. I know this write-up on Wondercon is a few weeks late but at least it’s not a few months late like my LA and Long Beach Comic Con stories.

Even though So Cal Corgi Beach Day was after Wondercon, I decided to put up my coverage of that first just because I thought it would be easier which wasn’t really the case. So Cal Corgi Beach Day didn’t require as much writing but it did involve having to go through a shit ton of photos. Going forward it would probably be easier if I started splitting up my posts for a variety of reasons: I could get content up faster by releasing it piecemeal, it would improve load time because you won’t have to wait for all the pics to load on one page, it would also help SEO wise because it would be extra pages for search engines to crawl. It’s tempting to split this up but honestly after looking at all the pics I might be able to squeeze this all into one post although I’ll probably end up kicking myself for it later.

Back on topic, Wondercon first popped up on my radar when I learned that it was organized by the same company that handled San Diego Comic Con and I was somehow put under the misunderstanding that buying tickets to Wondercon would make it easier to get into San Diego Comic Con (it doesn’t).

This was my first year at Wondercon and honestly I didn’t find it all that impressive. It had all the stuff that you would expect from your standard nerd convention, cosplayers and what not but honestly I didn’t see anything that really impressed me. I mean the vendors were whatever, and there wasn’t really a true celebrity presence other than a few comic book writers/artists and people who work super behind the scenes, and a few random people from random Netflix shows. Looking on social media I learned Mallory Jansen who plays AIDA, the killer robot/LMD on Agents of SHIELD was there but that was basically it.

Since I work for an automotive publishing company I’ve learned to make comparisons between car shows and nerd conventions and that the bigger car show/convention the more high profile it is. I mean I’ve been to car shows with like OEM sponsors and huge vendors on site and I’ve been to no name shows where the only vendors they can get are no name shops and parts sellers.

Even though Wondercon isn’t exactly as high profile as its big brother San Diego Comic Con is I still had fun and if given the option I would go back again. In the mean time check out my pics from the convention.

Here’s a pretty good Burgess Meredith Penguin from the Adam West Batman series.

PCS Collectibles had some pretty cool statues on display.

Goro.

A Scorpion bust. Although I wish this was a full statue and not just a bust.

Here’s Mileena circa Mortal Kombat X.

They also had some Street Fighter statues.

Ken and Guile.

Sakura.

Ryu.

Here’s another Ken statue. This one doing a Guren Senpuukyaku AKA the Crimson Lotus Whirlwind Leg.

Here is the evil version of Cammy AKA Shadoloo Cammy from Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie.

Here’s Judge Dredd about to do a wheelie on a Lawmaster cycle. Looking at it I think if instead of holding on the handlebars they had him shooting two hand guns akimbo style it would look like one of Rob Liefeld’s infamous drawings when he had Chapel doing the same thing.

Not sure if it was because the new movie came out or if it’s because the OG Power Rangers are still a thing but they had these Mighty Morphin Power Rangers statues too.

Deciding to explore some nearby other vendor booths I found this Jareth the Goblin King dude manning a booth.

I remember I first saw these Ukiyoe Heroes prints on a blog a long time ago and thought they were pretty cool. I was a bit pissed that like a month later the artist did an exhibition at Gallery Nucleus like a month later after they started popping up on the internet. The thing that really pissed me off was that I didn’t find out about the exhibition till like a year after it was over.

Here’s a pretty good OG Ghostbuster and Louis Tully while he’s possessed by Vinz Clortho.

Here is Alina Masquerade as Jessica Rabbit from Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Since she’s a chick with a huge rack dressed as a oversexualized cartoon character she was obviously attracting a lot of attention.

To add to her costume Alina had her boyfriend/husband? Man friend? People Keeper Awayer dress as one of the weasels in Judge Doom’s gang.

Starship Trooper cosplayer. Pretty sure this is the same guy from Long Beach and LA Comic Con. If this is the guy from Long Beach then I’m pretty sure he has a partner who was probably in the bathroom or something. The Morita rifles look pretty accurate and the grenades add a good touch to the costume.

I found this cool booth run by Bait that had a pretty badass gender swapped Snake Eyes for sale. It was pretty tempting to get it but I couldn’t justify dropping the 230 bucks for it.

Bait also had a cool gender swapped Stormshadow as well but same thing. I just couldn’t justify spending the money.

Inside the DC booth they had this Wonder Woman costume on display. I’m not sure if it was screen used or not.

While I was in the DC booth I met this woman dressed as a Linda Carter-esque Wonder Woman.

Here’s Iron Man. The battle damage on the armor was a really good touch. Judging by the damage pattern I’m like 99% sure he’s Iron Man 3.

I forgot the name of this booth but they had some pretty cool statues and figurines on display.

Here’s some Megaman statues.

A life sized Iron Man.

Here’s a pretty cool looking War Machine that looks pretty close to the MCU version.

I saw this Hulkbuster they had. To me the proportions on him seem a bit off. He looks too top heavy and it reminds me of the action figure from Toy Biz from when I was a kid.

Capcom had a booth where they had a few demo stations set up.

On one side it was Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and Street Fighter V.

At the time Capcom was just about release the Disney Afternoon Collection for download on PS4 and X Box One so they had demos set up for it on the other side in an area that I guess is supposed to be a early ’90s kid room. This seems like a little too much, I mean how many kids today know who Michael Jordan is or Macaulay Culkin or why he’s grabbing his face like that. Anyway, I really wanted to play the Disney Afternoon Collection since I had most of that it on NES when I was a kid and I’m pretty sure I can still kickass at it but unfortunately the line was too long.

On another side of the booth they had demos setup with Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challenge setup. Try saying that three times fast.

In honor of Wildstorm’s 25th anniversary there was a panel going on featuring Wildstorm founder Jim Lee and several other notable writers and artist who contributed significantly to Wildstorm over the years. It was an interesting experience sitting in on this panel. Ever since I first got into comicbooks, stuff published by Wildstorm always interested me. I kind of wish Jim Lee never sold it off to DC because I felt that DC messed with it the wrong way but given what I learned what Jim wanted to do and also given what Image Comics stood for it was probably best for it to go in the direction that it did, and I’ll admit I did enjoy the stuff that Wildstorm put out after the sale to DC and it was really sad when they officially closed the import down in 2010. I was a little bummed that they rebooted some of the Wildstorm characters and introduced them into the newly rebooted main DC universe because it wasn’t the same. Currently Warren Ellis is doing another rebooted version of the Wild Storm universe titled The Wild Storm and it’s way different than anything they’ve done before but so far I like it.

Here’s Wildstorm’s founder and one of the original Image Seven, Jim Lee himself next to Scott Williams.

Next to Scott Williams was Alex Sinclair and Ryan Benjamin.

Next to Ryan is Carlos D’Anda, Richard Friend, and Mark Irwin.

Next to Mark Irwin are Dustin Nguyen and Ben Abernathy.

Between answering questions Jim was working on this sketch of the Grifter which he eventually ended up giving to some guy during the Q&A session. It was kind of cool watching him do this and it was sort of interesting to learn that for inking they literally just squirt it on the paper and paint it on with a brush.

Ryan Benjamin in turn was working on this sketch of Maul. I don’t know if he gave it away since we left the panel early.

During the panel they also had a slide show going on showing off various sketches and covers art that Wildstorm has put out over the years.

WildC.AT.s #1.

Stormwatch #1.

Gen13 #1.

Planetary#1.

The Authority #1.

And Wetworks #1.

At this point my parents were really hungry so we decided to go outside and find food.

First people I saw outside where these girls dressed as the Captain America back up dancers.

This girl had a really good Link costume. The ocarina was a really good touch.

While eating outside I saw some Corgis and instantly started freaking out. I learned these Corgis belonged to Riotjynx who was really cool with me nerding out over her dogs.

Look how awesome her Corgis are.

Here’s Riotjynx and her fellow Corgi handler.

On my way back in I saw this guy in a black Spiderman costume from Spiderman 3 chilling on a light fixture. He had the pose down from the movie and everything. I’m not sure if the camera was because he was taking pictures or if it was part of the costume though.

Older Asian gentleman in a Starfleet uniform circa 2270-2350 aka the Original Series movies. Would it be racist of me to think he was supposed to be Sulu and not just a big Trekkie fan?

Found this dude in a regular colored Spiderman outfit. I’m like 99% sure he’s the same guy I met at Long Beach Comic Con.

I also met a Jessica Drew Spiderwoman.

Naturally at a convention when two cosplayers who are wearing similarly themed costumes are near each other they have to pose together for pictures.

Here’s Kimmy from the Kimmy Show doing a Ninja Turtles themed cosplay.

I’m not sure if these guys are with the 501st Legion. The battle damage to the armor was a pretty good touch.

This guy as Dr. Robotnik/Eggman was a really good, really original idea.

Here’s Noel G., the go to guy when you need somebody to play a gangbanger in a movie.

Mr. Sam Jones aka Flash Gordon was also here. After seeing him at so many conventions I’m wondering if his bodyguard/hostage rescue business isn’t doing that great.

Larry Thomas the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld. I sort of feel bad he’s pretty much typecasted as the Soup Nazi. His IMDB page has quite a few things listed including a part in the first Austin Powers movie, a part on Arrested Development as a Saddam Hussein double. From what I heard he does like to use this persona to his advantage making public appearances as the Soup Nazi.

This steampunk King Trident and Ursula the Sea Witch from Little Mermaid was pretty original.

Here’s a chick dressed as Psylocke in the Buttonmashninja booth. I felt a little bad for her cause those heels looked uncomfortable and she would take them off during her down time but when people asked her for pictures she would rush to put them back on.

Genji and Tracer from Overwatch.

Here’s another Ghostbuster.

Samurai Stormtrooper.

A little kid dressed as Pikachu. I highly doubt this costume offers much in visibility so I hope they didn’t accidentally walk into anything.

Here are 2 more traditional looking Stormtroopers. Judging by their costumes I’m guessing they were with the 501st.

This chick’s Belle in her ball gown was really good.

Here’s Shortround from India Jones and the Temple of Doom. Although I feel I must point out the idol he’s holding is from Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Here are two good versions of the Joker. The one on the right looks like he’s channeling his inner Cesar Romero while the other one I feel is channeling a more comic book incarnation. In terms of creepiness factor I think they both nailed that part of the Joker.

Here’s the Riddler. This 1 I feel resembles the one from the ’90s Batman Animated Series version which was voiced by John Glover.

R2D2 and C3PO.

Here’s a really good Voltron Legendary Defender group cosplay. Having the weapons made were a good touch as was the stripe in their Sven’s hair.

Here are 2 great Disney princesses. Belle and Princes Leia.

I always love it when people get the inflatable T-Rex costumes.

Two Twi’leks from Star Wars.

I’m a real big fan of J. Scott Campbell’s work ever since Danger Girl and older Gen 13. I don’t even know if he was actually there but he did have a booth set up.

Here’s a pretty good Steve Zissou from the Bill Murray movie Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. The signature pose was a good touch.

These little figurines from Metal Souls were pretty cool.

Here’s a little Jack Sparrow.

Jill Valentine circa Resident Evil 1 and the Nemesis from Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. Probably would have been more accurate if Jill was wearing the blue tube top and mini skirt from Resident Evil 3 but maybe she didn’t want to dress that way because she didn’t want to be objectified?f Although this would be pretty accurate for Marvel vs. Capcom 2 Jill Valentine cosplay.

More guys in inflatable T-Rex costumes. Their friend wearing the Jurassic Park employee badge and flashlight really set the tone.

Here’s a little Asian Cable. Good attention to detail with the glassed over eye and the scars.

Rufio from Hook. His sword could stand to use a little polishing but other than that it looks pretty good. The coconut hilt on the sword is something I never noticed in the movie till now.

I’m not sure if the Hip Hop Trooper was actually was officially with them or they just happened to be walking in the same direction but between these guys on stilts and with the music bumping they were attracting quite a crowd.

Some more Overwatch cosplayers , a Mei and Tracer with slightly different color schemes.

I’m not sure what she’s supposed to be but it’s a pretty good costume.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles co-creator, Kevin Eastman was doing a panel so I thought I’d sit in on that. I grew up on the Turtles so it was really neat sitting in on that and getting some insight on their behind the scenes history and he current direction their going in.

Most of the panel was devoted towards the current TMNT series published by IDW so it was filled with plenty of previews and sneak peeks at what’s in the future for the comic series.

I think I need to start reading it. Now if only I can find the time to sit down and read them.

After the Ninja Turtles panel I caught these Inflatable X-Rexs on my way back to the Con’s main floor.

I also caught this really good Princess Peach…

… and what looks like a store-bought Bender costume. Not to be judgemental but I think they should have made it more reflective. I mean, how are you supposed to bite Bender’s shiny metal ass when it’s not that shiny?

Here’s a really good Loki costume. I wonder how many times this guy gets confused for Tom Hiiddleston in his personal life.

Brock from Pokemon. The Geodude and Onyx really added to the costume.

Here’s a pretty good Faye Valentine.

Faye was also with a pretty good Spike Spiegel.

I forget why but there was this Bob’s Burgers set and I don’t know if these guys were part of it or was just hanging out in there. The guy in the back is a really good Bob Belcher, although his shirt is supposed to be white not gray.

Pink Chewbacca and gay Han Solo? Maybe it’s the mustache and glasses but I feel Han would make a better Axe Cop.

Daft Punk guys.

Thor/Ronald McDonald mashup.

Not sure who these guys are supposed to be from. It’s probably from some hack/slash game which I unfortunately don’t have the time to play.

A Ben Affleck Batman. The glowing eyes were really good. I wonder if he could see through them or if he has eye holes somwhere else.

At this point my parents wanted to call it a day. On our way back to the car we caught this big group of Mass Effect cosplayers. I really wonder how long they were out there posing for photos.

Here’s a Mercy from Overwatch.

I guess this dude was with Mercy. I’m not sure what he’s from. I don’t think he’s from Overwatch cause I’ve been staring at the character list for a while and he doesn’t look like anybody from there.

I’ll close out this post with a photo of a really good Belle.

Anyway, I’m sorry for the delay. Like I said earlier in the future I’ll try to be more prompt with stories from conventions and stuff. I’ll also probably start breaking this stuff depending on how big the event is and how much stuff I bring back.