Broken Frontier

So, I wrote about Wizard World LA, and was less than impressed with the con itself.  So, my maiden voyage up the coast to San Francisco’s Wondercon.  Thankfully, Wondercon more than made up for the lackluster experience at WWLA.  Wondercon is an institution, and, as such, knows how to do a show for the crowd they’ll receive.  The Moscone Center was comfortably full (which will be a fond memory come San Diego time), and more of the major publishers seemed to be on display than at Wizard World.

This is the first show I’ve gone to actively “work” without having a table.  For those who don’t know, I do a comic strip (www.poorlydrawnanimals.com), and I have my own comic projects that I’m developing in hopes of finding a publisher for them.  I went to this show to talk to some of the people I’ve met via e-mail, talked to at other shows, and even a few I’d never met before.  I also spent the bulk of my time passing out flyers for the webcomic.

As a young creator, trying to plow my way into the game, I’ve been constantly reminded of one central theme of the comics industry.  These are genuinely some of the nicest people I’ve ever met.  From offering advice to criticism of work, or even just some good-natured encouragement, I’ve felt really lucky in the connections I’ve made, and the support network they’ve formed for me getting my first big break. 

Then, there are the retailers.  Retailers get a bad rap, I think, because there are a few bad seeds in the bunch.  But then there’s the illustrious James Sime.  You might know him as the Isotope Lounge’s Comics Pimp, and the name is quite apropos.  James runs his store like it’s his own personal collection, moving from book to book talking up its virtues and trying to entice you into picking up that one indie book you’ve passed up, or that nearly cancelled series you’ve yet to try.  He’s single handedly helped raise the profile of Ed Brubaker’s Sleeper, Brian Wood’s Demo, and countless other books through his infamous in-store events (including the Brubaker Arm Wrestle-a-thon for Sleeper, and a shooting range field trip for Brian Wood month), and his Wondercon tiki after party was yet another exciting affair. It’s one of those rare occasions where you get to see a group of comic creators all together, all relaxing, and all being themselves.  It’s a treat to not have to talk to your favorite creators over the top of a table in an allotted thirty second time slot. 

Overall, Wondercon is really a great show because it’s the warm up for San Diego, which for us West Coasters (and a good amount of the rest of the comics reading world) is the biggest, most important show in the world.  The excitement for the upcoming showing was palatable in the air this past weekend, and it definitely helped to lift spirits, even when the convention floor was at its deadest.  The show also had some fantastic panels with some of DC’s biggest and brightest stars including Geoff Johns, Jeph Loeb, Greg Rucka, Ed Brubaker, and Darwyn Cooke, which were smaller and more intimate than you’ll expect to find at any major show.  They were also devoid of a lot of the more unpleasant fanboy prattle that can be found at some of the bigger cons.  Darwyn Cooke’s panel was a particular stand out for me, talking about his process on DC’s The New Frontier, which is easily my favorite book of the year thus far.  He also went into some of his massive Comic Book Artist interview that has made giant waves in the internet community for his semi-condemnation of “adult comics” like The Ultimates.  From hearing him speak, I certainly see his point.  When it comes down to it, comics don’t have to be dumbed down for younger kids, they can be cross generational, and I think that was his main point, although it has certainly gotten diluted a lot by internet speculation.

Shows like Wondercon are a gift to fans; big enough to draw big names, small enough to allow a personal experience for every fan.  It’s exciting to know that shows like this still exist, and the “corporatization” of the comic convention hasn’t quite rubbed out the uniqueness of the non-Wizard style cons.  Wondercon has been around for a long time, and I can only hope it’ll be around for a long time more.

- Josh Fialkov