After spending three days treating myself to various freebies, previewing the latest science fiction and comic book films, sitting down to interview highly talented and occasionally highly geeky television stars, and shooting various costumes first and asking what series those costumes belonged to later, I find myself sitting in front of my workstation and realizing all of this supposed "fun" has resulted in a massive pile of work for me to sift through for this convention report. But as a member of the independent Press, that's fine. We work hard to cover events for those unable to attend. It is a thankless job. But we do it because respectable conventions like WonderCon know that the coverage we provide helps bring in more attendees next year who get interested in the convention based on reports like these. Conventions unable to recognize the need for independent Press pretty much shoot themselves in the foot. I look forward to a continuing working relationship with WonderCon and other conventions.

With my interest in geek subculture finally expanding to comic books, I can appreciate the various forms of the art presented at WonderCon. Original comics of the 40s, Asian-styled manga, and the recent trend of movies based on comics show the world how popular the medium is. WonderCon is a great venue to sample various forms of the art form and see the new ones in development.

The Hollywood guests continue to attract the WonderCon attendees and this year did not disappoint. The exclusive previews of movie footage from "Watchmen," "Terminator Salvation," and "Up" and being able to see the Hollywood talent behind and in front of the cameras up close is a bona fide treat. But I will admit that the charisma that the Hollywood talent pours out during the panels will make neutrally reviewing their work difficult in the future.

Of course, friends and fellow attendees round out the convention experience and make covering the convention less of a job and more of a vacation and occasional bizarre adventure. There are unique stories to glean from observing the antics of the average convention attendee. Opinions on certain titles, actors, and genres may vary. People may react to hall costumes in a positive or negative way. But they are all here to relish in their interests and have some fun. I would like to thank my friends for helping me during the convention and putting up with my odd mannerisms and verbage. Let's do it again at the next convention. Hopefully the full cast of Traveling Valentine will be present for an actual Talking Heads motif soon--complete with great music, complex backstory, and the giant suit.

Jumping on the whole social networking thing, you may find me on Facebook under Tom Tonthat (there's another Tonthat on Facebook, but he doesn't have a sense of humor) or check out my reviews and other rambling writings on Associated Content.

Pictures are copyright by Traveling Valentine. If we took your picture, feel free to use it on your site or cosplay gallery. While you're here, do sign the guestbook. This site was brought to you by a font of some sort. Many thanks to Chaz Boston Baden for the image resizing and watermarking program.