Wonder Con Day 2 allowed us more time to explore the convention floor. While the Scarlet Rhapsody crew were much more familiar during the time Anime Expo made their home here, things were nicely laid out and there was hardly and bottlenecks or traffic. Saturday the busiest day and the most attended. Plenty of cosplay meet and greets and panels to check out!

Artist Alley by Eri Kagami
Artist Alley housed comic book artists from all over the country. I was quite surprised to see a few familiar faces from New England make it to Wonder Con. Artist Alley was combined with the exhibit hall on the first floor. It was to the left of the exhibitions and it was not that hard to find. Artists here may have worked on covers for comics or colorists. There was a mix of veterans and newbies alike. Artists were just selling prints, though they were a huge highlight, they were also selling various wares such as jewelry and buttons. I ended up picking up Valentine from Dan Cooney. Additionally, I was amazed by the amount of talent that brought in Disney attractions themed art. This was also a great place to collect business cards and follow new artists on social media.

Dealers Hall by Eri Kagami
The exhibit hall dominated the first floor of the Anaheim Convention Center. I attended Anime Expo when it was in Anaheim, but they never had the complete first floor to themselves. There was a lot of walking space, even for the crowded times. You never felt like you were sardined in. I liked that there were major comic publishers present selling and promoting upcoming figures and books. DC had a Wonder Woman cosplayer meet up where the director for the 2017 movie, Patty Jenkins, showed up to give lucky cosplayers free tickets to a screening. This was also a great place to network with industry professionals and meet various cosplay charity organizations. The exhibit hall also had their share of silver age comics for collectors alike. I have been to a handful of events that have “comic con” in their name, but often times forget to add in comic vendors. It was a pleasant surprise seeing a majority of the vendors sell actual books. Additionally, several fashion companies were also highlighted including Pinup Girl Clothing, Her Universe, and a few that cater to Disneybounding.

DC Cosplayers Meet by Eri Kagami
While not on the official schedule, cosplay meet ups are an essential part of convention life. This is where people from a specific series gather and take various group photos. I really did not know what to expect out of the DC Cosplayers photoshoot considering that the DC universe is vast. I was cosplaying as DC Bombshells Zatanna. We had about 200+ cosplayers attending. The meet up started small - a good mix of Gotham and Metropolis dwellers. A majority of cosplayers present were either Wonder Woman and Harley Quinn in different variations. The photoshoot concluded on the steps of the second floor veranda wherein more people were present and we all did a versus shot against each other.

Kotobukiya by Jared the Greek
One of the types of panels that you don’t normally see at a ‘comic con’ type event is the toy panel.  This panel focused on toys and collectables based on video games and comics from Kotobukyia.  They showed off new designs for their various lines and new versions of old figures that have gone out of production.  Everyone who watched the panel got some swag and at the end of the panel they gave away a couple figures as well.  This is one of the rare moments where collectors can talk with the company staff making this one of the few times you can get some insight into the production side of your hobby.

CBDLF: A Year in Censorship by Jared the Greek
This was a much heavier panel than most off the fun panels at Wonder Con.  A representative of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund came up to talk about the books that have been censored or banned in different regions of the world and their ongoing fight for free speech.  This panel covered several court cases to defend the free speech rights of not only comic creators, but also authors and game developers.  The process of how they get involved and the difficulty of chasing down every case was a key topic that made it clear just how difficult the defense of art has become.  This is a very informative panel and should be attended by anyone who cares about the creative arts.

Music in Comics Panel by Jared the Greek
Two things that have been connected for a long time are music and comics.  While it may seem strange there have been plenty of comics about bands both fictional and real.  In addition to that, there are plenty of comics where characters will refer to real songs.  This panel was focused upon current titles like ‘Archie Meets The Ramones’ and “KISS’.  However, the panelists also talked about music they listen to while working and musically themed comics they loved growing up.  This was a fun panel and the unique topic made it more interesting than your usual ‘group of artists/writers’ panel. 

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