WonderCon 2011 in Review
--Story by Deb Aoki; for Deb's exclusive photos of the convention, click here.
For years, Wondercon has been the smaller, somewhat mellower Northern California cousin to mega-con San Diego Comic-Con International. Now celebrating its 25th year, Wondercon seems to have reached new heights of popularity, as over 35,000 fans jammed into San Francisco’s Moscone Center South to see what’s new in movies, sci-fi, fantasy, toys, and, of course, comics and graphic novels. In fact, tickets for Saturday were sold out, which made for some congested aisles on the exhibit floor and, at times, near SDCC-level fandemonium.
Along with a bustling artists’ alley and small press area full of legendary and up-and-coming talent, celebrities, toy and game companies big and small like Bandai, Mattel, Capcom, KidRobot and Super 7, and vendors selling everything from old comics and original artwork to “duel-worthy” light sabers and Star Trek bathrobes, Wondercon had a lot of the things that fans enjoy about SDCC, just on a smaller scale.
A lot of the big names in graphic novel publishing were there, some for the first time, and some for the first time in several years. DC Comics was there to promote the summer release of the live-action Green Lantern film, along with star Ryan Reynolds, who introduced a few new clips to an appreciative audience on Friday. Marvel Comics had a big booth on the exhibit floor, with huge banners heralding their upcoming big-ticket flicks Thor (due out in May 2011) and Captain America (due in theaters in July 2011) and demos of the video games for both properties. The other big guys, Image, IDW, Dark Horse, Aspen, and Archaia were in the house, as were Top Shelf, Drawn & Quarterly, Last Gasp, Slave Labor Graphics, and Oni Press representin’ for the indie comics crowd. M.I.A. this year? Manga publishers, except for Bay Area’s EigoManga. This was too bad, considering that there were a several fans geared up to pay tribute to Bleach, Black Butler, and Sailor Moon in the house.
There was no shortage of celebrity star power, as BBC America previewed scenes from the latest season of fan fave sci-fi TV series Dr. Who, director John Favreau showcased scenes from Cowboys and Aliens (starring Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford), Focus Features previewed Hanna, and Screen Gems brought in stars Paul Bettany and Lily Collins with director Scott Stewart to get fans excited about Priest, the feature film adaptation of Min-Woo Hyung’s post-apocalyptic Korean manhwa. Reggae star Ziggy Marley signed posters promoting Marijuana Man, his comic book collaboration with Jim Mahfood and Joe Casey, due out in April from Image Comics.
Immortals, a Greek mythology action flick from the producers of 300 also put in an early bid for fans’ attention long before its November 2011 release with Archaia’s planned September release of an Immortals graphic novel anthology tie-in, featuring original stories based on the world of warriors, gods and goddesses created by some all-star creators, including David Mack (Kabuki) and Ben Templesmith (30 Days of Night).
Colin Turner from Last Gasp also reported that the San Francisco-based publisher/distributor is preparing for renewed interest in Herge’s globetrotting adventurer before the December release of Stephen Spielberg’s The Adventures of TinTin film by releasing several TinTin books. TinTin: The Complete Companion by Michael Farr was out of print for several years before Last Gasp picked it up for its 2011 rerelease. Last Gasp is also publishing the third and final volume of The Art of Herge by Phillipe Goddin, a lavishly illustrated collection of rare sketches and original artwork from TinTin and beyond.
Meanwhile, Dark Horse continued their long-term relationship with the TV creations of Joss Whedon by announcing that Whedon and cowriter Andrew Chambliss would be penning the 9th season of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics. Dark Horse also added a new series to their line-up, Angel and Faith, featuring two characters from the Buffy universe, written by Christos Gage and illustrated by Rebekeh Isaacs. They also added that Chambliss would soon be creating comics based on Dollhouse for them.
While Wondercon has its share of film and TV sneak peeks, this NorCal show is very much focused on comics and sci-fi, and proud of it. The featured guests included legendary superhero comics creators like Paul Levitz (Legion of Superheroes) and Marv Wolfman (Teen Titans), fan faves like Frank Quitely (All-Star Superman and Batman and Robin), Amy Reeder (Madame Xanadu), Jeremy Love (Bayou) and Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead), star comic-strip creator Berkeley Breathed (Bloom County), and graphic novel artistes Hope Larson (Mercury) and Seth (Palookaville).
It was also nice to see some kid-friendly comics and their creators spotlighted at Wondercon, including the Fraggle Rock anthology from Archaia, with the promise of more Jim Henson creations on the way, including The Dark Crystal. Archaia also spotlighted Rust, an upcoming all-ages graphic novel with giant robots set in the American Heartland that was billed as “The Iron Giant meets The Rocketeer.” Oni Press enjoyed brisk sales of their Yo Gabba Gabba Comics Anthology, with indie talents Dave Crosland and Becky Dreistadt sketching at the Oni booth throughout the weekend. Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead) and Jason Howard’s Super Dinosaur offered another fun option for all-ages adventure from Image, while Top Shelf was showing off Incredible Change-Bots Two, the second installment of Jeffrey Brown’s robot adventure romp. At her spotlight panel, Hope Larson talked about her work in progress, a graphic novel adaptation of Madeline L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time, due for release in 2012.
For slightly older readers, Image is publishing two titles that were originally created for DC Comics’ now-defunct girl-centric imprint, Minx. Poseurs by Deborah Vankin and Rick Mays focuses on three teens finding more than they bargained for in the Los Angeles party scene. All Nighter by David Hahn will follow in Summer 2011.
While up the street, the San Francisco flagship branch of Borders Books and Music was on its last days, the sci-fi/comics/graphic novels economy seemed alive and thriving at Wondercon. Will Wondercon grow even bigger next year? Signs point to yes, but we’ll see when we return to the Moscone Center in Spring 2012 for the 26th Wondercon.
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WONDERCON HIGHLIGHTS – THREE SPRING/SUMMER RELEASES TO WATCH
There were lots of promising graphic novels announced and previewed at Wondercon, but I came away with a handful of personal faves, including several Spring/Summer 2011 releases that are generating a lot of buzz.
Petrograd by Philip Gelatt and Tyler Crook (Oni Press)–August 2011
A historical suspense story set in Russia circa WWI, Petrograd takes another look at the assassination of Grigori Rasputin, and explores the possibility that a British spy was sent to kill the “mad monk” of Tsarist Russia. It’s illustrated by newcomer Tyler Crook, who does an astonishing job of capturing the action and the suspense of Gelatt’s story with dramatic ink and brush strokes.
Crook is a newcomer to comics, but he racked up almost 20 years of experience as a production designer, most recently at a game company, a career he’s since left to do comics full-time.
“I showed my portfolio to James Lucas Jones at Stumptown Comics Festival, and he said, ‘Hey, I have a project on my desk for you,’ and that was Petrograd,” Crook recalled. “This is my first published work. I just kind of jumped into it -- I went from 0 to 250 pages! It was horrifying, but worthwhile.”
After spending two and a half years on Petrograd, Crook took on another high-profile gig as the new artist for BPRD from Dark Horse. His first issue of BPRD will debut in July, with Petrograd hitting the shelves in August.
Pinocchio by Winshluss (Last Gasp)–May 2011
Billed as a “noir fairy tale, both comic and tragic,” Pinocchio is an Anglouleme award-winning, definitely-not-for-kids graphic novel by Winshluss a.k.a. Vincent Parronaud, the codirector of Persepolis, with Marjane Satrapi. Loosely based on Carlo Collodi’s original tale of a puppet who comes to life, Winshluss’ Pinocchio takes readers on horrifying, hilarious, and profane roller-coaster ride filled with twisted twists.
Gepetto is an inventor who creates a pint-sized super-robot in hopes of selling it to the military as the ultimate warrior. Far from being the mischievous imp in Disney’s version, Winshluss’ Pinocchio is a dangerous metal monster who just happens to have an down-on-his-luck cockroach with writers’ block taking up residence in his head. Readers will recognize other familiar characters from Collodi’s original story and a few other fairy tales too, but only enough to give this adults-only fable its wickedly satirical bite.
Pinocchio is the first of what Turner hopes will be many European graphic novels that Last Gasp will publish in English in the months and years to come. “There’s so much good stuff available in Europe. I’d like to do 1-4 European graphic novels per year,” he said. “We’re doing this, seeing what works, and taking things from there.”
Onwards Toward Our Noble Deaths by Shigeru Mizuki (Drawn and Quarterly)–May 2011
In North American comics circles, appreciation of Japan’s most influential comics creators seems to begin and end with Osamu Tezuka, and maybe YoshihiroTatsumi and Moto Hagio. Drawn & Quarterly is hoping to remedy this a bit by introducing another legendary creator to English readers: Shigeru Mizuki.
Mizuki is best known for his creation GeGeGe no Kitaro, a supernatural boy who is part of a clan of yokai, Japanese demons and spirits. But there’s much more to Mizuki’s work than fantasy, as evidenced by Onwards Toward Our Noble Deaths, a semiautobiographical memoir of a doomed platoon of Japanese infantrymen stationed in New Guinea.
Mizuki himself is a veteran of WWII; in fact, his stint as a soldier cost him his left arm. His first-hand experiences informs his work on this award-winning graphic novel, and infuses it with the kind of dark humor and graphic violence that can only come from someone who has experienced and survived time on the battlefield. Filled with pathos, humor and horror, Onwards Toward Our Noble Death an uncommonly quirky, tragic, and intimate look at the pointlessness of war.
