Comic-Con

WonderCon attendees wielding camera phones flocked around Dawn Bright, a video game concept artist from the Inland Empire area who donned a head-turning Queen Amidala costume of her own creation. Her lavishly embellished gown, black feathered headdress and trademark white-and-red painted face stopped “Star Wars” fans in their tracks as they ambled through the lobby of the Anaheim Convention Center on Friday. “I made the entire dress from scratch,” Bright said, proudly pointing out the spiraled embroidery on her cloak before posing for more photos. “I just finished this costume last night at midnight, and I’ll actually be participating in the masquerade tomorrow.” A few feet away, more WonderCon-goers (some of whom wore costumes of their own) snapped pictures of Bright’s husband, Daniel, and their 3-year-old daughter, Victoria, dressed as the heroes from Disney’s “Wreck-it-Ralph,” with little Victoria’s stroller decked out […]

Sci-fi, fantasy and comics fans and professionals are descending on WonderCon this weekend in Anaheim. Let the masquerade begin. This year’s conference, the second year for WonderCon in Anaheim, is shaping up to be a big event. The crowd is expected to be as large as last year’s, which just fell short of 40,000. Attendees are invited to send pictures of themselves and their cosplay friends for inclusion in our gallery, above. Just upload them above or tag them with the hashtag #HeroComplex on Instagram or Twitter today and throughout the weekend. After all, the costumes and imagination of WonderCon fans are among conference highlights. GALLERY: WonderCon highlights: Your guide to the con Other highlights: panels on big-budget Hollywood films “Pacific Rim,” from Guillermo del Toro, and “The Conjuring,” directed by James Wan.  And author Cassandra Clare and director Harald Zwart […]

There may be more costumed characters across the street from the Happiest Place on Earth than in it this weekend as thousands of sci-fi, fantasy and comics enthusiasts arrive for WonderCon 2013, which kicks off Friday at the Anaheim Convention Center. Run by the organizers of Comic-Con International, WonderCon is in many ways a junior sibling to that massive pop-culture expo in San Diego, featuring panel discussions for blockbuster films, popular television shows and comics creators, not to mention portfolio review for aspiring professionals, book signings, a cosplay masquerade and plenty of geek-friendly shopping on the convention floor. This year’s WonderCon programming lineup includes panels for Guillermo del Toro’s robots vs. kaiju film “Pacific Rim,” the Sam Raimi- and Bruce Campbell-produced “Evil Dead” remake and Joss Whedon’s ”Much Ado About Nothing,” among others. Click through the gallery above for Hero Complex’s top picks for WonderCon this year. It’s […]

The programming schedule for WonderCon 2013 is out, featuring panels for Guillermo del Toro’s robots-versus-kaiju movie “Pacific Rim,” Joss Whedon’s Shakespearean adaptation “Much Ado About Nothing” and the upcoming reboot of “Evil Dead.” The annual gathering of sci-fi, fantasy and comics professionals and fans — sort of a little sibling to San Diego’s Comic-Con International — runs March 29-31 at the Anaheim Convention Center and offers movie and television panels, previews from comic publishers, a cosplay masquerade (click through the gallery above for a peek at last year’s costumes), autographs and book signings, portfolio review for aspiring professionals and, of course, plenty of geek-friendly shopping. This year’s roster includes panels devoted to several big-budget Hollywood productions. A Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures panel Saturday at 11:30 a.m. will feature”Pacific Rim” director Del Toro and “The Conjuring” director James Wan. And Sony’s […]

Tickets to Comic-Con International — the annual pop culture expo that takes over San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter — will go on sale Saturday, Feb. 16, at 9 a.m. PST, the organization announced on its website Friday. Comic-Con badge sales are open to the general public, but all registrants must set up a member ID by Feb. 11 in order to register on Feb. 16. Comic-Con’s registration system is notorious for glitches and server crashes, as well as for selling out in minutes after opening. The member ID system aims to limit registrants to one ticket apiece — an effort to curb scalping. The convention — to be held July 18-21 at the San Diego Convention Center — is a gathering of some 130,000 professionals and enthusiasts in the realms of sci-fi, fantasy, video games, comics and horror. The expo features […]

Tickets are now on sale for 2013′s WonderCon, the annual gathering of sci-fi, fantasy and comics professionals and fans. The pop culture expo — a sort of little sibling to San Diego’s Comic-Con International — runs March 29-31 at the Anaheim Convention Center and offers movie and television panels, previews from comic publishers, a cosplay masquerade (click through the gallery above for a peek at last year’s costumes), autographs and book-signings, portfolio review for aspiring professionals and, of course, plenty of geek-friendly shopping. The full 2013 schedule will probably be released two weeks prior to the event, but announced guests include Bent Anderson, Frank Cho, Amanda Conner, J.M. DeMatteis, Jane Espenson, Mark Evanier, Dean Koontz, Jim Lee, Marjorie Liu, Doug Mahnke, Ann Nocenti, Jason Palmer, Jimmy Palmiotti, Dan Slott, Jeff Smith, Jim Steranko, Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell. It’s WonderCon’s […]

“Adventure Time” at first glance is a typical kids’ show. Finn, a 14-year-old boy, and his buddy Jake, a magical dog with super stretching powers, battle candy zombies, evil gnomes and their arch-nemesis Ice King in a shiny world called the Land of Ooo. In the show’s Season 5 premiere Monday, Finn fights a gang of neon-colored, village-burning hoodlums while Jake goes hot-tubbing with Cosmic Owl and a pink, wish-granting being named Prismo. Hot-tubbing? “If somebody pitched me verbally an episode plot of an ‘Adventure Time’ cartoon, I’d probably think, ‘That’s the dumbest thing ever,’ ” said Cartoon Network chief content officer Rob Sorcher. “But somehow in the hands of ['Adventure Time' creator Pendleton Ward], the nuance with which this is executed, it’s perfect.” The Emmy-nominated cartoon is one of the Cartoon Network‘s most popular shows, consistently ranking No. 1 […]

WonderCon, the annual gathering of fantasy, sci-fi and comics enthusiasts, will again be held in Anaheim despite initial plans for the 2013 edition of the convention to return to its home in San Francisco. WonderCon — Comic-Con International‘s little sister — was held at the Anaheim Convention Center this year due to major renovations at San Francisco’s Moscone Center, where the pop culture convention was held for the previous six years. The convention, in its 27th year, started in Oakland and was expected to return to its Bay Area roots in 2013. However, WonderCon officials announced Monday morning that although the renovations are complete, the dates offered by the Moscone Center are for the fall and coincide with another major event, resulting in “unavoidable conflicts” and expensive hotel room blocks starting at $300 per night. PHOTOS: Cosplay at WonderCon 2012 […]

San Diego has won a skirmish in its war with Los Angeles and Anaheim to retain Comic-Con International, but the outcome of the tri-city battle over tourism dollars remains in doubt. San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, down to his final weeks in office, announced Monday that Comic-Con organizers have agreed to extend their contract to use the waterfront convention center by one year, to 2016, meaning that superheroes, villains, cyborgs and stormtroopers from around the globe will flock to the city for at least four more conventions, Sanders announced. Comic-Con turns San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter, adjacent to the convention center, “into a kind of high-tech ‘Twilight Zone,’ with some of the best people-watching you’ll ever see,” Sanders said at a triumphant news conference attended by city officials and Comic-Con organizers. Los Angeles and Anaheim, with larger convention centers than San […]

NEW YORK — There’s only one thing east of the Mississippi River that could bring together such disparate forces as the Joker, Princess Zelda and Pokémon — and that’s New York City’s Comic Con, which runs through this weekend. Once a distant second to the fanboy Goliath held in San Diego each summer, Gotham is creeping on its more mature West Coast cousin, long considered the world’s largest gathering of comic book and pop culture fans. Last summer, the 42-year-old San Diego convention drew an estimated 125,000, but this weekend’s New York event is expected to attract 115,000 — up from last year’s 105,000. The attendance figures for the New York event, which is being held at the cavernous Jacob Javits Center, are all the more impressive considering it’s only been around for six years. It’s quickly become one of […]