I’ve gone to WonderCon for three of the last four years and really enjoyed it. The Comic-Con International people may still be trying to figure out how to handle huge crowds, but they really know how to plan a convention. So the key thing is, I’m glad that it’s happening next year.

The location is going to really change the experience, though.

I live in the Los Angeles area, so the move to Anaheim is going to make it an in-town convention that I can easily drive to each morning. But I liked the fact that San Francisco was just far enough to go out of town for a weekend without flying, and a good excuse to visit places along the way like San Luis Obispo and Hearst Castle, Monterey and Carmel, or nearby areas like San Jose and Napa Valley. We’ve also got family and friends in the Bay Area, so heading up a few days early makes it into a good combined visit & convention trip.

The character of the city is vastly different, though.

Moscone Center is in the heart of downtown San Francisco. The Anaheim Convention Center is across the street from Disneyland. There’s a lot of stuff to do near Moscone, plus great public transportation. In Anaheim, as I verified last year you’re surrounded by hotels, motels, and restaurants. Not a problem if all you want to do is get out for a bite to eat, but if you want to go farther out, you’re probably going to have to drive. (On the plus side, the roads are flat and wide, and the parking’s a lot cheaper.)

And then there’s the Hollywood factor. San Francisco is a short commuter flight away. Anaheim is an hour’s drive. WonderCon, at least in the years I’ve gone, has had a strong Hollywood presence, but it hasn’t overshadowed the actual comics the way it has in San Diego. Being so much closer could change the balance (but it doesn’t have to).

Speaking of San Diego, there’s another thing to consider: With demand sky-high for Comic-Con International tickets, Anaheim smack in the middle of Southern California, and WonderCon run by the same people, a lot of con attendees are going to aim for WonderCon as an alternative. Depending on how much of the usual Bay Area crowd decides to take to the road, this could be a more crowded event than usual.

All in all, I’m going to like having WonderCon close by next March, but I hope they’re able to move back to San Francisco for 2013.

The Wizard Factor

One more interesting thing: CCI, Reed Exhibitions, and Wizard actually coordinated this move. Reed moved C2E2 from March to April so it wouldn’t conflict with WonderCon’s new dates, and Wizard “postponed” the April 2012 Anaheim Comic Con. Which is kind of an odd thing to say, since just a few weeks ago, Anaheim dropped off the schedule completely while Wizard’s Los Angeles Comic Con (scheduled for late this month) was “postponed.” Now Anaheim’s back on the website (at least in the “Upcoming cons” list) with the April 2012 dates that the press release says are being changed, and Los Angeles is gone, both from that list and from the drop-down menu.

I’m not sure what Wizard’s trying to do in the LA/OC area, but hey, we’ve got Long Beach Comic Con next month and Comikaze Expo in November, and now WonderCon in March, at least for a year. I think we’ll be fine.

Read more at my other blog:

• WonderCon 2008 report & photos
• WonderCon 2009 report & photos
• WonderCon 2010 report & photos
• Anaheim Comic Con 2010 report & photos with an emphasis on the venue and city

WonderCon in Anaheim for 2012 (and more Wizard Weirdness) is a post from Speed Force.

This year I missed WonderCon (we weren’t sure about traveling with a baby), Anaheim (I’d rather catch Long Beach), and the one-day Long Beach Comic Expo (a busy month after moving, the new place desperately needed a no-plans weekend for some unpacking).

The second half of the year looks better.

Comic-Con International (July). I’m only going one day this year — new job, new baby and plans to move all conspired to keep things uncertain back at the time that tickets went on sale. So I’ll be a lot more focused on experiencing the day that I have than trying to report from the floor, but I’ll post my usual photos and writeups afterward.

Long Beach Comic Con (October). I’m still kicking myself for missing their April event, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. During its first two years, Long Beach has been a fun regional con focused on the actual comic part of Comic Con, and while I couldn’t make it to WonderCon this year, I really have no excuse to miss this one.

(Wizard World) Los Angeles Comic Con (September). Just announced a month ago. I sort of figure this is a second chance to catch Anaheim in case I change my mind, since Wizard has been really big on standardizing their shows lately. Also, I suspect they’re trying to crowd Long Beach out of the market, which is a big reason for me not to go.

Comikaze Expo (November). I only just heard about this one today, through the press release on Newsarama. It looks like they’re trying to out-Wizard the Wizard cons, judging by the heavy emphasis on TV/movie celebrities in the guest list, and maybe throw in elements of Anime Expo and GenCon to boot. It bothers me that they’re trying to hype it as the first con of its type in LA, ignoring the history of the Wizard cons and nearby conventions that aren’t within the Los Angeles city limits, but are close enough to be considered LA. I might drop in out of curiosity, assuming I’m not conventioned-out from Long Beach the week before.

So, current plans: San Diego and Long Beach. Maybe one of the two LA cons.

Southern California Comic Cons – 2011 is a post from Speed Force.

So, here’s a round-up of the Flash-related costume/cosplay photos I’ve found on Flickr from WonderCon and C2E2.

Flash & GL

Psykitten Pow as the Flash and Mia Ballistic as Green Lantern at WonderCon (previously seen in this costume at San Diego 2010), photo by LynxPics. They were part of a much bigger group, which is up next after the cut.

Gender-swapped Justice League

The full, incredible group, as presented by United Underworld. Again, photo by LynxPics. Amber’s Fashion Tips for Super-Heroes has a write-up and list of the participants.

The Flash

Photo by uncle_shoggoth.

White Lanterns

There were quite a few White Lanterns at Wondercon, including…

White Lantern Flash

Photo by Sargonas

White Lantern Captain Boomerang

Photos by Earthdog.

Green Arrow, Hawkgirl and Kid Flash

Photo by uncle_shoggoth.

Off the Shelf

C2E2 mainly picked up people wearing off-the-shelf costumes.

Flash and Supergirl

Photo by Mikey Brick.

Lady Flash

Photo by Anime Nut.

Oh, and One More Thing…

And finally, back to Wondercon for Psykitten as the Flash…and a fan. I had to include this one, just for fun! Photo by Roxana Meta.

Flash Costume Photos From Wondercon, C2E2 (2011) is a post from Speed Force.

At the WonderCon DC Nation panel, DC announced a series of one-shots coming this summer called “Retro-Active.” Each set features three one-shots set in 1970s, 1980s and 1990s continuity re-uniting the characters with the creators most associated with of classic runs from that era.

The Flash issues will be written by:

• Cary Bates for the 1970s
• William Messner-Loebs for the 1980s
• Brian Augustyn for the 1990s.

Each issue will feature 26 pages of new story and 20 pages of reprinted material and will run $4.99. No word yet on artists or release dates. Other characters announced include Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and the Justice League of America.

It’s odd that they’ve broken up the Waid/Augustyn team. Given that Waid has expressed willingness to work for DC again, I figure this means one of two things:

• DC doesn’t want to hire Mark Waid for now.
• Mark Waid doesn’t want to return to The Flash after the disaster of “The Wild Wests.”

Source: CBR coverage and Newsarama coverage.

Update (Monday): DC has released the logos and writers for the event.

A “Retro-Active” Flash-Back is a post from Speed Force.

They chose the smallest picture ever to show off the figure on the site here is a slightly clearer one courtesy of AFI:

I don’t fully get the whole White Lantern thing as I have not been following Brightest Day at all really, but not a bad figure. It is obviously a repaint of the DC Direct Blue Lantern Flash released a bit ago and that is not a bad thing at all. In fact that figure is probably one of the best sculpted DC Direct Flash figures in years, so I have no problem with them reusing it.

The design elements of the costume itself are pretty interesting, especially the choice of Wally’s belt instead of Barry’s classic straight across design. I don’t particularly like when they mix and match elements of Wally and Barry (as in the case of Young Justice’s Flash) but it definitely works better for the overall look. I can’t wait to see this figure up close and personal though, I have a feeling that the pictures don’t do the piece justice.

Oddly enough, DC left out the information about pricing. I believe it will be going for around 18 dollars or so. Availability of the exclusive will be limited to one item per guest. A number of websites and sellers on evilBay are offering preorders for the item for those that can’t make it out to the Cons. The prices however range from as low as 16.99 on some websites to as high as 70 dollars on evilBay.

Does anyone else plan on picking up White Lantern Flash?

Thanks for reading,

-Devin “Flash” Johnson

White Lantern Flash Exclusive Action Figure is a post from Speed Force.

1. Comic-Con International

Comic-Con International in San Diego is the ultimate pop culture fan experience. They have everything you could possibly want to see, including comics, movies, video games and more. The downside: they have everything everyone else could possibly want to see, too. So it’s crowded, hectic, and requires planning months ahead in order to make sure you have a ticket and (if you need one) a hotel room. Comics publishers have a major presence, as do movie and video game studios, collectibles manufacturers, etc. and there are so many events on the schedule that you’d need a group of 20 people to see everything. If you can, try to go more than one day. This is the con I’m most familiar with, having attended every year since 1990.
CCI 2010 report.

2. WonderCon

Comic-Con International’s little sibling, WonderCon in San Francisco, is a nice balance of everything San Diego has to offer, but less crowded and less, well, insane. Comics take up a bigger part of the show, with the major publishers always well-represented, but movies and TV have a presence here as well. I’ve been to the last 3 cons.
Wondercon 2010 report.

3. Long Beach Comic Con

Only in its second year, Long Beach Comic Con makes a great impression as a convention that’s actually focused on comics and the people who make them. The artists and writers area is the central feature of the main floor. Programming is light, but the mid-level comics publishers have a strong presence. The emphasis on authors and the light crowds (this was only its second year) make it a good place to meet artists and writers without standing in incredibly long lines.
LBCC 2010 report.

4. Anaheim Comic Con

Wizard World’s return to the LA/OC area, despite the name change, is more focused on pop culture than comics. There’s little publisher presence, minimal programming, and a major emphasis on celebrities and dealers. Good for costume spotting. It’s fun, but if I had to pick one or the other, I’d definitely go with Long Beach. Technically this was its first year, but I understand Wizard World is trying to make all of their shows the same type of experience.
Anaheim 2010 report.

And Beyond

There are a lot of smaller cons that I either haven’t been to at all or haven’t been to recently. The roughly-bimonthly Los Angeles Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention at the Shrine comes to mind, for instance, and the California Comic Con in Yorba Linda. And aside from WonderCon and APE, I’m not really familiar with the Northern California scene — or, for that matter, the Inland Empire here in Socal.

Are there any other California-based fans here? What cons do you like to attend?

2010 in Review: Ranking California Comic-Cons is a post from Speed Force.

And by launched, I mean launched. As in, you can download the app and buy comics right now.

I’m really looking forward to the day when they expand this to more platforms (desktop PCs, Android and Windows–based tablets, etc) and start reaching into their back catalog. I’ve griped about the lack of Golden Age Flash reprints before, and the Bronze Age is also virtually invisible in reprints (though at least with comics from the 1970s and 1980s, you can usually find the back-issues at a reasonable price).

I haven’t had time to read all the interviews, but I’ll definitely be reading them tonight:

• Comics Alliance Interviews Jim Lee
• CBR interviews Jim Lee and John Rood
• Newsarama interviews Jim Lee and John Rood

With Jim Lee so heavily involved in this project, I can’t help but think of a moment at WonderCon this year. Saturday was the day of the iPad launch, and the Apple Store in San Francisco is just a few blocks from the convention center. Jim Lee was conspicuously missing from the DC Editorial panel. He showed up partway through the panel and stood in the Q&A line, where he planted a few questions…and then pulled out the brand-new iPad that he had stood in line for that morning!

Sadly, judging by ComiXology’s new releases, DC hasn’t brought Flash to the iPad just yet. But I’m sure it’s only a matter of time.

Update: Comics Alliance has another article I won’t have time to read just yet, on why this is a big deal.

Cross-posted at K-Squared Ramblings

DC Comics Goes Digital is a post from Speed Force.

At the Comic Arts Conference panel on super-hero origins, James Robinson and Steve Englehart agreed that one of the key elements to a good origin is that it includes the hero’s motivation and a hook that readers can relate to. Robinson cited the Silver-Age Flash as missing that compelling motivation: Okay, he put on a costume to fight crime, but why? Why keep going?

Robinson also talked about why so many heroes have dead parents in their past: the fear of losing a parent is something that any reader can relate to. In fact, when someone asked later in the panel how one could create a good origin, Englehart flippantly replied, “Kill their parents?”

Later in the discussion, the moderator asked about retelling origins. Robinson said he was always wary of destroying what was already there, and preferred to try to add new detail around what already works. He cited Geoff Johns’ revised origin for Barry Allen, in which his mother is killed and his father framed for it, as a successful example.

Personally I disagree. It drastically alters the character’s history, and raises questions of why his history hasn’t changed in other ways, but most importantly, it introduces a cliche that wasn’t present in the original version of the story. If you’re going to revise a story, it seems better to remove overused elements than add them.

The same weekend, the New York Times published an article on the role of parents in young-adult fiction: traditionally, the role of a hero’s parents in classic literature was to die, or at least get out of the way, forcing the protagonist into his journey of self-discovery: the orphan’s “triumphant rise.” (via Neil Gaiman)

Yeah, writers have been using this trope for a long time.

Dead Parents and Super-Hero Origins is a post from Speed Force.

» WonderCon 2010 Experience

Next weekend: C2E2 in Chicago and the awkwardly-named Wizard World Anaheim Comic Con in California. It looks like DC will have much more of a presence at C2E2 than Anaheim. I’m not traveling again for a while, but Anaheim is literally 10-15 minutes away, so I figure I may as well check it out.

WonderCon 2010 Con Report is a post from Speed Force.

Jesse Quick will be joining the Justice League of America after the upcoming JLA/JSA crossover, as announced at the James Robinson Spotlight.

He included the character because he was always such a fan of the character’s father, Johnny Quick. The writer made sure to mention that he has no plans to upset the marriage between Jessie Quick and Hourman. He promised there would be no cheap plot device to break them up.

Robinson also made some thought-provoking remarks about the Flash in the Super-Hero Origins panel, which I’ll write up when I have more time and can look at my notes. Update: Here they are: JR on super-hero origins.

When asked about plans for DC movies beyond Green Lantern, Geoff Johns said, “We’ll talk in San Diego.” A lot of sites are taking this to mean that DC will announce Flash & other movie plans at Comic-Con International in July.

At the Ethan Van Sciver Spotlight, the artist was asked about Carmine Infantino’s classic art in connection with Flash: Rebirth.

The artist said that he loved Infantino’s work, and that besides Batman, the Flash has one of the best set of villains in the DCU, which Van Sciver credits to Infantino. “His characters were so unique and individual, so wonderfully different from each other,” he said, also mentioning that he would love to go back to “revisit the wonderful, angular, ugly faces of Carmine Infantino’s rogues, and restore them.” Van Sciver even said he would talk with new “Flash” artist Francis Manapul about Infantino’s rogues.

And once again, my photos from the con are up on Flickr.

WonderCon Flash Bits: Jesse Quick, EVS & Carmine Infantino, Movie Non-News is a post from Speed Force.