WonderCon
{{Short description|Annual convention}}
{{use mdy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{update|date=August 2015}}
{{More citations needed|date=June 2011}}
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{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2013}}
{{Infobox Convention
| name = WonderCon
| logo = Image:WonderCon.svg
| image = 250px
| caption = The WonderCon 2010 main exhibit hall in the Moscone Center in San Francisco
| status = Active
| genre = Multi-genre
| venue = 1987–2002: Oakland Convention Center
2003–2011: Moscone Center
2012–2015 Anaheim Convention Center
2016: Los Angeles Convention Center
2017–present: Anaheim Convention Center
| location = California
| country = United States
| coordinates = {{Coord|37.8000|N|122.4000|W|source:wikidata-and-enwiki-cat-tree_region:US-CA|display=title,inline}}
| first = {{Start date and age|1987|5|2}} (as Wonderful World of Comics Convention)
| last = {{Start date and age|2025|3|28}}
| next = {{Start date and age|2026|3|27}}
| organizer = Comic-Con International
| filing = Nonprofit
| website = {{url|comic-con.org/wc}}
}}
WonderCon is an annual comic book, science fiction, and film convention held in the San Francisco Bay Area (1987–2011), then—under the name WonderCon Anaheim—in Anaheim, California (2012–2015, 2017–present), and WonderCon Los Angeles in 2016.[http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2012/03/17/wondercon-moves-to-anaheim-with-costumed-avengers-in-tow/ "WonderCon Moves To Anaheim With Costumed Avengers In Tow"], {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120703221304/http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2012/03/17/wondercon-moves-to-anaheim-with-costumed-avengers-in-tow/ |date=July 3, 2012 }} CBS 2 San Francisco (March 17, 2012). The convention returned to the Anaheim Convention Center in 2017 after a one-year stint in Los Angeles due to construction at the Anaheim Convention Center.
The convention was conceived by retailer John Barrett (a founder of the retail chain Comics and Comix) and originally held in the Oakland Convention Center. In 2003, it moved to San Francisco's Moscone Center.{{cite web|url=http://www.comic-con.org/wc/|title=WonderCon|publisher=Comic-Con International|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121208203118/http://comic-con.org/wc/|archive-date=December 8, 2012|url-status=dead|access-date=November 19, 2012}}{{Failed verification|date=March 2016}} The show's original name was the Wonderful World of Comics Convention.
History
Retailer Joe Field (of Flying Colors Comics and Other Cool Stuff) and his partner Mike Friedrich owned and operated the convention for fifteen years. In 2001, they brokered a deal with the management team which runs San Diego Comic-Con to make it part of the Comic-Con International convention family.Albert, Aaron. [http://comicbooks.about.com/od/wondercon/p/wondercon.htm "Wondercon Profile"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707075002/http://comicbooks.about.com/od/wondercon/p/wondercon.htm |date=July 7, 2011 }}, About.com. That gave the San Francisco show a wider audience and has made it a venue for previews and early screenings of major motion pictures, in particular ones based on comic books. The events have included Spider-Man 2 in 2004, Batman Begins and Fantastic Four in 2005, Superman Returns in 2006, 300 in 2007, Watchmen in 2009, and Kick-Ass in 2010. All of the events featured the stars of the movies fielding questions from the audience. WonderCon had 34,000 attendees in 2009,Boucher, Geoff. [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-apr-06-la-et-comic-con6-2010apr06-story.html "WonderCon shows the comic convention circuit's power is growing"] . Los Angeles Times. April 6, 2010 39,000 in 2010, and 49,500 in 2011.MacDonald, Heidi. [http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/trade-shows-events/article/46728-wondercon-brings-fans-publishers-excitement-to-san-francisco.html "WonderCon Brings Fans, Publishers, Excitement to San Francisco"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110823100232/http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/trade-shows-events/article/46728-wondercon-brings-fans-publishers-excitement-to-san-francisco.html |date=August 23, 2011 }}, Publishers Weekly. April 4, 2011
The show left the Bay Area after the 2011 con, because San Francisco's Moscone Center was being remodeled. The convention moved to Anaheim in 2012, and was rebranded WonderCon Anaheim. When the move to Anaheim was first announced, Comic-Con International said they would be returning to San Francisco after the Moscone Center renovations were complete; however, the convention ultimately stayed in Southern California. In 2016, a new convention started in the Bay Area, called the Silicon Valley Comic Con.{{Cite web|url=https://venturebeat.com/2015/04/17/steve-wozniak-and-stan-lee-are-bringing-silicon-valley-its-own-comic-con/|title=Steve Wozniak and Stan Lee are bringing Silicon Valley its own comic con|last=Minotti|first=Mike|date=April 17, 2015|website=VentureBeat|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304105544/http://venturebeat.com/2015/04/17/steve-wozniak-and-stan-lee-are-bringing-silicon-valley-its-own-comic-con/|archive-date=March 4, 2016|url-status=live|access-date=2016-03-30}}
WonderCon moved from Anaheim to Los Angeles in 2016, and is now called WonderCon Los Angeles and was held March 25–27, 2016 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.{{Cite news|url=https://variety.com/2015/biz/news/wondercon-moving-los-angeles-2016-leaving-anaheim-1201466860/|title=WonderCon Moving to Los Angeles for 2016 Convention|author=Variety Staff|date=April 6, 2015|work=Variety|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160317225019/http://variety.com/2015/biz/news/wondercon-moving-los-angeles-2016-leaving-anaheim-1201466860/|archive-date=March 17, 2016|url-status=live|access-date=2016-03-30}} The 2017 edition of the convention returned to Anaheim and was held March 31 – April 2, 2017.{{Cite news|url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/herocomplex/la-et-hc-wondercon-back-anaheim-in-2017-20160325-story.html|title=WonderCon will go back to Anaheim in 2017, but L.A. wants it back for 2019|last=Woerner|first=Meredith|date=March 25, 2016|work=The Los Angeles Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160330182130/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/herocomplex/la-et-hc-wondercon-back-anaheim-in-2017-20160325-story.html|archive-date=2016-03-30|url-status=live|access-date=2016-03-30}} The WonderCon logo was designed by Richard Bruning and Tim Zach.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025|reason=Extraordinary claims require extraordinary sources, but wait: is this even extraordinary? If no source, then remove it.}}
File:WonderCon@Home_logo.svgThe 2020 edition of the show, scheduled for April 10–12, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.Mancuso, Vinnie. [https://collider.com/wondercon-2020-postponed-coronavirus/ "WonderCon 2020 Postponed Indefinitely Due to Coronavirus; No Decision Yet on San Diego Comic-Con"], Collider (MAR 12, 2020). The 2021 edition of the show, scheduled for March 26–27, was cancelled again due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
=Event history=
| class="wikitable" width="100%" | ||
| width=10%|Dates | width=18%|Location | Guests
{{Convention list | date = May 2–3, 1987 | venue = Oakland Convention Center | location = Oakland, California }} {{Convention list | date = April 23–24, 1988 | venue = Oakland Convention Center | location = Oakland, California }} {{Convention list | date = April 28–30, 1989 | venue = Oakland Convention Center | location = Oakland, California }} {{Convention list | date = May 11–13, 1990 | venue = Oakland Convention Center | location = Oakland, Calif. | guests = Dan Brereton, Erik Larsen, Jim Lee, Rob Liefeld, Ron Lim, Ken Macklin, Chris Marrinan, Trina Robbins, Jim Valentino, Tim Vigil, Marv Wolfman{{Cite news |url=https://fancons.com/events/info/11050/wonder-con-1990 |title=Wonderful WonderCon 1990 Information |work=Fancons |access-date=2018-07-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180725033539/https://fancons.com/events/info/11050/wonder-con-1990 |archive-date=July 25, 2018 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all }} }} {{Convention list | date = April 24–26, 1992 | venue = Oakland Convention Center | location = Oakland, California }} {{Convention list | date = April 22–24, 1994 | venue = Oakland Convention Center | location = Oakland, California }} {{Convention list | date = April 26–28, 1996 | venue = Oakland Convention Center | location = Oakland, California }} {{Convention list | date = April 1–3, 2001 | venue = Oakland Convention Center | location = Oakland, California }} {{Convention list | date = April 19–21, 2002 | venue = Oakland Convention Center | location = Oakland, Calif. }} {{Convention list | date = April 25–27, 2003 | venue = Moscone Center | location = San Francisco }} {{Convention list | date = April 30 – May 2, 2004 | venue = Moscone Center | location = San Francisco }} {{Convention list | date = February 18–20, 2005 | venue = Moscone Center North | location = San Francisco }} {{Convention list | date = February 10–12, 2006 | venue = Moscone Center West | location = San Francisco }} {{Convention list | date = March 2–4, 2007 | venue = Moscone Center South | location = San Francisco }} {{Convention list | date = February 22–24, 2008 | venue = Moscone Center South | location = San Francisco }} {{Convention list | date = February 27 – March 1, 2009 | venue = Moscone Center South | location = San Francisco }} {{Convention list | date = April 2–4, 2010 | venue = Moscone Center South | location = San Francisco | guests = Peter S. Beagle, Geoff Johns, Adam Kubert, Jimmy Palmiotti, Tim Powers, Kevin Smith, Judd Winick{{Cite news |url=https://fancons.com/events/info/2546/wondercon-2010 |title=Wonderful WonderCon 2010 Information |work=Fancons |access-date=2018-07-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180725033625/https://fancons.com/events/info/2546/wondercon-2010 |archive-date=July 25, 2018 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all }} }} {{Convention list | date = April 1–3, 2011 | venue = Moscone Center South | location = San Francisco | guests = Sergio Aragonés, Robert Kirkman, Francis Manapul, Joe Quesada, Frank Quitely, Amy Reeder, Bill Sienkiewicz, Judd Winick, Marv Wolfman{{Cite news |url=https://fancons.com/events/info/2545/wondercon-2011 |title=Wonderful WonderCon 2011 Information |work=Fancons |access-date=2018-07-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180725033627/https://fancons.com/events/info/2545/wondercon-2011 |archive-date=July 25, 2018 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all }} }} {{Convention list | date = March 16–18, 2012 | venue = Anaheim Convention Center | location = Anaheim, California }} {{Convention list | date = March 29–31, 2013 | venue = Anaheim Convention Center | location = Anaheim }} {{Convention list | date = April 18–20, 2014 | venue = Anaheim Convention Center | location = Anaheim | guests = Tony Daniel, Jim Lee, Mark Waid{{Cite news |url=https://fancons.com/events/info/4875/wondercon-2014 |title=Wonderful WonderCon 2014 Information |work=Fancons |access-date=2018-07-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180725033525/https://fancons.com/events/info/4875/wondercon-2014 |archive-date=July 25, 2018 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all }} }} {{Convention list | date = April 3–5, 2015 | venue = Anaheim Convention Center | location = Anaheim | guests = Neal Adams, Becky Cloonan, Sam de la Rosa, Steve Epting, Greg Horn, Phil Noto, Greg Weisman{{Cite news |url=https://fancons.com/events/info/5255/wondercon-2015 |title=Wonderful WonderCon 2015 Information |work=Fancons |access-date=2018-07-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180725033634/https://fancons.com/events/info/5255/wondercon-2015 |archive-date=July 25, 2018 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all }} }} {{Convention list | date = March 25–27, 2016 | venue = Los Angeles Convention Center | location = Los Angeles | guests = Brian Michael Bendis, Amber Benson, Jason Faunt, Lou Ferrigno, Christopher Khayman Lee, Jim Lee, Humberto Ramos, John Romita, Jr., Bill Sienkiewicz, David Sobolov{{Cite news |url=https://fancons.com/events/info/6832/wondercon-2016 |title=Wonderful WonderCon 2016 Information |work=Fancons |access-date=2018-07-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180725033430/https://fancons.com/events/info/6832/wondercon-2016 |archive-date=July 25, 2018 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all }} }} {{Convention list | date = March 31 – April 2, 2017 | venue = Anaheim Convention Center | location = Anaheim | guests = Sergio Aragonés, Kevin Eastman, Chad Hardin, Phil Jimenez, Jim Lee, Mark Waid{{Cite news |url=https://fancons.com/events/info/7810/wondercon-2017 |title=Wonderful WonderCon 2017 Information |work=Fancons |access-date=2018-07-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180725033555/https://fancons.com/events/info/7810/wondercon-2017 |archive-date=July 25, 2018 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all }} }} {{Convention list | date = March 23–25, 2018 | venue = Anaheim Convention Center | location = Anaheim | guests = Sergio Aragonés, Larry Hama, Faith Erin Hicks, Jim Lee, Patrick Rothfuss, Gail Simone, Mark Waid{{Cite news |url=https://fancons.com/events/info/9859/wondercon-2018 |title=Wonderful WonderCon 2018 Information |work=Fancons |access-date=2018-07-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180725033420/https://fancons.com/events/info/9859/wondercon-2018 |archive-date=July 25, 2018 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all }} }} {{Convention list | date = March 29–31, 2019 | venue = Anaheim Convention Center | location = Anaheim }} {{Convention list | date = {{strikethrough|April 10–12, 2020}} | venue = Anaheim Convention Center | location = Anaheim | guests = Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic }} {{Convention list | date = {{strikethrough|March 26–27, 2021}} | venue = Anaheim Convention Center | location = Anaheim | guests = Canceled again due to COVID-19 pandemic }} {{Convention list | date = April 1–3, 2022 | venue = Anaheim Convention Center | location = Anaheim | guests = Rico E. Anderson, Michael Cho, Bobby Clark, Becky Cloonan, Tracee Lee Cocco, Michael W. Conrad, David Dastmalchian, Kevin Eastman, Ashley Eckstein, Mary Gibbs, Shannon Hale, Herbert Jefferson Jr., Neil Kaplan, Sarah Kuhn, Lex Lang, Cherami Leigh, Elliot S! Maggin, Deneen Melody, Amanda C. MIller, Trung Le Nguyen, David A. Robertson, Kevin Smith, Michael A. Stackpole, Babs Tarr, Larry Thomas, David F. Walker, Tula Lotay/Lisa Wood, Gene Luen Yang, Skottie Young }} {{Convention list | date = March 24–26, 2023 | venue = Anaheim Convention Center | location = Anaheim | guests = Jason Aaron, Alane Adams, Beau Billingslea, Steve Blum, Griffin Burns, Mingjue Helen Chen, Tom Cook, Ian James Corlett, Mark Evanier, Jenny Frison, Mitch Gerads, Kyle Herbert, Adam Hughes, Brian Hull, Phil Jimenez, Daniel Warren Johnson, Tom King, Jae Lee, Steve Leialoha, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, Cynthia McWilliams, Annalee Newitz, Joe Ochman, Gary Phillips, Joe Quinones, Trina Robbins, Kaitlyn Robrock, James Rollins, Neil Ross, Tom Ruegger, Paul Rugg, Mark Russell, Evan "Doc" Shaner, Kaiji Tang, Greg van Eekhout, Marv Wolfman, Gene Luen Yang }} {{Convention list| | date = March 29–31, 2024 | venue = Anaheim Convention Center | location = Anaheim | guests = Patrick Ballesteros, Irene Bedard, Susanne Blakeslee, Niketa Calame-Harris, Jeff Dekal, Colleen Doran, Ashley Eckstein, Grace Ellis, Steve Englehart, Mary Gibbs, Rachel Howzell Hall, Hugh Howey, Tony Isabella, Terry Kavanagh, Jae Lee, Jonathan Maberry, David W. Mack, Sarah Natochenny, Todd Nauck, Dustin Nguyen, Steve Oliff, Steve Orlando, Lisa Ortiz, Jimmie Robinson, Daniel Ross, Erica Schroeder, Stephen Silver, Gail Simone, Tracy Wolff, Marv Wolfman }} {{Convention list| | date = March 28–30, 2025 | venue = Anaheim Convention Center | location = Anaheim, Calif. | guests = Denys Cowan, David Dastmalchian, Mark Evanier, Danny Fingeroth, Jessica Fong, Matt Forbeck, Mitch Gerads, Yaya Han, Derek Kirk Kim, Jim Lee, Todd McFarlane, Sam Maggs, Nicholas Meyer, Sean Murphy, Adam Nimoy, Neville Page, Brian Posehn, Darick Robertson, Dan Slott, Dan Veesenmeyer, Mark Waid }} {{Convention list| | date = March 27–29, 2026 | venue = Anaheim Convention Center | location = Anaheim, Calif. | guests = TBA }} |
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Features and events
File:Anaheim Convention Center (51984994209).jpg
While the main attraction of WonderCon has always been various retailers selling back issues of comic books and action figures, the exhibitor list has grown to include retailers of specialty DVDs. There is also an "Artists Alley" featuring mainly comic book artists selling artwork, signing books, and doing sketches; and mainstream celebrities signing autographed pictures.
WonderCon hosted the Harvey Awards ceremonies from 1997 to 1999.Press release. [http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=1745 "2003 Harvey Awards Banquet Cancelled, Awards Unaffected], Comic Book Resources (January 24, 2003). Since 2007, academicians and comic industry professionals have held the Comics Arts Conference in conjunction with WonderCon. In addition, WonderCon features "Trailer Park", an event where trailers for upcoming films are shown. The WonderCon masquerade competition usually takes place on Saturday after the convention closes. Awards are given to those with the most creative performances, though anyone can participate.{{Citation needed|date=March 2012}}{{Clear}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- {{Official website|http://www.comic-con.org/wca/}}
- [http://sidewalkstv.com/specialfeatures/wondercon WonderCon feature] on Sidewalks Entertainment
- [http://www.flyingcolorscomics.com/ WonderCon founder's website]
{{Multigenre conventions in North America}}
Category:Multigenre conventions
Category:Comics conventions in the United States
Category:Conventions in California
Category:Recurring events established in 1987