Hey folks Valkor here with day three of Wonder Con. Today was a mellow day of just checking out a few seminars, popping in on some aspiring new talents, shaking hands with people we just met, and also a little shopping. (I sought and found my copy of Mega Tokyo issue 4, bring on 5, baby!!). Plus we have a new hottie for perfect view, who really embraces what Comic Cons are all about. Head on over to "Perfect View" for pics and more. But for now, on with Day three.
First stop was to check out the Wildstorm/CMX panel. I used to be a fan of Wildstorm books like Gen 13, Wild C.A.T.S., and Danger Girls. But towards the end of the 90's I kinda fell off the comic bandwagon. Mostly because my local shops were going out of business and I had not fully accepted online shopping or Ebay. Today it's a different story, but I am still not into collecting. If anything I pick up graphic novels. But I am glad to see Wildstorm is still up and running and their titles are still holding on. I was mostly intrigued by their Horror line which included Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm street, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. They also discussed some CMX titles which included Mega Tokyo number 5, which I am really looking forward to.
Next seminar we attended was a piece on Japanese Superheroes. Now I thought this would be a cool place that would discuss different types of Japanese Superheroes but mostly they talked about Sentai/Power Rangers, Giant Monsters, and Ultra man. They even showed the first episode of the new Ultraman Series, that I ended up walking out on. Not that I felt it was boring, but I think the topic could have been more broader than what was discussed. But in all fairness the host was fielding some really geeky and out of place questions. You could tell this guy was totally holding back from telling these guys what he really felt.
After that it was back to the exhibit hall to catch up with some artist that I may have missed, also to pick up some items of interest. We got the chance to hang out with Horror host Lobo, have a great discussion with Don Pedro Colley who is famed for appearing in such hits as George Lucas's "THX 1138" and the "Dukes Of Hazzard". He's an all around great guy and if you should happen to meet him at a Con, definitely stop and chat with him, you won't be disappointed. We were looking to talk with Ray Park, but his table was empty, but the kid who played baby Boba Fett in Star Wars episode 2 was right next to him and he didn't look all too happy being there. In fact he had that look on his face that spoke "Oh god, it all came down to this? Someone just shoot me! Shoot me now!". Peter Mayhew was there also from Star Wars fame as Han Solo sidekick "Chewbacca" but he was not in costume. Some people were kind of disappointed he wasn't in costume, but come on that thing has to be hot and heavy. Last meeting Jeff and I had was with artist Vincent Stevens of Ram Star Visuals. Dude you have to see some of this guy's work. Talk about HOT!! Oh!! This guy likes his womens how I like my steak "thick and juicy". I was mostly impressed by the detail of each piece, but best part of meeting Vincent is that he really knows how to spin a yarn ( that's another way of saying to tell a story, for you youngins). He's another guy you wanna talk to should you meet him at any Con.
But after all is said and done I have to say my overall impression of Wonder Con has to be awesome!! I was a bit shaky because Friday, things were kinda slow, but when things really kicked off I gotta say it was a mad ride. What I most enjoyed about the Con was meeting all the new artist and creators, and also the fans. Some were pretty cool, others totally fit the geek stereotype. And then you have the Cosplayers who did such wonderful jobs on their costumes. So that's it for 2007 Wonder Con folks I had a great time. Special thanks goes out to Jay Dub of Supernegro for coming along, I know you got some great coverage and made tons of contacts. I also wanna thank the people of Parc 55 Hotel, who gets 5 stars just for having a great hotel amidst a lot of… well I won't say rubble because it doesn't all look bad, just some spots in the immediate area. But inside it's a slice of heaven. I wanna thank all the writers and artist that I met and being way cool talking with us on their projects, I look forward to seeing more works from you guys in the future and I hope most of you make it in the big time. Lastly and certainly not leastly, I wanna thank the people of Wonder Con for providing the press badges and what not. I don't think I used it to my full advantage, but I did enjoy the show overall and I can't wait for Wonder con 2008. So until that time…