WonderCon 2011

Details
Parent Category: Expos and Conventions
Category: Previews
Published on Tuesday, 29 March 2011 05:00
Written by L E Shannon

WonderCon is running April 1 - 3, 2011 at Moscone Center South, San Francisco, CA. This is the 25th anniversary of one of the country's best comics and popular arts conventions.

Special guests include the comics writer/agent Mike Friedrich, who continued with WonderCon for 15 years with retailer Joe Field and program director Bryan Uhlenbrock. All three are present to help celebrate WonderCon's silver anniversary.

Also celebrating their Silver Anniversary this year are:

Dark Horse Comics – Started by publisher Mike Richardson, Dark Horse Comics has gone on to become a comics powerhouse, with a lineup including Hellboy, Concrete, Sin City, Star Wars, Conan, Usagi Yojimbo, and many more. Branching out into films and television, Dark Horse has proven itself to be one of comics' top publishers over the past 25 years.

SLG Publishing – Dan Vado's Slave Labor Graphics (now known as SLG) has published hundreds of titles over the past 25 years and discovered many of comics' top talents and most original characters, including Johnny the Homicidal Maniac by Jhonen Vasquez, Milk and Cheese by Evan Dorkin, Little Gloomy by Landry Walker and Eric Jones, and many more. Dan is also the founder of APE, the Alternative Press Expo, and the San Jose Comics Festival.

Comic Book Legal Defense Fund – Founded to protect the First Amendment rights of comic book publishers, creators, and retailers, the CBLDF has proven its worth to the industry time and time again over the past 25 years.

Other special guests include:

Joe Quesada (Amazing Spider-Man, Daredevil; Editor-in-Chief, Chief Creative Officer, Marvel Comics)
Jason Aaron (Scalped, Wolverine)
Berkeley Breathed (Bloom County, Opus)
Tony Daniel (Batman)
Adam Hughes (Wonder Woman, Catwoman)
Hope Larson (Mercury, Chiggers)
Bob Layton (Iron Man, X-Factor, Deathmask)
Francis Manapul (The Flash, Superboy)
Carla Speed McNeil (Finder)
Amy Reeder (Madame Xanadu, Batwoman)
James Robinson (Justice League of America, Starman)
Bill Sienkiewicz (Elektra: Assassin, Stray Toasters)
Judd Winick (Justice League: Generation Lost, Power Girl)

In conjunction with WonderCon is the San Francisco Bay Area International Children's Film Festival, which features more than 100 films made for children and teens from around the world. 

Also screening is some of the finest anime from Japan, including:

Other Special Events:

Green Lantern – Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively and Peter Sarsgaard will be present for autograph signing and a panel discussion.

The highly anticipated Green Lantern movie, in theatres on June 17, 2011, is the first live-action feature film to star the popular DC Comics character.  The film relates the origin story of alter ego Hal Jordan (Reynolds), a test pilot and the first human chosen to wear the ring that provides him his superpowers.

Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps will have a deep and diverse presence throughout the weekend due to the combined efforts of DC Entertainment (DCE) and the various divisions of Warner Bros. Entertainment, including Warner Home Video (WHV), Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (WBIE) and Warner Bros. Consumer Products (WBCP).

The World Premiere of the Blu-ray and DVD feature Green Lantern: Emerald Knights is also celebrated with a panel discussion featuring filmmakers and voice cast members.

DC Comics will also host a panel about the Green Lantern comic books and the 2011 War of the Green Lanterns crossover event.  A Green Lantern videogame will also be introduced at Wondercon.

Other panels devoted to upcoming movies include

Other events include:

3D Footage from Priest, created exclusively for WonderCon
Amity Blamity Signing and Book Release Party
Ron Rege Jr.: The Cartoon Utopia Exhibition Opening at Edo Salon and Gallery
Screening of Independents: A Guide for the Creative Spirit
HERO Initiative: From Bloom County to Mars – Benefit featuring WonderCon special guest Berkeley Breathed at the Cartoon Art Museum

Artists Alley
Portfolio Review
Masquerade
Games – HeroClix, Magic: The Gathering and Yu-Gi-Oh

For more information, go to www.comic-con.org/wc.

WonderCon was started in 1987 as the Wonderful World of Comics Convention by Bay Area retailers John Barrett, Bob Borden, and Rory Root, along with comics writer/agent Mike Friedrich, retailer Joe Field and program director Bryan Uhlenbrock. In 2002 the show was acquired by Comic-Con International and the following year moved from Oakland to its current home at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco.

WonderCon
April 1 - 3, 2011

Moscone Center South
747 Howard Street
San Francisco, CA