Fans who were shut out of getting tickets for the San Diego Comic-Con headed north this weekend for WonderCon, the Bay area comics show which celebrated its 25th edition this year. While final attendance numbers are not yet available, director of marketing and public relations David Glanzer confirmed that attendance would likely exceed the 39,000 fans that attended last year’s show.
Long a smaller version of the famed San Diego Comic-Con, this year’s WonderCon came into its own as an attractive alternative to the increasingly hard-to-get-into San Diego Comic-Con International, which is already completely sold out. Three day tickets to WonderCon sold out by Saturday, and single Saturday tickets sold out by early in the morning—both first time occurrences.
Interest was spurred by a strong line-up of guests – from Jason Aaron and Robert Kirkman to Seth and Hope Larson – and notable entertainment presentations, including new footage of the Green Lantern movie and an appearance by future Superman, Henry Cavill, promoting the movie Immortals. While the emphasis was on fans, a number of publishing announcements were made. Archaia announced two new graphic novels – one adapting the Immortals film and another reviving another Jim Henson project, The Storyteller.
IDW is bringing back the kids perennial franchise Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in a new ongoing series. They also announced a surprising partnership with Marvel Comics to present deluxe editions of several Marvel classics, starting out with a volume reprinting Walt Simonson’s highly regarded run on Thor.
Dark Horse announced Buffy Season Nine, the newest edition/episode of the popular franchise, with creator Joss Whedon writing, along with Andrew Chambliss (Vampire Diaries.)
A few publishers debuted at WonderCon, including indie mainstay Drawn & Quarterly, which sold out of new books by Shigeru Mizuki and Pascal Girard. Although D&Q regularly exhibits at the fall Alternative Press Expo also in San Francisco, they found WonderCon to be another strong venue for sales. “We love the Bay Area,” said creative director Tom Devlin. “We’d come here every time if we could.”
