Wonder Con

Troops
Originally uploaded by earthdog.

I am a little bitter about Wonder Con after losing my memory card. It has not turned up yet. My guess is that it is gone for good. I will have to just get over it.

I had a good time a Wonder Con. It is a big comic book show, but it is tiny compared to Comic Con in San Diego. Wonder Con is much more like a comic book convention. Comic Con is much more like a geek culture convention with comics being the belle of the ball. The floor at Wonder Con was walkable. I was not there to spend money, that made the floor less fun.

I was there to take pictures of people in costumes. I was a little disappointed at the number of people here in costume. I would never go in costume, but I am happy to take photos of them. I feel that is giving them the attenion they crave. This is why I am pissed about lossing my memory card. My Favorite costumes were Slacker Green Latern, Sherlock Homes Stromtrooper, Buddy Christ, and Alien. I hope the Alien guy won a prize. I was not sure what to make of this guy.

The programming at the convention was kind of light this year. Last year they seemed to have more panels. This year it seemed to be almost all Spotlights on Saturday. Every year there seems to be more and more movie promtion at comic book convetions. I wonder if it is a cheap way to market a movie. I know I am going to see Mission Impossible 3 after seeing J.J. Abrams speak. I can only spend about two hours watching people speak at a convetion.

referendum on comics

When I go to a comic book convention I feel like it is a referendum on what I want comics to be. I should only pick up comics that I would be willing to buy. I should only buy comics that are good. I want to encourge the good parts of comics. This sounds simple, but it is not.

There is so much crap out there. Most of it is unreadable. At these shows you get to see a lot of different things. Some times I want to tell some people to just stop. I want to tell them that their comics are not any good. I want them to learn something about storytelling. I hate when I pick up an ugly black and white comic because the person does not know how to shade.

I love stuff like Ask Miss Anthropy or The Stereos. These are the kind of books that I want to read. These books prove to me that there is something worth reading out there. It gives me hope that I should pick up books and give them a chance.

My least favorite thing are comics like Bumper. Whenever I see Bumper I feel that the person just created it to sell dolls. I do not want icons for icons sake. I want real content. I do not want to get something that is just meant for a hipster to lust after. I want something that speaks to me.

This year's Wonder Con was good enough that I am planing on going again in 2007. Hopefully I will not lose my memory card next year. Just remember, nerd is the new black.