WonderCon 2018

WonderCon is a comic book, fantasy, and sci-fi convention brought to Anaheim, Calfornia by Comic-Con International.  It is a great place not only to find oneself a new comic to get into (or an old one!), but also to hear from professionals in film, comics, animation, storyboarding, writing, and various other visual mediums.  And of course, a visit to WonderCon would be incomplete without an exploration of the exhibit hall - featuring hundreds of artists and craftsmen of all styles and methods.

While I have attended San Diego Comic-Con before, this was my first experience with WonderCon.  WonderCon still draws thousands of fans, cosplayers, press, and professionals, but in terms of crowds, length of lines, and ease of getting into the events one's heart is set on seeing, WonderCon is far less overwhelming than San Diego Comic-Con.

I was fortunate to receive a pass from and attend with a couple of my friends, one of whom is an accomplished animator, and this was their first convention experience.  Their goal for the trip was to scope out the WonderCon scene and "get their feet wet," so to speak.  We only had Saturday to attend, so we made the most of it and arrived before the first panels in the morning.  We were able to get seats as near to the front as we desired in each panel, get lunch from a food truck without too much hassle, and sit in the beautiful Anaheim Convention Center courtyard to eat.  The portion of the day when crowds were most apparent and one's senses faced the greatest assault was in the exhibit hall, but it was to be expected since we didn't take the full tour till the late afternoon, and there were such popular artists and signings in the hall.

Highlights:

#1 - "An Afternoon with Pat Rothfuss"

This panel ended up bearing a bit of a misnomer, since it took place at 11:30 in the morning.  Patrick Rothfuss, wildly popular fantasy author whose fame took off with The Name of the Wind, was the sole speaker and host, and it was absolutely perfect that way.  His manner as a host was warm, casual, and endearing, with his trademark touch of sardonic and gently self-deprecating humor.  Pat read an author's note of his from the 10th anniversary edition of The Name of the Wind, a note whose contents he apparently had no memory of, but was enjoying reading immensely.  He also generously took as many audience questions as he could fit into the time window, answering creatively and candidly.  But our favorite take-away from the panel was when the conversation turned markedly more somber as Pat answered a question about the writing process and the unique emotional weight upon creative souls.  Without skipping a beat, he very transparently shared about the invaluable nature of therapy, especially for creative people, and especially for writers.  After waxing philosophical in such a wise, articulate, and logical manner, which filled me with even more admiration for this singular author, he shared his longtime theory that a heightened capacity for empathy seems to be found in individuals in which an artistic ability is also found.  He said he doesn't think they are necessarily causally related and cited the tired archetype of the drunk, depressed, suicidal author, saying he thinks the belief that creative genius is inextricable from mood disorders is an erroneous belief.  However, he did quote a statistic that writers die by suicide ten times more often than the general population, and he emphasized having patience with oneself, since the world is not kind to those who carry around excess empathy, and said once he'd been to therapy, he said he felt he'd wasted ten years of his life not doing it earlier.

Photo cred: Kyle Cassidy

#2 - "Writing and Illustrating Books for Kids" with Dan Santat, Antoinette Portis, Jenni Holm, Eugene Yelchin, Deborah Underwood, and Henry Herz

We didn't know exactly what to expect walking into this panel about authoring and illustrating children's literature, since we'd already been burned that day by panels (which shall remain nameless) which were not accurately described in the programming materials.  However, to say we were pleasantly surprised to have a boatload of extremely practical, eye-opening inside information dumped on us is an understatement.  Each of these delightful authors readily shared trade secrets about everything from where they get their inspiration and new ideas to the ideal number of pages and/or word count to shoot for if you want your children's book to have success.  As someone who never really seriously considered authoring a children's book - even though I have a cumulative thirteen years' experience in child development - I walked away completely confident I knew some solid tools and steps with which to embark on that endeavor.  As luck would have it, all the authors on the panel were scheduled to head straight down to the exhibit hall for signings directly after the panel ended, so we - literally - trailed them down to their signing table.  My friends, who are the proud parents of three voracious readers - picked up a book for each and GOT THEM SIGNED BY THE AUTHORS.  I'd like to give a special shout-out to Dan Santat, not only because I love the whimsical and dream-like illustrations from The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend, but because he DREW THE CHARACTER of Beekle INSIDE the copy he signed for my friend's son.  So awesome.

Art from The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat

Finally, a special shout-out also goes to my very generous friends who invited me to tag along on this geeky adventure.  If there is one thing to be learned post-geek renaissance, amidst the recently-exploded attendance figures at fantasy, comic, sci-fi, video game, and you-name-it conventions, it's probably that we all have a little geek inside of us.  It can take many forms and express itself in many ways - the written word, drawings, inking, animation - and it is a truly transporting experience to be within arms reach of those who have had the courage to put their art form out there at the mercy of the world.  I look forward to making a pilgrimage to WonderCon again someday!