Wondercon Shwag

This weekend we strapped on our geek hats, put on our dork socks, polished the gomer glasses and dove into the 2005 Wondercon at the SF Moscone Center. After experiencing San Diego Comic Con last year, Wondercon doesn’t hold a candle (think 1/20th the size). But it was still fun to revel in the nerddom. Comic conventions breed such a unique culture and even though I’ve been reading comics most of my life, I still can’t get over the people who attend. There were overweight Stormtroopers (standard, snow, and biker), Narutos of all ages, and my favorite - a mid-forties, African American, female Jedi (lightsaber and all). Not to mention special appearances by Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca), Richard Hatch (Starbuck Apollo), Margot Kidder (Lois Lane), and the actor who played the “big dumb super villain” in Superman 2 (Jack O'Halloran).

My favorite part of these conventions is picking up books that you wouldn’t normally find in your average comic store. I was pretty controlled once I left the Stuart Ng Books section… Here’s what I nabbed:

• Glen Murakami’s SUNDAY GIRL - Murakami has worked on some of the best animated comic shows out there (Batman, Superman, Teen Titans). This is his third collection of drawings (if I ever find the first two, I'm sold). Beautiful.

• THE GOLDEN TREASURY OF MYTHS AND LEGENDS (illustrated by the Provensens) - one of my greatest joys is finding out-of-print books like this one.

• DRAWERS 2.0 by Claire Wendling - this phenomenal French artist just cannot draw bad. If you’re not familiar with her work, I’d say she’s a Euro-cross between Klimt, Frazetta, Mignola, and freaking good drawing skills.

Now I can’t wait for San Diego…