WonderCon, was once one of the larger annual comic book conventions pre-pandemic, of course not getting anywhere close to the sheer insanity that is San Diego Comic-Con that happens to be an adopted sibling of Comic-Con International. Many comic books publishers would have showcased their latest releases, huge exhibitor booths, tons of insightful panels, and tons of attendees. However, in recent years with many publishers pulling out of WonderCon, more conventions happening at the same week across the country, and a poorer economy, WonderCon is not hitting as it once was. So join me as we take a look at WonderCon & see how it is like this year.
I am Anthony Solhtalab of AntSol Travel, a blog & YouTube channel that explores hospitality, travel, and tourism of Southern California via transit. I am honored for my third year doing press coverage of WonderCon, a comic book convention by Comic-Con International. Last year, I went by myself and covered the 2025 show on my blog. I tried to make a video last year, however, my laptop had tons of issues at the time and I was not able to make a video. This year, WonderCon took the back seat as the end of Anaheim Transportation Network took priority for my video production time. I am at least trying to publish the WonderCon as a blog before I leave for vacation/vlog trip at the end of April.
This post was delayed by three months due to my other video projects taking a bit more priority at the time frame, which was the end of the ART Bus video & blog, and a few other video projects.
History of WonderCon
What is now WonderCon started in 1987 in Oakland Convention Center in Oakland, CA by a comic retailer, John Barrett, with a comic book convention called “The Wonderful World of Comics Convention”, then a few years later, shortened to “WonderCon”. The Oakland Convention Center currently has over 100,000 sq. ft. of event space, which probably was smaller at the time. Then in 2002, the show was gaining much popularity, then Mr. Barrett gave the management of the show to Comic-Con International, which moved the show to the much bigger Moscone Center in San Francisco. Then the show landed in Anaheim in 2012 due to construction at Moscone Center. According to Moscone Center’s website, their current exhibit space is 860,000 square feet vs. Anaheim’s 1,800,000 square feet in total of all spaces & the arena, probably making the move permanent due to space constraints & popularity of the show.
In 2016, due to the expansion of the Anaheim Convention Center to get to the modern-day 1.8 million sq ft, it was moved to 867,000 sq. Ft. Los Angeles Convention Center for that year only, then moved back to Anaheim thereafter thanks to the size expansion, making it 2.5 times bigger than the LACC, LA will never get WonderCon back now! At least the city of LA is working on expanding the convention center in time for the 2028 Summer Olympics.
WonderCon is much smaller than the San Diego Comic-Con, so if you want to experience a large comic-con before going to San Diego Comic-Con, this is the place to do so. Some of the auxiliary spaces go into the Hilton Anaheim as well for board games, anime screenings, and hospitality rooms. More on those later.
Attendee & Press Badges
- Badge Rates
- Three Days: $135
- Friday: $51
- Saturday: $61
- Sunday: $44
- Handling Fee: $15 per badge to print badge, the badge holder, and lanyard.
Badge Rates
Badge Rates Early bird three day badge was $135 until January 15, 2026. After January 15, 2026 will be individual dates & three day badges. Three Days: $135. Friday: $51. Saturday: $61. Sunday: $44. Handling Fee: $15 per badge to print badge, the badge holder, and lanyard.
So many people balked at going because of the handling fee on top of the badge prices. When I got my badge in the mail, the lanyard was not included but I could get one from registration or take from the plethora of badge lanyards from the many conventions I attended before then.
If you buy your badge online or approved for press coverage a few months before the show, you will get your badge in the mail. You have to provide your own lanyard or ask for one at the badge registration. However, if you purchase your badge closer to the show date, you will be emailed a QR code to redeem at Hall D of the ACC to receive your printed badge, badge holder, and lanyard.
I had to replace a badge & lanyard a couple years ago as I forgot my badge at the apartment last year, I remembered my badge this year. Badge Replacement Fee is $15 for printing of the badge, badge holder, and lanyard.
Hotel Blocks
If you live outside of the area and attend or vending at WonderCon, you may need to get a hotel room during the convention. Comic-Con International partners with OnPeak, a group housing bureau that coordinates group room blocks for larger conventions that may need multiple hotels for attendees, exhibitors, special guests, and staff. Below is the grid of five hotels adjacent to the Anaheim Convention Center with group block rates that are lower than the average night rate, and you are a close walk to the ACC.
WonderCon Hotel Block Incentive for SDCC 2027
New for 2026 WonderCon, WonderCon attendees that are staying at the group contracted hotels such as the Anaheim Marriott, Hilton Anaheim, Residence Inn, or Hotel Lulu are automatically eligible for returning registration for San Diego Comic-Con 2027! SDCC 2026 badges have already been allocated, so you have to wait this fall for the registration for 2027. Attendees can just show your hotel confirmation at the WonderCon badge registration desk and it will be added to their account.
Is Comic-Con International (CCI) the organizers of both conventions, trying to do a last minute push for group hotel bookings & badges for WonderCon? Maybe. Many of the larger conventions so far this year had a lower turnout so far due to costs and travel logistics with the many winter storms so far this year. Looking at you CCI for your costs at $15 badge processing fee, which is the same price for badge replacement (which I had to do once).
This also lessens the chances of actually returning San Diego Comic Con attendees chances of getting a badge for the 2027 show, which I barely got Thursday pass this year before it was sold out.
Press Registration
Press registration is good for two years at a time, which I forgot and reapplied this year again as a press person. Since I was approved last year and this year for WonderCon & denied for San Diego Comic-Con, I inadvertently got two badges. I let my coworkers use the extra if any of them check out WonderCon during their off duty time since I was not able to get anyone to assist me for the show.
On March 12, I received my WonderCon press badge in the mail! The badge is good for the three days of the show in which I get full public access to WonderCon and even access to a press room as well as a quiet place to work on my convention coverage with Wi-Fi, plenty of table & seating space, water, and coffee! No waiting at the long coffee line for me.
Transit to Anaheim Convention Center
If you live in Southern California and want to just drive in for the day for the show, parking at the ACC is $25 per car & no overnight parking. You can also park at the Disneyland’s Toy Story Parking Lot, which costs $40 & no overnight parking. Disneyland’s Magic Keyholders, the name for annual pass holders, can park there as they can get discounted parking rates.
I live in the Anaheim area, where I work in one of the hotels nearby so I can park there at no charge to me with my manager’s permission, so no hotel or parking charge for me. I don’t want to deal with driving in as road & foot traffic is bad during WonderCon. So let’s get to WonderCon at the Anaheim Convention Center by train & bus!
If you are visiting via train from Los Angeles, San Diego, or around Orange County, you can get to WonderCon by transit! You can take the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner or Metrolink Orange County line to the Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center (ARTIC). Transfers to OCBus are included to take OCBus 50 to the Anaheim Convention Center.
To get to the bus bays, take the stairs or elevator from the platform to the walkway, and then go inside the waiting building & go down to ground level. The OCBus bus bays are to the left doors, which westbound OCBus towards CSU Long Beach is at bus bay 5 to get to the Anaheim Convention Center. Then exit at either Katella Avenue & Harbor Blvd. or Convention Center stop to exit to the ACC.
Cosplay
Costume Play, or cosplay for short, is an expression of a fan’s love for a media franchise by dressing up as their favorite characters, which is highly encouraged at comic book, anime, and video game conventions as long as the costume & props won’t hurt yourself or anyone else. Styles can vary depending on how much effort the person wants to do, from simple reflection of wardrobe that I usually do with Pokemon Trainers, to some people do painstaking recreations of the costume that I don’t have the time or skill in investing in. When picking your character, you have to keep in mind the complexity of their style, what costume elements you need to design yourself or buy from online, and most importantly, the overall weather & maneuverability. You can also get photos done cosplay specialized photographers at the conventions if you have any prior contacts.
During WonderCon the last few years, the weather varies from sunny & warm, cloudy & cooler, and then in some cases, rain. This year was fairly warm & sunny in the 80s for Friday & Saturday. So if you are wearing a heavier outfit or costume, you will be sweating while you are outside, but most of the convention is inside.
I am still a beginner when it comes to cosplay, I don’t want to go over too over the top with my cosplay. For Friday, I am wearing in the style of Nate, the male protagonist of Pokemon Black & White 2, with short sleeve turquoise t-shirt, short sleeve navy blue sweater on top, red visor with the Pokeball logo for Pokemon, beige messenger pack, and normally be light gray shorts, but I swapped them out for gray hiking pants to look nicer. I also have a Pokemon plush from that game, Herdier. It is a dog like Pokemon that acts like a herding dog breed on farms to move around Pokemon equivalent to livestock. I also brought a poster tube in case I wanted to buy a poster from an artist.
On Saturday, I would dress in the style of Lucas, the male protagonist from Pokemon Diamond & Pearl. I wore a light gray polo, black fleece vest, gray hiking pants, and the same visor I used for my Nate cosplay since the hat Lucas has is a red flat cap which is not my style, which I did last year but I did not like the hat too much.
The most I have seen press people wear ranges from Star Trek uniforms to even Scoops Ahoy costume from Stranger Things.
Friday’s Experience, Changes, & Competition to WonderCon.
If you think attendance is fairly low in comparison to previous, you are right as the hours were shorter for Friday & not as people were there. In comparison for Saturday’s hours 10 am to 7 pm for the exhibit hall with program panels starting at 11 am until 9 pm. Friday’s exhibit hall hours were 11:30 am to 7 pm with programs starting at 2 pm until 9 pm. Sunday’s hall hours are from 10 am to 5 pm and programs from 11 am to 4 pm so everyone can move out all of their stuff from the convention center.
There was a lower turn out for WonderCon as it is also competing with too many conventions this weekend (weekend of March 27 to 29) competing for exhibitors, special guests, and attendees. According to Fancons.com there are also Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2), Planet Comicon in Kansas City, Lexington (KY) Comic & Toy Convention, Hollywood Comic Con in Grantville, PA, Collective Con in Jacksonville, FL, Blues City Comic Con in Memphis, TN, and Amazing Art Expo, a traveling art show that has a stop in Oxnard, CA.
l arrived at the Anaheim Convention Center at 10:45 am. However, the exhibit hall won’t open until 11:30 am. That’s a first. That is also probably why the first panel program starts at 2 pm. Parking at the Anaheim Convention Center is $25 a day and no in & out access for locals. However, they have to deal with high gasoline prices.
While walking to & from the Anaheim Convention Center, I was stopped by hotel conference attendees & Disneyland guests respectively about Wonder Con this weekend. When you travel, make sure to do your research about events happening that may get really busy in the area during your trip at convention centers. This is also a lack of advertising that seemed to be small in scope.
This also comes to mind is advertising, which WonderCon has done banner ads on the OCBus, social media, and even a radio contest on a radio station for a badge. Beyond that, nothing else, nothing local on billboards or ads on tv.
In the Exhibit Hall
Even though it is Friday, tons of people have filled up the exhibit hall. There are some artists at the artist alley that l am thinking of getting an art piece from which I’ll get in tomorrow.
In the halls, Comic-Con International is selling their new line of WonderCon merchandise that is by All Star Outfitters! Formerly was by Fanatics. I got a pin set for $25 & a sticker of the convention center campus for $3!
Since I was not too hungry at the time. I got a basic personal sized pizza from the convention center’s food stand. It is not the best pizza ever, but gets the job done to fill me up for a busy day at WonderCon.
Wonder Con takes up the majority of the Anaheim Convention Center with hall D for registration, halls C to A for exhibits, panels & programs in the upper levels, panels in the north hall, and at the Hilton for anime screenings, hospitality suite, and games.
The Press Room
After walking around the exhibit hall floor for a bit, time to decompress a bit at the press room. I got coffee, water for my water bottle, power outlets to charge up my phone, and WiFi to upload my photos to Google Photos. Herdier is here as well. I worked on my writing until the first panel I wanted to go to starts at 2:30 pm.
The volunteers for the press room said that not many conventions have press rooms, so we are lucky to have it for WonderCon. San Diego Comic-Con press room is much bigger and even has snacks as they have a much bigger budget, and non badged press try to sneak in. At least we have water, coffee, and tea for WonderCon. I’m happy I get to use the press room!
Notes For Program Coverage
The notes from the programs are kind of convoluted as I tried to process what the panelists were talking about and write on my phone at the same time. There will be grammatical errors. I will try to link to anything from what is talked about in the programs.
Program 1: Charles M. Schulz and Peanuts
The first panel I attended was about the Peanuts comics by Peanuts experts Mark Evanier (who worked on the Garfield TV series & screen writer for many TV cartoon series) and Nat Gertler (a Peanuts historian & worked on many of comic book series back in the day such as Hilda) They took attendee questions about the Peanuts!
Schultz did not like Peanuts’ name as derived it from the peanut gallery of the Howdy Duty show. He wanted “Little Folks” but was already taken. United Syndicated owned the comic syndication for Peanuts & got to be in nearly all newspapers.
There were a fair amount of people who found the cartoon specials first then found the comics. However, many people in Japan love merchandising first due to the cuteness of Snoopy and then found the comic. My mom had tons of Snoopy plushies so we kind of found the series by merchandising & the cartoon specials as well.
A Charlie Brown Christmas special rights were sold to CBS when it first aired in 1965. However, CBS did not like it for the Vince Geraldi Trio jazz music and Linus quoted the Bible. Coca Cola sponsored the program and wanted to run it and it was quite popular. Now the music is associated with Christmas time.
In the comics industry, you have to think of a new gag that would be published daily. So some side characters got longer character arcs such as Peppermint Patty & Marcie, Rerun VanPelt, Spike, and more. Some characters were inspired by people & pets, such as Spike from his childhood dog. He doodles & thinks “what if” for a new scenario such as Snoopy being on top of his dog house that opened a new series of ideas.
Charles M. Schulz Museum in his residence city of Santa Rosa, California in his adulthood has comprehensive exhibits about the history of the Peanuts & Charles Schultz. One panel attendees said that her & her family were there for over half a day when a typical visit would be a couple hours. I went to it back in 2019 and it was a great museum! He never had assistance with producing the comics, as everything was his work from the drawing to lettering with a total of 17,897 strips from the start in 1950 to his passing in 2000, all archived in the museum.
Hallmark licensed out the Peanuts franchise for cards, merchandise, and ornaments that is still maintained to this day since 1960.
NASA’s astronauts cap had a white head cover with black ear cover that looks like Snoopy head & ears respectively.
Program 2: Cosplay Photography 101: The Dos and Don’ts
Time for my second panel of the day, the dos & don’t of cosplay photography! Featuring the moderator Taffeta Darling (podcaster, cosplayer), Pat Loika (published photographer), Jim Donnelly (published photographer), Maid Of Might Cosplay (cosplayer, actress), Terrance Thompson (as Amazing T Cosplay), Sara Moni Cosplay (published model, streamer). This includes about the photography style and effects for amazing photos.
Cosplayers should find a photographer with the style they like and reference that the photographer can take photos with from the location, lighting, effects, and more.
Some photos can be done outside and with tight angles to make it look outside of the scene. Don’t do anything too extreme with angles or poses that could hurt anyone.
Cosplay with helmets can be hard for the subject to take cues with as the photographers could demonstrate the pose can help direct the subject. They could not hear or not see properly with the mask or helmet. Communication is a two way street. The subject being uncomfortable will show in the photo. Count down to make sure that the subject pose stays composed for the moment of the shot.
Photos can be fixed in post editing, however, can take some time to edit out a random flyway hair. Then show the subject the unedited photos to make sure that the costume looks good in the shot and hide smaller things that could be hidden at the angle.
A panel light or phone lights can help brighten the scene. Best lighting is outside of the ACC with available lighting from the sun. Exhibit hall lighting is not the best.
Green & Red Flags of Getting a Cosplay Photographer: Check & see about the photographer’s body of work is inline with your photos you want. Go with a friend so you can keep accountable for the photoshoot. Keep to the parameters of the time & place of the shoot. Reach out to other models to get feedback about the photographer.
At the end of day, don’t push yourself for more photos & stop. Many people may want more photos when you are too exhausted since your cosplay style is so good. Remove a key part of the costume, tell them say I am not ready for a photo right now, don’t approach cosplayer eating as they are not prepared. Of course, photographers can get exhausted as well.
Emergency fixes for costume & shots. Photographers have snacks, spare batteries, caffeine, water, and medical items. Along with safety pins, Bobby pins, wig caps, nail or eyelash glue, phone stylists.
Make sure to communicate so you can get your vision. Come prepared with references that you are going with. Practice your poses ahead of time to make sure you can do the pose & the costume works well. Don’t expect immediate edited photos as it takes time to edit, and don’t be rude with each other. Don’t do anything uncomfortable. Know your limits when you take photos as a photographer & don’t over demand the photographer as a cosplayer. Don’t be late & follow the schedule. Photos should be quick
24-70mm is the best lens with Canon R. Lights should just be a small LED panel light.
A shirt hanger can hold up the wig to make it look like the effect of the wind. The balcony can look like you are flying and get a more accurate picture of flying. Reflectors behind the subject can add lighting, mini fog machines. Know the white balance to make it look like at night. Try taking photos on your phone and see how a scene can work and lighting. White in photos can be
Follow accounts that give photography advice and experiment. Someone is always giving advice on social media.
Program 3: Comic-Con Museum: What’s on and What’s Next
Next is the upcoming & current exhibits at the San Diego Comic-Con Museum with Dr. Emily Schindler- Senior Director of Learning and Engagement, Gary Sassaman- Curator of “Cover Story”, Eddie Ibrahim- Senior Director of Programming, and Courtney Gant- Senior Director of Advancement
The current exhibition features the Dr. Who, a traveling exhibit until July with props & costumes from the show. Along with a smaller exhibit about the Lucha Libre & the 40th anniversary of Luann comics.
Cover Story will be a new exhibit featuring the many covers of the program guides for San Diego Comic Con by the decades when it started in 1977 & will progress over time. It is about the history of show & comics as they have an archive of original work for the covers and digitized. They had to get tons of permissions for the 2017 SDCC for this superhero filled program cover from coloring, size, typeface, and more. Why must it be in a museum? Seeing the original art to see the process of drawing the piece and print them out as archival as possible.
On the 50th anniversary of San Diego Comic-Con, Gary did an exhibition at the San Diego Central Public Library about covers of the Comic-Con program books & ads from various shows for Comic-Con 50. It is about the history of show & comics as they have an archive of original work for the covers and digitized. They got tons of permissions for the 2017 SDCC for this superhero filled program cover from coloring, size, typeface, and more.
There is a maker space where you can work on your cosplay or whatever arts you want to produce. You can do a scavenger hunt as well with a prize. There are docent tours on Saturdays that bring the exhibit to life that they are experts in. They also do tours for schools & community groups from comics making to STEM classes. You can also use their expertise to plan new experiences. They do educational public programs such as voice training programs with an expert. Public outreach programs include Summer Nights programs with evening events, this summer is about learning Dungeons & Dragons. These are spearheaded by Dr. Emily Schindler- Senior Director of Learning and Engagement.
You can explore new fandoms & art so there is something for everyone and you can belong with a membership. The highest tier membership for $1900 a year that is tax deductible for the Legend tier that includes a guaranteed SDCC badge. Memberships start at $75 a year.
Coming soon, there will be user submitted panels for smaller projects! I want a panel about convention tourism, if I can assemble a panel of experts to do so.
During the Q&A, I asked about the whole parking situation at Balboa Park. Before 2026, parking at Balboa Park was free throughout the whole park. However, the city of San Diego surprised museum staff & park goers with parking fees depending on the location for the lot. Due to undue burden on visitors & residents who regularly visit the park, and tons of protests, the city of San Diego repealed the parking fees on May 20.
Dinner & Checking Out the Hilton Anaheim
It is 7pm, the sun is starting to set on the first day of WonderCon! I had tons of fun at the panels & the exhibit hall floor! I am excited for tomorrow’s panels & looking again at the exhibit hall!
Dining for non convention center food is by a network of food trucks called Food Truck Smack Down, that rents out a space per truck wanting to sell food to a captive convention audience.
For dinner, I got the Tokyo Roll from the Rolling Sushi Van. The roll has the California Roll that has crab & avocado, topped with various fish. It was delicious! Many of the food trucks have left already, but the sushi truck is still here for hungry conventioneers.
At the Hilton, it is the headquarters for Wonder Con and has ancillary spaces there as well. Including anime screening, board games, and the hospitality suite. The hospitality suite is a room where you can sit down and get refreshments such as sodas, water, and kettle chips. Let’s head back home!
Competition to WonderCon
While browsing through the Thread’s app back at home, I found a thread by Graham Jones, a film director, and he said that WonderCon was pretty empty of vendors & attendees in comparison to previous years. He was right as people added on due to a poor economy and people don’t want to spend or want to exhibit. Along with lack of big name companies for comic books & entertainment that is now saving major announcements for San Diego Comic-Con.
There was a lower turn out for WonderCon as it is competing with too many conventions this weekend (the last weekend of March, March 27 to 29) competing for exhibitors, special guests, and attendees. According to Fancons.com there are also Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2), Planet Comicon in Kansas City, Lexington (KY) Comic & Toy Convention, Hollywood Comic Con in Grantville, PA, Collective Con in Jacksonville, FL, Blues City Comic Con in Memphis, TN, and Amazing Art Expo, a traveling art show that has a stop in Oxnard, CA.
One of my favorite SoCal based travel YouTubers, JustinScarred, is a huge fan of movie toys from childhood in the 80s, and is always at WonderCon to check out the floor. However, this last year & this year, he was at Planet Comicon. Last year, he wanted to meet Don Rosa, the author of Life & Time of Scrooge McDuck comic books. He loved it so much he is there again.
Along with competing with other local hobby conventions such as trading card shows such as two ads a saw for two card shows, the LA Card Show at Intuit Dome, and LA Card Expo at the Marriott Warner Center in Woodland Hills. Along with anime conventions/markets such as Anime Night Mart, that are also competing for SoCal residents’ time & wallets. These are Saturday & Sunday but you get the idea.
The Savannah Bananas are in town for a barnstorm of an interesting style of baseball as well with their stop at Angel Stadium this weekend. Both games are at night so WonderCon attendees would stay until 5 pm before heading to the game at 7 pm.
I added in my observations that today (Friday) hours were odd with the hall open at 11:30 am, normally it is 10 am. Since I got my press badge in the mail, I got to the door at 10 am & security said wait until 11:30 am. Programs did not even start until 2 pm & none I went to were full. The hall was pretty empty of exhibitors but a fair amount of attendees. The Grand Plaza was pretty empty. Hopefully, there will be more people on Saturday.
Wonder Con has definitely seen some better years. Even though there were a good amount of people at the convention, it has definitely not been as busy before, especially when a chunk of exhibitor space was empty, not as many attendees as Fridays in previous years, and the doors opened at 11:30 am instead of 10 am for Friday. We will see how busy it will be on Saturday.
Saturday
Good morning, time for day two of WonderCon coverage! After two days, I usually get to do all the things I wanted to do, so it works. At the end of that day I was super burned out by then anyway.
On Saturday, I would dress in the style of Lucas, the male protagonist from Pokémon Diamond & Pearl. I wore a light gray polo, black fleece vest, gray hiking pants, and the same visor I used for my Nate cosplay since the hat Lucas has is a red flat cap which is not my style, which I did last year but I did not like the hat too much.
At the Anaheim Convention Center, Friday for WonderCon was pretty slow as it seemed not as many people did not want to go out of their way to take a Friday off. However, Saturday picked up as more people were off from school & work. This is the line just for badge pickup, a huge difference from Friday!
On the Exhibit Hall Floor
WonderCon were definitely missing tons of exhibitors that were there last year, such as Funko’s family of brands such as Funko Pop, Lounge Fly, and Mondo were not there this year and left a huge hole in Hall A. Along with many empty booths as well.
The space is now occupied by an expanded artist alley!
However, one thing I noticed is that companies who bought booths were no-shows. Along with empty space that would have been booth space the last couple years.
Program 4: Travel Sketching 101: Patrick Ballesteros
My first panel of the day is Travel Sketching 101 with Patrick Ballesteros! He regularly does art for DC comics & DC kids books, but he does tons of travel sketches as well while on the road. A medium I haven’t really done before, so this is a good panel for me to watch!
Travel sketches should be in the moment and enjoy drawing and what you can add to it. You should bring a pen & sketch book everywhere you go. You start with materials with just drawing such as basic sketches with pencil, pens, and brushes that are not too expensive. Nothing wrong with a ball point pen but using a brush pen can give cool results. Get a basic hand sized sketch book so you can carry it with you in your pack & it is there so you can do a quick sketch. Use a pack that is easy to carry & access for your book & pen.
Patrick uses felt point pen for fine lines, fine ball point pen, white highlight pen for contrast, leaded pencil, and two colors for bright colors for foreground & cool color for background. You can get sketch books either in landscape or portrait mode that are light and easy to carry.
Planning is to go to places where you see people & can sit, and bring your sketchbook & pens. Places that are good to sketch are places with lines so they are standing, park areas that are active, coffee shops as people doing their own things, museums people are going around & sketching an art piece happens regularly, and more.
Picking the perfect spot at a coffee shop, back to wall & can see a wide swath of the room with people or nestled in the corner to be out of the way. Then you can draw the line of customers. Ask the barista if it is okay to sit & sketch and draw the staff. You can mess with perspective if you want to do so. You can add to the scene such as a monster barista to spice things up. However, you don’t need to add too much detail.
Taking transit, you will be swaying around and people are doing their own thing (kind of hard for me to draw without a solid surface or try drawing in my lap), adding to complexity to sketch. Most sketches are done quickly within a few minutes and add things you love to it. No one really cares if you draw as long as it is subtle. While standing, prop your backpack forwards to hold up your book (I have not done that yet). Sketching is an ice breaker as some may ask what you are drawing and be open to suggestions about it & show it to people (no one has asked about my drawings in public, yet). Embrace the drawing process & practice. Just draw, even one thing, and build on it.
Artistic Inspiration!
I was really inspired by the panel. So I bought a sketchbook & pens for $5 each from the Art Supply Warehouse, located 9 miles away down CA 22 in Westminster! Using the techniques I learned from Patrick, I bought a black pen, for outlining, orange for brighter colors, and cobalt blue for darks. The pencil was free from the store. I’ll try drawing a bit later.
My artist alley poster purchase of WonderCon is by @chiouart with this art piece inspired by Frieren manga & anime! I love how it shows Frieren’s current party with Stark & Fern, and reflects Frieren’s hero party of the past in the lake. The art piece was posted on chiouart’s Instagram back in 2024 when it was originally completed.
Sketching Break
My feet were hurting and I don’t want to spend any more money on the exhibit hall floor. So back to the press room to try out some sketching on my new sketchbook. I am not an artist but at least work on drawing over time.
I did a sketch of my blog’s logo that used a cool typeface called Shockwave. Looks pretty good! Sketching the letters in travel does have a much better look than a single stroke that I did on AntSol.
Coloring went terribly wrong as I just realized that I bought the Copick ink refill, not the pen for it. Oh well, I’ll see about getting the Copick pens for the ink online or at the store.
I wanted to try sketching a bit of the Disneyland ticket booth but I need tons of practice. However, practice is progress like how I improve my writing & research for AntSol Travel!
Program 5: Breaking into Entertainment Media and Content Creation
Next panel is Breaking into Entertainment Media and Content Creation with Brandon Davis (Phase Hero), Joe Deckelmeier (MovieWeb), Perri Nemiroff (Collider), and Taya Miller (content creator). Talking about making content for entertainment media. All of them worked on websites about entertainment media such as Rotten Tomatoes, Movie Web, local TV stations, freelance for TV stations & networks, just gained presence on social media, and more.
Brandon wanted to watch movies and made movie reviews for the local FOX news station, and even got promoted to news producer. Then I worked on an entertainment site.
Joe started as an associated producer for G4 and ended in 2013. Then Joe started various news shows & interviews, and even got an interview with Robert Redford, and continues along with his shows from there. He went from attending a panel of the Lost TV show to host panels.
Perri was the journalism side of the media. She got a news job in New York where she produced content all by herself. She now has a show called Ladies Night about women in media, which she has assistance with. She contacted many of the media outlets for freelance, and even went to film school to get more information from the film producers side.
Taya started as a cosplayer and then created content. She felt like an imposter as a content creator from a larger scale and made the following overtime during COVID, and moved to LA.
Here is some of their advice for content creators. The best way to learn is to watch and learn how they do things. Listen to podcasts, watch YouTube videos, follow people on social media, and learn how to apply to your content. You need to find your voice and hold onto it. Make it feel fun that you want to share, not feel like work. Even if you barely get views, you can enjoy the process. If you did not enjoy producing or watching, it could be hard for others to watch. People can see your passion through the screen and you be you! In this day in age of AI, authenticity matters more to more people.
With a larger company you work with, you have to keep the company rules in mind. Once you are independent, you have a bit more freedom with your work. You should not cross the line of not disrespecting the work but should give constructive criticism.
Journalism & content creators are similar yet different on how they work as people must be chronically online like I am to get content posted quickly as some media companies want content done quickly in a few hours so they can be first. Don’t ask a question that you genuinely don’t want the answer to. Don’t reshare content if it’s related to current content or events.
Research for an interview: Perri would start with the Wikipedia page, go to the cited sources, watch what will be covered in the interview, and then prepare as best as possible.
What will work: find what you like doing (transit & tourism), look to see what works & what people respond to (end of ART Bus), and try new things to see what will stick with audiences. Keep enjoying your own style of content creation & video production. If you are going to complain, complain about being tired, not about work, it should be fun to do & tired you are.
Would of Been Program 6: Science of Disneyland
One of the panels I wanted to go last is about the science of Disneyland with actual people in the science community. However, so does everyone else in this huge line. No thank you. At least you know it is much busier today!
Conclusion
l am officially calling it a day here at Wonder Con at 5 pm. There are definitely tons more people than earlier today or Friday! I am happy with what I was able to cover for the show floor & programs, and got artistic inspiration to do light sketching while I am traveling now.
Post Convention: Early Bird Badge Prices
WonderCon badges are on sale for 2027! All three days are $135, Friday is $51, Saturday is $61, and Sunday is $44. Each badge will add on an eye watering $15 processing fee. Not bad, I don’t think it was raised too much from this year, especially with the lower attendance. I will always get into WonderCon for free with press coverage of WonderCon!
