The WonderCon Catwalk

Irony has no place in a comics convention. A man dressing up as Buzz Lightyear should come with his game face on, his specifications perfect, his lingo down, his history intact. If you intend to gawk, do so politely — you don’t like people making fun of you standing in line for hipster ice cream, do you? The WonderCon convention is also serious because it has to be: There are incredible artists involved and, increasingly, truckloads of money. This weekend, that money brings movie studios, TV networks, and game companies arranging themselves like peacocks at the show, showing off their wares and loading panels with their talent. It also brings the Friday night Wonder Woman premiere and Green Lantern sneak peek, with Q&As afterward. But it’s the littler things we like, such as Star Trek panels, a screening of Buffy the Musical, and the Star Wars: Last Fan Movie Standing Challenge, in which fan films are judged by George Lucas. As for Buzz, you’ll find him, maybe more than one of him, at Saturday night’s Masquerade.
Feb. 27-March 1, 2009