This weekend Comic-Con International hosts its sister convention, WonderCon, at the Anaheim Convention Center, and you can still buy individual tickets at the door.
San Diego artist Patrick Ballesteros is preparing for his Artist Alley table at WonderCon.
"I believe people still see it as like, 'Oh, that's the step-sibling of Comic-Con,'" Ballesteros said. "Not that there’s anything wrong with the step-sibling."
No, but sometimes it’s tough to get attention as the step-sibling. Still, people are discovering the benefits of WonderCon. It offers essentially the same type of pop culture convention as Comic-Con — panels, cosplay, gaming, fan tables, exhibitor floor, Artist Alley, portfolio reviews and even a masquerade — but on a more manageable scale.
"It's a very different vibe," Ballesteros noted. "A lot of people cannot go to Comic-Con anymore, even a lot of local San Diegans. It's either impossible to get a ticket, they could be priced out, or they just don't want to deal with the crowds anymore. So for WonderCon, it's a little bit more intimate because you can engage more with your community. Because at San Diego, you get maybe like a minute — like, 'Hey, how's it going? Good to see you. Cool. OK, bye. Hug. Bye-bye.' But at WonderCon, I can come out from the table. I could talk to people."
In addition to being able to buy tickets at the door, WonderCon also draws smaller crowds, making it easier to navigate the exhibit floor and attend panels without camping out overnight or standing in long lines.
I dare also say the cosplay — especially the anime and mecha — rivals Comic-Con's. That may stem in part from the convention's roots in San Francisco, which has a vibrant Japanese pop culture community, including events such as Anime Day in Japantown.
For most vendors, WonderCon is not as profitable as Comic-Con. Ballesteros called Comic-Con "the show to end all shows, the best show for anyone anywhere for the year." But WonderCon provides a good ramp-up to that larger summer event.
"For me as an artist, I could test out new things to see what's working, what's not, what can I maybe try out for San Diego without having to put in so much time," Ballesteros said. "And in my experience of doing shows, a lot of it is dependent on your interaction with people behind the scenes. And for me, I have been fortunate to meet a lot of great people, not only via email, but even on site. The people who give you your badges, the people volunteering and helping out, they become pretty much the Con family for me."
WonderCon provides a more relaxing version of Comic-Con. But a heads up: This Saturday there will be nationwide No Kings protests, with an Anaheim march planned from 2 to 5 p.m. just a few miles from the convention center at La Palma Park. WonderCon attendees may want to plan ahead for possible road closures or delays.
