I spent six full hours at the San Francisco Wondercon on Saturday, immersing myself in the comic and sci-fi subculture. I got to fraternize with enthusiastic representatives from the worlds of Spiderman, Anime, Underground, X-Files, Hentai and Star Trek. I passed on getting my photo taken with the female body builders, but tried my hardest to engage Gumby in conversation. Disappointingly, he wouldn't budge from his position of strict silence.
Many folks were clad in outrageously elaborate costumes, doubtless representing hours upon hours of meticulous research in some parents' basement. There were also lots of guys wrapped in tinfoil and wearing sunglasses.
One pleasant surprise was the number of women in attendance. Expecting a full-on scene of pasty males, I was genuinely surprised by the number of female comics fans there, young and old. I had dinner with comics writer Cecil Castellucci who explained that many publishers have come to the realization that a majority of the reading public is female, and comic books are working to catch up by creating more titles by and for women. It's about time. Cecil writes the serial Plain Janes for DC Comics.
Incidentally, my trusty Canon camera was lifted from my car just before my visit, so the photos on this page are courtesy of my Con Companion, Nick DeMarco of Demarconia. Cheers Nick!
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