Posts Tagged ‘WonderCon’



WonderCon 2009: Best Costumes

Bonnie Burton | March 5, 2009

Half the fun of going to WonderCon every year in San Francisco is seeing all the costumed fans who dress up as superheroes, pirates, steampunkers, movie and video game characters and even Muppets!

We’ve already profiled our favorite Star Wars costumes this year, but here’s a list of some of the other costumes we couldn’t get enough of.


Superheroes:
It’s just not a comic book conventions without fans dressing like characters in actual comic books. Little kids and growups alike don masks and capes to wander through the convention floor looking for crime and photos ops. As an added bonus, Batman actor Adam West attended WonderCon this year and got to see all variations of the masked man he made so famous.


Watchmen:
Just in time for the March release of the Watchmen movie, fans dressed up as their favorite characters like Rorschach, Silk Spectre and Sally Jupiter. No Doctor Manhattans were spotted, but then again it takes dedication to show up to WonderCon blue and naked.


Yip Yip Martians:
If you grew up watching Sesame Street, you’ll recognize the interplanetary visitors called the Yip-Yips — nicknamed for their yip yip language. They seemed right at home yipping around WonderCon.

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WonderCon 2009: Best Star Wars Costumes

Bonnie Burton | March 4, 2009

Even though San Francisco’s WonderCon is much smaller than the epic San Diego Comic-Con International, you literally can’t walk past a booth without bumping into a costumed fan.

Each year WonderCon gets a little bit bigger which means more and more fans dressed as superheroes, video game characters, horror film icons, steampunkers, vampires, dragons, pirates, manga and anime favorites, and of course, Star Wars characters.

As usual members of the 501st and Rebel Legion were out in full Force. Here’s a recap of some of the best Star Wars costumes we spotted at WonderCon 2009.


What a Trooper!
It just isn’t a convention without spotting 501st Legion members dressed as clone troopers and stormtroopers. The 501st always impress with their custom-made body armor, but it’s their patience with hundreds of people who want their photos taken with them every five steps that make them real troopers. If you want to learn more about the 501st Legion, check out: Inside the Fighting 501st.


Rebel, Rebel!
Next up, the Rebel Legion. These fans dress as Jedi, Rebel Pilots, Princess Leias and more. At this year’s WonderCon they could be seen hanging out with the 501st or I suppose infiltrating the Empire depending on how you look at it. If you’d like to find out more about them, visit the Official Rebel Legion site here.


Darth Vader
While The Clone Wars may be taking fandom my storm, Darth Vader still dominates all the photo ops at WonderCon. He’s not called a Sith Lord for nothing.

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Report from WonderCon 2009: Lucasfilm Presentation (Part III: The Ryloth Trilogy)

Pablo Hidalgo | February 28, 2009

You’ll excuse me if this next blog post gets a little meta and breaks a fourth wall or something. See, for better or for worse, I volunteered to go head-to-head against Steve Sansweet with the new Uncle Milton Force Trainer. It’s the much buzzed about toy that scans brainwaves to activate a fan within an acrylic tube, that then levitates a Force remote (or, ping pong ball to you terrestrial laymen) to various heights. I tried it out on Friday and, after some practice, got the hang of it.

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Not nearly enough practice for the big show on Saturday, though, as I went up against a venerable Jedi Master like Sansweet. He had perfected its performance, launching the remote into the stratosphere while I apparently failed to unlearn whatever it was I had learned. My Force remote barely budged. It’s as if I had a pocket full of ysalamiri jerky or something. And if you get that, you’re as big a geek as I.

Anyway, this was really a lead-in to showcase some of the online Clone Wars comics we have been doing since the launch of the show. I introduced Tom Hodges and Katie Cook, who were in attendance in the audience, and also was able to give a sneak peek (note, correct spelling of peek – you’re welcome) into next week’s webcomic, “Curfew,” by Katie, which introduces the Twi’lek girl character of Numa.

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We then segued into discussing the Ryloth Trilogy — the series of episodes that we’re now in the thick of. “Storm Over Ryloth” debuted yesterday. “Innocents of Ryloth” and “Liberty on Ryloth” are still to come.

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Report from WonderCon 2009: Lucasfilm Presentation (Part II: Meet Cad Bane)

Pablo Hidalgo | February 28, 2009

Sansweet next moved the subject to Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The smash hit series is now running in 166 countries, and translated into nearly 30 different languages. Sansweet reminded the audience that, in addition to a compilation of four episodes being released on DVD in March, this year will bring the entire season in a deluxe boxed set complete with value-added bonus material (and a Blu-Ray release!). Sansweet explained that the audience at New York Comic-Con selected, via their applause, some of the bonus material that ended up on the DVD, and screened the winning piece — a “Show Reel” made very early from rough concept art and paintings that helped explain what The Clone Wars could be.

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But that was the past. Fast-forward to the present — and future — of the series. An edgy preview of the March 20th season finale then screened — clips of a bounty hunter-filled episode called “Hostage Crisis,” which introduces a new character — Cad Bane. Supervising Director Dave Filoni took to the stage next to discuss the evolution of Bane.

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Report from WonderCon 2009: Lucasfilm Presentation (Part I: Celebrating 10 Years of Star Wars Renaissance)

Pablo Hidalgo | February 28, 2009

In the Esplanade ballroom at the Moscone Convention Center South, Star Wars fans gathered for the annual Lucasfilm presentation, hosted by Steve Sansweet. What follows is a partial transcript of the event, divided into three parts. See part two here, and part three here.

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The hour-long presentation began with a viewing of something most people have not seen on a big screen in 10 years: the original teaser trailer for The Phantom Menace. That set the stage for a retrospective of the fan resurgence that accompanied the release of Episode I. With the rise of the Internet and the fan community, a worldwide gathering of Star Wars fans was ready to usher in the return of the saga, proving that Star Wars could indeed last forever.

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WonderCon Update: Star Wars Invasion

Pablo Hidalgo | February 28, 2009

At WonderCon (currently underway in San Francisco), Dark Horse Comics director of publicity Jeremy Atkins unveiled new cover art by Jo Chen for the forthcoming New Jedi Order-era series, Star Wars: Invasion (see the original New York Comic-Con story here.)

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We caught up with Dark Horse editor Randy Stradley to ask him some quick questions about the new series (below the cut).

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WonderCon 2008 Recap

StarWars.com Team | February 25, 2008

We came, we saw, we blogged the heck out of WonderCon 2008 in San Francisco on Feb. 22-24!

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Report from Wonder-Con: Lucasfilm Presentation (Part 3)

Pablo Hidalgo | February 23, 2008

Steve Sansweet: On August 15th, Star Wars returns to the theaters in all new animated feature film, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, to be followed this fall by a new weekly series of the same name airing on Cartoon Network and TNT. We’ll be announcing international dates for the movie and international partners for the series over the next couple of months. Star Wars: The Clone Wars has an entirely new look and feel and combines the broad scope of Star Wars and the saga with state-of-the-art computer-generated animation. Each week, viewers are going to see really a very exciting half-hour “mini-movie” created by the talented artists at Lucasfilm Animation. From what I’ve already seen, we are in for one heck of an exciting ride. But don’t take my word for it. Take the word of Dave Filoni, Supervising Director for the Clone Wars project.

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Report from Wonder-Con: Lucasfilm Presentation (Part 2)

Pablo Hidalgo | February 23, 2008

After Brett Rector left the stage. Steve Sansweet turned to the subject of The Man with the Hat– Indiana Jones and his return to adventure this year. First, Sansweet reminded audiences about the final installment of The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones coming to DVD on April 29th. He then screened the trailer for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (in theaters May 22) as well as the trailer for the LEGO Indiana Jones video game before turning the subject back to Star Wars… From a certain point of view.

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Report from Wonder-Con: Lucasfilm Presentation (Part 1)

StarWars.com Team | February 23, 2008

Despite the winter rains and gusty February winds, fans of comics, sci-fi and fantasy crowded into the Moscone Center in San Francisco for Wonder-Con. The spacious and drafty Hall A was the setting for Steve Sansweet to present some of what’s coming in the world of Star Wars. What follows is a partial transcript of the hour-long presentation, divided into three parts. The first deals with The Force Unleashed.

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