Saturday at the show started a little early as I had to pick up a Todd McFarlane signing wristband. WonderCon’s exclusive lottery this year included slots at Funko’s booth and signings with Jim Lee and the Todd-Father. Todd was in great spirits as he signed my Spawn # 8 which led to a story about how the Image Comics founders were always criticized for being egotistical, putting the art and themselves first. In response, he would go into chat rooms incognito and agree with the fans bashing him, piling on until he was banned. When moderators found out it was actually him, they didn’t quite know what to do…
Back on the show floor I joined the line for Jim Lee’s CGC signing with son Lucas-Lee Garza who has been pushing is fantasy book, Wallow. Lee has been out signing Batman # 158 aka H2SH aka Hush 2, the sequel to his blockbuster Batman run from 2002. Lee was having fun, checking out what each person brought and chatting food, family and travel. Saturdays are always the main day for a con so the floor was much more crowded and I opted to check out the Bad Idea comics panel on the strength of John Wick writer Derek Kolstad being in attendance. I asked how he got into comics, Kolstad has known one of the publishers a long time, writes a lot and one of his treatments was deemed too expensive. Now it’s become Planet Death, a hotly anticipated and highly pre-ordered space set epic.
Cosplay watching is a nice break, spotting groups of Sonic the Hedgehog, X-Men ’97, Storm Troopers, Avengers, Indiana Jones and more gathered outside the convention center for photos. I was surprised by the few yet constant sightings of Starship Troopers outfits. After picking up magnets, stickers and pins from Artist Alley, it was off to the ComiXology panel which included Thomas Jane (The Punisher, The Expanse).
Jane has long been a con staple and ran comic book company Raw Studios with artist Tim Bradstreet. Jane has The Lycan, an action-horror title about stranded big game hunters tasked with finding berserking beasts on a small island, out now. The panel talked about the difference between print and digital comics, Jane’s love for printed comics and how they can team up with comic book stores to push digital titles. After the panel, I asked Jane to sign a copy of his bonkers 2009 Raw Studios title Alien Pig Farm 3000, a 1950’s invasion meets 1980’s Cannon Films tale of aliens showing up in a small, moonshining town in Kentucky. Jane was surprised and amused to see it, flipping through the pages and telling me this would have made such a cool movie.
Saturday night hosts the annual Masquerade of cosplay competition but my scavenger hunt of signings completed, it was back to the hotel for the Reacher Season 3 finale and room service.
