WonderCon 2013 ~ JeanBookNerd

The annual WonderCon event concluded over March 29-31, 2013. This annual event has been a staple in the San Francisco Bay Area as its biggest convention of its kind. The ongoing renovation of the Moscone Center in San Francisco has caused the event to be relocated to Anaheim in 2012. The hope to return to San Francisco in 2013 was shadowed by the ongoing renovation at the Moscone Center and the overwhelming outcome of WonderCon's first Anaheim visit. 2013 saw the second year in a row that Disneyland's backyard of Anaheim hosting this extravagant.

The event was held at the Anaheim Convention Center, right across the street from Disneyland. As with any convention, Saturday seemed to be the premiere day for panels and cosplays and it was certainly the case. Saturday badges immediately sold-out with limited number of tickets for Friday and Sunday were still available on Friday.

The first day is usually our "looking around-checking out-scoping out" the place unless we have attended it before. Saturday's panels were headlined by The Mortal Instruments, CW's Arrow, Evil Dead, Pacific Rim, and others from the entertainment world. The premiere artist for this year was DC's Jim Lee, who also inked the artwork for the program book.

Of course, my favorite part of any convention is the amazing cosplays roaming around. As an on-going trend lately, there were an abundance of Finn's (Adventure Time) and Deadpools. However, there were many awesome cosplays that caught the lens of my camera.

The tiny Mandalorian warrior (Boba Fett) and Mini Darth Vader is my son who is quickly learning that cosplaying is a form of art. He enjoyed the photo-ops with the wonderful cosplayers of WonderCon. The cool part of any con are the exclusive giveaways and things that you can only buy or get from cons.

I managed to get a whole bunch of comics signed by the artist or writer. During the CW Beauty and the Beast Panel, I managed to get Kristin Kreuk's scribbled autograph. And perhaps the coolest haul of that weekend is having Jim Lee sign my X-Men Volume 2 Issue #1 (Exclusive pull-out cover) that I've held on since 1991.

Here are some celebrity sightings at WonderCon 2013.

Lilly Collins, Jamie Campbell Bower, Keving Zegers, Cassandra Clare. Cassie with my Boba Fett.

Author Frank Beddor. Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca)

CW's Arrow: Stephen Amell, Paul Blackthorne, & Willa Holland.

As if this weekend couldn't get any better, the cast of Arrow just made it just that sweeter. After a cast signing at the DC booth on Sunday, the talented Willa Holland eyed my son, who was in his Darth Vader costume and was totally blown by the appearance of a tiny Sith Lord. This prompted Stephen Amell to pick up Mini Darth onto the signing table while the cast proceeding the press and onlookers to take pictures. Willa even posted a picture of herself carrying Mini Darth on her Instragram feed (@willaaaahhh). EEK!! They even gave his an Arrow poster signed by the whole cast in attendance (Stephen Amell, Colin Donnell, Willa Holland, and Paul Blackthorne).