WonderCon 2019

WonderCon: the yearly convention presented by Comic- Con International that celebrates comic books, television and the popular arts, returned to the Anaheim Convention Center with a sold out show from March 29 to March 31st.

WonderCon's guest lineup of industry professionals included: Jim Lee, publisher of DC entertainment; Scott Snyder, Detective Comics; Kevin Grevioux, The Mask; and Faith Erin Hicks, The Last of Us: American Dreams.

The show honored DC comics' 1,000th issue of Detective Comics, featuring the Batman that debuted in 1937, by commemorating the series as the cover art for WonderCon 2019's souvenir book.

"Batman is a remarkably deep and rich character," said Lee Weeks, the cover artist who recently became associated with Batman. "It really stems from my childhood and what those characters meant to me growing up. I had a strong yearning to work on [this] character that I grew up with – characters that helped establish a moral compass

in my life and gave me a great adventure."

Along with world premieres were advanced screenings and panels of upcoming and current television series. These shows included: “The 100”, “NOS4A2”, “Fear The Walking Dead”, “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”, “Dreamwork’s She-Ra and the Princesses of Power”, “Cobra Kai”, “Justice League vs. the Fatal Five”, “AMC’s Into the Badlands”, “Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger”, “FX’s Legion” and “Hanna”.

Television network AMC beefed up their presence with activities and panels as sneak previews for their Spring lineup. New series “NOS4A2” featured a panel and discussion with the cast and author of the novel, Joe Hill, while panels with the casts from shows “Into the Badlands” and “Fear The Walking Dead”. The popular post-apocalyptic show “Fear The Walking Dead” filled the 3,000 seat arena in anticipation of well-known “The Walking Dead” character Morgan Jones who crossed over to it's the fifth season.

"One of the things that has been really enjoyable about being on 'fear' is that the lines do get blurred," said Lennie James, who portrays Morgan Jones. "He's now in a place where he has no history to the people in 'fear' and he gets the chance who he's going to be now."

Cosplay always plays a role in the convention experience; costumed attendees showcased their cosplays at the Masquerade.

WonderCon is a fan favorite among convention goers and attendees in the industry.

Freelance writer Brandon Easton claims this year's show as one special to him: "This past weekend was one of the best I've had since 2016," said Easton. "There was an overwhelming sense of optimism and respect in the air that I haven't felt in God-knows-how-long. As someone who hates to 'mingle' it was nice for me to get outside of my own head for a while and realize that there's a lot of good in the world."