WONDERCON 2024... STILL WAITING ON 2025!!!

Welcome to April CRAZIES!!!  Can you believe we're a quarter of the way into this mess of a year already?  Well, that's not why we are here today.  We are here to have good times and leave our cares behind, if only for a few moments.  And there's no better distraction than WonderCon...  WonderCon 2024!!!  Wait a tic, 2024?  But that was last year's show!  Shouldn't we be covering this year's edition?  Well of course we should!  And next week, we will!  Come on folks, y'all know by now I write these well in advance.  Hell, WonderCon 2025 hasn't even happened yet as of this writing!  We're still nearly two weeks away!  But, we still have some time before then, so we gotta keep this ball rolling while we can!  Comb the Dorito dust out of those neck-beards and hold on tight because the CRAZY WonderCon Countdown is still on!  Enjoy...

Where's Winston when you need him?!?

Well goooooooolly!  Nothing puffed about this stuff!

Anastasia cosplay?  It's always nice to see Don Bluth films getting some fandom love, and that movie is one of his better flicks.

Welcome to Duddleyville!  D-Von, Bubba Ray and Spike were looking for some tables as this ECW cosplay was next level!

Zeo Rangers!  You don't often see any of the later seasons of Power Rangers cosplayed, despite many of them being very popular and successful.  I guess that first incarnation was just that popular and nostalgic.  And for those that never watched, those are the Gold and Red Rangers (Latter's pretty obvious).

Looks like Veruca finally got her way!

Cannot say enough what a godsend the food trucks at WonderCon are.  You'd think there'd be more food options nearby with all the hotels and Disneyland being right next to the Anaheim Convention Center, but nope.  Just a Morton's and the upscale hotel restaurants.  Nothing against those places, but they aren't exactly the kind of places to go on a con budget!

A nice sunny day greeted us on opening day, but that rapidly changed by nightfall as it was pouring the rest of the weekend!  Hopefully next week's post will boast of more cooperative weather!

This Scarlet Witch cosplay is next level and very simple in approach!

Ed was there with some of his fast food contemporaries!  Sadly, not many courtyard dance parties last year due to the weather.  Here's hoping to this year!

The Rocketeer blasted his way into the Convention Center lobby and reminded everybody of what a badass he was!

This couple's been coming to WonderCon for years now and they always do a fun variation of Belle and the Beast.  This time around, they were Ghostbusters!

One of the coolest things about WonderCon is that you really get a good chance at seeing artists at work and see the creative process in real time!  I always love watching fellow artists work and seeing how they create while learning new techniques in the process.

We'll conclude today with this cosplay tribute to legendary manga creator Akira Toriyama, who had passed away not long before WonderCon took place.  Toriyama was a huge influence on me as an artist and his greatest creation, DragonBall, is what got me into anime in the first place.  It was nice to see the love his fans still had for him show up at cons last year and hopefully we'll see the DragonBall Experience return to SDCC this summer at the Marriott!

And that was WonderCon 2024!  Despite the weather, it was an awesome show!  I spent WAY too much money, but the comics, art and toys I scored was totally worth it.  It's okay to spoil yourself every once in awhile.  Just don't let it become a habit!

Well, only one more post to go, but I promise you that we will conclude the CRAZY WonderCon Countdown 2025 on a high note, so be sure to come back next week and see how it all ends!  Until then, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all later!

WONDERCON 2024 IS HERE!!! TWO WEEKS LATE BUT FINALLY HERE!!!

 

Well, it's two weeks later and reality has set back in and now I can definitely tell you how well WonderCon 2024 went.  But why talk about how it all went down when I can show you how it all went down?  It's time to head back one last time to the Happiest Place Across The Street From The Happiest Place on Earth as the CRAZY WonderCon Countdown concludes for the year!  Enjoy...

Sam and Max!  Obscure cosplay right off the bat!  I knew it was gonna be a good weekend when I spotted these two the moment I entered the hall!

Believe me Scarecrow, your brains are working just fine.  You picked the one sunny day of WonderCon to cosplay!

A match made in the Heavens for sure!

If you know, you know!

Super Grover was in the house!  And he was eventually thrown out after crashing into numerous booths and displays and then kept harassing some bald, blue guy with mustache for no discernible reason!

With Funko skipping town this year, not too many immersive booths on hand, though this booth promoting a SciFi book of some sort was pretty cool!  Lots of projection, lots of holograms and cool mood music and lighting.

They come from a home that's presently being refurbished for the 999 happy haunts that live there so they can make room for even more!

With so many variants over the years, I honestly wouldn't be surprised at all if there's an actual, legit Weird Al Barbie Doll in existence.

"Have you seen this boy?"

"WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOA!!!"

Seriously, this T-1000 cosplay was totally badass!  When the guy told me I was only the second person to get it, I felt my heart sink.  Terminator 2: Judgement Day was one of THE definitive films of not just the 90's, but cinema period!  Its special effects took things to a whole new level and they still hold up today.  At least we get it bro.

She came!  The Sad Oompa Loompa made the trip all the way from Scotland to grace WonderCon with her indifference!  Gonna be honest here, I was really hoping more cosplayers would pay homage to the spectacular failure that was "Willy's Chocolate Experience."  To say it was a dumpster fire would be an insult to actual dumpster fires, but it did inspire so much unintended comedy that keeps producing new tales of bizarre intrigue despite only lasting mere hours!  It is literally the gift that keeps on giving!

The halls were more crowded than usual at WonderCon this year as the heavens opened up on Saturday morning and never really let up until Sunday evening, AFTER the show had ended.  As the picture at the top of the post suggests, not much action happened at all outside this year, though the food trucks still showed up and they were delicious!

With Chief Big Mac taken down after years of corruption, Grimace stepped in as the Chief Constable of McDonaldland!  And much to everybody's shock, that big, blobby dumbass caught the notorious Hamburglar his very first day on the job!  Even Ronald's disturbed by it all!

Had a good hearty laugh at this Paddington cosplay!  Not many people got it, despite the movies being popular, but I loved it!  My Aunt Marisa's gonna get a kick out of this one too!

The Crystal Gems dawned wings and became fairies for the day!  Also, I've waited so long to see some Spinel cosplay and was so happy to see two of them in one spot!

Lonestar's very strong with the upside of the Schwartz!  Wonder how well he handles it?

With all the rain outside, the cosplay gatherings instead took place in the lobbies outside of the exhibit hall!  It was actually really cool because it provided better lighting and photo ops for everybody.  Only real downer about the weather really was that they didn't have any of the impromptu dance parties this year that typically take place near the fountain after the exhibit hall closes.

Willy Wonka is enjoying his newfound fame from both Wonka and the Scotland fiasco by swooping up Marge Simpson and strutting the lobby in style!  

They are on a quest for the Holy Grail while Sir Robin the Brave looks for the quickest exit!

And finally, Statler and Waldorf give there honest opinion of the weather outside!  Without question my favorite cosplay of WonderCon that weekend!

And that was WonderCon 2024!  It was a great weekend that did get off on a shaky start.  The day I drove up I got stuck in accident traffic for nearly an hour and then had to deal with throngs of crowds at Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm on consecutive days before finally settling in at a smooth and fun convention.  Had quite a few impulse buys including scoring a couple of rare toys and even more rare comics!  The real highlight of the weekend though was my good friend Matt Eargle showing up in a fedora and trench coat due to the rain and being continually mistook as Inspector Gadget, despite the fact that he WASN'T cosplaying!  Matt was a good sport though and played along, so it was all in good fun!  Best of all, no sinus infection this time!  Though fate did find it necessary to throw out my back the day I returned to work, but that's a tale for a different day.  All in all, it was a great weekend and I hope to keep the streak of awesome going next year!

And that's a wrap on the CRAZY WonderCon Countdown 2024!  God willing I'll be back in 2025 as a re-verified professional ready for even more fun and hopefully more Sun too!  Next week, art returns to the CRAZYVERSE but try not to be too sad about the loss of Con pics.  We are now only eight weeks away from the return of the CRAZY Comic Con Countdown, so stay tuned!  Until next time, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all later!