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You may have noticed the new banner ad for WonderCon in Anaheim March 29-31, but what about a hoped-for fall WonderCon back in the Bay Area?

A statement on the WonderCon page says it is not to be:

As many of you are aware, it has been our hope to return to San Francisco for WonderCon 2013.

We have been waiting for information on the availability of the Moscone Center and were just officially offered dates, though they were for the fall.

However, those dates coincide with another very large city wide event, and this has resulted in some unavoidable conflicts. Among them hotel room blocks we explored near, and not so near, the Moscone Center started at $300 per night.

This, along with the expected difficulty of exhibitors and attendees in securing airfare for those outside of driving distance of San Francisco for that weekend, has resulted in us not being able to secure San Francisco as a location for WonderCon in 2013.

However, because we knew there was a possibility of not being able to return to San Francisco, we have scheduled WonderCon: Anaheim to be held March 29-31, 2013. Hopefully we will be able to return WonderCon to San Francisco sometime soon.


To which we reply, Moscone Center, GET WITH THE PROGRAM. They appear to be the only facility in the whole world that doesn’t like comic-cons. For Northern California to lose its signature show is really sad, and we hope that some kind of alternate venue is found and/or Moscone officials get their heads out of their asses.

As for the Anaheim show, a preliminary list of guests has also been released:

Ten special guests have already signed on for WonderCon Anaheim 2013:
Sergio Aragonés (cartoonist, Groo),
Mark Evanier (writer/producer, Garfield),
Dean Koontz (author, Odd Thomas series, Frankenstein series),
Marjorie Liu (writer,Astonishing X-Men),
Doug Mahnke (artist, Green Lantern),
Ann Nocenti (writer,Green Arrow, Katana),
Jason Palmer (artist/illustrator, Indiana Jones Blu-ray set,Serenity, Star Wars),
Dan Slott (writer, Superior Spider-Man),
Jeff Smith(cartoonist, Bone, RASL),
Steranko (writer/artist, Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.).

23 COMMENTS

  1. I live in the bay area and I would love to see it return to San Francisco, but I understand the situation they’re in, so I will attend the show in LA., as well. I want to support the show no matter where it is.

  2. The Bay Area has lots of convention space and hotels. They could easily got to San Jose or Santa Clara (the San Francisco 49ers football team moved there, so it should be able to handle it). They could also look at Oakland. These are all within 45 minutes of each other. They’d probably all be less expensive for the con, the hotels and parking too.

  3. As I understand it, these facilities are too small, and con organizers don’t want to have another show that has to limit attendance.

  4. You really can’t go by that. Just cuz the public website list says it is ‘open’ doesn’t mean t is internally available. Also, it would conflict with what would be the their year of their Anaheim show. Which is not going away. A return to San Francisco will be in addition to not a replacement for.

  5. Anaheim is already scheduled for 2013.
    The calendar I linked to is for 2014.

    Who knows what the Moscone staff/board is thinking?

    Comic Con International has not publicly stated that Anaheim is a permanent locale, or even confirmed a 2014 date. It should be, but until that announcement, one can only speculate on the facts at hand. Anaheim Comic-Con™ could be a an additional show to CCI:SD and WonderCon, possibly in the Fall.

    Eventually, the three shows (San Diego, Anaheim, San Francisco) would be quarterly events of the same magnitude (although a Fall show would compete with NYCC). Brand it all under one big banner (Comic-Con International), and the location doesn’t matter, just like the Super Bowl. CCI could even stage a fourth show, testing out regional markets for possible expansion (Las Vegas, Atlanta, DC, Texas).

  6. Too bad. Sorry to see Wondercon leave the Bay Area. Not much of a surprise, though. Thankfully, there’s many smaller local cons and events that more than make up for it, imho.

  7. Very sad news. I loved Wondercon, but going to Anaheim for this convention is not an option for me.

    I don’t know how much of this is ‘spin’ by the ComicCon people???….

    At least, I’ll save some money (by not spending my $200+ a day at Wondercon), but I’ll miss the show and the people very much.

  8. I hope they can handle the parking better this year. Last time it was infuriating to say the least, competing with people going to Disneyland. The only day it took less than 45 minutes to park was the day it rained…

  9. Thank you Torsten. I often hear folks chime in about the other venues in the bay area and time-after-time I shake my head. I’ve been to all those convention centers and there’s just no way they can handle the space. None.

    I can only assume some folks are still thinking of WonderCon’s golden days of Oakland’s Marriot Hotel. Those days are over. Today’s WonderCon is big and looking to get bigger every year.

  10. We parked at the baseball stadium (as WonderCon recommended) and were on a shuttle bus and at the show within ten minutes. Very easy!

  11. San Mateo Event Center has 190k + sq. ft. of space, with airport hotels 10-15 minutes away, and a Caltrain train station next door.

  12. I admit that I am probably a *crazy conspiracy theorist*. However, I think it’s impossible that

    a) the ComicCon International folks just happened to want to move to Anaheim and

    b) that the Moscone Center just happened to want to screw one of their biggest conventions “just because”.

    Nope. Occam’s Razor seems to imply that the more likely answer is that the CCI folks just don’t want to be in SF anymore. And hey, that’s their prerogative, since they own the name. My personal wish is that they’d abandon the name and just move on. But barring that, I suppose we’ll just have to hope that Image Comics Expo or some other local con takes over the region. Because really, it’s not the name or the management group, but the local fans who make the convention special.

  13. GO FOR BROKE!!!…BELIEVE IT!!!!….Sacramento & Stockton have chosen the noble deed of taking in Central & Northern Cal’s “Abandoned and Orphaned Fans”. BELIEVE IT!……….Sac & Stockton “COMBINED” have about equal convention space between the two cities. ” Sac-Anime” has around 9-10,000 attendees, Sac-Con regularly overloads the Masonic Scottish Rite Temple with around 2,500. Stockton Con came in with around 2,000 this year. We have every intention of building our two up and work together in an unofficial alliance to “steal back” as many of people from “Arrogant Power’s That Be”. Many of our Artist Alley are Southern Californian’s themselves..

    The combined 15,000 attendees we have is a good third of “Anaheim – Con”. That’s what Wonder Con needs to be renamed. We’re fighting back like the 442nd did against great odds but, we’ll be victorious in the end.

  14. Not to purposely ruffle feathers but, I probably will with what i’m going to say. The bloody truth always hurts so accept it……… The “Entertainment Industry” OWNS Comic-Con International and Wonder-Con across the board and dictate “both” conventions every move, period. Big Corperation’s like the Movie Companies throw their money around to get “their way” just like a dirty scummy Oil Company & Banking Industry Lobbyist does, whenever they feel like “they’re losing control”.

    In Wonder-Cons case having it in San Francisco became a loss of power for them. Too doggone many “those” Artsy-Fartsy Types”, Small Publisher’s that are bigger than the normal Indy Press but, still Independant enough to be troublesome, and God Forbid “The Manga Industy” has its power base there. Just too f***ing many “other” people with “other ideas” to share power with. Never Share Power, Ever! Screameth the “Julius Ceasar’s” of the Movie Industry. Besides some of the. “Major Stockholder’s” of ” Disney & Time-Warner” might not like the Rainbow Flag of Gay, Lesbian, & Bisexual Pride proudly waving in the wind outside Mayor Moscone Memorial Center, a man who gave away his life to Gay Rights. People don’t realize just how very ” Hard-Core Right Wing Extremist” many of those sitting upon Time-Warner’s and Disney’s Boards can be.

    Now that Wonder-Con’s in So-Cal to stay now. Disney & Time-Warner needn’t worry of sharing the spotlight with those “troublesome type’s” Up North. Or worry of sharing power with anyone at all.

    The truth is Anaheim Suck’s!! In comparison to a city so far superior to it “all ways” as, San Fran obviously does. And No ! Mickey Mouses Village doesn’t count! ……….. The fact that Mass Public Transportation lacks alone is a reason to consider not going. With San Fran alone. You had “Amtrak’s Capitol Corridor bring folks in from Sacto and San Jose. BART bringing heads in from the East Bay and Central Valley, S.F.’s own MUNI running every 15 minutes to anywhere you needed in that fair city. Anaheim does not have that kind of transportation ease, period. No doubt the Cab Driver’s in Anaheim will just love it.

    Long story short, San Francisco will have to “start from the bottom up again”. There’s no other choise in the matter. The ugly truth is, they may have to abandon such altogether as, San Jose may take SF’s place with their’s. As it’s already in place and operating. Which means it’s posed to inherit the Bay’s Comic Gap. San Fran may just have to begrudgingly accept that’s it “for good”. And be greatful for a bunch of “small neighborhood con’s” as Japantown’s Animation Festival” is. There might be more dignity in this than attempting to regain what was stolen by “Disney’s Greedy Interests”. For the record, the Illumanati, Bohemian Grove, Skull & Bones of the Animation Industry exists at Disneyland in a “Rich Man’s Club” known as ” The Ink and Paint Club” above the Pirates of The Carribean Ride. It very much alone controls the animation business in America. You can figure the Villafying of Japanese Anime probably took place there. As those ugly Religious Fanatic’s known as Parent’s Television Councils leaders are no doubt members…….

    As Churchill would say, “Made A Few Enemies You Say? Good! Then That Means You’ve Stood Ip For Something Sometime Or Another In Your Life”!

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