WonderCon is more than a gathering hole for comic book, science fiction and movie aficionados to talk shop—it’s a place of dreams. The annual event kicked off its 29th year at the Anaheim Convention Center Friday, Apr. 3-5. The event manages to bring people together from all walks of life to celebrate their common love for Harley Quinn, video games and Lou Ferrigno among other things. This WonderCon also showcased up-and-coming African American writers, artists and fans of multiple genres.
David F. Walker is an award-winning journalist, filmmaker, educator, podcast personality, comic book writer, and author. Some of his body of work includes runs on “The Army of Dr. Moreau” for IDW Publishing and “Number 13” for Dark Horse Comics. He is currently writing “Shaft” for Dynamite Entertainment and “Cyborg” for DC Comics. He spoke about the representations and contributions of African Americans in the comic and media industry as well as the lack thereof.
“There are a lot of African Americans that collect comics, read comics [and] play video games,” said Walker. “We represent a rather large percentage of the audience but we don’t represent a large percentage of the creative force or a large percentage of the characters in the comics, video games or movies.”
Walker spoke about his passion for comics and how he hopes to use the medium to inspire youth to see beyond the glass jar.
“What I’m trying to do is turn things around because I don’t want kids to grow up the way I grew up, looking for heroes that they could identify with—I call it give kids permission to dream.
“Black kids aren’t given permission to dream about much other than being a professional athlete or a rapper but I want to give them permission not only dream of being a hero but also give them permission to be a creative person and make a living doing it.”
Walter Bryant and David Clarke are the co-founders of Off Shoot Comics, which features family-friendly comic books. They came up with the idea of their comics during Bible study and decided to create books everyone could read.
“First off, we are Christians, so our comic books are kid-friendly,” said Bryant. “We have some comics that have a more adult style of writing but nothing in there that your kid can’t look at.”
Off Shoot Comics is mixture of elements that interests Bryant and Clarke from fantasy to drama. Their most popular book is Heroes R Us, about a toy store that sells superpowers.
“We still have the generic lab accident makes you a hero, we still have all that stuff too but we have a few extra added elements as well,” said Clarke.
“The comic book industry and attendance at conventions has certainly gotten a lot browner,” said Sentinel Cartoonist, David G. Brown. An artist, educator and publisher, Brown mentioned how these conventions have become more inclusive over the years.
“After attending the 2015 Wonder-con in Anaheim over the weekend, I reflected on how much the comic book industry has changed since my first San Diego Comic-con in 1993. In the 90’s, it was a novelty to see Black and Brown Heroes featured in comics.
“At that time I was on the verge of launching my first comic book, “LA Phoenix” inspired by the 1992 Rodney King civil unrest. Some of the other popular Black creators at that time included the Sims Brother, who published the “Brother Man” comics and “Milestone” who had a number of titles featuring multi-cultural characters.”
WonderCon was created by retailer Joe Field and his partner Mike Friedrich, which they owned and operated for 15 years. In 2001, they partnered with the San Diego Comic-Con International to make it part of the Comic-Con International convention family.
Greg Koudoulian is an archivist, filmmaker, documentarian and all-around historian when it comes to conventions like WonderCon. He shared some of the back history of how these conventions became popular. Most of the conventions go back to the World Science Fiction Convention AKA WorldCon in the 1930s. The San Diego Comic-Con International originally known as the Golden State Comic Book Convention in 1970, was founded by a group of San Diegans, which included Shel Dorf, Richard Alf, Ken Krueger and Mike Towry. Wonder-Con, according to Koudoulian, is a smaller version of Comic-Con.
“Wonder-Con… it’s smaller, it’s like the Comic-Con 20 years ago,” said Koudoulian. “I would call it ComicCon-lite.”
“Fandom historically was very white and any time that there would be someone who wasn’t—it was like a party. Because in real life, we had friends from every ethnic group.
“The fandom has always been, pretty much, very inclusive.”
“Over the last decade there have been a number of conventions with a focus exclusively on publishers of color,” said Brown.
“In January, I participated in San Francisco’s inaugurate BCAF (Black Comix Arts Festival) 2015 held during Martin Luther King Holiday weekend. The BCAF’s mission is to celebrate the creativity and subjectivity of African Americans in the comic arts and is dedicated to the notion that all audiences deserve to be subject in the culture in which we participate.
“It included a grand expo, kids’ activities, film screenings, panels and conversations, cosplay events and much more. There is also the East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention held annually in Philadelphia that has been around for decades among many others events througout the country. Recently, I have had several discussions about bringing a Black Comic Convention to Los Angeles.”
For more information on some of the artist and writers showcased at WonderCon, please visit their websites: http://thedavidwalkersite.com/; http://offshootcomics.com; www.davidgbrown.net. For more info on WonderCon, please visit www.comic-con.org/wca.
