by: Brian Gray

Have you always wanted to attend San Diego Comic Con, but just can't seem to get tickets before they sell out, or are afraid of squeezing into rooms with 125,000 people? Well, good news is here! WonderCon, one of the country's best comics and pop culture conventions, will be held at the Anaheim Convention Center the weekend of March 16-18 (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday). This event is usually held in San Francisco at Moscone Center South, but the venue is not available in March due to renovations.

Last year, over 49,000 people attended the 25th annual event in San Francisco. WonderCon is part of the Comic-Con International family, which also includes San Diego Comic Con (now known simply as Comic-Con International) and Alternative Press Expo (APE). You could think of WonderCon as San Diego Comic Con's little sister. With this being another high-quality event and even closer to Los Angeles, there is potential for a truly epic convention.

For readers unfamiliar with the area, the Anaheim Convention Center is one of the largest in the world and neighbors Disneyland. There was much discussion last year on potentially moving SDCC to Anaheim in the future because of the larger venue. This should be a good test run to see how well the convention is received and if the hotels and restaurants can actually accommodate the Disneyland tourists and the con-goers. Disneyland should be respectably busy in March for Spring Break, but nothing like the July crowds when SDCC is usually held.

WonderCon describes itself as offering "attendees, professionals, and exhibitors the complete convention experience. In addition to the Exhibit Hall featuring comics and items from the many worlds of the popular arts, fans can expect exclusive programming from the top comics publishers in the country, movie and television panels, anime, autographs, games, the Masquerade, and portfolio review." If you don't believe them, check out their official site from last year: http://www.comic-con.org/wc2011/.

Registration has now begun for the event and the special guests that have already been announced include Michael Golden, Mike Mignola, Steve Niles, Eric Powell, Fiona Staples, and J. Michael Straczynski. Full programming is usually not announced until approximately two weeks before the event, but WonderCon should be a safe bet for your convention dollars and early registration is recommended. Note that Comic-Con International is switching to Member ID numbers. Registration for a Member ID will begin in January, but you can still register now if you agree to revisit the site and obtain a Member ID when it opens.

For more details, please visit the official WonderCon website: http://www.comic-con.org/wc/

Have a comment? Post it here.