Getting Wacky at WonderCon
Oakland Comic Book Convention
Features Industry's Weird and Wonderful

By Lisa Nishimoto

Spiderman perched on a chair and Wolverine brandished long blades strapped to his fists. A giant cockroach paced menacingly before him, and a man in a red superhero suit with a giant white coffee cup on his head raised his arms triumphantly.

Mascots of two independent comic books — La Cucaracha and Too Much Coffee Man — had just declared themselves the winners of a rumble with their mainstream comic book opponents. It was all part of a wacky weekend that was WonderCon, a comic book show held April 10-12 at the Oakland Convention Center at the downtown Marriott Hotel.

Hundreds of comic book fans from all over Northern California came to see everyone from industry bigwigs like Kurt Busiek, creator of the Astro City comic book, to Oakland Comics Entertainment, a local company that publishes comics geared toward the hip-hop music culture.

The three-day show included panel discussions by comic book artists and publishers, comic book vendor booths, and an "artists' alley"where fans could get autographs and purchase original art.