Fans are back at cons, and they’re back in a big way! The fact that attendance at WonderCon returned to normal on March 24 – 26, 2023, in Anaheim, CA, was encouraging, as it brought the event back to normal following a down year in 2022. On Friday, there was a reasonable amount of attendance, which is typical for this Con, but on Saturday it became jam-packed with attendees and cosplayers alike.
Each year Comic Con attracts the best cosplayers around and despite the impact of a waning pandemic, this year absolutely did not disappoint.
This year was my first Comic Con experience ever and I got to experience in my hometown of New York. As a kid I always wanted to witness the magic of Comic Con in person but over the years, I just hadn’t had the chance. One thing I had learned in recent years is that the cosplayers here at pretty much the best you’ll ever see and when I finally got to the Javits center and witnessed it all in person, I was just stuck in a state of awe for about a half hour. Seeing a lot of my favorite comic book and video characters be brought rather realistically to life was incredible. Here are some of my favorite shots of the cosplayers from over the weekend.
Ever wonder what David Harbour’s life was like before Stranger Things? It may not be what you would’ve expected.
Success as an actor is often hard to define. Sometimes critical acclaim or commercial profitability are the metrics used to define success. However, there’s another lesser attained category that only a few actors ever get the honor of being – a cult classic. Thanks to Stranger Things, David Harbour has certainly hit that mark. He hasn’t always been the household name he is today and chances are most fans wouldn’t have known his life prior to the culture defining Netflix series. But judging from the response at New York Comic Con this year, they certainly wanted to know more and David was happy to share about his life prior to the show.
For starters, he grew up in New York in the East Village and stayed there for much of his life as he pursued a career as an actor. However, he wasn’t exactly dominating the big or small screen in any capacity. His appearances were mostly confined to recurring roles on short lived TV series and doing off Broadway plays. It got to the point where he was started to worry about where next month’s rent would come from. He was on a tv series that had just shot its first season and he needed it to get renewed to ensure he’d be fine financially for the coming months. He waited by the phone and hoped to get the good news, but when the phone rang, it didn’t go the way he wanted.
As you can imagine, he was saddened by the news, but it was relatively short lived. Not too long after, he got a call to audition for a certain Netflix show – Stranger Things. After auditioning though, he wasn’t exactly encouraged. He figured at first that someone with a better track record or name would get selected as it was a fairly large role and he was right. Someone else did get selected but ended up rejecting the role. Who passed up on that opportunity, we may never know, but the rest, as they say is history.
It was really great getting this story and many others like it from David and other cult classics at Comic Con. Be sure to check out the other coverage here on the Knockturnal for more interesting stories like this.
For over twenty years, Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez has delivered exemplary graphic designs and artistic visions to globally-renowned clients — as a means to create awareness of issues that trouble the Latinx community.
A ton of trailers are shown for the first time every year at San Diego Comic Con. This year’s con was no different. In order to make sense of the noise, we’ve compiled a list featuring only the biggest reveal trailers to come out of SDCC 2016. From film to television, Marvel to DC, these are the first-looks at some of the next couple years’ biggest entertainment franchises. There was plenty more that excited us coming out of SDCC including the new Sherlock trailer and that leaked footage of Spiderman, but everything below is brand-spanking new.
Wonder Woman
The trailer that gathered the most attention coming out of this year’s convention, Wonder Woman is quite the treat. Surely it has not taken this long (nearly ten years since Iron Man and The Dark Knight kicked off the comic book movie boom) for one of the most iconic American super heroes to get her own movie? Laments about Hollywood’s neglect of female and heroes of color aside, Gal Gadot kicks ass in this WWII era trailer, which looks to essentially be the first Captain America film but (hopefully) way way better.
Justice League
Speaking of DC, it is hard to get legitimately stoked for anything in that cinematic universe following Man of Steel and Batman V. Superman. But this… this is awesome. Ezra Miller is the true star of this trailer as a witty Barry Allen that could completely change the grim tone that has been dragging these movies down to the depths where Aquaman resides. P.S. “Icky Thump” is my favorite White Stripes song.
Lego Batman
Justice League takes a good position in the middle ground between comical and oh-my-god-the-world-is-on-fire-we-need-to-save-it, everyone get their serious masks on! Lego Batman doesn’t even try to take itself seriously, and that’s why we love it. We all know Will Arnett is doing fantastic voice work in this season of Bojack Horseman, so between him and the dream team that brought us The Lego Movie, this one is sure to be a delight. At very least it’s sure to be better than the last time we saw Batman and Robin on the big screen.
Kong: Skull Island
This one’s been in the works for a while, but we finally got a glance at it at SDCC. Sure, a King Kong origin story may not be the most exciting concept to everyone — I mean who is truly a fan of the King Kong franchise? — but it shows promise. It’s more original than just another reboot. Between Brie Larson, John Goodman and Tom Hiddleston, the cast alone is worth the hype.
Marvel’s Luke Cage
Luke Cage and OBD go together like peanut butter and jelly. I guess what I’m trying to say is there wasn’t too much surprise worthy in the reveal trailer of the next in the line of Marvel’s popular Netflix universe. But much in the same vein of Daredevil and Jessica Jones Cage seems very very good at punching dudes in the face, torso and lower body areas.
Marvel’s Iron Fist
The final member of Marvel’s Defenders, Iron Fist looks to take the same gritty tone as the previous three, but with a possible twist. There isn’t too much to this short teaser, but fans would know that what sets Danny Rand apart is the way his powers manifest. He is not simply stronger or a better fighter, but has mystical chi, which should be a fun production hurdle for Netflix and hopefully result in some awesome sequences.
Star Trek: Discovery
It’s been one hell of a week for Trekies. With the release of Justin Lin’s surprisingly well received Star Trek: Beyond (die-hard fans who hated on the Abrams films seem to be somewhat more pleased) and now this. We still dont’ know much about CBS’s 2017 program and this trailer really only shows of the ship, but it’s safe to say even a taste of a new Star Trek is sure to get fans of the new and old alike ready for a brand new adventure.