Stanton's clips were human-free, although it's been rumored that some barely-recognizable-as-human characters will play a role in the feature. WALL•E and EVE's scenes were almost entirely dialogue free, but the handful of scenes we witnessed displayed an incredible amount of character and personality, which is a testament to the skill of Pixar's animators. No other animation studio has consistently matched the quality of Pixar's feature films over the past 15 years, and WALL•E looks like a safe bet to continue their long run of classic animated features.

Following the WALL•E panel, I moderated the Cartoon Art Museum's Spotlight on Local Cartoonists, featuring Bay Area Cartoonists MariNaomi, Lloyd Dangle, Justin Hall, Debbie Huey, Michael Jantze and Fred Noland. We discussed the local creative community and their own careers in a lively 90-minute discussion, then I was off to the press room for coverage of Paramount's Iron Man. (See sidebar.)

Saturday evening programming included the world premiere of Justice League: The New Frontier and the Fourth Annual WonderCon Masquerade, hosted by Master of Ceremonies Phil Foglio. Activities outside of the convention hall included the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund's fundraising party and art auction at local gallery 111 Minna, and the Queer Comics Reading & Mixer at the Three Dollar Bill Cafe, located in San Francisco's LGBT Center. Both events were very well attended, and it appears that the after-hours outside-of-WonderCon programming is becoming more plentiful each year.

Director Jon Favreau held a roundtable with journalists to talk about the highly anticipated Iron Man. Photo credit: T.Gill © SDCC 2008.

Sunday, February 24, 2008
The convention wrapped up on Sunday with a variety of programs, including spotlights on Japanese superheroes, publishers SLG and TokyoPop, hit series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and cult favorite Jericho, and artists including Tim Sale, Fables creative team members Bill Willingham and Steve Leialoha, and Golden Age comic book artist Creig Flessel.

Traffic on the convention floor wasn't as heavy as it was on Saturday, but exhibitors were pleased with the overall turnout. Eric Shanower, creator of the Eisner Award-winning Age of Bronze said that sales were up significantly from 2003, the last year that he exhibited at WonderCon. "I haven't decided yet if I'll be back again next year. I did okay financially this year. I'm not sure about publicity, though. Exposing my work to new readers is an important part of exhibiting at any convention, whether those people purchase my work at the convention or not. Networking is also an important aspect of conventions to me, and not a lot of that happened as far as I can tell a few days afterward. Of course, seeds may have been sewn which will bear fruit down the line in a way that I can't anticipate."

Debbie Huey, creator of the all-ages comic Bumperboy feels that WonderCon is growing and evolving as a convention, and sees the recent changes as a good thing. "It seems as though the focus of the Con is shifting toward the film and TV industry, much like what San Diego Comic-Con has evolved into. Part of me thinks that the selling point of the convention should be comics, but at the same time, I think all the pop-culture aspects of the Con bring in the attendees. The more that the general public is exposed to comics, the better it is for us in the comics industry. I also like the fact that it is an event that parents can bring their children to; I've noticed that the adults-only content throughout the convention has decreased in recent years."