After three years away from conventions, animation production designer and illustrator Mingjue Helen Chen said she can’t wait to attend WonderCon at the Anaheim Convention Center this year, as both just a fan and a special guest speaker.
“Definitely going and seeing all the different types of art and the artists that are coming from all over,” Chen, a Los Angeles resident, said during a phone interview about her favorite part of these types of events. “I’m not as active in the comic book scene as some of the people who will be there, but seeing some of these people in real life, and not just watching their stuff online or on Instagram, it will be fun. And I also find it interesting to see the people behind the art. Of course, going to panels, the fans and all of the costumes … it’s exciting. I do treat it as a big shopping trip, too.”
The three-day WonderCon convention takes over in Anaheim from Friday, March 24 to Sunday, March 26, and it will include more than 900 exhibitors in the Exhibit Hall showcasing comics, original art, toys and merchandise. The event will also spotlight exclusive movie and television programming, host panel discussions, autograph sessions and more.
Chen has worked for Walt Disney Animation Studios and is currently a production designer for Sony Pictures Animation. She’s worked on films like “Frankenweenie,” “Wreck-It Ralph,” “Big Hero 6” and “Raya and the Last Dragon.” She’s also illustrated covers for graphic novels like “Silk,” “Gotham Academy” and “Blackbird,” and recently designed the cover for the “Ghost-Spider” Little Golden Book. She said she was a little shocked, but also honored, when the producers of WonderCon asked her to design the cover for the 2023 program.
“They asked me to be a guest, even though I was going to show up anyway, but I was extra surprised that they asked me to do that cover because I don’t consider myself that big in the comic book world as an…
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