WonderCon Anaheim 2014

What happens in people's minds and brains when they read and create comics? Neil Cohn (University of California, San Diego) will present an overview of his new book, The Visual Language of Comics: An Introduction to the Structure and Cognition of Comics, which provides an extensive introduction to the cognitive science of comics comprehension. This discussion will cover the systematic components that make up unique and different panels, the grammar of sequential images and page layouts, cross-cultural differences in structure, and the newest neuroscience research on what the brain is doing while comprehending comics.

Learn how to incorporate comic books into your classroom. New York Times bestselling author Frank Beddor (The Looking Glass Wars, Hatter M), New York Times bestselling author Marjorie Liu (Astonishing X-Men, Dirk & Steele), Harvey Award nominee Anthony Del Col (Kill Shakespeare), and Mimi Cruz (Night Flight Comics) will provide insight and discuss how students can create their own comics in a classroom setting. Newly updated, The Secret Origin of Good Readers resource book is a free PDF download at www.night-flight.com/secretorigin/index.html courtesy of XMission.com.

Barbara Gordon ranks among the world's most famous superheroines, first as Batgirl (1967-1988) until rendered paraplegic in The Killing Joke, and then as Oracle, supreme computer hacker and Birds of Prey leader (1989-2011) until DC Comics's New 52 relaunch made her ambulatory and Batgirl once again. Renowned Birds of Prey/Batgirl writer and WonderCon Anaheim special guest Gail Simone discusses this character's real-world popularity and fictional trauma recovery with psychologists Dr. Andrea Letamendi (Under the Mask Online), the model for Barbara Gordon's therapist, and Dr. Travis Langley (Batman and Psychology: A Dark and Stormy Knight).

The Winner Twins, multiple award-winning and national bestselling sci-fi authors, scriptwriters, and producers, teach you how to create your own novel step by step, from building your universe to overcoming writer's block to the different paths to publishing. The teenage twins have written four science fiction novels and have taught their unique award-winning creative writing method to hundreds of thousands of convention attendees, teachers, and students across the country. The Winner Twins and Richard Hatch (Captain Apollo/Tom Zarek of Battlestar Galactica, author of the bestselling Battlestar Galactica Book Series) will teach you how to create a film or TV treatment from your novel and how to pitch it.

Captain America isn't just a symbol of the United States; he's a symbol of the United States's relationship with war and the military. Nicole Rehnberg analyzes issues of Captain America comics that reference the Vietnam War to discuss how the actions and words of Captain America show America's changing relationship toward the Vietnam War from wartime to present-day. Kathleen McClancy (Texas State University) argues that the conflict between Iron Man and Captain America in Marvel Civil War replicates the battle over nostalgic framing narratives for the War on Terror.

Having a goal, a good idea, discipline, and skills is only the start of what you need for your project to succeed. Knowing the basics of group dynamics, forming then working with a group without mortally wounding each other is the difference between success or failure of your projects, and possibly friendships too. No matter which industry (comics, illustration, movies, Webcomics, design or animation, costuming or cosplay), "breaking in" has never been a more apt term than in today's media. It is a full-time job, and you only have part-time hours to accomplish it. Topics covered pertain to any group with a goal, from hobbyist to professional purposes as well as any interest of geek or creative culture. Topics cover a myriad of organizational subjects: different kinds of leadership that match your groups needs, the importance of starting everyone on the same page and how to keep everyone there, how to build your team, a variety of angles on deadlines and work environments. The panelists represent a broad cross section of levels of authority, departments, work pipelines, and sizes of organizations and come from a variety of media, including illustration, writing, design, animation, podcasting, and live-action film production. Topher Davila (art director, GeekdomWear), Sean Glumace (digital arts instructor at Golden West College), Aleister Gilgrim (creative director, ICS Mobile), Brendan Creecy (Radio BrendoMan podcast), Victoria Irwin (managing editor, TheGeekGirlProject.com), Cat Smith (voice actress, CatSmith.net), Ron Coleman (molecular geneticist and writer), Keith Wolzinger (Klezmer Podcast) and Mario Martinez (co-creator, TomatoTV), provide unique content that is a mix of speaking, questions, and some short interactive applications where the audience can directly apply the information covered.