Aw, you didn’t think I’d let WonderCon go by without a requisite photo recap, did you? FOR SHAME!

Let’s start with Megan Rae as Daenerys Targaryen — chowing on a horse heart — from HBO’s Game of Thrones. A week ago, I wouldn’t have had any idea who this was (Darlene and I binged on all 10 episodes over three days). And what’s funny is Megan did the exact same thing at the same time! I swear we weren’t in collusion! You might recognize Megan — she was a Dalek at SDCCI ’09.

Here’s Megara (from Disney’s Hercules) and Aang the Last Airbender. First time I’ve ever seen a Megara cosplayer… and about the 400th Airbender.

Here are some pals (L to R) — Michelle Mauk, who was tabling a few spots down from me. Deb Aoki, who was on assignment for About.com. You can also see Patrick Scullin of Super Siblings, standing next to the Cool Jerk table.

More pals — the never-not-hyperactive Little Vampires creator Rebecca Hicks and one-man, ogre-smiting army Daniel Davis of Steam Crow fame.

The movie version of the Avengers walked by.

Here’s the charming and delightful Sarah Straub and her husband Beau.

Dawww! What’s a comic-con without a little Star Wars crossplay action?

Mrowr! Male version of Cheetah, yes?

And probably my favorite cosplayer of the show — Darkwing Duck. Reasons? A) C’mon. DARKWING DUCK! B) She was totally into it. C) Her little gun smoked (OK it was probably water vapor). D) It was refreshing to not see a beloved kid-friendly character all slutted out. I’m looking at you, Booba Fett!

It’s true! Cool Jerk will be at WonderCon this weekend (March 16-18) at the Anaheim Convention Center. For the first time since I can remember, WonderCon has left its home in San Francisco and has laid down temporary roots in Anaheim. I understand this is only a 2012 thing; WonderCon will return to the Moscone Center in 2013. The good news is that it becomes a local (more or less) convention for Cool Jerk, but the bad news is that likely several thousand Bay Area-native attendees will not be making the six-hour drive to Orange County.

The last time I tabled at WonderCon was in 2010, before Cool Jerk Vol. 3: Bimboozled, Cool Jerk Canvas Panels, Cool Jerk OMG Color! Vol. 1 and my second 24-Hour Comic were printed (not to mention two new t-shirt designs). This means Bay-Area WonderCon attendees will see a bunch of new stuff at the table. Plus, I hope WonderCon’s Southern California presence attracts a bunch of folks who maybe otherwise aren’t able to attend San Diego Comic-Con. Either way, I’ll have all sorts of stuff to sell, and will be offering excellent convention-only discounts!

Click it to WONDERCON-size it!

Since my checks evidently didn’t bounce, I can now share the official schedule of Cool Jerk comic-con appearances in 2012 thus far; Cool Jerk may attend a ‘con or two later in the year. (Any suggestions?)

Staple! • Austin, TX

March 3-4

We’ve never been to Austin or Staple! so we’re really looking forward to this little independent show. We’ve heard nothing but good things about the city, the people and the attendees’ appetite for comics.

WonderCon • Anaheim

March 16-18

This will be Cool Jerk’s fifth year at WonderCon! They moved the venue from San Francisco while the Moscone Center is being renovated, so it’ll be interesting to see who makes the pilgrimage down from the Bay Area.

Phoenix Comicon • Phoenix

May 27-30

Really on the fence about Phoenix Comicon. The last time I tabled there (2010) it seemed more like “early Halloween” than a place for people to buy comics. So I’m likely giving it a pass.

Denver Comic Con • Denver

June 15-17

Cool Jerk has never exhibited in Denver, either… and that’s probably because Denver has never had a comic-con before now! The inaugural Denver Comic Con looks to fill the comic-con void in the Rockies, drawing in people from several adjacent states!

Comic-Con International • San Diego

July 11-15

Ten years in a row for Cool Jerk, in the same spot as always (Small Press K10, next to the restrooms and vomitorium)!

GeekGirlCon • Seattle

TBD (October?)

In lieu of spring’s Emerald City Comic-Con, Cool Jerk will be attending the second GeekGirlCon in the fall (if they hold a second con — stay tuned).

So mark your calendars, put in vacation time, book those flights and bring your wallets!

WonderCon was a couple weeks ago and Darlene and I were there… but NOT as exhibitors (for the first time, actually). I decided to take a break and actually do some networking, socializing, shopping and attend a panel or two… none of which are easy to do when you have to man your exhibitor table. In case you didn’t attend, I took plenty of photos. So, here you go!

This was someone’s sickass ride (I think it had a Hertz Rental Car sticker on it).

Friday was family day. Hey, where’s Cornelius?? um, awkward!

Direct from Asgard, the Warriors Three! Look for them next month in Thor!

CUTEST COSPLAY COUPLE AWARD! I’m thinking… M.O.D.A.M. and M.O.D.O.K.? Not sure about the balls on the face, though.

My favorite Catwoman — Lee Meriwether. MROWR!

If you’ve been to any comic convention in North America over the past several years, you’ll no doubt recognize James and Rebecca Hicks of Little Vampires, who also live in San Diego. (Last year we were keeping each other up to date on the massive Easter earthquake that shook the Southland pretty hard.)

Also with a movie this year, the Sentinel of Liberty himself… the Living Legend of WWII… the First Avenger… (geez, how many titles does Captain America have??)

Nice to see Boomer and Apollo having a chat.

Here are ol’ pals Sarah and Jeff (foreground) and new pals Desiree and Jonathan… all from the Southland. WESTSIDE!

And here’s WonderCon’s pride and joy Ben Walker and Amanda, who I’m told was BORN WITH WOODEN ANGEL WINGS!

Daniel Steam Crow Davis with a creampuff. If it makes any difference, it was a magic creampuff and he leveled up. I don’t really know what that means. Go read his comic, Monster Commute.

BEST COSTUME! This guy I think was dressed as the Penguin, because everywhere he went… HE WADDLED JUST LIKE A PENGUIN! It was SO CUTE! WADDLING EVERYWHERE! All he needed was a top hat, pointy nose, tuxedo jacket with tails, spats, striped pants, trick umbrella and a monocle! (Click the photo to get a better view!)

Here’s a series of photos I took of a group of Earth-11 crossplayers. Their costumes varied in levels of “commitment to the craft,” but all-in-all it was an impressive group. That’s Kit Quinn as Superwoman (she begged people to upload any pics of her in flight, so I hope she can finally prove she’s the last daughter of Krypton).

And we’ll end with rare platinum blonde variant edition Jane Wiedlin, because she’s freakin’ awesome, still wears the Cool Jerk “nighty” from last year and YES! she has a comic, too! ¡Viva Lady Robotika! (OF COURSE she signed my copy! *beams*) Please go track down your own copy — this one’s getting slabbed!

ADDENDUM Although I didn’t take any pics of them, I also lucked out and saw Carla and Lance Hoffman (up from Santa Barbara), Bay Area pal Duncan Cook and Neil (who scored a backroom-deal Bimboozled on the sly). And someday I’ll have to tell you about the shabu shabu dinner we had with Sarah (above) and our friends-who-are-not-associated-with-WonderCon Chad and Todd. We laughed until out faces nearly burst off our skulls.

My fourth-straight year at WonderCon was terrific! Darlene couldn’t make it this time around, so instead I enlisted my loooong-time buddy (and loooong-time Cool Jerk reader) Jay Kenoyer (above) to help man the table on Saturday. We go way back, Jay and I. Like 1982. He’s one of the funniest people I know. So as you can imagine, hilarity ensued. It was awesome to see a bunch of old friends and nake new ones. I’d like to personally say hi and thanks to Daniel & Dawna Steamcrow, Team Space Punks, Team Lunasea Studios, Team Ben Walker, Alex Gamboa, IronChuck, Earthdog, Duncan, Jacob, Korin, Neil, Vinh, Gabby & Raquel, Joseph, Peter, Alan Groening, Gaby, Sam and his pork bun, Chris & Tara, Mimi Cruz, Justin Orr, Brian Peets, Lance and Carla Bloodcolossus, Deb Aoki, Jane Wiedlin and probably many others!

Here’s a brief photo recap, so you can live vicariously through me!

Making sure the walkways are free of Hydra agents are Captain America and Col. Nick Fury! (that’s me in the background on the left, texting Madame Hydra to STAND DOWN!)

Puppy as Agent of WUAAARGH marker sketch for Alex Gamboa, who I think has at least a half-dozen quasi-pervy character sketches from me by now.

Hey, it’s Angel from the X-Men! How’s it hangin, big guy? Um, apparently to the right.

Duncan Cook is in the hizzle, fo’ shizzle! I say that because that’s totally the way he talks. Hey, Sarah Kuhn — he likes your book!

Here’s Valerie Perez as Zatanna, along with Mary Marvel and Supergirl. See? I’m throwing some props to you DC fans, too!

This attendee flat-out rocked the Batgirl costume. Custom-tailored leather everything.

Cool Jerk’s next stop will be in Phoenix at the end of May. I hope to beta-test something really cool there. I’m pretty excited about it, and I think you will be, too. (hint: NOT a book, NOT a T-shirt)

So I was at WonderCon (San Francisco) last week, manning the Cool Jerk table and all the things that entails — selling books and T-shirts, doing sketches, chatting with readers and making new friends, Tweeting and texting updates to Darlene (she opted to stay in San Diego so she could join me in Phoenix next month).

A couple of petite women wandered up to my table amid a small flurry of traffic. They started leafing through my Cool Jerk books and after a few seconds, the one closest to me dressed in pink and green gestured to the covers of my books and asked, “So are you a fan of The Capitols?” (the reference: The Capitols did the song “Cool Jerk” in 1966)

My face widened in a smile, “No, I’m much more of a Go-Go’s fan.” The gal who asked the question smiled back. (the reference: The Go-Go’s covered “Cool Jerk” on their 1982 album “Vacation.”)

We chatted the usual comic-con small talk back and forth across the table for a minute or two. “Are you having a good convention?” “How many times have you been to WonderCon?” “Has it started raining outside?” “Are you here all three days?” Her answers led me to think I might be talking to a fellow professional, as she said she’s been to the San Diego Comic-Con International a few years in a row and that it’s good to chill out at WonderCon where she can just walk around and have fun. I glanced down at her badge but it was turned around, so her identity remained a complete mystery. But I had a gut feeling, brought on by her answers and a familiar, distinctive squeakiness in her voice that I didn’t quite place when we first started talking. I waited until she was looking away and I said one word.

“Jane?”

She turned around and said, “Yes?”

Yes, this whole time I was talking to Jane Wiedlin. Guitarist of The Go-Go’s. And I sincerely had no Clue up until about 30 seconds into our chat. (I wonder if someone were filming this, at what point I had my “a-ha” moment… and if it was even noticeable)

I continued with my conversation. “At the expense of being a dork, could I get a photo of you, please?” Jane not only said yes, but came around to my side of the Cool Jerk table. She introduced me to her sister, who graciously took a photo of us. I took another one for good measure. Afterward we continued chatting about comics. She said she’ll be at SDCCI promoting her comic — Lady Robotika — coming out this summer. I told her to come by Small Press and say Hi again.

Photo by Meg Wiedlin

As they were leaving, I said “Hold on a sec.” I gave Jane the display copy of the ladies’ Cool Jerk tank with narrow strappy straps as a thank you for the decades of good music. I asked her to wear it in good faith and promote Cool Jerk — whether lounging around or washing the car, etc. She said, “Oh! I’ll probably have to wear something underneath it,” as she held it up to her small frame and laughed.

Jane rocks (you can tell by the secret double devil-horn hand gestures)!

Jane Wiedlin. How ’bout that. Anyone who’s known me for more than a few years knows I adore The Go-Go’s. I even have an autographed Go-Go’s poster on the wall next to my Mac that I got in San Diego at a 1999 reunion concert.

I texted Darlene immediately afterward and we laughed loud about it, because Darlene has an otherworldly ability to lock in and remember faces in some cyber-techo-organic mental database. SHE would’ve known that was Jane Wiedlin 20 yards away. God as my witness (and Jane, if you’re reading this, I’m crapping you not), it took me a minute of conversation — WELL AFTER I mentioned I was a Go-Go’s fan — before I realized who I was talking to.

A couple days later I’m back in San Diego, and I know I have to write a blog about this. I wanted to verify Jane’s sister’s name, but the Internet wasn’t very helpful in that regard. So I Tweeted her and asked, “@janewiedlin I’d like to give credit to your sister for taking a photo of us at #wondercon; Meg, right?”

A little while later Jane replied, “Yes, Meg! I love my CJ dress, wearing it as nightie.”

>shudder< WHAT HAVE I DONE…?!? Fellas (and a bunch'a you ladies, don't deny it), I apologize -- if it weren't for Cool Jerk, Jane Wiedlin would be sleeping in the nude.

Click it to hugeify it!

I’ll be manning the Cool Jerk table at WonderCon once again, Friday-Sunday (April 2-4) at Moscone Center South, San Francisco. It’s the fourth year in a row that I’ve been there, and I’m looking forward to seeing a bunch of you subscribers (Duncan — I owe you a buck) as well as corrupting the minds of unwitting new readers! I imagine the weather will be awesome, so if you live in a 600-mile radius of the Bay Area, hop in the car and come on down! I’ll have all my books, plus lovely new T-shirts (in mens’ and womens’ fits) and other stuff you can’t possibly live without!

Team Cool Jerk, San Diego Comic-Con 2009

Emerald City ComiCon • Seattle
March 13 & 14
Cool Jerk’s second ‘con appearance in the land of Twin Peaks, coffee conglomerates and sasquatches.

WonderCon • San Francisco
April 2-4
Fourth year in a row! Look for Team Cool Jerk in the same spot as always (Artists Alley, across from the Furries yiff pile)!

Phoenix Comicon • Phoenix
May 27-30
Delighted to be back for the first time since 2006!

Comic-Con International • San Diego
July 21-25
Eight years in a row, in the same spot as always (Small Press K10, next to the restrooms and vomitorium)!

So mark your calendars, put in vacation time, book those flights and bring your wallets!

WonderCon! Cool Jerk is pulling a hat trick at San Francisco’s Moscone Center South Friday through Sunday, February 27-March 1, 2009. This marks three years in a row! Find me in the Artists’ Alley, surrounded by creative freaks, cartooning miscreants and their ilk. If you’re within a 2,500-mile radius of the Bay Area, drop everything and swing by to say “Hi!” More importantly, surrender some folding money on reasonably priced Cool Jerk merchandise, including my Cool Jerk collections Hodabeast and Chickadoowa, T-shirts of many varieties, Cool Jerk button 5-packs, mini-comics and other goods you can’t possibly live without!

Like last year, you can be among the first to see the pre-press proof of my next book! Want a hint? It’s NOT a Cool Jerk book! And as always, I’ll have some freebee stuff at the table, too. Hook the kids with a free sample, get ’em addicted, make the sale. That’s what I always say.

WonderCon! Cool Jerk will be chillin’ in San Francisco’s Moscone Center South Friday through Sunday, February 22-24, 2008. It’s true, these things I say! I’ll be in the Artists’ Alley, surrounded by creative freaks, cartooning miscreants and their ilk. If you’re within a 1,000-mile radius of the Bay Area, drop everything and swing by to say “Hi!” More importantly, surrender some folding money on reasonably priced Cool Jerk merchandise, including my book Hodabeast, T-shirts of many varieties, Cool Jerk button 5-packs, mini-comics and other goods you can’t possibly live without!

Plus, be the first to see the pre-press proof of the second volume of Cool Jerk, “Chickadoowa!” Like its predecessor, it’s 144 pages of comic genius! And — as always — I’ll have some freebee stuff at the table, too. Hook the kids with a free sample, get ’em addicted, make the sale. That’s what I always say.