Meet WonderCon artist Mingjue Helen Chen who produced the 2023 program cover

After three years far from conventions, animation production designer and illustrator Mingjue Helen Chen said she can't wait to go to WonderCon at the Anaheim Convention Center this year, as both just a fan and a special guest speaker.

" Definitely seeing and going all the different types of art and the artists that are coming from all over," Chen, a Los Angeles local, stated during a phone interview about her preferred part of these types of occasions. "I'm not as active in the comic book scene as some of the individuals who will be there, but seeing some of these people in real life, and not just seeing their things online or on Instagram, it will be fun.

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, initial art, toys and product. The event will likewise highlight special movie and television programs, host panel discussions, sign sessions and more.


< img alt=" The program cover of WonderCon 2023, held Friday, March 24-Sunday, ..." class=" lazyload size-article_inline" data-sizes =" car "data-src=" https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/OCR-L-WONDERCON-CHEN-0324.jpeg?w=620" data-srcset =" https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/OCR-L-WONDERCON-CHEN-0324.jpeg?w=620 620w, https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/OCR-L-WONDERCON-CHEN-0324.jpeg?w=780 780w, https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/OCR-L-WONDERCON-CHEN-0324.jpeg?w=810 810w, https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/OCR-L-WONDERCON-CHEN-0324.jpeg?w=1280 1280w, https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/OCR-L-WONDERCON-CHEN-0324.jpeg?w=1860 1860w" > The program cover of WonderCon 2023, held Friday, March 24-Sunday, March 26 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, was developed by Los Angeles-based animation production designer and illustrator Mingjue Helen Chen.

She will
greet and satisfy with fans in the Artists' Alley at WonderCon and will be speaking throughout a session at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, March 25.( Image courtesy of WonderCon ). < img alt=" Los Angeles-based animation production designer and illustrator Mingjue Helen Chen ..." class=" lazyload size-article_inline" data-sizes=" automobile" data-src=" https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/OCR-L-WONDERCON-CHEN-0324-01.jpg?w=620" data-srcset =" https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/OCR-L-WONDERCON-CHEN-0324-01.jpg?w=620 620w, https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/OCR-L-WONDERCON-CHEN-0324-01.jpg?w=780 780w, https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/OCR-L-WONDERCON-CHEN-0324-01.jpg?w=810 810w, https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/OCR-L-WONDERCON-CHEN-0324-01.jpg?w=1280 1280w, https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/OCR-L-WONDERCON-CHEN-0324-01.jpg?w=1280 1860w" > Los Angeles-based animation production designer and illustrator Mingjue Helen Chen will be an unique guest at WonderCon 2023 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim Friday, March 24-Sunday, March 26. She will welcome and fulfill with fans in the Artists' Alley and will be speaking during a session at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, March 25.( Photo courtesy of Mingjue Helen Chen). < img alt=" Los Angeles-based animation production designer and illustrator Mingjue Helen Chen ..." class=" lazyload size-article_inline" data-sizes=" vehicle" data-src=" https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/OCR-L-WONDERCON-CHEN-0324-WEB-2.jpg?w=620" data-srcset=" https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/OCR-L-WONDERCON-CHEN-0324-WEB-2.jpg?w=620 620w, https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/OCR-L-WONDERCON-CHEN-0324-WEB-2.jpg?w=780 780w, https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/OCR-L-WONDERCON-CHEN-0324-WEB-2.jpg?w=810 810w, https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/OCR-L-WONDERCON-CHEN-0324-WEB-2.jpg?w=1280 1280w, https://www.pressenterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/OCR-L-WONDERCON-CHEN-0324-WEB-2.jpg?w=1418 1860w" > Los Angeles-based animation production designer and illustrator Mingjue Helen Chen will be an unique guest at WonderCon 2023 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim Friday, March 24-Sunday, March 26. She will satisfy and welcome with fans in the Artists' Alley and will be speaking throughout a session at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, March 25. She also illustrated the cover for the WonderCon 2023 program. (Photos courtesy of Mingjue Helen Chen/WonderCon). Show Caption of.

Expand. Chen has actually worked for Walt Disney Animation Studios and is presently 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 likewise detailed covers for graphic novels like" Silk, "" Gotham Academy" and "Blackbird," and just recently created the cover for the "Ghost-Spider" Little Golden Book. She stated 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, although I was going to show up anyway, however I was extra stunned that they asked me to do that cover due to the fact that I do not consider myself that big in the comic book world as an illustrator," she said. "I dabble here and there, however my day job is primarily in animation, so it was exciting to do that since I simply didn't even think they understood who I was.".

Previous WonderCon program cover artists consist of chief innovative officer of DC Comics Jim Lee; "Batman" and "Superman" artist Michael Cho and "Wonder Woman" and "Blackbird" artist Jen Bartel. Chen was offered free rein to develop the cover this year, which she said was motivated by retro travel posters.

WonderCon began in 1987 in San Francisco, however because 2012 it has actually called the Anaheim Convention Center home (though in 2017, while the location was going through restorations, it moved to Los Angeles). Chen wanted the cover to be a nod to the location because it's ended up being such a revered location for comic book and popular culture fans. She likewise created a couple of initial characters, posturing for photos outside of the structure in their costumes, which is a scene frequently witnessed in real life by convention goers.

" I wanted to do something fun like that because a huge part of these shows that's so cool is seeing all of the cosplayers," she stated. "I needed to make sure that was represented.".

Chen was born in China and her family immigrated to the United States when she remained in elementary school, very first landing on the East Coast, prior to settling in Minnesota. She was happy to trade the cold winter months for warmer weather and sunlight in San Francisco, where she attended the Academy of Art University.

She's currently working on an animated K-pop motion picture with Sony, a task she stated could potentially be her favorite within her portfolio. She's been a part of a range of prominent, big-budget jobs, she said, so far, she's the proudest of the 2012 Disney short, "Paperman," which she worked on as an intern.

" It was the very first thing I did when I came out of school and so it informed a lot of things that I enjoy about the industry and solidified that I wanted to belong of animation particularly and not go more into simply graphic novels or comics," she stated.

While she enjoys working in animation, it's a lengthy procedure, often taking 3 to four years for a job to formally materialize. It's also an enormous team effort, with sometimes numerous artists all working on the exact same production. She likes doing side work, like highlighting for comics, because the satisfaction is more immediate. That's something she'll be speaking about during her spotlight discussion at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, March 25 at WonderCon.

" Those things are so various," she said. "We do this thing in animation where at the end of a movie we do a huge celebration for the whole crew and we commemorate. There are numerous artists that deal with the movies, so it's a huge deal.

" But it's nuts and sort of surreal sometimes to sit there and see it on the big screen and have all of these other artists on the movie that make something that none people might have simply done ourselves. In comic book publishing, it's simply me and I only have my abilities, however for the motion pictures, they're these full-blown, 3-D animation affairs with 250 artists coming together to deal with it and it's simply insane.".

WonderCon 2023

When: 11:30 a.m.-7 p.m. Friday, March 24; 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday, March 25; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, March 26.

Where: Anaheim Convention Center, 800 W. Katella Ave., Anaheim.

Tickets: Badges are $35-$ 55 for adults; $18-$ 23 for kids ages 13-17, elders ages 60 and older and active armed force at comic-con. org/wca.