Joss Whedon

It’s a cult favorite. Or a cult hit. Or a cult classic.

Those are magic labels. A spectacularly failed TV show can be revived on DVD as a cult entertainment landmark. The most obscure anything — movie, CD or comic book — can be marketed as a connoisseur’s treasure and collectible.

Even real hits, with big ratings or a box-office track record, are promoted as cult masterpieces.

"It’s because the holy grail in marketing is loyalty," says Steven Addis, chief executive of Addis Group, a brand strategy and design firm in Berkeley.

"Anything that can get you cult status means that there’s a sense of trust and loyalty that otherwise is elusive."

WonderCon, an annual Bay Area comics and pop-culture convention, returns to San Francisco this weekend, catering to just about every niche of obsessive fandom.

Among the most heavily promoted guests is writer-director Joss Whedon. He’s best-known for TV’s "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," but the convention is highlighting his work on "FireFly," a supposed "cult-TV favorite" that flamed out in less than half a season on the Fox network.

Another scheduled guest is Ban Daisuke, the actor who starred in a " ’70s cult TV show" from Japan: "Kikaida: the Android of Justice." The show is remembered for being a phenomenon in Hawaii and has attracted a following on DVD.

WonderCon also has added a masquerade contest, responding to the conventiongoers who like to attend in costumes. The outfits are often elaborately accessorized — Klingons in full makeup, for instance — and "cosplay" (wearing costumes) is a long-celebrated activity at anime conventions.

"Firefly," "Kikaida" and "cosplay" may seem to be somewhat eccentric passions, but that’s the tradition for any obsession that aspires to bona fide cult status. And maintaining an air of cult peculiarity isn’t easy in the age of satellite TV and the World Wide Web.

Small and fragmented pockets of fans suddenly become sizable communities when they find one another on the Web. That’s the same way cult attractions are transformed into commodities. Consider the status of 8-track tapes: That music format was considered dead by the late ’70s. But the current level of interest sustains hundreds of daily auction listings on eBay for 8-track machines and tapes.

"The expansion in the media — especially of the Internet and in the number of TV channels — has muddied the waters somewhat," wrote Paul Simpson, an editor for "The Rough Guide to Cult Movies," in an e-mail interview. "You could say nothing is truly cult because everything gets some form of exposure, yet it would be equally true that almost anything can be cult."

WONDERCON

• WHAT: A pop-culture convention rooted in comic books that includes toys, anime, television, movies and graphic arts

• WHERE: Moscone Convention Center, 747 Howard St., S.F.

• WHEN: Noon-7 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m-7 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday

• TICKETS: $15 per day; $35 for all three days; children under 12 free with paid adult ticket

• GUESTS AND EVENTS: Celebrities appearing during the three-day event include filmmaker and comics writer Kevin Smith, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" writer-director Joss Whedon, comics artist Alex Ross and comics writer Brian Michael Bendis. More than 60 panel discussions, seminars and workshops are scheduled.

• WEB SITE: www.comic-con.org