New York Comic Con is the convention that I look forward to attending every year. It's local, it's not overwhelmingly crowded and the panels are usually pretty interesting. That is, until this year. Don't get me wrong, I had a blast at NYCC, but there is no doubt that the Javits Center severely oversold the event this year. There was even a point on Saturday when they closed all of the doors and were not admitting any more attendees into the convention because they were over capacity. I had arrived late that day, but luckily because I had a press badge and Melissa had an exhibitor badge we were permitted to enter anyway. I had also heard people complaining about the lack of guests and interesting panels. I disagree with this point. Last year, the two big panels were The Walking Dead and The Avengers panels. The Walking Dead returned for a panel again this year, but it wouldn't have made sense for The Avengers to return when their next movie isn't scheduled to be released for a few years. Plus, Clark Gregg crashed the Marvel TV panel to be there when Joss Whedon and Kevin Fiege's video clips announced that the S.H.I.E.L.D. television series would feature Agent Coulson. That's pretty darn exciting if you ask me! Not to mention that Tom Felton, Adam West, Burt Ward, and Stephen Arnell (the new Arrow) were all in attendance. As for other guests, I was very pleased. Maybe it's because I love comics, but the main reason that I attend conventions is to see the authors and artists behind each of my favorite series. I don't get overly excited when I meet movie stars, but place me in front of an author like Neil Gaiman and I'm speechless. I love getting my books signed and just being able to have a few moments in the presence of someone talented enough to have created a series I respect.
So now, for my favorite parts of NYCC. I was really pleased with the amount of Twitter people I was able to run into at the convention. It's so lovely to be able to finally put an IRL face and voice to a Twitter handle. I do wish I could've spent more time with some of the people I met, but NYCC weekend flew past like a whirlwind. I didn't even get to spend the majority of time with my close friends with the exception of Melissa (@mechamelissa) and Jen (@jennifermarie). Luckily, I was able to catch up with some others that I missed at the con at the after parties. On Thursday night, Melissa, Chris (@CapSteveRogers), and I ended our night early and nommed on Mexican food and margaritas before turning in. It was the perfect end to an exhausting day. The following night, Melissa, Alan (@SizzlerKistler), Lisa (@LisaMcMullan) and I attended the Psychology of Cosplay panel given by none other than Andrea (@ArkhamAsylumDoc) and Jill (@TheNerdyBird). It was a great panel and the girls did a wonderful job speaking and informing us about cosplay demographics! Immediately afterward we headed to The Mary Sue & Her Universe party which was moved to Beer Authority after the Houndstooth Pub lost the reservation. We had a great time just hanging out and eating cheesecake and fries. Saturday night was by far my favorite night of parties. We left the convention around 10pm and attended the Geek Girls party at Stitch, followed by the Marvel Comics party. In fact, we had so much fun that we didn't end up getting back to Melissa's until 5 AM (which we undoubtedly paid for the next morning). It was so much fun catching up with Brad Walker (@IamBradWalker), who drew the art for Guardians of the Galaxy. He just looked on at us embarrassed when Jen, Melissa, and I broke out into an Oasis sing along.
Part of what I find most fun about going to any convention is putting together outfits. On Thursday (the first photo), I was decked out in Wonder Woman attire which other people kept referring to as a costume. I had to assure them that those were in fact my normal clothes and are the way I dress on a day to day basis. The next day, Jen and I wore our galaxy dresses by BlackMilk and I made us complimenting Lantern headbands. Jen is a Sinestro fan so she represented the Yellow Lanterns while I stuck to the classic Green Hal Jordan. We were planning on collecting Lanterns to take photos with, but sadly we did not see very many Lantern cosplayers. Then on Saturday we donned more of our BlackMilk pieces. We attended the con as the droids you've been looking for with me as R2 and Jen as C3PO. Almost immediately after entering the con, Melissa and I decided to impulsively purchase wigs and we spent the rest of the day roaming in our vibrant headwear. Our friend Lauren (@LaurenMoran), was also dressed as an adorable Ewok on Saturday so she perfectly fit in with our theme! Then on Sunday, I decided to cosplay since I hadn't any of the other days. I went as Stephanie Brown Batgirl and Melissa went as female Solomon Grundy.
As for highlights inside the convention, I was really excited to meet Jim McCann and get a signed copy of his Mind the Gap Volume 1 trade. I've been loving each issue of the series and Jim even gave me his email address so I can interview him for On Wednesdays We Wear Pink. I also acquired a signed copy of Blacksad by Juan Diaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido, a beautiful Harley Quinn statue by Kotobuyika, an Indiana Jones Handbook from my friend Eric (@EricSmithRocks) at Quirk Books (@QuirkBooks), a few adorable tees from WeLoveFine (@WeLoveFineTees) which I'm sure I'll be modeling soon via instagram, a signed Fables print from Bill Willingham, Harley Quinn and Batgirl iPhone cases, and I had Kyle Higgins sign my Nightwing trade. And, I was able to accomplish my one convention goal which was to meet Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples and have them sign a Saga trade for me. We arrived at the Midtown signing quite late, but thanks to Thor Parker (@ThorParker), we were able to get in line and be the last few to meet them! Overall, I'd say it was a very successful convention. I'm sure that I'm forgetting things because like I said before, this NYCC really did fly by. What were your favorite moments from NYCC? Let me know in the comments section, on Twitter, or tumblr! And for a full album on NYCC pics, feel free to friend me on Facebook.
Currently Reading: Y The Last Man Volume 10 by Brian K. Vaughn
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