So, I'm back from the New York Comic Con (and have been since Sunday) but a weekend in NYC can take it's toll on ya, for sure. Still, it's high time I reported on my con experience. So here it goes...
I got into New York City late Thursday night, courtesy of Greyhound's Bolt Bus service (which is lovely.) I entertained myself on the bus ride by reading the screenplay to There's Something About Mary, which is nearly as funny on the page as it was in the theaters. (Want a laugh, you can read it here.) I subwayed it over to my friends Leo and Vanessa's place in Manhattan, and found Vanessa busily gluing gems to wedding invitations. Considering I'll be flying out to Las Vegas in 7 days for Leo's bachelor party, and then flying to Orlando three weeks later for the wedding, I didn't feel bad in the least for having them put me up on their pull-out for the weekend.
Conveniently, the Jacob Javits Center was only about a fifteen minute walk from Leo's place. I got there bright and early, only to find a MASSIVE line of people. And yup, that was just the professional's line. I stepped into the very end of that long line around 10 am, and wondered if I'd make it into the show before 1pm when it was open to the general public. Luckily, shortly after getting in line, they opened up a few more ticket distribution centers. I got my badge and entered the con shortly after 10:30.
Now, when I walked in, there were still plenty of booths setting up, but still a ton going on. And given that these were just professional hours, there were no lines for anything. You could play the video games, grab the free swag, and talk to pretty much any creator you wanted who was there. It was awesome. Of course, my first order of business was getting my picture taken with these naughty nurses. (In my defense, I felt a cold coming on and thought perhaps they could be of assistance.)
I then made my way over to the Marvel booth, and saw they had a green screen set up to get your picture taken as a Marvel hero. One of the kids in my Creating Comics Class is a big Iron Man fan, so it was a no brainer that I'd step into the role of Tony Stark. The suit fit pretty well.
I then went over to the the gaming section, figuring this would be my only chance to check out what they had to offer, before the crowds swelled and it'd be impossible to play anything. I was particularly interested in checking out the DCU Online MMO that's been in the works for years now. It'll be available only on PC and PS3, and the game looks great. Here's a shot of the game, where you take your generic super hero up against a pissed off Doomsday. Superman comes over and helps you take down the big villain.
I then made my way over to artists' alley, where I got the chance to talk to a few artist and check out some other their stuff. I had fun looking at some of Jimmy Cheung (Young Avengers) stuff, and was blown away by the work of Dennis Calero (X-Men Noir.) I took a few pictures of some artists as they were sketching.
Mark Texiera knocking out a Wolverine commission.
Carlos Magno drawing Batman.
Todd Nauck posing while sketching.
Not surprisingly, those professional hours flew by. I did manage to track down Zuda Comic's submission editor Kwanza Johnson, over by the Zuda booth. I was able to thank Kwanza for giving Super Seed a shot in the April 2008 competition. I reminded him that Tears of the Dragon was in the submission pool looking for a chance, and showed him the pin-up I had printed. While my folder was open, he seemed very intrigued by ICE as well, and a strong response from ICE would be a recurring theme throughout the rest of the con.
Before I knew it, it was 1pm. The floodgates were open and the con was open to the public. More on the rest of the con to come...
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