The Gallifreyan Gazette: NYCC Saturday and Sunday

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

NYCC Saturday and Sunday

Saturday was a crazy and extremely busy day. NYCC was full to the hilt with people all converging on the Jacob Javitts Center. To say the least walking around the convention was extremely challenging at times. But that was not a problem for the veteran con goer. I found it a

Tony Daniel

challenge to get from one side of the convention hall to the other but I was able to navigate around pretty easily once I found a pattern to the way people were walking around. Saturday was a day to get autographs of those that did not have signing schedule for Friday or did not have a table in artist alley. So the big of Saturday was getting Tony Daniel to sign some books for me especially Detective # 1. It was nice talking to him and asking him question of what he wants to do with Batman and what direction he has for Detective Comics and also his plans for Hawkman on that book also. To say the least I found the DC booth to be crowded as crazy and the people who were working the booth and organizing the autograph lines should be commended for doing a good job dealing with all the fans who want to get autographs of their favorite artist and writer. Saturday was just insane. I was glad that I decided to get a majority of my books signed on Friday. Or at least signed at the DC as artist alley wasn't that bad to navigate. In fact I spent quite a bit of time in artist alley as I was able to talk to the artist and writers for a good amount of time as it was a more relaxed environment.

In artist alley I had the good fortune of talking to Joe Prado about Aquaman and Brightest Day and to Peter Tomasi about Brightest Day, The New 52 and the crazy stuff about DC and Barnes & Noble. That's why I like comic book conventions more than other sci fi themed conventions because of availability of the comic book talent and the opportunity to be able to talk to them and if your really lucky they will do an impromptu sketch for you like the one ones here that I got from Amy Reeder, Francis Manapul and Dustin Nygun.

Pretty cool I say especially when they take the time to do that when their main reason for being in artist alley is to make money by taking commissions for doing sketches during the weekend. Another highlight of the weekend was meeting the man who played Winston Churchill in the past two series of Doctor Who Ian McNeice. He was brought in by The Doctor Who Store which is out of Chicago and they also put on the Chicago Tardis convention. He was a nice guest to meet as he was pretty cheerful and signed and posed for pictures with all the fans. Their booth also had an Iron Side Dalek from Victory of the Daleks. It was pretty cool to see and it definitely stopped traffic in that area of the dealer section of the floor. But it was worth the trudging through the crowds to see the Dalek.

The last highlight of Saturday was meeting the cast of Nikita. I never got to take a picture of them as they really rushed the crowd through so they could get as many people an autograph that they could. Unfortunately some people weren't so lucky as they cut the line just ten people after me. What ended up being a major bummer for me and the only negative of NYCC for me was that I was shut out of the Avengers panel and autograph signing. Oh well you can't win them all I guess and hopefully I will be luckier next year.

Sunday was mainly a day for shopping and I scored some good bargains on comic books and trades. There were deals all over the place and I wish I had brought more money with me. But I did buy a couple of cool non comic book stuff like this TARDIS Lunch Box and TARDIS Bobble Head. Plus I bought a cool cat that sings the soft kitty song from the Big Bang Theory.

In all I had a blast at NYCC and loved the whole experience. I have been to all of the NYCC except the first one and I have to say that this years edition so far was the best. It was well organized and the volunteers had a clue and were very helpful. The autograph lines ran as well as could be expected and the whole lay out of the con worked pretty well also. They had seperate areas for the different areas of interest that go on at this convention from anime to children programing it was pretty convient for everyone. The only draw back is that it would be pretty nice if someone opened up a restraunt that was close to the Javits as you literally have to walk to 9th Avenue to get something to eat unless you trust the food carts. So in all I pictured myself as an Anthony Bourdain walking amonst the throngs of Comic Con experiancing the sites and smells (good and bad ) and tasting the tastes that is comic con and whether I was hanging out with Felicia Day or the many of geeks and nerds that make comic books and scifi great then this annual pilgrimage to the big city on the east coast will be definately worth it in the years to come. So now enjoy the rest of my photographs that I took at the con.