NYCC was last weekend and we went. I only was able to get Saturday badges but that didn't stop me from seeing as much as I can in one day.
After waking with a terrible hangover, and eating some form of melted plastic that was hidden in my breakfast from an NYC diner, I headed over to NYCC. Our cab happened to get stuck in traffic right outside the entrance we had to use so my day was getting a little better. Entry was quick. There really wasn't any type of line, we just scanned our badges and walked in, so kudos to the event staff for making crowds and entry pretty easy.
I picked up an Iron Man, Wolverine and Daredevil and framed them together... do you know how much frames cost??!!!
....also did the same with Chewbacca, AT-ATs and Stormtrooper
Seeing as I was only there a day, I figured Ill just stick with the show floor and take in as much as I can in 8 hours. I started off in the middle and immediately made a b-line for one of the far walls to serpentine the entire room. I'd like to say the show floor is big... well it is, its huge, but it felt smaller than SDCC. This is probably since they split off Artists Alley to a different section. Most of the booths in NYCC are small sellers. While SDCC has its huge Hasbro, Lego or Sideshow Collectibles booths, NYCC has a few (Marvel, Walking Dead, Capcom), but mainly just small "stores". It's like a huge fair where you can buy anything related to comics or pop culture. Most booths are artists selling prints of their work or comics they put out themselves. These aren't artists who are in the industry so to speak, but are selling prints or work they did of their favorite characters or their own original unpublished comics. I was turned onto one specifically by other 4LIST staffers. His name was Mike Maydak. Go to his page and click on the "Venom" picture to see all his paintings (or check out his Facebook page). He commissions comic characters and puts his own really cool graffiti-esque spin on them. His work is incredible and I highly recommend checking him out, or looking for him at your local comic con next year. He frequents a few around the country. Here's a small sample of his work I picked up (click on images for larger view)
Walking the floor is basically most of the same. There's hundreds of booths and all are similar in that you'll find a lot of cool artwork or creativity on sale to buy, or for you just to admire. I did hear that NYCC surpassed SDCC in terms of total attendees. I will say walking around NYCC is similar to SDCC. it was pretty packed, but not as packed as SDCC. This could be thanks to Artists Alley being separated.
Mike Maydak; His canvas prints are $60 each, Larger one's or originals are a bit more. regular prints are 3 for $40 but the more you buy he'll probably give you a deal. He's a super nice guy.
After walking the floor for a few hours while I tried to sweat out last nights debauchery, I hit the main lobbies to just wander and check out cosplay. For some reason it felt as if 75% of attendees were in cosplay at NYCC. MUCH more than SDCC. It may have just been the common areas filled with cosplayers all on display, but they were everywhere. Here's a few pictures I was able to snap off while not having a stroke from lack of fluids
Walking the Lobbies led us to get food. NYCC has a few layers to it and a few of these layers contain food courts. We were able to get some personal pizzas for a few hundred dollars that were surprisingly good. 2 Thumbs up to Javits center for its food quality. Living in Boston, I'm used to the utter worst event food you can imagine at the most expensive price you can imagine. Javits center at least raised the quality of the food to make the price more acceptable. The other major bonus of the Javits center?...BEER. nothing cures a hangover like some "hair of the dog". One of their high points is also one of their downfalls. Beer is sold in the food courts out of coolers, just like soda or Gatorade. Minors would simply lift beers and walk out. We watched one genius steal a bottle of beer only to have it fall from under his shirt, hit the ground and smash all over the place. As the kid took off security came over. I was told "this happens constantly". Might be a good idea to only serve it in plastic cups to someone with an I.D but what do I know. Lunch led back to the show floor for another 4 hours of sightseeing.
Overall NYCC was pretty great but did lack the massive expansive experience found at SDCC. Offsite events are nill if any. Think of it this way..... San Diego Comic Con is to 'Mark Wahlberg', as New York Comic Con is to his brother Donnie. SDCC has all the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, while NYCC is more low key. It's still popular but its no blockbuster. Popular panels are scarce and limited to unknown or smaller movies and TV shows already in progress. There are some I wish I got a chance to see though.
With only one day under my belt at NYCC, its pretty tough to give you 4 great things about it. I spent Saturday on the show floor in hopes to see everything in the one day I was there. While I did see a lot of cool stuff. There aren't really 4 things I can throw at you that would be worth while.
I CAN however give you the top 4 things I MISSED at New York Comic Con that I wish I saw….
top 4 things i missed at the darn show
4. Eastern Championships of Cosplay
I missed this .. by the looks of it, I shouldn't have. Here are some highlights from the Northeast Championships of Cosplay. Scroll through the multitude of photos
3. Birdman
We here at the 4LIST have VERY high hopes for this film. So much that were are seeing it on Friday. we should have a 4LIST for it up shortly. Until then enjoy the extend trailer. Its the next best thing to the Birdman panel we missed (we did not have badges for the date this panel took place), which is the next best thing to the Birdman movie we will not miss.
2. Tomorrowland
I had no idea this was even a thing until the news popped up last Thursday that there was a panel. They had a trailer and George Clooney showed up!. That would have been a sight to see. If NYCC is anything like SDCC, then the crowd flips the hell out when huge celebrities make surprise appearances. As an added bonus, this trailer looks 'really' good.
1. Daredevil
This was the one thing I really REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY wanted to see. It was on the day I was going to NYCC so was the only panel I would most likely see. As it turned out, my NYC friend ended up meeting us in Manhattan the night before for dinner and drinks and drinks and drinks. With a weebly woobly state the following the day, the last thing I would be able to tolerate would be a long line early in the morning to get into this panel. Plus I just simply couldn't take the risk that my whole (and only) day may be spent waiting in line for a wristband to see one panel, later in the day. What I read was it was pretty good. With Vincent D'Onofrio announced as King Pin it was looking better and better. We got a pic but video wasn't released to the public. There was some recaps of it thankfully. Above is a good recap by IGN that just made me more and more upset I missed itl. And with the Netflix series taking a page out of Frank Miller's 'The Man without fear', I simply cannot wait. Producers have been saying this series will rely heavily on Frank Millers vision which makes me drool. I'm just glad I have Netflix. I'm not glad its not 2015 yet. Daredevil is one of my favorite Marvel superheroes and YES I enjoyed the 2003 flick very much. Sue me.