Now that the dust has finally had time to settle on this year's New York Comic Con: What did you think of it? How'd it go? Who'd you meet? What'd you get? Highlights? Complaints?
Me, I was happy to pick up Jerome Opeña's new sketchbook, dude is a modern master. I also enjoyed meeting Andrew Maclean and picking up his new Snarlagon book, as well as getting him to sign Head Lopper #1. And while i'm not really a big signature guy, I paid Jae Lee $10 to sign his Multiversity variant, because it's one I really like.
I was bummed I missed Cliff Chiang, Rafael Grampa and Steve McNiven, who may have shown up for like an hour, or not at all. That's kind of a shitty deal, a *lot* of artists just weren't at their booths. Disappointed Darrow cancelled too.
Artist Alley, and the whole building really, were way too packed. It was really stressful to navigate or even stand still. The dire cell service, and lack of working water filling stations also crappy.
The Marvel Fanfare panel was sweet. Didn't expect Frank Miller, nor for him to act as de facto host, or be so funny. Imagined him as some grizzled ol' chunk of coal, not a comedian. Romita Jr. was delightful as well. And they handed out free G.O.D.S. #1 variants which was a nice touch.
All in all, mixed feelings. Friends wanna go back next year, i'm not so sure. How did you make out?
didn't even know it was happening until this week. Idk, comic con itself didn't seem like big news this year. Apparently something smiling friends s2 related happened so I'm semi hyped for that, I guess.
I’ve been going to NYCC almost every year since it started and I feel like it wasn’t the same as it was.
Not sure if this is because of the con itself or because of me just getting older and not being as excited about these cons as I did 10+ years ago
>I’ve been going to NYCC almost every year since it started and I feel like it wasn’t the same as it was.
How so?
I don’t want to say it’s because it’s too mainstream and popular now, but it just feels more like an general entertainment-centered event than specifically comics, video games and anime.
Also I feel Funko POPs may have killed some of the whole culture once they became popular.
>Also I feel Funko POPs may have killed some of the whole culture once they became popular.
They killed the artisan vinyl figure market. Shame since those old independent creators always had a ton of creativity & didn't limit their models to simply whatever pop culture thing was happening. Plus their figures looked nice & didn't feel cheap.
Eh other toy companies like Kidrobot, Toy Tokyo, myplasticheart, tokidoki, Super7, NECA and 100% Soft had booths. Can’t say if they made a huge mark this year or not though. I know Tokidoki still has a big following, plus the creator Simone Legno was signing there this year. And 100% Soft had a prominent presence this year because they had exclusive Dumpster Fire figures, like a pizza rat version.
Japanese brands like Tamashii Nations, MegaHouse and Good Smile were there too and still had huge followings.
NYCC has kinda sucked since 2016 to me. I used to be hyped for it each year too but went one day last year and that was enough for me. Doesn't feel like there's much to do there anymore even as lively as alot of the other cons I've been to. I think it's just cause of how corporate it's gotten.
>Doesn't feel like there's much to do there anymore
>but it’s not fun to spend $60 on a pass to just stand on lines and wade through crowds all day. And for what?
>it just feels more like an general entertainment-centered event than specifically comics
all accurate
Why do you still go in 2023? I went every year from '07 to '12 and it just got worse every single year.
Mostly for FOMO. But when I do go, I then feel obligated to say my annual hellos to my former classmates from art school that sell in Artist Alley.
>Why do you still go in 2023?
Different anon but same deal, been going every year for 12 years. It's mostly inertia. I feel the same as you, it gets worse every year, and every year my friends and I wonder if it's worth it to go again. But then ticket time rolls around and once again we figure it's really not that much, it's once a year, we have a decent time, so why not?
Not the same anon and ive only went been once prior last year not counting this year, But i feel it because its really the only place were real people actually give a shit about the stuff i like to such an autistic degree and not going would just feel like a waste. also since it really only 4 days out of the year it like "Why not just go even if it might suck" kinda feeling
IDK if it’s because comics and manga and whatnot have become more mainstream which is why NYCC is do crowded now, but it’s not fun to spend $60 on a pass to just stand on lines and wade through crowds all day. And for what? To just to blow another $60 on exclusive pieces of plastic that will give me that temporary serotonin boost but will inevitably just end up sitting on a shelf collecting dust.
I met Dan Fogler which was kinda cool. Had no idea he wrote comics. He was literally just chilling by his booth
Gary Anthony Williams, the voice of Uncle Ruckus from The Boondocks was signing at a booth too. It’s interesting how certain actors that were there weren’t announced as guests but were selling themselves at booths on the exhibitor floor. Pretty neat that you could just walk up to them and say hello.
Claudio Sanchez of Coheed & Cambria was there too but he was mostly there promoting his comic The Amory Wars
I wonder if that has anything to do with the SAG strikes.
NYCC just looks like a boring corporate con but on a larger scale. NYCC wishes it could be SDCC.
What’s even the appeal of SDCC these days?
Been to NYCC not SDCC, but are all big cons like this? Seems like it's inevitable if it gets big enough all cons just become about generic "nerd" entertainment and not any one thing.
Is it better or as fun as San Diego? In Ted 2 it looked kind of average
did DC had no big panel like Marvel?
wtf?
The news from the titmouse panel where they said Adult Swim is interested in more Venture Bros and they're waiting to hear back from Doc & Jackson was just a kick in the pants. If they were interested in more VB then why the frick did they cancel it and have Doc and Jackson spend the last three years saying goodbye to it.
They probably were moronic enough to think Birdgirl would be a hit. I bet the CEO is still seething that Smiling Friends outdid it.
Im mixed on it, I went for the first time last year and really enjoyed myself so for this year i went for 3 day (Thursday,Friday,and Sunday)
This year felt so crowded that it made navigating the show floor and artist alley a painful nightmare. The crowds killed any interest i had in meeting any specific comic artist since there booths were always packed. I also found the artist alley disappointing with there barely being any artist that i enjoyed and wanted to buy stuff from which is what i enjoy from last year
The show floor also felt lacking but i cant describe why, Maybe it because of the strikes causing there to be less stuff idk but it got boring really quickly and was absolute murder on my feet. The vendors felt like they were just selling the same shit all over the place and it was impossible to find the booth your looking for since there poorly labeled.
My friend who never been to a con before really wants to go next year so i probably will go again for his sake, but going for 3 days was a mistake and i pray they fix the crowd issue next year which i doubt
(The only con exclusive thing im glad i bought is this yugioh playmat so i wasn't all horrible)
The news that interested me were
>Invincible Season 2
>Smiling Friends Season 2 clip
>Ghost Machine and how all its creators (Johns, Frank, Manapul, Tomasi, etc) will be exclusive to it effectively making them like Marvel/DC
>Details on Hickman's Ultimate Spider-Man ongoing
>Dynamite getting multiple licenses for Warner Bros stuff with Thundercats getting an ongoing series
>The multiple fujo commissions Dan Mora got over the weekend
Oh yeah
>Scott Pilgrim trailer
>A few upcoming Image titles sound interesting
>The show floor also felt lacking but i cant describe why
One reason: apparently some aspect of management changed this year and the new people raised vendor prices. You might have noticed there was no Midtown Comics booth this year, that's why (I know this from talking with some Midtown Comics guys the week before about their plans and being surprised to be told they're skipping it).
I feel like the whole floor was diminished because of this, because if a relatively large vendor like Midtown Comics pulled out due to the new price it must have hit the small guys even harder.
Also, it's funny everyone is saying it seemed so crowded this year, to me it was noticeably less crowded than it has been. Pre-Covid on Saturday you literally could barely move on the main floor, this year it was just regular crowded but flowing.