NY Comic Con 2012

Well that certainly was an “interesting” October/beginning of November! October started off pretty normal, leaves changed colors, the nights started getting cooler, and my friends and I rushed around like mad people getting ready for NY Comic Con. Now I know what you’re thinking, “It’s been almost a full month since NYCC. Why is she posted about it now?” Well I’m going to briefly answer that question before continuing to my review of the awesomeness that was this year’s geekiest event in New York City.

Normally I would have written up my review a day or two after the con, this year the con-crud got me. I was sick for a week. Then my kids were sick for a week, which would have been fine, if they hadn’t alternated weeks. Three kids = three weeks of sick people. And just when we were all feeling better and I was getting caught up with everything we got hit with the biggest hurricane to hit the Northeast in 100+ years! Luckily for us, we made it through with no major property damage and all our friends and family accounted for. It looked like we were in the clear, but after getting life back in order and the kids back to school, we were hit with a blizzard.

Most people would take this as a sign that maybe the universe is trying to tell them something. That maybe writing a review of NY Comic Con (or at least trying to) has woken some unnamed evil that will do all in its power to keep my article from gracing the pages of this fine site. But not me. I laugh in the face of danger! Ha ha ha! Also, I totally promised Marc I would post this, so I guess I kind of have to. 😉 Anyway, enough of me prattling on about nothing. On to the review!

As you might remember, last year was my first year at NY Comic Con and indeed my first time at a geek con in general. And it was a blast! But due to poor planning on my part, I was only able to attend for three days and by the end of it, I was dead on my feet. This year I was ready with scheduled babysitters and comfy shoes. I went all four days and was still alive enough to enjoy the last panel on the last day.

Day One – Thursday

This year my brothers and my friends all bought four day passes so all of us could go to Press/VIP Day Thursday. If you’ve never been to NYCC and you are planning on going next year for at least two days, I would highly suggest doing the same; the four day pass is worth the price.

Thursday the floor is mostly empty and it’s so much easier to get around and see all the exhibits. That’s the day I took all my pictures of the booths on the show floors and figured out where everything was located. Plus if you want to play a game or see a floorshow, there are either short lines or no lines at all. It also meant that the Turtle Tunnel was mostly empty!

Okay so what on earth is that? Between the main show floor and The Block, which was a separate artist’s type section, there was a hallway – a hallway made to look like a New York sewer – home of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It was so cool! They had a fog machine going and all kinds of random spotlights in different colors, plus “props” from the newest reboot of the cartoon show. I wish my pics had come out better, but it was purposely dark and the flash made everything look weird.

After playing in the Turtle Tunnel for longer than an adult woman probably should have, I walked over and checked out the publishing section of the floor. Tons of cool stuff this year and books…so many books… You can see pictures of a lot of the publishing boothes plus more pictures of the con here.

When I was done wandering the floor I went to my first panel: Justice Is Served.

After the panel I got a call from my husband that one of my kids was sick and could I come home early. Luckily I didn’t miss any panels, but I did miss an after-party which was disappointing. So ended day one.

Day Two – Friday

Friday was the highlight of the weekend, at least for me it was. First I got one of my favorite books signed by one of my favorite authors: Peter S. Beagle.

So much squee… I actually went back on Sunday and had him sign my dad’s copy of The Hobbit. Why? If you have a copy, open it to the beginning. Mr. Beagle wrote the forward for it and The Lord of the Rings. It was the first place my dad had ever seen his name.

Then we went straight downstairs and camped in the stage area for two panels to make sure we had seats for the Sir Terry Pratchett panel. I’m glad we did too. By the time his panel started, it was standing room only on all sides of the stage.

The panel was great. On top of getting to hear a bit about his newest book Dodger, there was also a Q&A, and Rob Wilkins read an excerpt. Sir Terry is such a funny guy and it was an awesome panel all around.

Unfortunately, the stage area was in the middle of the autographing hall for some reason and it was really hard to hear at some points even though we were only in the third row. I think NYCC would do better to close off all the stages next year. Even a curtain would have been better than nothing. Needless to say the video I took of the reading is incredibly hard to hear, so I will sadly be unable to post it. But it was a great experience which led to the next exciting bit: the signing.

We were in line for two hours, starting directly after the panel. When the line finally opened, it was so long it curved back in on itself! But the wait was worth it. I got to meet Sir Terry, get my picture taken with him and got a signed book plate for a certain benevolent Overlord! 😉

Day Three – Saturday

Saturday was panel day. Which was good, because Saturday was also packed! Among the cool panels I saw were the Hero’s Quest panel, in which the authors on the panel managed to increase my to-read pile yet again.

Another fun panel was Genre-Benders. It was originally a different panel and the moderator was chosen ten minutes before the panel started, but it was really fun. It took a look at stories and series that mix subgenres or don’t comfortably fit into any specific subgenre. They also had a signing afterwards. 🙂

I got to meet up with a bunch of my out of town friends on Saturday too. It was a lot of fun catching up with everyone.

Day Four – Sunday

Sunday I went in later than the other days but still managed to catch a couple panels before the con closed up for the year. The last one was The Brave New World of eBook Publishing. It talked about self-publishing, indie publishing, and even how Big Six is dealing with the still growing ebook format. It was really informative and I wish I thought to record it.

I got to talk to Michael and Robin Sullivan for a bit after the panel. I probably would have stayed longer, but the breakdown crew was already hard at work disassembling the stage. So I headed out of the Javits Center with tired feet, camera full of pictures, and head full of ideas.

Once again NY Comic Con was worth the line waiting, crowd fighting, and exhaustion at the end. Next year I’m hoping I’ll have a little more time to hang out with people, but now that I have the hang of it, this is definitely going to be a yearly occurrence. Now if only I could figure out a way to get to San Diego Comic Con and World Fantasy Con next year too…

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