I’m going to try to do this while my wife watches the Oscars. Can I say anything worthwhile or insightful while the TV blares in the background? Probably not, but let’s try anyway.
For me, this year’s NYCC was an opportunity to say hi to folks I haven’t seen in awhile, meet some new folks hand out business cards, schmooze and see what various publishers have planned for the rest of the year. I managed to do all that and more, so for me it was a good time, though at times the crowds and overwhemingness of it all wore me down.
*There’s no question this was an improvement over last year. With last year’s lockdown only an act of God could have rendered it worse. The larger floor space was much appreciated — I didn’t feel like I was in somebody’s basement this time around.
*Still, with the large crowd, it wasn’t like you had much elbow room, especially on Saturday. Artists Alley in particular seemed rather crowded. There’s still room to grow.
* Man, I really hope Martin Scorsese wins.
* Manga once again had a strong showing. Viz and Tokyopop sported two of the most attractive and impressive booths at the show and folks like NetComics and Del Rey Manga nicely filling up the aisles.
* Ohmigod, there are interpretive dancers pretending to be penguins on the Oscars right now. That’s one thing they didn’t have at the con.
* Despite their desire to be the East Coast answer to San Diego, there’s still some things missing. In my mind the biggest absence was that of the art comix crowd. No Fantagraphics or D&Q. Only Top Shelf, First Second and a few other groups manning small booths. And no, that’s not a deal breaker by any means — there’s nothing wrong with putting on a big mainstream show. But to my way of thinking, if you’re going to try to bill yourself as one of THE BIG comic shows, then you need to try to play up the breadth and the diversity of the medium as much as possible. What’s the point of inviting Aline Crumb or Gary Panter to the show if you can’t buy their books on the floor?
* Along the same lines, Artists Alley seemed more like a flea market to me than say, an actual Artists Alley, what with all the T-shirt sellers and whatnot. Perhaps that’s just me though.
* Of course, the prevelance of video game publishers and other noncomics entities at the show underscores the fact that these days most comic cons are really more about celebrating pop culture and certain licences in general than it is about the art of comics. I have also discovered that water is wet.
* I was wondering what I was going to do for lunch on Friday when Sarah Hale at Tokyopop invited me to a free lunch for the press. Mmmm … yummy sandwiches. Thanks Sarah!
* Another lucky twist of fate allowed me to catch a sneak preview of the upcoming Fantastic Four video games designed to tie into the film. The Xbox 360 version looked alright, though it was clearly still in its early development phase. The Wii version, however, looks like a blast. You can swing the controller down, for example, to have The Thing send a shockwave rippling through the floor. Clobbering time indeed.
* Bookmarks, postcards and bags. Bookmarks, postcards and bags. That’s pretty much the sort of freebies exhibitors chose to hand out at the show, which doesn’t exactly help your product stand out from the crowd. Scholastic was one of the few inconoclasts with their little Bone figurines.
* If for some reason you had to leave the show floor, you had to get a wristband (the kind they give out at bars to people over 21) or you’d have to go all the way back outside and stand on line again. This wasn’t something that was clearly marked however, and I saw a few people who were less than pleased to discover they had to go out in line again, this time without their coats.
* I saw one guy dressed as the Blue Beetle, one Flash, a few Naruto-related costumes, some girls with cat-ears, one guy in a really clever Speed Racer costume, the usual assortment of stormtroopers and lots and lots of jedi. I didn’t see anyone dressed up as Tek Jansen.
* The folks at Archie had a booth set up next to a booth devoted to a group of fecal matter-shaped action figures called “The Turds.” Who put those two together?
* The gentleman who runs Fanfare/Pontent Mon (sorry, I’m doing this from memory and his business card is lost in my backpack) is wonderfully passionate about the books he publishes — and rightfully so. They’re exquisite.
* OK, now the dancers are interpreting “Little Miss Sunshine.” They need to be stopped.
* Despite my quibbles, this was a really good show and I would go back again if opportunity permitted. Basically, if you live in a reasonable distance from NYC, the con is a great opportunity to meet some of your favorite creators, play some games, see what’s coming up and dig through back bins for that one issue you need to complete your collection.
February 26th, 2007 at 2:05 pm
Philly has more space, fewer people, and many many more retailers. NYCC was a great place if you wanted to meet/get sketches from most of the greats (Stan Lee, Steranko, Infantino, Adams, etc etc), but beyond that you are better off with a smaller con.
February 26th, 2007 at 6:29 pm
Nice assessment. It’s a pretty good con with room to grow, but will need a lot more improvement before it becomes the East Coast equivalent to San Diego. Will definitely check out next year’s con since I generally had a good experience.
One thing, they need maybe one or two more ATMs just in case. The ATM on floor 2 (if I remember right) ran out of cash which led to a pretty long line at the lower level ATM in Javits on Sunday. Wasn’t a bad line when I got there (maybe a 20 minute wait arond 11:00am), but if attendence goes up next year, an extra ATM or two on the premises would be convenient. I guess it didn’t help that there was a travel convention going on at the same time.
Hold on… water is wet?