Now that I am several days removed and after logging in just under 70 miles of walking in which my body can feel every mile of it, I can now reflect on the good, the bad and the ugly of my New York Comic Con experience.
THE GOOD
This was my fifth year in a row going. Every year since that first one, the people who run the convention has made subtle and some major improvements to enhance our experience. I can remember what a mess it use to be to have both the autograph area and artist alley being part of the main show floor. Since 2012, artist alley has its own wing in the convention center. Bravo to that because it gives the artist a brighter working area and a more comfortable setting for them and their fans to interact. Something that they are wonderful at doing.
Same can be said for the autograph and photo op areas. It was a slightly disorganized mess in the past. Since 2011 changes have been made by giving the celebrities their own wing separate from the show floor and artist alley. And since 2012, the photo ops have their own distinct area next to the autographing area. The flow, although still congested at times, is more inviting to the fans overall. I want to thank the staff of Froggy Photos for taking on such an undertaking and working hard to accommodate the fans. Especially those who were less than gracious to them.
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| C-3PO, Anthony Daniels |
As far as the show floor is concerned, most of it was very good. However, there are still room for improvement. Which leads me to…
THE BAD
There is so much to like about all the vendors and all the show exclusives that are available at the convention. But with that said, there may be too many vendors. According to ReedPop, the wonderful folks who run the convention, there were over 130 thousand fans at this years con. Only the Saturday portion of this four day event was the most challenging. What made it a challenge was crowd control. It was very difficult at times to maneuver through the sea of dorkiness. What made it worse was some vendors conducting their own celebrity signings and lining up was problematic at best. So much so, that adjacent vendors complained. It’s hard to blame them when they feel that their business is being negatively affected.
A vendor that conducted such signings was JJ Collectibles. They had Liam McIntyre (Spartacus), Julie Benz (Buffy, Dexter & Defiance) and Greg Grunberg (Heroes) to name a few at their booth. To their credit, I felt they did as good a job of managing the crowd and keeping the lines moving. My only suggestion, if possible, get a bigger booth.
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| Liam McIntyre |
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| Julie Benz |
As with past cons, the big two, Marvel and DC has always been the centerpiece of the convention itself. But this year, I felt that DC Comics in particular was less of a presences than at any previous time I’ve ever attending the con. You would think that celebrating the 75th Anniversary of Superman would prompt DC to have a strong show floor presence. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case. They did however had a wonderful Superman display in the lobby area that showcased the many costumes of most of the men who played the Man of Steel through the movies and television. From the late Christopher Reeves to Brandon Routh and Henry Cavill to Dean Cain and Tom Welling. Inexplicably missing was the costume of George Reeves from the 1950’s TV series. Despite that, it was still a great display.
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| Superman display from DC Comics |
Marvel on the other hand was on the main show floor but they too had less presence than years past. Why? I’m unsure. They both had very well attended panels and yet there seem to be something missing. I did get to see Lola, Agent Coulson’s car from the TV series S.H.I.E.L.D.
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| Lola from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. |
And speaking of panels, this leads me to…
THE UGLY
Most if not all panels have a steady flow of people coming in and out. The main stage however is a different story. Once you are in, you never have to leave. More often than not this is not an issue. On Saturday, it was a huge issue. For example, The Walking Dead panel was set for 6:30pm and people began lining up around 3pm some perhaps even earlier. By the time 6 o’clock rolled around the crowd of a 1000+ were told they were not going to be let in. To say that they were disappointed would be an understatement.
So what is the solution? That’s hard to say. Anyone who is willing to sit through 6-7 hours of panels to see the one that they want, I guess should be rewarded for their perseverance.
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| waiting for the Walking Dead panel |
The problem I see isn’t necessarily with the idea of once your in, you can stay in. The problem lies with balancing photo op times, other panels and the general con experience. Maybe give out wristbands that guarantees people a seat. Doing so will allow people to plan their day accordingly and not sacrifice 3-4 hours on a line that guarantees nothing. Is that the perfect solution? Maybe. Maybe not. But it certainly beats the chaos that can occur when turned away. This is something for ReedPop to possibly consider discussing going forward.
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| The other side of the people waiting to see the Walking Dead panel. |
In conclusion, no matter what changes are made, you will never get 100% approval from everyone who attends despite the best efforts from those responsible. But I will say this, every year it gets bigger and better and for that I say thank you to all those nameless individuals. And according to the countdown clock on the side, we are less than a year away from another wonderful con experience.
Personal highlights:
- Getting my hands on the Stan Lee bobble-head exclusive.
- Tracking down a Batmoblie exclusive from one the vendors who only gave out 24 per day.
- Meeting and talking with celebrities like, John Barrowman, Liam McIntrye, the casts of
- And overall, sharing the experience with so many like minded people.
I’m already planning and saving for next year. Hope to see you all there.
May the Dork be with you,
JPB
The Dork Knight
