The 10th Anniversary Edition of New York Comic Con was one for the record books. NYCC 2015 had an attendance of nearly 170,000 fans (167k to be exact) and with it, ensuring its place as the East Coast capital of Comic Conventions. Major kudos goes to Lance Fensterman and his team at ReedPop for always trying their best to improve on the previous year’s successes, as well as addressing issues that will hopefully make 2016 and beyond that much better. As I stated last year, anytime you have an event of such magnitude, speed bumps and hiccups are bound to occur.
One of those hiccups last year was the lack communication between the Jacob Javits security team and the many NYCC volunteers. I’m happy to say that for the most part, communication was much improved. Each day for my experience was handled very orderly. The exception, however, would be Sunday, which I’ll address shortly.
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| Official Program for the 10th Anniversary of NYCC |
Let me break down and grade the different areas of the convention experience and discuss what worked and may need to be addressed in the future.
We’ll start with:
The Main Stage (Clearing out and Wristbands)
Last year was the first year dealing with wristbands and of course anytime something new is being tested or introduced, problems and confusion are part of the process. All in all I thought it went well in 2014 and I gave it a grade of B. This year, it was that much better and organized. ReedPop had put on its NYCC official site the diagram of Queue Hall C showing how people should line up. Those who wanted to go to the show floor would line up to the right and those wishing to see a particular panel on the Main Stage would have their choice of up to five (5) different panels of that day over to their left. Things were clearly marked and the staff was very helpful in guiding everyone. The turnaround time in getting wristbands was also done rather quickly as oppose to last year where on average it took upwards of 40-60 minutes to get your wristband. I consistently received mine within 30 minutes.
Like last year, once you got your wristband, you can go into any of the other panel lines (as long as they are not closed) and get one for that panel. My approach this year and what I would recommend highly to anyone attending and wishing to see a panel that’s taking place on the main stage is to prioritize. Choose one panel that you want and get to the convention center as early as possible that morning to give yourself the best chance of getting a wristband. Anything more is gravy.
Grade: A
Photo Ops
I can’t say enough great things about the people over at Epic Photos. The staff was helpful and kind. If someone canceled, we were notified instantly and refunds were credited within a couple of days. The only thing I wish would change is the cash only buying option at the convention itself. A credit option would be great especially for those big-ticket photo ops. Other than that, Epic Photos is a first rate group that I hope will be part of the NYCC experience for many years to come.
Grade: A+
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| with members of Firefly. Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres and Jewel Staite |
Show Exclusives
This is where things get tricky and at times, frustrating. As in years past, Thursday is the dedicated day to get your hands on many of the shows exclusives that are on sale. I did notice some improvements from the previous year especially with last year’s culprit, Toy Tokyo. But the one hot ticket vendor everyone wanted to see was Funko. You could not get in without a ticket. And tickets were only given at 11 am and 2:30 pm respectively each day. Depending on whom you asked, the allotment for each time slot or for the day itself varied. This is where communication is paramount. I was lucky enough to get a ticket by being at the right place at the right time. I was able to score the Iron Throne from Game of Thrones. But as lucky as I was, I know there were many who weren’t as lucky. Thursday was the toughest day of the four to get a ticket from what I could see. It was almost as if NYCC or Funko themselves underestimated the demand. Whatever the case, Friday through Sunday was far more organized.
Grade: B-
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| FUNKO Exclusive: Iron Throne |
Artist Alley
One of the true highlights of Comic Con is Artist Alley. This is a must for every attendee. This is where you see the brilliance of these wonderful artists on display. This is where you see legends like Chris Claremont sitting next to the next generation of artists who someday may be revered in the same light. If you could swing it, I also encourage you to get some commission work done. It’s one of the most valued treasures you’ll ever own.
Grade: A
Autograph Alley
There was nearly 26 signing booths set up in autograph alley. The highlights this year were members of Firefly, Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres and Jewel Staite and the voice actors of the Justice League cartoon series led by crowd favorite Kevin Conroy. Other guests included Felicia Day, Finn Jones, Keisha Castle-Hughes, Natalie Dormer, Danny Glover, John Rhys-Davies, Jennifer Morrison, Orlando Jones, Rachel Skarsten, Emmanuelle Vaugier, Ivy DoomKitty and the actors from the original Japanese films of Godzilla.
Besides autograph alley, there was an abundance of signings taking place on the show floor. Most noticeably was the ABC Family booth that featured the casts of Pretty Little Liars and Stitchers. Both were wristband events to the first 100 to stop by their booth. The Marvel booth had Agents of SHIELD, Daredevil and the latest Netflix series, Jessica Jones. These were ticketed events so you would need to get there early.
As always, respect the wishes of the talent. If they say no photos allowed at the table, please honor that. It will make both yours and their experience that much better.
Grade: B+
I discussed the major areas of the con experience. Some new stuff was having panels outside the convention center at the Hammerstein. These were first come, first served and didn’t require a wristband. It’s an experiment that I think overall was a success. Also, at Madison Square Garden there was the Walking Dead premiere that was met with great enthusiasm.
Now, let’s discuss one issue that occurred on Sunday that left many convention goers irate. Sunday’s schedule featured cast signings from some of our favorite shows like Gotham, Person of Interests and new series like DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl and Blindspot. Things got out of control. Each of the first three days, visitors were allowed to wander into the autograph area. For reasons unknown, we were not allowed to on Sunday. Visitors were told that they would need to line up in the queue hall before being allowed to the autograph area. This included those with VIP status. This is where most of the irritation came from. VIP’s spend quite a lot of money to have special privileges. Ultimate Access VIP’s spend over $500 for their ticket. They along with Press and Pro’s can get onto the show floor about 15 minutes prior to everyone else. Some thought this perk should extend to the autograph area on Sunday morning. I was a little surprised myself that it didn’t, especially given the fact that the previous three days wasn’t an issue.
What ended up happening was a herd of human’s converging towards Table 1 in autograph alley to one of the lucky few to get a wristband for a particular show. This was not well planned out. Between Javits Center security and Con Volunteers, there were just too few to handle such a volume. Many people left angry, disappointed and shutout. This is unfortunate but fixable.
Here’s my idea at a possible solution… The Empire Stage.
The Empire Stage is the second biggest staging area after the Main Stage. Much like the main stage, Empire doesn’t have a panel ready till 11 am or so. What I suggest is that they set up the night before several lanes like they have in the queue hall that represents each show that will have a cast signing. Depending on the length of time each show can give to the signing (it varied between 30-60 minutes), volunteers can cap the line accordingly. From experience, a one-hour signing usually can accommodate 100 people. Using that as your guide, 50 people for a 30-minute signing, 75 for 45 minutes and so on. I think that’s a workable solution. Post this information to social media like Facebook and Twitter to notify the fans. Now to be fair, there could be a valid reason why it’s not handled that way. But if there is none, then I think the organizers should look into it. I would venture a guess that they already have had discussions. From what I have seen over the years, is that ReedPop is fairly proactive when addressing such issues. This was for me as well as for so many that I talked to throughout the 4-days that would be considered a problem or a low light of their con experience. What’s encouraging about this is that it can and probably will be fixed.
It’s impossible no matter who you are or how prepared you are, to get a 100% approval. There’s always going to someone or some group who feels like they weren’t treated fairly. It’s unfortunate, but it’s the nature of the beast. I’m sure Walt Disney World gets their fair share of complaints.
My Top 10 highlights are:
10. Seeing Sean Bean during the Legends panel
9. Seeing Kevin Smith and the Comic Book Men
8. The thousands of Cosplayers that seem to get better and more creative each and every year
7. Meeting Natalie Dormer
6. Meeting & chatting with the cast of Pretty Little Liars
5. Sneak peak at DC Animation’s newest film, Batman: Bad Blood
4. Meeting the cast of Firefly
3. The Justice League Reunion
2. Seeing the cast of Marvel’s Daredevil and the first public appearance of The Punisher and Elektra. We also got our first look at The Defenders.
1. Seeing the cast of Marvel’s Jessica Jones and getting an exclusive first look at the pilot episode that will come to Netflix, November 20th
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| Official Poster by Mahmud Asrar |
So there you have it, a look at NYCC 2015. Can’t believe a week has gone by already. With that said, it only means roughly 51 more weeks to go. Mark these dates, October 6 through 9 2016 when NYCC returns bigger and better.
May the Dork be with you,
JPB
The Dork Knight
