Armed with my industry pass, honey roasted cashews, a couple of Cliff Bars, and a few bottles of water; I navigated the last two days of the con as a fan and applied 67, 912 steps to see the beauty and wonderful artwork of the creatives. Although, I wasn’t able to see everything, what makes NYCC so stupendous is that you can never see it all…
I have one convention that I go to without fail, and that is New York Comic Con, otherwise known as NYCC. This year, I went bigger than I ever have, going Friday, Saturday AND Sunday to the convention. Aditionally, 2018 was also a landmark year in that it brought with it the return of Anime Fest. With so much to say, I’m here to tell you what it was like; the good, the bad and the geeky!!!
So….. Reed Pop’s 2018 New York Comic Con (NYCC) has started and your humble author has decided to do something different this year, rather than write about the pros and cons of the event by placing a critical eye on the 4-day weekend, I decided to go back to my roots as a Fan and enjoy the experience NYCC gave to me when it was my first time attending.
AfroPunk means different things to different people, but you have to go at least once to find your own meaning…
The founder of Khemfest, Naseed Gifted, wanted to put an event together as a way to give New Jersey and Black culture its own Comic Book Festival. Now in its fourth year, Khemfest is becoming a staple for Black culture in the world of art and comics. I manage to meet with some of the vendors at the festival to get the chance to pick some of their brains.
As I reflect on my experience this year, I get a wave of nostalgia along with irritation and something else I’ve been trying to figure out. I came into the Jacob Javits Center expecting the same layout with more cramming than usual since they’re doing construction on the building. I, however was very surprised. I must say the organizers this year really thought out the design of the con.
As a child I always loved anything that involved superheroes, especially from Marvel and DC. This would eventually lead to a love for Anime and Manga as well. However, as I was getting older I noticed that was slowly changing. Instead of sitting on the stairs discussing our favorite shows, my friends and I started joining after school activities, going to local hangout spots, some of us even got our first after school job. Eventually my friends and I no longer talked about the latest episodes of shows we watched together. Then came Comic Con NYC!!!
With increased attendance and the popularity of NYCC growing, this event has turned into the number one place to go to in New York City every first weekend in October. But this year, something has changed. As I looked around the show room floor, listened to the panel discussions and the voices of the fans and vendors, something changed about the con and I can’t quite understand it.
Friday didn’t disappoint as hundreds of thousands of spectators came from all parts of the world at the world famous New York City Comic Con, located at the Jacob Javitz Center in New York City. I was fortunate to be here as I witnessed the up and coming graphic novel/comic book entrepreneurs as well as take pictures of some amazing cosplay. Additionally, “jewels” were dropped in regards to getting published in the comic book industry as well as the need to understand why diversity is needed in comics.
Thursday, October 5, 2017 marked day one of the annual event known as New York Comic Con by ReedPop exhibitions. With construction taking place at the Jacob Javitz Center this year, ReedPop has done the impossible. They have taken the event, which utilizes the whole 840,000 square feet and found a way to make more with less. Rather than ReedPop doing the usual separation of artists, comic book writers/sellers, cosplayers, collectible dealers and manufactures, etc., they have blended them in such a way that it feels brand new all over again. Even Artist Alley received a makeover with the section being close to the main floor.
