Contributed by collector and Overstreet Advisor Art Cloos
Photos by Alice Cloos

New York Comic Con was held on Thursday to Sunday, October 9-12, 2025, at the Javits Center in midtown Manhattan. This is the highlight show of the year for comic fans on the east coast but really fans from across the country and as far away as Australia.

There were over 400 exhibitors at the show with US comic dealers including Harley Yee, Metropolis Comics, Bullet Proof Comics Inc., Dave & Adam’s Card World, Gary Platt Comics, High Grade Comics, Reece’s Rare Comics, Royal Collectibles, St. Mark’s Comics, The Comic Mint, Toy & Comic Heaven, East Side Comics, Koch Comics, Royal Collectibles, Toy & Comic Heaven, Dan Gallo, Very Gary Comics, and many more.

Comic art dealers were also well represented by Nostalgic Investments, Albert Moy Original Art, Animation Art Emporium, Anthony’s Comic Books, Original Art, and Collectibles, Scott Eder Gallery, Romitaman Original Art, Alex Ross Art, and others. Some comic dealers offered original art as well.

Toys, both vintage and modern, were supplied by KnoWhere Toys Comic & Games, Lost 4 Toys, Absolute Comics & Statues, Toy Tokyo, Lionel Trains, Bandai Namco Toys & Collectibles America Inc., Bitz & Buttons, Galactic Toys, My First Comic, Toy Tokyo, and many more.

Auction houses set up at NYCC included Hake’s Auctions, ComicConnect, and ComicLink. Heritage accepted consignments for upcoming auctions and offered free auction evaluations.

CGC and Pops Grading Services (for Funko POPs) were set up for fans to have their comics and toys graded.

There was a continued resurgence of major book publishers at this year’s show, including Abrams, Penguin Random House, IDW, Simon and Schuster, Tor, Macmillan, Barnes & Noble and others all with freebies for interested fans.

In terms of comic book publishers there were a bunch both large and small led by DC, Marvel, and Image. DC had a strong presence at NYCC with its multi-level booth with its showcase of DC comics, live-action, animation, gaming, and more. Marvel had a strong presence with two booths. Image Comics returned to NYCC this year with a packed lineup of programming with 10 panels spread out over all four days of the show and multiple creators in Artist Alley.

Collectible storage supplies were supplied by Hot Flips. The Certified Guaranty Company took consignments to grade comic books.

There was a strong lineup of celebrity guests at the show. Media guests of honor included Sigourney Weaver, Lawrence Fishburne, Nicholas Hoult, Bryce Dallas Howard, and others. Comic book creators included Arthur Adams, Art Baltazar, Rose Besch, Joyce Chin, Frank Cho, Katie Cook, Greg Capullo, David Finch, Adam Hughes, Richard and Wendy Pini, Joe Quesada, Joe Rubinstein, Bill Sienkiewicz, Scott Snyder, and many, many more.

There was a large turnout of creators including Al Milgrom, Agnes Garbowska, Adam Hughes, Adam Kubert, Alyssa Wong, Amy Chu, Andy Park, Anthony Del Col, Ariel Diaz, Arthur Adams, Bernard Chang, Chrissie Zullo Uminga, Cliff Chiang, Creees Lee, Dan Parent, Dani, Dan Quintana, Daniel Sampere, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, David Finch, David Mack, Erik Larsen, Franco, Frank Cho, Frank Miller, Jeph Loeb, Jim Lee, Klaus Janson, Brian Azzarello, Todd McFarlane, and a whole lot more.

NYCC had a lot of panels in many different categories with content spread across more than eight panel rooms and two premier stages. They spanned every fandom one could think of including comics, TV, movies, toys, video games, cosplay, anime, and manga and the list goes on.

In addition to the regular pro programming NYCC offers educators can earn professional development by attending special professional programming, and they could receive credit if they coordinated with their school or district. The New York Public Library hosted a day of professional programming designed for librarians and educators. These sessions covered topics relevant to classroom instruction and integrating pop culture into educational settings, such as using comics in the classroom. Teachers and librarians were able to gain access to the Pro Lounge and the full range of professional programming. In addition, Thomas A. Crowell, Esq., and the National Academy of Continuing Legal Education presented CLE courses. In the past few years, the comic book industry and its ancillary markets have continued to flourish, bolstered in part by new trends in digital publishing and derivative market licensing. These CLE courses provided professionals with a chance to learn from legal practitioners.

NYCC always has a tremendous turnout of cosplayers and Cosplay Central returned to provide assistance for cosplayers if they need it. Cosplay guests included Cowbutt Crunchies and the Masked Dad Workshop. The Cosplay Central Crown Championships hosted competitors as they battled for a cash prize and the chance to advance to the USA National Final against winners from Florida Supercon, C2E2, and ECCC. Then from there the champion will represent the USA in the Global Final, competing against the world’s best for the ultimate Crown Champion of Cosplay title. There were fantastic cosplayers everywhere I looked from kids to adults, but one duo really stood out to me. They were decked out as Zatara and Zatanna the father and daughter superheroes, and they were father and daughter in real life too. Their costumes were truly picture perfect.

NYCC offered a very large variety of exclusives, including ones featuring my favorite character Batman from the Comic Mint and ComicXposure and my wife’s favorite character Wonder Woman from Wolfpak and Comic Inspiration but believe me the exclusive list goes way beyond those two characters and the list is too long to post here.

The Family HQ provided an inclusive space where fans of all generations could connect, learn, and be entertained together by encouraging shared experiences that strengthen family bonds and ensured that events and media are accessible, safe, and enjoyable for everyone.

The Harvey Awards, named for writer and artist Harvey Kurtzman had their Hall of Fame 36th annual awards ceremony at NYCC. This year’s inductees into the Harvey Awards Hall of Fame were husband and wife creative team Wendy and Richard Pini (ElfQuest), prolific cartoonist and author Patrick McDonnell (Mutts), acclaimed writer and artist John Byrne (X-Men), and posthumously, award-winning writer Peter David (The Incredible Hulk) and Barbara Sherman, one of the first women cartoonists to work for The New Yorker.

As Allie and I entered the building on Thursday morning, we saw that the lobby was jam packed as was the dealer room – and Thursday is usually the least crowded of the four days of the con. There was a feeling of very high excitement in the venue and it seemed that people were ready to party. You never know who you are going to run into at this show and I met up with friends, lots of them and many of them at Harley Yee’s booth. We caught up with noted Wonder Woman collector Susan Natoli, and former student Nurul Khuka, my best friend the noted collector Frank Giella, we spent time with Billy Kwack, Batman collector Dave Arnold, and comic art dealer and very good friend Bechara Maalouf. At the Heritage booth, I talked to specialists Barry Sandoval, Aaron White, Lon Allen, Justin Caravoulias, and Rob Reynolds. Steve Fishler and Micah Spivak manned the floor at their ComicConnect booth. I made a point of checking out Lauren Becker who is both a dealer and collector and also a friend.

I expect every NYCC to have at least one magical moment, and this one had two for me. First, I got to both meet Roy Thomas. It was an incredible experience that I shall not soon forget. Then at the ComicConnect booth I talked with Maryann Plastino Charles and Fred Plastino, the daughter and son of artist Al Plastino. I learned a lot about their dad who is considered one of the top artists to ever draw Superman. They showed me some of their dad’s art that they brought for ComicConnect to auction.

Dealer friends gave the impression that sales were good. Some of them said that sales came in waves on Friday. There really was a pretty strong and varied showing on dealer’s walls of comics ranging from the mid-1930s to the current hot books of today. The Golden Age had a varied showing this year, including a decent amount of Batman on dealer’s walls. There were many Silver and Bronze Age keys which followed the trend for 2025 at other shows. Allie bought an upgrade to one of her All-Star Comics. There was a good turnout of original comic book art. We found some very nice Golden Age comic books and I found some Silver Age ones as well. Beyond the comics and art, there was pop culture inspired clothing, jewelry, posters, perfume, make-up, plush toys, swords, dice for gaming, cosplay accessories, Star Wars lightsabers, tea and coffee, candy, and much more.

Artist Alley had almost 500 creators and was well attended with lines at many of their tables. Allie spoke to writer Tom King, the artist Belen Ortega, and got a remarque from V. Ken Marion. Allie spoke to first time attendees who said they were thrilled to meet several voiceover artists who took their questions during the panel. She also spoke to a couple of first time toy vendors, one who had deep roots in the toy business, CalicoCritters, and the other was Steiff.

In addition to the Javits food booths located around the dealer floor, there was a food court on the lower level with a nice variety of options, but attendees had to be prepared for long waits. There are multiple food carts outside and a vast amount of diners and restaurants in the area.

ATM machines were available throughout the Javits Center. A show this size can be considered almost as a one stop shopping experience for serious collectors and casual buyers too.

There is a process to buy tickets and it’s important to note that tickets are not sold at the door. They are only sold online, and attendees have to be fan verified first no matter what type of ticket they buy. This is something to keep in mind when planning to attend in the future for the first time.

As Allie and I left NYCC, we were already talking about the 2026 edition of the show.

New York Comic Con will return in 2026 on Thursday through Sunday, October 8 -11 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center located at 429 11th Ave, New York, New York. Updates are posted on the New York Comic Con website.

Come back next week to see more photos from New York Comic Con.