The latest edition of the New York Comic Con was held October 9-12, 2014 at the Jacob Javits Center in Manhattan. Begun in 2006 and run by the Reed Exhibitions Company it has grown up from that first edition which ran out of room in the main exhibition hall which was locked by the NYC fire marshals on the Saturday of the show until people cleared out enough to reopen it. That first show had a total attendance of 33,000 people. By comparison this year’s edition can now claim the largest attendance of any comic convention in the world with a reported 151,000 people passing through the gates, making it even bigger than the San Diego Comic-Con.

As befits a world class comic convention there was something for every part of the pop culture world and one’s wallet can be emptied quickly at a show like this. Comics are of course a main feature of any comic convention and this show was no exception. The comic dealer section of the show was up front starting in aisle 2200 so fans had an easy time finding their favorite dealer and favorite comic. Golden Memories Comics from Huntington, NY believes that making Thursday an open day instead of only being for professionals was a very good idea as it redistributed sales over the course of the 4 days of the show. Harley Yee who runs Harley Yee Rare Comics believes that the show has become “the second largest in the country and is run by organization that is taking pop culture international.” He especially loves NYCC as it is one of the largest comic markets with lots of European collectors and dealers who come to it to buy. Jamie Graham of Grahamcracker Comics believes every show is good for the hobby and this is no exception. “It’s an adventure to come and sell here” says Jamie while Vince Zurzolo co-owner of Metropolis Comics said “what’s been great about the show is the diversity of collectors as well as toys posters clothes and games. There is a lot of money changing hands. It is sold out every year.” Vince also notes the incredible number of women collectors in attendance and loves all the cosplayers that are in full effect. Vintage toy dealers were represented too with Jordan and Steve from Toy Hunters set up as was Mark Huckabone of Heroes of the West Coast.

Original comic art has become a big part of the comic collecting world and Bechara Maalouf of Nostalgic Investments who specializes in vintage comic art says it’s nice to see a show in New York City that he believes will one day be equal to the San Diego Show.

For the professionals in the industry the importance of the show is clear. J.C. Vaughn Vice-President of Publishing of Gemstone Publishing, Inc. commented that, “It’s been clear for years that NYCC has become the east coast’s ‘must attend’ show, and that appeared to be truer than ever this year. ReedPop made a great decision to open up earlier on Thursday, and while it was very crowded, they did an excellent job keeping things moving. I continue to love the fact that the comic book dealers are in the front of the room, making it loud and clear that this is a comic book show.” Eric Nolen Weathington of TwoMorrow Publishing said on Thursday the first day of the show, “it was a good show last year and I expect a good show this year.” He notes that you have to be smart about where you set up as a vendor and New York City is where it all began. Jim Salicrup the Editor in Chief at Papercutz has been an exhibitor at every single New York Comic Con and he says it has, “been exciting to see this show grow in leaps and bounds every year. This year was unbelievable as NYCC became the place to be in NYC that weekend. We’re thankful for this awesome opportunity to introduce Papercutz to so many new potential Papercutz fans—especially on Kid’s Day, since we’re an all-ages graphic novel publisher.” He notes that his company publishes so many comics based on properties these fans enjoy, that this has become a very effective way to let them know that these graphic novels exist. With such high profile pop culture properties as the WWE, Disney Fairies, Lego® Ninjajo, Lego® Legends Of Chima, The Smurfs, Garfield, Classics Illustrated, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Geromino Stilton, and the recently added Rabbids, it makes so much sense for Papercutz to be there. He also note, “of course, for our lesser known properties, getting them out in front of the fans attending NYCC doesn’t hurt either. So, NYCC has become a vitally important opportunity for the comics world to connect with the thousands of fans attending the show. If fans can keep finding more and more material to love at these shows, it’s a huge win-win for everyone.”

Panels are a key part of any big show and there were plenty of them at NYCC. What sets this show apart from many other conventions is that it welcomes professionals who are in the educational field such as teachers and librarians and gives them the chance to earn professional credit for attending them. Workshops address education issues such as implementing the new Common Core curriculum and using comics in the classroom. Alice Cloos a teacher says “as a teacher I felt that Comic Con was very helpful in discovering methods and materials that are useful to teach my students by using popular culture.” Alice says she especially found the panel on “End Bullying! Responding to Cruelty in Our Culture” to be a must, given recent events in the news. Librarian and academic Dr. Carol Tilley, who exposed the fraudulent and dishonest research underlying Dr. Fredric Wertham’s notorious 1950s anti-comics screed “Seduction of the Innocents,” gave a presentation on the destructive impact of that book on both the American comics industry and on American reading. 

Major comic conventions have become go to events for media companies to publicize and NYCC is no exception. Disney held a large presentation for two fall movies, Big Hero 6, inspired by a Marvel comic, and Brad Bird’s Tomorrowland, inspired by the amusement park. George Clooney appeared on the Tomorrowland panel and it was his first comic con. Marvel made their big announcement for a special event at the Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N. a Discovery Museum Times Square attraction: It was announced that Secret Wars is coming back written by Jonathan Hickman with art by Esad Ribic next year. At the press conference for the new Constantine TV show debuting on NBC October 24 Friday nights at 10 PM EST. (SPOILER ALERT) David Goyer the executive producer for the show said there will be punk music mixed in to the soundtrack (think Sex Pistols) to acknowledge the 1980s roots of the Hellblazer comic the show is based on. The story will not be toned down that much so we will see a dark version of it. Some 500 people were interviewed for John before deciding on Matt Ryan for the lead. His character John Constantine smokes and is still not a nice guy. Guest appearances such as Dr. Fate and the Spectre are hinted at. I asked him about possible crossover appearances between the movies and TV shows and his response was, “Never say never about TV/movie crossovers.”

The United States Post Office also had a booth at the show, located right past the check in lines at the front. They were giving away a 75th anniversary poster of Batman while selling a special set of 75th anniversary stamps that highlighted four different eras and artists in Batman’s history. Needless to say lines were long for the goodies and to get the poster signed by the artist who designed the poster Greg Breeding. These signed posters are already up on eBay for sale. A common occurrence for major convention signings of any kind.

Comic companies made sure they got into the act as well. Archie Comics announced a crossover with Dark Horse with Archie Meets Predator. Valiant announced The Valiant a miniseries by Matt Kindt and Jeff Lemire with art by Paolo Rivera. DC announced a new Earth Two graphic novel with a third volume in the Superman series and a second volume for Batman. Diamond announced that graphic novel sales are up 4.3% for the year, periodicals are up 2.7%. The number of Diamond accounts has increased by 2.1%, indicating more comics shops are opening.

For those who say young people don’t read comics today that does not seem to be true for young Martin Aviles who came dressed up as the Flash. He told Scoop that, “My family was into comics long before I was born. I was brought up at the SDCC. My dad proposed at SDCC. At the show.” Neither is it for Nurul Khuka a college student who also works 2 jobs and who describes himself as a comic geek and who said of the show, “Comic-Con is important to me because it is the only time of the year where I can truly relax and not worry about the pressures of life.” Elliott a young collector who was dressed in Star Trek garb and who was with his Uncle Jacob was looking to buy an Amazing Spider-Man #14 from Superworld Comics. Elliot said it was his uncle who got him into comics and that he is also into GI Joe. He noted that he likes Spider-Man and Batman best out of all the comics he reads and collects.

On the other hand seasoned collectors were well represented too. Noted collector Robert Weinberg told Scoop, “New York Comic Con is a major social event in which you have the opportunity to meet with your favorite Exhibitors and Collectors. It is also a great opportunity to hunt for new additions for your collection. I love to run into celebrities and find that they are also collectors with interests in common to me.”

Finally no pop culture or comic show today can go on without cosplay being well represented. The range of costumes was truly overwhelming and driving down 34th Street watching a wave of cosplayers descending on the convention center was a sight to behold. Tianna, Jasmine and Mike, all cosplayers at the show, love the passion everyone has at NYCC. Tianna said that all three “admire the variety of stuff available and yes they read comics.” Kat Kazanowitz another young cosplayer loves the diversity and common goals of the fans there and the amount of accepting of each other the fans show.

Start saving now because the next edition of the New York Comic Con will be October 8 to 11 in 2015.