NYCC
Cidu Bill on Oct 11th 2010
As always, 50% more crowded than an average New York City subway car during rush hour. I heard that next year they’re going to hire oshiya to shove more people onto the main floor.Got to meet Pop Culture Shock Therapy’s Doug Bratton who, when I mentioned that my wife’s a Batman fan, signed the above-pictured print for her (which reminded her that she’d meant to wear her David Willis Batman t-shirt for the occasion). It’s always fun to be able to connect a face and a voice to a comic you read every day. so far everybody I’ve met pretty much fits my expectations. Gotta wonder what they think about me. They probably expect somebody who looks and acts more like a troublemaker.
There would have been photos here, but I had the foresight to charge up my camera battery the night before the show — and then the absentmindedness to forget to put it into the camera. So I was carrying around a dead Canon SLR all day. A shame, because Comic Con is nothing if not a massive photo op.
No Power Girls falling out of their costumes this year — but honestly, the photo I most wish I’d been able to take was at the food court, Dumbledore carrying a plate of General Tso’s chicken.
Lots of costumed guests getting stopped by other guests wanting to take their pictures. Made me think about how much it must suck to get all dressed up and nobody wants to take your picture.
Not that being in great demand is probably a bed of roses. Harley Quinn had just sat down to eat when she saw me, (powerless) camera around my neck, and she jumped to her feet, mallet in hand, and said “Sorry.” I mean really, “sorry”?? Yes, she had a kick-ass costume, and I would have taken her photo if she weren’t eating — and, you know, I had a real camera — but she doesn’t owe anybody the right to take one.
This year, the Comic Con was combined with the New York Anime Festival (because the organizers decided the event wasn’t crowded enough), so of course that was another class of costume wandering the floors. At least twice, I passed Asian girls wearing very short skirts, with nothing else about them that said “anime.” And I had to wonder… were these very lazy attempts at anime costuming, or just, well, Asian girls with very short skirts. I’m not really sure how Occam’s Razor applies in a case like this.
As it happens, I was in Boston earlier this year when a really big anime festival was taking place, and I found myself waiting in the T station just below the convention center as it was letting out. Now, that was a show: monsters and anime girls just milling about in the real world waiting for the train. But I digress.
Filed in Bill Bickel, Doug Bratton, Dumbledore, NYCC, New York Comic Con, anime | 2 responses so far
Keera Oct 13th 2010 at 03:21 pm 1
Strange fact, but I live in a country that is has been experiencing a golden comic age of its own for the past 15 years, and with that, 15 years of a darned good comic con right in my own town. Guests come from all over the world to give talks, draw and sign autographs for hours (talk about dedication to the fans) and it is the one time Norwegians neatly and patiently will wait in line (talk about dedication to the artists and writers). I love the vibes. I don’t collect and I am not an autograph hound; I go for the generosity of spirit. It sounds like the same generosity is found at other comic cons.
Doug Bratton Oct 20th 2010 at 09:12 am 2
Thanks for posting the book, Bill! It comes out November 2nd but is available for pre-order on Amazon, B&N, Borders, etc. (commercial has now ended)