Convention Diaries: New York Comic Con, October 8
It’s New York Comic Con!! *arm flail* And there’s a whole team of Panelteers at the show. We’re hitting up panels, gushing over talent in Artist Alley, braving the show floor, and waiting in lots and lots of lines. Ali has the highlights from Thursday, October 8th.
This is the 10th New York Comic Con on the Jacob Javits Center in New York City. And it’s the 8th NYCC I’ve attended. I know this show really well, but it still manages to surprise me. Like today, Thursday, the traditionally quietest day of the show, looked like this when I walked in.
Luckily I found fellow Marty McFly cosplayer Marlene Bonnelly pretty quickly.
With the 30th anniversary of Back to the Future and the date Marty travels to in Back to the Future II a little over a week away, Universal Studios is pushing all things McFly pretty hard. NYCC had a set-up with a Delorean, Doc Brown, and free Pepsi Perfect. But I got lost in a sea of Marties.
The show floor was a bit too much for me, so I spent some time wandering Artist Alley where I met some amazing comic creators and spent way too much money before headed over to lunch. While grabbing some mediocre chicken fingers, I met up with Jill Pantozzi and her freaking EPIC medieval Batgirl cosplay (yes, that is a horse.).
After more wondering, I found these to. Which I think makes me better detective than Batman.
Here are some more NYCC highlights from my fellow Panelteers:
Preeti Chhibber
Swapna Krishna
Jess Plummer
“Three little girls sitting together at the DC SuperHero Girls booth, all different races, all wearing superhero costumes, all staring raptly at the trailer featuring tons of DC superheroines. I’m so thrilled that this audience is finally getting superhero stories for them!”
Ardo Omer
“I love that tagline. I want to read the manga now.”
Jon Erik Christianson
“Sitting in on the #BlackComicsMonth Panel was such a privilege, and not just because Swapna introduced the entire event. An incredible list of passionate creators spoke about diversity in meaningful ways, discussing mental health, living on the streets, and what it feels like to see prospective (fictional) futures that don’t include one’s identity. It was a panel experience unlike any I had experienced before.”
Brian McNamara
“Attending the Teaching Comics Literacy panel and hearing Ronell Whitaker and Eric Kallenborn discuss using comics in the classroom. Great examples and a great hands on exercise. As well, Jason Nisavic ‘s discussion of using comics in the Social Studies classroom, which aligns with my interests as an instructor and is a subject that isn’t as widely discussed as the use of comics in English classroom.
“As part of the panel, attendees were asked to draw or script a page of a comic based upon only reading the first two. It’s a great way to both illustrate the comics form as well as allow for creativity amongst your students. Even with my rudimentary art skills, it was fun to guess where the simple story would go.”
Your Moment of Zen (from Brian)
“However, another highlight was standing witness to Preeti and Swapna’s reaction to hearing that Captain Marvel had been delayed to make room for Ant-Man and the Wasp. Before I could even finish the sentence, they quieted the Javits Center food court with their dual cry of “Nooooooooo.” A sentiment I certainly shared, but could not have demonstrated as truly.”
