Half Naked Wolverines, Rubber Duckies, and Amber Benson. A Good Formula For Comic Con 2014
I for one can admit I am not the biggest fan of Comics. I grew up more on video games and when that faded out my love for music kind of stuck and I kind of turned a blind eye and deaf ear to any other influences that my friends could've brought on me. So cue to this past weekend where for the 2nd time (first time I stayed briefly) I went to the New York City Comic Con, taking place at the Jacob Javitz Center over on 33rd and 11th, conveniently right by Penn Station. This is Halloween for Professionals, and what I mean by that it the people who actually show up in costume put an incredible amount of effort into what they are portraying more than the slutty nurse or sexy Cat Woman that you see on a drunken Halloween night. For all things Comic Con, this was something completely out of bounds for me yet after a short period of time I started to warm up to and whereas it is something I wouldn't necessarily die to go to each year it is something that I would browse around for a good amount of time to see what the convention brought on.
Something that I personally enjoyed was the throwback's to games and relatable comics when I was growing up. Comic Con brought on anything from Capcom to Charlie Brown, and had something there for everyone regardless of age, background and likability for a particular thing you are a quote unquote fanboy of. The Willy Wonka aspect of Comic Con was that it really seemed endless and the focus was a sharp as a laser beam when it came to see what was next. Comic Con was split up into multiple sections such as the show room floor, artist alleys and panel rooms for each fan to divulge and enjoy. My personal favorite was actually the artist alley as you got to meet each artist individually and see what they brought to the plate, which was a bevy of colors, designs and intricate drawings that really enticed the eye. My personal favorite was meeting Darryl McDaniels of the legendary Run DMC who on top of being a rap legend and pioneer is also a budding artist who came to Comic Con to display his goods. Mixing art and music? Good shit.
Being press has its advantages, in this particular case it was a big thing at Comic Con as you really got to meet a lot of the big time game designers, authors and more in a minimally claustrophobic environment. The highlight for me was when my fellow writers David Baxter interview author and "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" actress Amber Benson, who has taken the sci-fi badass chick thing and elevated it into so many different facets of the industry, most recently her book she just published. See the interview here if you haven't already. She turned me on to how much effort she put into this book and got me to understand the level and depths of the character she created. That was another positive thing I got out of Comic Con, was the level of expertise many different types of people took on there. Whether it was creating a costume like the one's you see above, the art in a recent comic book or the words on a page discussing any numerous types of subject that is Comic Con related, you can undeniably doubt the passion these people have. It was quite the feat they accomplished and for me was very refreshing to see.
Overall I would give Comic Con an 8 out of 10. Not my forte, never will be, but had quite a lot of fun while there. Heck, I even got my nephew a rubber ducky as they actually had one of those vendors at Comic Con. So at least I made one person happy with this article :). For more information on New York City's Comic Con, log on to their official site.
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