NYCC Trip Day 4: A Last Hurrah‏

Stewart R's US Con excursion comes to an end...

Stewart R: The Saturday was for many fans their first day of the 2012 New York Comic Convention, but for me and my travelling co-conspirator Simon it would sadly be our last (the NY Jets game was wedged solidly in the Sunday slot on my schedule!). Having explored much of the Javits Centre on the quieter Thursday, and then elected to go with panels on the Friday when the visiting population increased markedly, we spent Saturday morning's preparation discussing a course of action. This involved a couple of decisive runs to Artist Alley, attending a couple of signings if we got the timings right and also visiting the huge area that was The Block - an area that catered more for fans of former WWF (yes, back when it was called that) wrestling stars and current female models that tend to specialise in photography that requires plenty of impeccable skin to be on display - which we'd somehow managed to completely miss over the previous two days.
 

Unfortunately Brad Walker didn't seem to appear again so my thoughts at starting a sketches and commissions book were stymied for now. I did however get a touch luckier by catching Punk Rock Jesus creator Sean Murphy at his booth for once, shaking his hand and grabbing a signing of American Vampire: Survival of the Fittest #4 (it contains my favourite panel of his to date) before he was whisked off for yet another urgent appointment. Taking a couple of steps to my left also meant that I got to meet Eric Canete who I’ve admired the work of for a good few years. His 'Chocolate' collection of sketches was a must purchase and I have to hope that it survives the trip home unscathed.

 

Then it was off to finally grab a little time with Olivier Coipel who had been one of the busiest attendees on Artist Alley over the weekend, a full commissions list constantly lying on the table. A brief compliment to the man and a handshake later and we're then discussing being 'neighbours' - he's French for those who didn't know - and the potential of him attending any of the UK conventions again. He very nearly signed the cover to the copy of Avengers Vs. X-Men #6 that I'd picked up until I pointed out that it was Jim Cheung's cover and that I was angling for an internal panel signature as his work in that issue was superb.

 

A successful sortie into Artist Alley now complete we then went about the task of snapping photos of various cosplayers and weighing up luggage allowances, currency differences and if we truly needed to pick up the first six issues of DMZ for less than £4 (I did!)

It then dawned upon us that a fair amount of standing around lay in my and Simon's immediate future as he queued patiently for Corey Taylor - he of Slipknot fame - at the Dark Horse booth and I looked set to invest a good portion of my afternoon getting my signature of the weekend. A total of two hours were spent stood in one spot, politely being one of only two people who appeared have 'queue doorway' visible on their foreheads to the 25,000 people wanting to get through. The other was genuinely nice bloke and native New Yorker, Matt, who made the queue an entertaining and survivable experience as we discussed comics and attempted to avoid eye contact with the queue security Nazi who dropped occasional threats to remove anyone from the line who messed with him!

Luckily my and Matt's politeness and staunch dedication to the religion known only as 'the line' saw us through and we then took our swift turns at congratulating Scott Snyder on several jobs well done and grabbing a couple of signatures in the process. Scott is incredibly humble and it was a pleasure to speak to the man responsible for some of the most enjoyable comic books to have hit shelves in the past five years.

 

But that wasn't the end of the signature hunt, oh no!  Carried deep within my bag I had an issue of X-Club stashed on the off-chance that I might stumble across writer Si Spurrier and so I set off to the Avatar stall to meet the fellow Brit. Another name added to the lengthening list of bloody nice blokes met at NYCC, Simon was only too happy to splash a signature on the cover and confirm that the rather excellent Crossed: Wish You Were Here has a healthy future ahead of it where perhaps the protagonists don't! The trip to the Avatar stall also led to a meeting with fellow Crossed fans and local New Yorkers, Devon and Siobhan (apologies ladies if the spelling is awry there!), who summed up for me just how friendly the whole New York experience has been and how enjoyable it has been to discuss the comic book medium with fans and creators alike!