New York Comic Con 2013 - A Look Back.

Stewart R: Just over a week ago I was some 3400 miles away from my hometown, living the comic con lifestyle along with thousands of others at New York Comic Con 2013. The excitement now a pleasant and fond memory and the jet lag having ebbed from my bones and brain days ago, it’s now time to take a little retrospective look at this year’s event, how it compared to my previous year’s experience and some thoughts on related bits and pieces.

NYCC 2013: Day Four

Stewart R: Unlike last year where the lure of the NFL meant that the Saturday was my last day at the con, this year I was going the whole hog and spending all four days walking the halls of the Javits Center. I suspected the Sunday would see something of a mid-afternoon rush as the show closed its doors a couple of hours earlier than previous days at 5pm and so time was limited and precious to get everything done and everything seen.

NYCC 2013: Day Three

Stewart R: While a huge day for attendance at the New York Comic Convention, the third day proved to be something of a quieter, subtler affair for me as I sought to avoid the crowded areas that I'd endured the previous two days and aimed to spend as little time queuing as possible.

NYCC 2013: Day Two

Stewart R: With the busier than expected Thursday opening out of the way, and the jet lag now seeming to ebb away behind us, we moved on to the full force of the Friday, when the crowd would increase, more artists and writers would arrive and the New York Comic Con would kick into high gear.

Naturally I was faffing around getting the Day One review written having fallen asleep the night before fully clothed save for one shoe and one sock, so we ran a little late getting to the show, but managed to avoid anything looking like a queue as a result. The Javits was a bustling maze once more of fans, crew and cosplayers milling about or speeding to one of a plethora of delightfully geeky destinations.

NYCC 2013: Day One

Stewart R: Thursday at New York Comic Con 2012 was an exciting affair, being my first day at the extravaganza ever and wowing me with the sense of epic scale that the Javits Center offers, yet easing myself into the experience with the reduced attendance that the 4-day ticket allowed. There was little in the way of queues when it came to picking up tickets - being an International order you have to pick up tickets at the event on the day - and once through the security check it was easy to walk on in and get involved. The day was open primarily to exhibitors, press, VIPs and a reasonable amount of eager Thursday ticket holders, so navigating one end of the main hall to the other was relatively easy.

I'm Leavin' Today - Road to New York Comic Con 2013

Sometimes you have to go great distances for the full comic experience...

Stewart R: Jeez Louise, has it been a year already? It seems like only yesterday that I was packing my case, hurriedly hunting for back issues to be signed and making sure that I actually had my plane and convention tickets paid for and in hand! The New York Comic Convention 2012 was a mighty affair, an awe-inspiring and a Galactus-sized fist of fun. The popping of my American Comic Convention cherry will stay with me for a very long time indeed and it has stirred something within that makes me crave the grand scale exposition experience that, for the most part, you can still only truly experience within the shores of the continental United States.

New York Comic Con 2013 promises to be even bigger than last year’s four day behemoth event - the work to the Javits Center that was still ongoing during October has been completed allowing for even more floor space to be utilised - and the speed at which certain ticket levels sold out this year was a darn sight quicker than last. I take that to prove that the public are now all too aware of the sort of great show Lance Fensterman and company can put on in the Big Apple and demand to attend is growing every time.

NYCC 2012: Final Thoughts And Gallery

Stewart R:  I was sat at work today, labouring away at my desk and trying to get the old bodyclock back into the nearly foreign form factor of British Summertime and then a thought struck me; 'This time last week I was thousands of miles away and getting ready for a convention experience that I could only guess about!' It was a sobering thought indeed. For now, whenever I go back across the pond - and I am almost certain that I will - for that special American Comic Convention experience, that brief, sublime moment of trepidation and excitement of the truly unknown that I had at 2pm afternoon of Thursday 11th October 2012 is gone and never to return.  And what makes it all the more difficult is that the New York Comic Convention 2012 experience was something of a real life highlight.

NYCC 2012: Walkabout Videos

Stewart R:  Having returned to the shores of the UK at last I've been able to get a couple of videos off of my phone that I filmed briefly on the Saturday afternoon of the convention. I took these firstly to act as a small reminder to myself on what the general feel on the show floor had been like and also so that those who may have been reading my blog posts over the past week could get a small idea at just how vast the Javits Centre is.  The quality is not the best so I'd advise watching them in the small viewers below.

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.
 

NYCC Trip Day 3: A Panel By Any Other Name...‏

Stewart R is in the swing of things now at NYCC...

Stewart R:  What a difference a day makes at the NYCC! With the initial rush of pros, exhibitors, press and 4-day pass holders on Thursday the halls of the Javits Centre seemed happily busy with queues for various things popping up everywhere and many stalls bustling, but not overcrowded with activity. Yesterday was a different matter with 3 and single day ticket holders now welcome to the party... Hold on boys and elbows out, this could get choppy!

NYCC Trip Day 2: Open Says-Me... And About 15,000 Other People!‏

Stewart R experiences his first day at NYCC...

You know that an event is kind of a big deal when you speak to several people during the course of a morning about what you're doing on your short vacation and they inform you of their failed attempts to get tickets to go! No less than three randoms who we bumped into stated their disappointment at not being able to score even a day ticket to NYCC and that indicated to me just how busy this shindig might get! The doors on the preview Thursday - open for just professionals, press and those lucky enough to have a full 4 day ticket in their hands - didn't part ways until mid-afternoon and when they did there was already a buzz about the chasm-like surrounds of NYC's Javits Centre that I've certainly only experienced once before - that of excited expectation in a crowd when Stan Lee was making his rare appearance to the shores of the UK for the London Super Comic Convention earlier this year. I was in for something special and I could only guess as to what it could be.

NYCC Trip Day 1: Up, Up And A Little Insight

Stewart R’s transatlantic journey begins…

Stewart R: Always a relief to arrive at your foreign destination without the need for a superhero to take the place of an engine or catch the wingless fuselage of your stricken transport... Oh comic fiction, what have you done to me?

No Sleep Til Brooklyn!! New York Comic Convention 2012

Sometimes you have to go great distances for the comic experience...

Stewart R:  Yes, that's right, the PCG (well, one of them at least) is heading across the Atlantic Pond this fine day to soak in, lap up and bathe himself with the cool, refreshing waters of the New York Comic Convention. Something of last minute decision for sure, but one that I've steadily come to realise has been a fine choice when I've seen the line up grow and grow over the past month or so, offering one of those 'Once in a lifetime' experiences.