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]]>Edward Champion writes that he felt the fans came last at NYCC — that it was too commercial and didn’t provide enough social opportunities for geeks to get together. He says that’s because geeks are just a demographic now, a group to be marketed to. And I can honestly see his point, because it was loud and obnoxious (in a not terrible way) and I did feel like I was being sold to at every moment.
But I think it was plenty social. When I first got there, I remarked to my friend that this was like “prom for geeks.” And I meant that out of love, honestly. There were all these kids (and by that, I mean anyone between the ages of 14 and 23) in lovingly-made costumes or just in fun anime-inspired hats. It was definitely a place to show off, to see and be seen, in a supportive place. These kids, I imagine, aren’t the “cool” ones in their everyday lives, no matter how “cool” being a geek is now. This was a place for them to fit in with everyone. And that was awesome.
There were great costumes — certainly, we had plenty of people dressed as Batman and Superman. And there were packs of Jokers (old style and The Dark Knight style) and several Harley Quinns. There were anime characters I didn’t recognize. I saw a great She-Ra and two dressed as Aang and Katara from their days inside the Fire Nation from Avatar: The Last Airbender. I also saw another great Katara in her more classic blue outfit. Everyone I saw looked like they were having fun (or were resting from the aftermath of having fun). It may have been too loud and crowded to make new friends or connections, but I still got a sense of community from being there.
And while I can’t ignore the commercial aspects of it, I didn’t really expect anything else — this isn’t a small con held in a hotel. This is, more or less, a retail show. But I do think it’s the sort of event that it is what you make of it.
I’m still not convinced I’ll go back, but honestly, after recharging, I do realize what a thrill it was being there. It’s not something I need to do all the time, but well … maybe.
(But it’s basically convinced me I probably don’t need to go to San Diego Comic-Con ever.)
]]>We kind of dawdled getting going today, but not in a bad way. I wasn’t particularly eager to get back to NYCC – I mean, it was fun, but in some ways, one day was enough. As I reported on Twitter, we made a stop at The Superhero Supply Co.
I am a fan of the whole 826 project – I mean, kids being taught to express themselves through writing is excellent – and the storefronts are fun. The Superhero Supply Co. is awesome. The sense of graphic design on the packing is impeccable and there is so much fun stuff to look at and purchase. I bought a pair of sunglasses shaped like your typical superhero mask. When making purchases, you have to recite an oath saying you are going to use your powers for good and not evil, and you also have to come up with a superhero name (and yes, they do not let you get away with not coming up with one). It’s delightful fun. I think it was possibly the highlight of the trip for me.
We eventually made it to NYCC in time for the Graphic Novels: A New Literacy panel (and a note to con organizers: Please stop scheduling similarly-themed panels at the same time. This was at the same time as the What’s New at Penguin and DK panel and overlapped with the related What are Kids Reading Now? Graphic Novels and 22 Pages panel. This wasn’t the only instance of this that I saw in the program). The panel was awesome, even for someone like me who is not a teacher, librarian or parent. I don’t really discriminate in what I read – certainly I read a lot of comics but it doesn’t keep me from reading prose either. I think comics can show reluctant readers that reading can be something they love and there are so many great comics out there for older children (for instance, anything from First Second, which does have a lot of comics based on history) that there’s no reason to not include them in an educational setting.
And I think Sophie Brookover of Pop Goes the Library is one of my new heroes. She’s smart and doing great things.
After the panel, we wandered a bit more upstairs. For being late Sunday, it was still surprisingly crowded. I didn’t buy anything else due to exhaustion setting in and just a general disinterest in fighting the crowd more.
Overall, I had a good experience and there was definitely plenty of excitement. But I did leave there thinking “OK, I’ve done this now. I probably don’t need to do it again.” It was too hard for me to shop and other than the few things I bought, most of what was there either didn’t interest me (especially in terms of the small press stuff) or can pretty much be found anywhere. There may have been more, but trying to battle the throngs of people made it difficult to look at a lot of things. I would’ve liked to have gone to more panels, but a lot of them were on Friday or Saturday before I got there (that’s just how the schedule seem to fall).
If I go next year does depend on a lot of things, but I’d be happy to do it if I could just skip the whole shopping aspect and just spend the whole time in panels, screenings and presentations. That seems like where the interesting stuff probably is for me.
But I have no regrets. It was a fun weekend and I’m going to home happy.
In that admittedly bad photo are, from left, Matt Bird, Elizabeth Bird and Sophie Brookover
]]>I wouldn’t mind shopping more, but with such a large, packed crowd, it was hard to look. There didn’t seem to be much of a system to the layout, either. I know there was sort of majors on one side, media/video game companies in the middle and smaller presses on the other side, but everything kind of ran together. Costume booths butted up against retailers selling back issues that were next to an indie creator selling his comic. Or maybe it just seemed that way because of the crowd.
I’m glad it was well attended, but I do wonder how much people are actually buying inside the show. The convention itself is definitely entertainment — lots of good people watching and things to look at — but I know that selling their wares is essential to a lot of the vendors here and I would hate if it wasn’t worth it for them.
Tomorrow, there are several panels I’d like to go to and I think shopping will be more fun once the crowd thins out late in the day (provided that the crowd does thin out by then). I’m glad I have another day of it, sure, but I think people that do all three days by choice are crazy.
I do realize that not every show or convention can be or even should be like my much beloved Small Press Expo, and I’m certainly not an indie snob. But I do think this con may be too big for me overall. It’s been a fun — if exhausting — experience so far, but I honestly don’t know if I’ll go back next year (but since it’s in the fall in 2010, I have what, nearly 20 months to decide).
]]>And on that note, I think I’m done for today.
(yes, some ended up there twice. I will fix that later when I make the photo set.)
]]>It’s huge. I didn’t really expect it to be this huge. And packed. I think we were probably in there at the peak of the crowd (I read yesterday that Saturday sold out and I think weekend passes have also sold out). The crowd is surprisingly diverse — not a lot of little kids with families, but a good mix of genders. I think that’s really neat to see.
I know that these cons have kind of moved away from just comics — there are a lot of video game booths here, and media companies, but I’m OK with that. I think there’s something to be said for the idea of “comic book culture” as a whole. There’s kind of something for everyone here.
I’ve only bought two things so far (other than a cup of coffee — caffeine is fuel) — an Aranzi Aronzo mug and a Gama-Go T-shirt. Neither of which I needed but hey, that’s what this is for, isn’t it?
I think tomorrow is going to be mostly panels, but I’m not really sure yet. I’m a little overwhelmed at this point, but in a good way. Which is why I’m currently taking a break to blog.
]]>But I will be attending New York Comic Con this weekend. I haven’t decided which panels or events I want to attend, but I’ll decide once I get there.
I’m excited about this. I didn’t go last year so after some waffling I decided just to do it.
I will have my shiny new MSI Wind with me, as well as a camera. I will re-activate my Twitter account so feel free to follow me there (updates will show up here around midnight each day). The amount of actual blogging I do depends on many things.
I’d tell you to say hi, but that means you’d have to recognize me. But if you’re going, I’ll see you there. Even if neither of us actually realizes it.
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