New York Comic Con 2009
Jacob Javitts Center New York City 2/6-2/8 2009
This year’s New York Comic Convention really outdid itself on all levels. The event was incredibly well run and organized. The NYCC offered an extensive variety of panel content, exclusive events, celebrities and industry guests. With over 70,000 people in attendance, this was one event enthusiasts knew not to miss. From everything comic related to Hollywood stars to exclusive screenings of movies and video game titles the NYCC was definitely the place to be this February weekend.For those not familiar with the convention scene let me assure you this stuff is serious business. Merchants bring out new and exclusive items, studios preview new films and video games and comic companies are on hand with their newest releases. For the seasoned con attendee this is serious business as well. Attending a large convention can be a lot of work, you can work harder in a single weekend than you do all week at the office. Many of the devoted arrive with preprinted schedules and spreadsheets in hand. Knowing that popular panels, autograph lines and screenings often fill up allowing no more entries the experienced often stake out popular spots lining up hours in advance. Many have agendas of what they hope to accomplish sketched out well ahead of time including what autographs and exclusive merchandise they hope to collect over the weekend. Even with all of the preplanning there is just so much to choose from that often tough choices or a divide and conquer approach (if you are attending with a group) must be taken to get to everything.This year’s event featured some exciting content to choose from. Panels for Robot Chicken featuring Seth Green, The Venture Brothers, DC Universe, Top Cow featuring Milo Ventimiglia, and many, many others had long lines to get in and completely full rooms. Gaming panels were also popular including the Gears of War panel and the Fallout 3 panel both featuring the games developers. New games including Tom Clancy’s Hawx and Prototype were available for demo play in the merchant’s room. Speaking of the merchant’s room it was so popular that it became difficult to navigate through the crowds. It was well worth the struggle though. Along with absolutely everything comic related and tons of merchandise there were special signings by writers, illustrators, artists and celebrities throughout the weekend. Some of the more popular signings included Lou Ferigno (The Incredible Hulk), Claudio Sanchez (Coheed and Cambria and comic creator), Ed Westwick (S. Darkon, Gossip Girls), Jared Padalecki (Friday the 13th,Gilmore Girls) and Sean Patrick Flanery (Boondock Saints). Besides all of the expected comic related guests these Holywood celebrities brought out their own fanbase. There was no shortage of fan girls in attendance simply to catch a glimpse of Weswick, Padalecki and the most popular celebrity of the weekend Milo Ventimiglia (Heroes, Gilmore Girls, Top Cow comics). There were artists signing their wares as well including the creator of Ugly Dolls and popular vinyl toy artists including Ron English. If all of this wasn’t enough there were exclusive movie screenings including a 20 minute sneak peak at Watchmen, short previews for Friday the 13th and the new Terminator movie and Disney’s UP that had more security for its screening than all of the celebrities combined all weekend. All in all this was a well rounded event with something for absolutely anyone interested in comic and/or popular culture. Even with three of our staff attending and the best laid plans we were only able to scratch the surface of everything that is the NYCC. MusicBox is anxiously awaiting the 2010 NYCC and is already planning our event strategy and working on our spreadsheets.
For more information about the NY Comic Convention visit their official website
Our interview with Brian Wood, creator of The DMZ and other comics on Vertigo, can be read HERE.
MusicBox wishes to thank the New York Comic Convention and its sponsors and affiliates.
Article and all pictures copyright MusicBox Entertainment 2009
