New York Comic Con 2017!!!

This weekend is New York Comic Con, and while I was only able to get a ticket for the first day, Thursday, which is considered by most to be a warm-up to the main event, I feel like I have gotten more than my fill.  My friend Leslie and I headed out at 10:30AM and The Javitz Center was pretty empty looking.  So far so good.  Leslie had said that Thursday was the least attended day, and that the panels were mostly being held in the NYC Library, so it should be pretty manageable. Luckily, I was not really interested in Panels, except for the panel that afternoon for LORE, the upcoming Amazon Prime show based on the eery historical podcast of the same name. The lines for these panels are notoriously long, and the real reason I had been excited about the Convention was for Artist's Alley, the area where all the comic book artists have their booths, take on commissions, and sell very reasonably priced prints of their work.

First pic of the day! (With Izma and Kuzco)

I was their scoping out a possible artist to commission for a drawing of Cathy, to use for further promotion. I already had one in mind, but wasn't certain if he would be available, and so I wanted to take a look at the other options.  I did see a couple that I was interested (one in particular did work that was reminiscent of the later season I Love Lucy title segments) but none was a perfect match to the character and her period. I did get to meet and see the work of some terrific artists like Jay Fosgitt (creator of Bodi Troll) and the brilliant artist of paper cut confections, Charles Thurston. This part of the con did not disappoint, and was truthfully enough for me.  Still...

My friend Leslie!

It was only about noon at this point, and leaving so early felt like a let-down, so we headed up to the INTENSELY crowded show room. There was a Funko booth, but good luck getting in to purchase anything.  They'd apparently had a lottery weeks prior to get a chance at getting in line, and there weren't any spots available anymore. So outside of paying someone in line to purchase something for you, good luck. And I had already spent my minimal budget, so... no huge loss. We wandered the show room for a while, looking at aisles and aisles of "stuff". Products, t-shirts, posters, toys... but relatively few comics. This all would have been fine, except for the fact that I am a gregarious and outgoing person who loves being around people, and yet...being around them does not energize me, and afterwards I quickly need some alone time. I am not sure if this is because I really AM an extroverted introvert, or if that is just an example of me being like the rest of America, desperately seeking a label for myself at the same time I claim to be beyond them. Anyway, there were people everywhere, apparently this was the turnout that had usually only been seen on Saturday, and while it was festive, it was also a bit draining.

We headed downstairs for some food, and were met by a temporary structure designed to look like a house from the 1800's.  It was a promotional event for the new Amazon Prime Show, LORE, based on a pre-existing podcast  (Quick sidebar- I've not mentioned it before, but it is a really atmospheric, creepy audio podcast of historically supernatural stories which have through time morphed into legend, for example, the sighting of a snake bodied-horse headed sea serpent, or a doll that seemed to move around the house of its own volition and seemed to be terrorizing the little boy who owned him).  What seemed like it would be a quick peek turned into a two hour wait, and while it was fun to enter the rooms and meet actors portraying people from the stories that would be featured in the upcoming show, it did feel like the emphasis was on promotion, and not on acquainting people with the show. Too be fair, the convention going public is the kind to be more interested in an immersive experience of the show rather than the historically accurate photos and relics I was hoping for, and I'm sure the panel went into a lot more detail about the content of the future show.

Each room had talked briefly about one of the stories to be focused on in the show, and had a photo-op.  Feeling a little bit like a living "sandwich board", I nonetheless dutifully show the photos to you.

The actors were pretty great, and admittedly, the upcoming premier on October 13th is very much in the forefront of my mind. The third room of the house looked very promising, as the episode about lycanthropy was the what had lured me into listening to the podcast in the first place.

Now, I have to say... the group I was with?  Really lovely people, but what with Leslie gripping my arm in terror and me being six foot tall and standing in the front, I was the guinea pig of each room, which is what had me being the first one to sit down for a portrait in the final room and giving this extremely unsuitable expression...

After leaving the Museum of Lore, we headed back to Artist's Alley so Leslie could say a quick goodbye to a couple of the artists she is friends with, and then we headed to Juniors for a much deserved meal.  

I have to say, as much as I enjoyed the experience, I'm definitely more suited to the smaller, cozier Flame Con from a month prior.  They were my people!!

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