[See the first day of NYCC here, and the second day here! A gallery of the experience can be found here.]

The third and final day of NYCC was set to be a final day of shopping, observing, and finally, a long-awaited performance by MC Chris at the Variant Stage, located at the rear of the Javits main floor. I’ve been an MC Chris fan since my college days, and his song ‘Fett’s Vette’ was something of a Dorm Room National Anthem for my roommate and I. Who wouldn’t love a well-paced rap about the perils of being Boba Fett?

It wasn’t long before I ran into a couple of booths selling Re-Ment miniatures, which are like the filet mignon of miniature, dollhouse-sized items. Re-Ment has produced countless sets of minis, with themes ranging from entertainment to food, to domestic items and gardens, and even into things as specific as ‘meals that you can get and certain Japanese train stations’ or ‘desserts of prefectures’. The specificity gets pretty intense. What makes these sets even more awesome is that each mystery box doesn’t contain just one item, but about a dozen tiny items relating to a theme. Spread out over a set of 10 different boxes, it usually adds up to about 100 unique miniatures, all created in an unusual theme. A ‘Fun Meals’ waffle set will include an articulated waffle iron, a waffle that will fit into the iron, two kinds of berries (and their containers), syrup, a stack of decorated waffles, and a plate. All this for $5.

I was enamored with the idea of taking photographs using these detailed miniatures, so I bought way more than I should have. Would my Aquaman action figure sit down at a perfectly-sized sushi meal? We’d find out soon! Dollhouse enthusiasts, look up Re-Ment! Thanks to Hammen Home for being an awesome booth, too - they had a swell selection of goods.

I also found my way around to the DC Direct and Hasbro booths, who both had a few new figures on display. Most notably, DC Direct had a second set of New Gods figures on display - a series that I’ve been excited about since their debut at Toy Fair. As a Jack Kirby fan, I’m all about the New Gods and any sculptural items that try to capture his kinetic art style. This second series will include a Kirby-styled Superman, Kalibak, Metron, and an exceptional Big Barda (pictured at left) - a figure that just needed to be made. We’ve been seriously shorted on Bardas for years now.

DC Direct also debuted their figures from the upcoming Watchmen movie, which seem pretty okay. Of course, it’s hard to get excited when we’ve been waiting for comic-accurate Watchmen figures for a decade or so. Comic-accurate and movie-accurate are two completely separate things to toy collectors - it’s not enough to have the ‘movie’ Spider-Man, with the raised silver webbing details on the costume. No, we need a Spidey with flat, black webbing, a skinny spider logo on the front, and a fat spider logo on the back. I can only assume that Spider-Man’s back-logo is an engorged tick. Gross, Spidey.

We also got to see DC Direct’s 13” Black Canary for the first time, as well as a 13” Sinestro. Unfortunately, the Sinestro has been dressed in his ‘modern’ outfit, and not the ridiculous purple-frilled-collar outfit of yore. No costume variants have been announced, but I’d still like to see a classic version. After the recent release of DC’s 13” Green Arrow, reports of breakage have been almost universal, so while the 13” line seems steady for now, such a high-end line (at $70 per figure) runs the risk of collector disinterest if quality control isn’t improved.

Hasbro had a mess of Marvel Legends figures on display. Given their lack of comic-specific Marvel stuff at Toy Fair, the sudden inundation of Marvel Legends stuff was a bit overwhelming. On display was a Target Exclusive wave of Legends, which will include Spiral, Black Spider-Man, Red Hulk, Silver Savage, the notable Adam Warlock and more. A few new 2-packs were on display, including some much-desired army builders, consisting of classic Nick Fury & a SHIELD Agent, as well as a 2-pack of Hand Ninjas. Give the recent Elektra battle in New Avengers, in which thousands of Hand Ninjas populated every panel, I think that these will be bought up quickly and in vast amounts. Completists, note that an exclusive Sunfire figure is available only from HasbroToyShop.com.

Odd additions to the Iron Man and Hulk movie lines include an Iron Man in Captain America colors, which references some promotional art from the comics’ Civil War storyline, and a Bi-Beast Hulk figure - a creature that will not appear in the Hulk movie, but the video game.

We also stopped by the controversial Shocker Toys booth and saw their new sculpt of The Tick, which actually looks pretty great. I’m eagerly anticipating seeing their first line of Indie Spotlight figures, which should be appearing any day now. Really. Any day. (I love you guys!) Other figures from Wave 2 will include Dick Tracy and Ignacia (from the comic WildGuard).

Shawn Smith’s ‘Shawnimals’ art-toy booth played with the idea of customizable toys and was selling a blank plush form, appropriately called ‘Plushform’, which was stuffed and could be decorated with any number of materials. A variety of artists had contributed designs to Shawn’s display, and it inspired me to pick up one to make for myself. I’ve been back into customizing toys lately, after Mimoco generously donated a case of blank Vimobots to my art class so that I could share the joys of toys with my students.

At this point, we were all pretty shopped out and my ATM card was had decided to forbid me from spending anymore, so we retreated to the folding chairs by the aforementioned Variant Stage and waited for MC Chris to appear. We happened to sit down in the middle of a demonstration by the NY Jedi Academy, who were stage-fighting with plastic lightsabers, dressed in full pseudo-Jedi regalia. You’d think that as a Star Wars nerd, I’d be kinda excited to see such a full-on Jedi experience, but you’d be very wrong. I appreciate the desire to live within a fantasy world, because heck, even in the most desolate, scary fantasy world, gas is probably cheaper, but the NY Jedi Society didn’t do it for me. I can even appreciate stage fighting - I dated a beautiful, toned stage-fighter and learned plenty about the artistry of it. Glowy, plastic swords slapping together didn’t equate to the visceral fantasy glory of clashing metal.

Each ‘Jedi’ had assumed a persona that spanned many fantasy worlds, and the ‘main Jedi’ guy was dressed as a Predator. There were Dr. Who Jedi, a Green Lantern Jedi, and even a Star Trek Jedi. Pick a team, guys. Everyone knows that as a Green Lantern Jedi, you’d have to answer to both the Jedi Council and the Guardians of Oa, and there just isn’t enough time in the day! Jeez. When the stage was opened to Q&A, most of the questions were to the tune of ‘Why didn’t you pick REAL Jedi, you dorks?’. The Jedis weren’t to thrilled and some responded with suitable petulance. It was like being at a Renaissance Festival and seeing that the Elven Barmaid has a tattoo that said ‘Thug Life’ across her knuckles. Things just didn’t fit.

We stayed seated because the schedule of events promised an appearance by Fat Momma and Major Victory from ‘Who Wants to be a Superhero?’, but the schedule of events was a liar. Fat Momma made an awkward appearance on stage, spouted a Miss South Carolina-styled speech on self-confidence which vacillated strangely between ‘not telling adults when you’re bullied’ to ‘eat healthy but being overweight is okay too’ - all while wearing doughnuts on her belt. I couldn’t make sense of it, and before long, a line of little kids was on stage, reciting the Fat Momma Song into the mic, until the whole presentation kinda trailed off into a pit of awkwardness from which no one will ever recover. Major Victory, my personal hero, never appeared. He could have saved the day.

MC Chris finally took the stage, hilarious and charismatic, even though sound and mic troubles that never seemed to get fixed. After two songs (one of them entirely about Reese’s Pieces), he sat down with a moderator for a few minutes and continued to riff on our nerd culture, finally ending out the show with Fett’s Vette, all while two Slave Leias performed an impromptu dance with each other at the edge of the stage (which even prompted MC Chris distractedly to stop in the middle of the song and declare, “that’s ridiculous!”) Indeed, it’s hard not to notice when the entire audience is no longer looking in your direction, but toward something just offstage. The show was worth the hours-long wait, even if some socially inept nerds decided to stand up right in front of me as the final song started.

Overall, NYCC was pretty awesome, and still an improvement over previous years in scope and organization. I would have liked to attend more panels, but waiting on lines and finding out that they weren’t lines at all delayed attendance at too many events, and could have been avoided by an informed crowd control staff or some velvet ropes between things. It’s a Con that’s finding its feet, but I came away inspired by meeting and listening to the people I admire. I’ve been drawing and painting feverishly all week, I bought some neat stuff, I got the heck outta the house, and I added to my bank of neat experiences without getting too violently annoyed. Really, what more can I ask for from any weekend?

Looking forward to next year.

After spending a whole day shopping at NYCC, I decided that I wanted to experience the full Comic Con Experience, which meant attending events that weren’t on the main floor (as well at eating from vending machines and getting smacked across the face with a backpack full of hardcover comics). Luckily, Saturday had a numbed of panels in isolated meeting rooms.

[ Example of a panel ]

If you’ve never been to a ‘panel’, here’s how it goes : a handful of professionally related people sit at a long table with microphones and bottles of water. In a small meeting room, you might get squished into a folding chair in between a couple of larger gentlemen with breathing problems. If you end up in a theater, you’d be pretty lucky to get a seat where you could still see the stage without a telescope. The assembled professionals talk about an aspect of their trade or craft, and the audience asks questions. This lasts for about 30 minutes, or until the room gets hot and sweaty, and everyone squeezes out when it’s all over. Being given new and exclusive information is not an unpleasant experience, but the ‘panel’ is almost always a static, stilted presentation, with rare exceptions. PowerPoint never helps anything, guys, unless you’re trying to sap my will to live.

On today’s schedule was ‘DC and Mattel’ (a discussion of the ongoing line of DC Universe Classics action figures), a discussion with Hellboy creator Mike Mignola, a panel featuring talent from Hellboy II, and a panel with the creators and voice actors from The Venture Bros. - my favorite cartoon of all time. Fortunately, and against all odds and disorganization, I made it into all four events, but not without a great deal of trouble and uncertainty.

The ‘DC and Mattel’ panel was held in the aforementioned hot, unventilated little room and featured members of DC marketing team, a few members of the popular sculpting team of The Four Horsemen, and a brand manager for DC Comics. The assembled crowd was given a PowerPoint presentation that featured lists and images of some of the upcoming DCUC and JLU figures, each ‘new’ item being greeted with the suitable ‘ooh!’ and ‘aah!’, or silence if the pictured item was a re-paint or re-release of something else.

We were informed that the JLU line (seen here in our gallery) has shifted from a kid-centric line towards being a collectors’ line, and as such, it would begin to feature characters that were never actually IN the show but are popular with fans anyhow. The line would also be sold exclusively at Target. Upcoming JLU figures include a great Jack Kirby-inspired ‘New Gods’ box set of six that will include characters like Forager and Lashina. Also new will be a classic Batman (in his blues and greys), Galatea (essentially, Power Girl in cartoon form), Captain Atom, a re-release of the rare Gorilla Grodd, and a San Diego Comic Con exclusive Giganta - in both ‘normal sized’ and ‘enormous’ forms. As someone who’s still seeking a few rare figures (and finding them, years after release, due to strange distribution), this was exciting stuff.

Mattel also revealed details about upcoming DCUC figures (also pictured here), which include Batman Beyond, Captain Atom (in two variants), and amazingly huge Ares, and a collect-and-connect Despero. Wonder Woman (from Wave 4) will have an Artemis variant, and there will also be a Wal-Mart exclusive wave, which will include Amazo, The Atom, The Riddler, Black Lightning, Eradicator Superman, and a collect-and-connect Brainiac. Anyone who’s collected toys for a while will shudder at the very mention of anything being exclusive to Wal-Mart, because ‘Wal-Mart Exclusive’ equates to ‘impossible to find and expensive on eBay’ - but Mattel assured the crowd that the wave will ship consistently throughout the year, alongside regular figures. Toys ‘R’ Us will also be getting an exclusive 2-pack of Lightray and an unmasked Orion, as well as a 2-pack of some Batman re-releases. We were also shown a glimpse of Hawkman.

The biggest news, however, is the release of a SDCC Exclusive Lobo. Now, Lobo is a fun character with a hilariously ultra-violent background. Because of this, DC avoids making toys of him at almost any cost, because they just don’t want to present the character to children if they can help it. Because the SDCC environment isn’t general retail, and assumed to be a mostly-collector event, Lobo will be sold there and only there. However, once the NY crowd collectively moaned and frothed at the Mattel brand manager, he promised to make the figure available online also.

Questions were fielded regarding this character or that character, and they were all answered openly and honestly. One thing that did surprise me was the tone of the complaining about not getting figures in NY as quickly as our West Coast brethren - an observation which showed a complete ignorance about how toys are distributed in the US. Most toys come in at California ports, and over the course of a few weeks, dependent almost entirely upon the distribution system of any given retailer, they make their way around, leaving Mattel with little say on what is sent where and in what quantity. To complain to Mattel is a fruitless activity, unless you’re asking them to just make more toys - and even still, the retailers need to order them. For a few minutes, it was like sitting in a whiny message board, and it was uncomfortable.

The second panel I sat in on was a discussion with Hellboy creator Mike Mignola, who wasn’t given anything but a chair and a table. No moderator, no preface - just a guy open questions and answers. Despite the lack of preparedness on the part of NYCC, Mignola sailed through the questions in good time and gave great, casual answers regarding his many projects, inspirations and aspirations. He wanted to break into comics, he started inking things (poorly, by his own admission), and eventually decided that drawing monsters fighting was his true calling - and he never looked back. It really didn’t get more complex than that, and it didn’t need to be. Oh, and using lots of dark shadows on things meant that the comic’s colorist couldn’t screw it up too badly.

I arrived at the Hellboy II cast panel an hour early. As it turned out, the Lucasfilm panel was running 30 minutes late, so the insanely huge crowd of a line waiting outside of the IGN Theater didn’t even really know what they were waiting for, and no one seemed to be able to tell them. This was exacerbated by the fact that the only crowd control was volunteer teenagers in yellow shirts, none of whom could give an answer consistent with the guy standing next to them. I waited on the line for about 45 minutes before I was told that it wasn’t for Hellboy after all (even though it was scheduled to start), and that I wasn’t allowed to wait on ANY lines until 2 PM. Despite this, Hellboy fans started their own impromptu line off to the side, while we all joked and debated as to whether our line was an official line or if we’d again be dispersed by the angry grey-haired guy. I was chatted up by an anime geek while I mostly shrugged and indicated that I had no idea what he was talking about, but wrote down a few ‘suggested watching’ titles anyhow. We eventually wound our way in, sat through a few scenes of the upcoming action movie ‘Wanted’ and enjoyed a short talk with the Russian director - who seemed totally bewildered at the crowd.

The Hellboy panel, presented immediately afterwards, included director Guillermo DelToro, Ron Perlman, Doug Jones, Selma Blair and Mike Mignola, along with newcomer Luke Goss. After an extended trailer, the lights returned and the stage was filled with creatures from HBII, delighting and shocking the whole audience. After this, the audience lined up to ask questions - most of them directed at DelToro. In fact, I don’t recall Selma Blair or Luke Goss (who actually appears in both Hellboy and Wanted) saying a word during their entire stay on stage - with DelToro vibrantly and amicably (and crassly) responding to every inquiry. He expounded on his feelings as an independent director versus being a director working for a major company - and while the big bucks reside in major motion pictures, he likened it to trying to draw a picture while a dozen hands are holding your pencil. He gave out his personal e-mail address in a search for artists and interns, which I quickly wrote down and began to do sketches for. I’m far more enamored with creators than with celebrity, but it would have been nice to get a few more words out of the actors regarding how they felt about the filming process. Perhaps the most interesting revelation was that the voice of new movie creature Johann was to be provided by Seth MacFarlane - creator and talented voice actor from Family Guy.

The Hellboy monsters were going to stick around for photographs, and a limited edition poster was to be given out, but I bolted out of the theater to make it to the Venture Bros. panel on time. I was very surprised to encounter another ridiculously long line that wrapped around the small events hall. Everyone expressed doubts about the size of the line being able to actually make it inside, but after a quick room change and a couple of crowbars to squeeze everyone in (along with irate people from another mysterious line that also ostensibly led inside yelling at organizers), we managed to get a seat in the back of the room, right next to a curly-headed guy who was making every every to not fall asleep on my shoulder. And failing.

The Venture panel consisted of a few scenes from the upcoming Season Three, followed by a conversation with Doc Hammer, James Urbaniak, Michael Sinterniklaas and Jackson Publick. While it mostly consisted of in-talking and a debate about whether one would rather lose a toe or a finger (given the choice), I found the behind-the-scenes personalities very interesting. A couple dressed as The Monarch and Dr. Girlfriend asked Doc Hammer to perform their marriage ceremony, and the panel launched into a hilarious and philosophical discussion about the souls of clones. Everyone associated with the show was really amicable, and even gave out prizes for excellent questions or costumes - though the prizes only consisted of really bad DVDs.

The effect of most of the panels was to come away inspired to create things, which is the most that I can ask from anything. There was still one day left, and I was going to round it out with a bit of everything.

New York Comic Con has only happened twice before, and I was there. I think that I left parts of me there, actually… you know, the parts that were carelessly torn off by obscenely surging crowds without an inch to breathe in. This third NYCC, held in Manhattan’s Javits Convention Center, didn’t suffer from the notorious problems of its predecessors - so bite it, San Diego Comic Con! We’ve got a good one now too!

We arrived at New York Comic Con expecting to not arrive at it at all - no, like years before, we expected to be on a line that led a solid mile away from the entrance, our delicate nerd flesh exposed to the harsh April elements. Throughout my three-day exploration of NYCC, I only encountered one ridiculous line. NYCC has finally found a formula that works for the capacity of the crowd that it generates - and it’s a huge crowd. Of course it would be a huge crowd - NYCC isn’t just about comics. It draws in fans of all forms of entertainment - movies, music, video games, collecting, art, literature, and that good ol’ fashioned ‘ogling chicks in tight-fitting fantasy costumes’ form of entertainment. If you don’t fall into any of these categories, stay home and knit yourself a coffin, because you’re already dead inside.

I wasn’t looking forward to being sardine’d (or associated) with a bunch of stereotypical geeks and their stereotypical issues with personal space and personal hygiene, but I also encountered very little of this. The NYCC organizers have widened the aisles between each row of booths and added a lot of free space to breathe in, so I can finally say that I wouldn’t hesitate to return next year. The misanthropes could remain at a comfortable distance from one another, and still ogle the beautiful girls who somehow blundered their way inside, slightly terrified.

I had a few small goals for the weekend : get a signature from artist Dean Haspiel for my Bizarro Comics book (the only thing I ever get signed), attend the Hellboy, Mike Mignola and Venture Bros. panels, and not spend too much money. I almost failed at the first 4 goals, and completely failed at the fifth - but that last one was my fault alone. That, and the awesomeness of Re-Ment dollhouse miniatures. Yes, you heard that right. This Hellboy-lovin’, Tom Waits listenin’ blogger loves dollhouse miniatures, and they were at the Con. I also wanted to buy the NYCC exclusive Iron Man glass, because I loves me some Iron Man and temporarily storing liquids.

I’d decided that the initial Friday of NYCC was to be relegated to exploring the main area of the Con and getting first dibs on collectibles, wandering the huge expanse of the Javits floor and just experiencing the heck out of it. The crowds were sparse all day, so it was a relaxed experience. A tip to Friday collectors, though : many booths don’t put out their ‘exclusive’ items until Saturday because of the limited Friday attendance and possibility of early sell-outs. Also, companies that have new things to display might not put them out just yet - they don’t want to spoil the surprise for regular attendees.

Vogue International, the company that provided the larger-than-life statues of Batman and Superman that were peppered throughout the Con (guarding escalators and such), had a booth just outside of the main display area that featured large statues and sculptures of various entertainment properties. Most interesting to me, however, was a display of props that were used in the filming of Batman Returns, including Danny DeVito’s Penguin mask and feet, as well as a robotic attack penguin. The rest of the Con didn’t have much of a museum quality - nor were these items for sale to an amateur prop nut (and professional Bat-nut) like myself. It’s probably just as well - once you start adding a category of ‘things that Danny DeVito has sweated in’ to your collecting lexicon, it’s all but over.

I wasn’t three steps inside the front door before I ran into NECA’s booth. Two Nightmare Before Christmas action figures (Pirate and Vampire Jack Skellington) that I’ve been coveting for well over a year - and $40 - later, I realized that I’d have to lug them around all day. I’d totally abandoned my wise strategy of locating the things I wanted to buy and then going on a spree at the end of the day to avoid the fatigue of the luggage and chafed backpack shoulders. It’s a real problem. I’m red for days.

From here, we wandered the smartly organized floors - the left side was for larger companies, while the right side was for small shops, small press, and artists. The organization really catered to a logical exploration of the entire floor with a purpose - and unlike previous NYCCs, the prices on items were discounted, not inflated, making it a great place for collectors to stock up on a few much-wanted odds and ends. The far back wall was given to larger autographing events, a mass of tables for trading card games, and a performance stage. Con attendees should also note that some signing events require a large fee and/or a ticket, so there’s never a guarantee that you’ll get to meet who you traveled 100 miles to meet.

NECA’s booth revealed a few new items to the public, including the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles April O’Neill figure, and a Beetlejuice variant in his wedding tux (as opposed to the striped attire shown at Toy Fair). While I’m sure if they were new or not, the Arnold Schwartzenegger ‘Conan’ figure, and the Dark Crystal ‘Skeksis’ figure were both really beautiful in very different ways. NECA’s Con exclusive this year was a boxed set of four Ninja Turtles - unfortunately, they refused to sell the set until Saturday. I remained Turtle-free. They’ve been released at general retail anyhow, individually packaged. They sold out quickly, and some were actually spotted being sold at other booths later - at highly inflated prices.

Gentle Giant is offering a large selection of busts and figures throughout the upcoming year, including some really fine stuff from Hellboy II, a continuation of their Star Wars bust line and various ‘animated’ pseudo-properties, including more Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. For NYCC, they offered a collection of exclusive Harry Potter and Hobbit busts, as well as some zombies and Indiana Jones mini-props. They’re even beginning to make 12” Star Trek figures, beginning with the popular Captain Picard.

Not long after I’d seen these two companies, I happened to be walking across the floor and randomly encountered one of the co-stars of ‘30 Rock’ (and regular Adult Swim voice actor), Scott Adsit. Just another fellow nerd, hanging out at the Con. Every so often, someone would take a look at him, do a double-take, and say ‘Hey! You’re that guy!’, which he’d smilingly acknowledge and allow himself to be chatted up.

Big Shot Toy Works produced a beautiful, articulated sculpture of Ashley Wood’s ‘Bertie the Pipebomb’, which we ogled adoringly for quite a while before we realized that the price was $300. As a huge fan of Ashley’s work, and an owner of his Popbot and Lady Sham statues, and his Spawn figures, it’s something that I really would love to collect someday, when I’m more of a high-end kind of guy. A limited edition version, in black and rust, was produced for the show, and potential buyers entered a raffle for the opportunity to even buy the item. I didn’t even want to have my heart broken by winning the raffle and being unable to afford the robot, so I abstained.

We also swung on by Mezco, who have finally allowed the second wave of their Hellboy II toys to be photographed. Diamond Toys had their Minimate figures from Iron Man on display also.

We rounded out the day with a couple of panels - events in which a person or ten sits at a long desk in front of the room and is interviewed by a moderator or the audience, all live and off-the-cuff. Mostly, we just wanted a place to sit down, and the people running the gaming tables kept on yelling at anyone who needed to borrow a chair, as Javits didn’t provide many.

The first panel that I attended was the ‘Weird Tales’ discussion. Any sci-fi nerd knows that ‘Weird Tales’ was a magazine that existed before the term ‘sci-fi’ was even used and was a defining force in the genre of speculative fiction, featuring short science fiction and horror stories from many new, powerful authors including Lovecraft and Asimov. Little did I, or many other people, know - Weird Tales is still being published. Across a panel of four people, the room sleepily chatted abut the magazine, and where it’s come, and the art involved. One guest on the panel was ‘Molly Crabapple’, a known NY-area artist responsible for organizing a regular ‘Dr. Sketchy’ drawing class - which usually features burlesque themes. She’d drawn a few portraits for a recent article in the magazine, but I think that her sense of importance regarding the article was overblown, and I found myself losing patience quickly. Anyone who throws their own name into a list of great, noteworthy artists isn’t someone who I want to hear talking for very long. Overall, the panel raised awareness of the magazine, but generated almost no excitement or interest.

The second (and final) panel of the day was a surprise - ‘Comic Artists Talk About Drawing’. There was no announcement about who would be on the panel, but I soon discovered that it included legendary Thor artist Walt Simonson, Colleen Doran, fan-favorite Jim Lee and Dean Haspiel - who I’d been looking for all day after he didn’t make an appearance at his scheduled table. I had my Bizarro book to get signed, after all.

It was an inspiring panel, with each artist having a completely unique perspective on the process of drawing, and what comics meant to them - from growing up in poverty and scraping together nickels for tattered comics, to growing up in a middle-class midwest family and encountering a plethora of well-preserved comics. Mr. Lee humorously fabricated details about his own life after it became clear that his struggle wasn’t quite that of the other artists in the room.

Mr. Simonson was the most vocal and long-winded panelist, using up most of the 30 allotted minutes, but also came into the room with the most experience, so it’s not as if his meandering was wasted time. The feeling that was constructed was how important comics were to each of these artists emotionally, and how they eventually all realized their dreams of becoming part of the thing that they loved - all very inspiring. At the end of the panel, I summoned the courage to harass Dean Haspiel for a signature, and he was amazingly gracious as we briefly chatted it up about what comics meant to US, and he gave me a few suggestions on continued readings.

We retired to the Roger Smith Hotel on Lexington and rested up for a very busy Saturday. Check out a gallery of NYCC photos here in our own Community Section!