NY Comic Con 2008: Pics & Recap

I imagined I would be all organized and journalistic, jotting down impressions while I was there (ha!)--but I think I sat down for a grand total of 10 minutes. Oops! I am one of those people who, if you put her in an airplane hangar-sized room full of exhibits, has to see EVERYTHING. Or tries to. Even if lots of the tables/booths feature things I am not interested in, like the Trailer Park of Terror movie. O.o

So shall we recap? Let's recap!

Comic Con is a totally overwhelming sensory experience: loud, crowded, and with something new to see (or buy) every time you turn around. It is also pretty sweet. ;D

SUPERHEROES!

Cosplayers are everywhere, strutting their stuff and striking bold poses when you ask to take a picture.


Now *that's* how an icon poses. :D


Black Cat looking HOTT! w/Spider-Man.


No idea who this guy is, other than AWESOME.

Or, you know, scratching their arm if you take their photo on the sly.


Check out that Emma Frost costume! I don't know who the guy is.


Sweet old skool Green Lantern costume. ^.^

And if you think wearing a skintight costume is brave, check out the ultimate in ballsy costumes: Slavegirl Leia.


These girls fear nothing!

One of the NY Jedi girls had red eyes, which scared the $#!+ out of me. I know sometimes people have red eyes in books, and it's like, "oh cool, red eyes" *turns page*, but it is much freakier in real life. Trust me.



Do you know what else is scary? Seeing Pyramid Head from Silent Hill. But at least he wasn't slowly chasing me at 2 mph with his huge rusty-bloody sword raised. This was a more chill Pyramid Head, who gamely posed for a picture with his psychotic, blood-covered nurse companion.




TOYS!

Mattel had a huge collection of Justice League Unlimited figures on display, which will supposedly be sold at Target later this summer (I'll be shocked if I ever see Wildcat at Target. My bet is on rows and rows of Superman blister packs), along with the reinvented He-Man on steroids.


I dunno how I feel about those primary colors, Batman . . .


Aww, how cute is Stargirl? ♥


See Wildcat? He's in the middle.


By the power of Human Growth Hormone GRAYSKULL!

Square Enix was previewing upcoming toys/statues and there is a hot (but way too expensive) Final Fantasy XII Fran-and-Balthier-on-that-flying-bike-thingie statue coming your way soon. Also, they will be selling the Trading Arts mini figures in the U.S., including the Final Fantasy IV set, so if you don't want to pay ridiculous import prices, you're in luck. The FFIV set of 5 mini figures (Cid is not included) is going to retail for like $18 and will be available in about a month. They're really well made & they are absolutely adorable. Also, an Alice in Wonderland statue is in the works! How cool, right?




SWAG!

And of course, there was free stuff to be had: postcards, stickers, buttons, posters, book excerpts and manga samplers. Sherrilyn Kenyon's table was giving away copies of Seize the Night, and Little, Brown handed out arcs of Ignatius MacFarland: Frequenaut!, a middle grade book written by Paul Feig (the creator of the TV show Freaks and Geeks). NYCC volunteers tossed toys into the waiting crowd while we stood in line in the morning. I didn't dive for any because I am not INSANE and have no desire to be trampled to death by fanboys.


Penguin, represent! XD I picked up a sampler with excerpts from Robin McKinley's forthcoming Chalice (September 2008), The Youngest Templar: Keeper of the Grail, Eon: Dragoneye Reborn, and Quantum Prophecy: The Awakening.

I'll let you know what looks promising once I get a chance to read some of the samplers I picked up. ^.^


ARTISTS!

Sneak peaks are fun, but the best part of Comic Con is the opportunity to meet your favorite artists. Writers are great, but they don't have the same mystique. I know that the writer sits at his/her laptop and pecks away for hours; I do that too. But the artist? The artist is magical. I will never be a visual artist, so these are the people whose work I want to ooh and aah over. Also? The artist will often have a portfolio or sketchbook you can flip through, or original art/prints for sale, and many artists do sketches.

At Serge Lapointe's table, I had the surreal privilege of looking through the original (inked) pages for DC's Teen Titans: Year One. Serge is the inker, Karl Kerschl is the penciller, and all I can say is ZOMG Amazing! I would have loved to buy some pages, but alas, that stuff is out of my price range. If you haven't seen Teen Titans: Year One yet, you ought to check it out for the art alone. Serge mentioned that he and Karl would like to work together on a Super Pets one-shot, and all I have to say is that the big brass at DC should let this duo do ANYTHING they want, as long as they're working together. Seriously--it could be "Batman gets a mosquito bite" and I would buy it.

I also got to meet artist Cliff Chiang of Doctor Thirteen fame [ reviewed here ], who is currently drawing Green Arrow/Black Canary. I can't actually deal with that book anymore because the writing is so bad (you know it has to be terrible to keep me from buying that art), but it sounds like Chiang & Brian Azzarello (writer of Doctor Thirteen, 100 Bullets, etc.) will be working together more in the future. There is a Doctor Thirteen sequel in the works, but before that, we might see them on an Aquaman project or something else. (The other one slipped my mind. Oops. ^^;)


Cliff Chiang sketching. ^.^

The highlight of the con for me, though, was meeting up-and-coming Portuguese artist João Lemos, who pencilled & inked issue #1 of Avengers Fairy Tales. His work is so beautiful and unique, ethereal and delicate and simple and detailed all at once. As soon as I opened Avengers Fairy Tales at my local comic shop, I absolutely *had* to take it home with me. Seriously--click the link for a stunning preview. (The amazing & adorable Christina Strain does the coloring. You may have seen her work on a little comic called Runaways, yeah? ^.~) I plan to do a separate post on Lemos's art, so I can focus on it properly; it's unlike anything I've ever seen at Marvel. He's also an awesome, inspiring person, and I can't wait to see more of his work. I will literally buy any comic he draws. ♥


João Lemos sketching. ^.^ I'll show you the finished product in another post!

All in all, I had a lot of fun. My feet would disagree with me (ouch ouch ouch!), & next time I go to Comic Con I would like to be rich so I can load up on gorgeous, original art (and also hire that buff wolf guy to lug it around for me), but it was a really cool experience. Thank you for reading about it! ♥

More later!