Reminiscing on NYCC 2013 - Part 1

A sea of people.

It has been exactly 3 months since I attended New York Comic Con (NYCC) with a press pass, and boy, do I wish that I could back already.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with NYCC, allow me to elaborate a bit. The convention is the second largest of its kind in the country, right behind the big one in San Diego. In 2013, it's estimated that it was attended by around 130,000 people. NYCC attracts fans of all sorts of entertainment other than just comics, from film to YA novels to...wrestling? But more on that later... (and for more information on NYCC, click here)

Anyway, this past October marked my second trip to the convention. And what an adventure it was. Over the next three days, I will detail some of the highlights of each day of the con.

Friday -  Dressed as Reaping Day Katniss (at least, my best approximation), I got off the train at Grand Central Station carrying an over-stuffed backpack and a Hobbit tote stuffed to the gills with my "NYCC survival kit." While I know the city decently well, I still latched on to the first group of costumed crusaders (some Assassin's Creed fans, judging by their cowls) that I spotted, for safety's sake. As we walked, the group grew; by the time we all reached the Javits Center, there were at least fifteen of us.

After getting through the Press entrance, it was all a matter of checking my knapsack and locating my friends before I could start to enjoy the convention. I found them by the same meeting spot we picked out last year - right across from the bathroom with the shortest line, and just a short walk from the food court. We focused on the important things, obviously.

I started the day out with a peanut-butter-banana-honey-bacon sandwich. Yes, you read that right. After that, we wandered. The Javits Center is huge--something like 760,000 square feet--and NYCC is spread out across the whole thing. There's the vast exhibition hall, the autograph hall, and the artist hall, not to mention dozens of theaters and panel rooms in various sizes.

We creeped on celebrities in the autograph hall, standing on our tiptoes to see over the crowds. I accidentally fan-girled Catherynne M. Valente, who was very kind about it. I then stood in line for forty-five minutes to meet Max Brooks, writer of World War Z (one of my favorite books), and son of Mel Brooks (one of my favorite directors). I told him that my dad was his dad's biggest fan, and he responded by saying: "If my dad was here, I'm sure he would be so happy to hear that."

Other highlights of the day include meeting "Lola," Agent Coulson's beloved car from Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., watching people get knighted by the fellows from Medieval Times, and looking at a display of Superman suits from over the decades. I tracked down F. Paul Wilson, writer of the Repairman Jack series, and favorite author of my old roommate. He was more than happy to write a nice little note for her, which I am happy to say made her year when I gave it to her (or at least her week).

Friday ended at my friends' apartment with Chinese food, Disney movies, and a heck of a lot of sewing to prepare us for Saturday...