By Amanda Lampkins
Finally, I went to NY Comic Con this year! I’m not as geeky as I was in my (ahem) younger years. I was a comic girl back in the day. Spider-Woman, X-Men, Avengers and Fantastic Four were my bread and butter. I interspersed with other supes as well. I even have a stable of old comics that might fetch a pretty penny, too. So, watching Comic Con stills and images from other cities plus New York always placed it on my bucket list. The timing always conflicted with my yearly church’s (FCBC) women’s conference trip. This year I was good to go and immediately went through the rigmarole for email sign-up reservation and ticket purchase. I went in for 3 days straight; October 4–6; Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I even bought special t-shirts for each day; had to represent y’all.
It was definitely an experience. Of course, I had to document every bit of it via social media, i.e. Instagram and what my father calls “The Facebook.” The atmosphere lived up to the hype.
I loved the enthusiasm of the cosplay by the attendees. They really don’t play! Many paid detailed attention to the characters they decided to wear/play. I loved their willingness to stop for pictures whenever asked by total strangers. The children dressed up were freaking adorable as well.
I went through Artist’s Alley and saw awesome posters and works by the artists themselves. Some were on-site to autograph works for sale and works commissioned on the spot.
It made me want to go delve back into my lapsed comic-reading. I loved walking through the vendor floors getting in trouble with all offerings: collectibles, posters etc. If you do the same, you will wish you had more money and space when viewing the many items for sale.
I did purchase a couple of posters that did call to me though:
I didn’t attend any of the panels because my first time I just wanted to walk around. You must wear comfortable shoes because your feet will be cursing you out by the end of the day, people.
You also must bring your patience, because it is definitely needed. Your navigational skills will take a beating as you practice bobbing and weaving through the masses of people.
At the end, I was glad I invested the time and money. I probably won’t do 3 days straight and definitely not a Saturday, but I would go again.
