New York Comic Con 2015 makes its presence known in the Big Apple!
We have been to a plethora of conventions but when it comes to to the comic con right of passage, everyone knows the big names. While San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) has been known as the mecca for quite some time, 2015 may be the year of New York Comic Con. On attendance alone New York is claiming to have surpassed San Diego and our coverage of the event may provide detail as to why.
Check out FilmFad.com’s NYCC 2015 Extended ReCap Video filled with Cosplay, Artist Alley & Celebrity interviews, Showfloor tour and much more!
Day 1:
Arriving around 5AM on a minimal amount of sleep and a necessity for either a bed or a java-induced pick-me-up, we were forced to choose the latter of the two. As with any big city, New York City abides by a 3PM check in for its hotel guests and given the convention attendance, an early check-in was not happening. So to prep for the 4 hour wait for the Javits Center to open its doors, Pooya stayed progressively caffeinated and then the high of the convention kicked in to keep us moving.
Entering the Javits Center we immediately saw a replica “Back to the Future” Delorean which was there to honor the upcoming Back to the Future Day on October 21st. This was probably the best replica Delorean that I had ever seen from the classic “Back to the Future” films and we must have stood there in awe for about 10 minutes taking photo after photo.
After we broke our concentration from the Delorean, we started to get a lay of the land. It was Thursday morning which is slow for any convention so it provided a perfect opportunity. Not to say that attendees weren’t there because they definitely were, but day 1 was probably the only day that we could get from point A to point B without falling into a cattle herd of cosplayers. We did a quick run of the showroom floor, stopped by to say hello to a few celebrities and artists that we had spoken with in the past, then started journaling the event overall through pictures and video.
While making our way to Artist Alley, we caught a big surprise. SNL Weekend Update alum Seth Meyers was shooting a special edition of his show “Late Night with Seth Meyers” at the convention. For those that line up in New York to catch a live taping of the show without gaining access, this was quite a treat. While the celebrities were plentiful, Seth Meyers took a different approach to booking his guests.
This time around it was the attendees that got to appear on Seth Meyers’ couch. Cosplayers lined up to appear on the show and Seth introduced them as the characters they were emulating. It was a gesture that resonated with fans and showed the true heart of the convention as fans circled around the taping keeping respectfully quiet as their brethren sat in the hot seat. For those that didn’t get the pleasure of sitting in the seat, they all got to see the mechanics and intricate details of what goes into a talk show. For us, that was probably our favorite part.
The rest of day 1 was spent getting acclimated with our surroundings and covering the convention as a whole. We headed back to the hotel to get things in order for day 2 plans then had an offsite screening and Q & A for “The Final Girls” with Director Todd Strauss-Schulson. While there was a screening for “The Final Girls” at New York Comic Con earlier that day, we went through a PR company we work with to have a more intimate engagement off site.
Day 2:
To start off our second day we grabbed some caffiene, skipped breakfast, grabbed some low-quality quick eats, and then proceeded to start our second day of coverage. Glenn, Pooya, and I started again with some cosplay coverage and then made our way down to Artist Alley to get to the root of where comic book heroes got their start.
We interviewed a variety of artists including Erik Larsen (“Spider-Man,” “Savage Dragon”), Fabian Nicieza (“Deadpool”) and even Run DMC’s Darryl McDaniels about his new comic.
Moving from Artist Alley we ran into a bit of a bottleneck as the crowds grew and the hallways became packed. No one could move and security had to open up new areas for crowds to exit. While it had us a bit annoyed, it was a testament to the attendance of New York Comic Con 2015.
Moving on from Artist Alley we went on to cover the showroom floor. After we made it through the slew of people slowly moving along on the showroom floor, we started hitting the panels.
The first panel we hit was “The Americans” panel where I was the rookie amongst the Film Fad group. But I have to say after sitting through the panel and seeing the clips of the show, I am more than ready to get my fix of the FX show. The panel that followed was opened by Chris Hansen from Dateline NBC to present the talent behind TBS’ upcoming show “Angie Tribeca” which included talents such as Rashida Jones and Jere Burns.
We were pleasantly surprised by the premiere of the show’s first episode as we were taken back to a more nostalgic time of comedy. I caught a notable sense of humor similar to the times of “Airplane,” “Police Squad,” and “The Naked Gun.” My observation was later confirmed once we got to the Q&A portion of the panel and all of these titles were referenced as influences. When we got the chance to ask why a show directed by Steve Carell was on cable rather than broadcast TV, Rashida Jones gave a hilarious answer. “Well we got to say sh*t twice!” After the panel wrapped, Pooya grabbed a quick photo with Jere Burns and then we headed to our final panel for the night.
The final panel of our night was “Batman: Bad Blood” which is a new animated film coming soon. The trailer footage that we saw followed an interesting plot where Batman was taken over by Nightwing after Batman as supposedly been killed. The film will feature a plethora of Batman like heroes including Batwing, Batwoman, Nightwing, Batman, and Robin (Damien Wayne). From what we saw, I think we are all now excited for this film.
CLICK TO THE NEXT PAGE FOR DAY 3 and DAY 4
Day 3:
The third day of the trip was when we saw the massive influx of fans. While it seems hard to believe that the Javits Center could hold anymore people after the traffic from Friday, the Saturday show pushed the center to its limits. This was the day of the biggest panels and biggest events. AMC’s “Into the Badlands” premiere was that morning, followed by “The X-Files” premiere was at 1:15PM. For the 3PM panel we had to choose between a screening of “The Last Witchhunter” and the panel for Ash vs. Evil Dead. We decided upon the Ash vs. Evil Dead panel (because we already had a private screening for “The Last Witchhunter” in the queue) and that was definitely the right choice.
What started out as a panel meant to provide a few clips here and there, turned into a world premiere screening of the first episode of the Starz series. I have to say, if you’re an “Evil Dead” fan then you will definitely enjoy this series as it’s still on my mind days later. Fans were cheering and screaming with enjoyment and the foam chainsaws everyone received gave quite a visual for the crowd’s enjoyment. After the screening was finished we got another surprise from the panel’s moderator Kevin Smith. On stage Smith asked Bruce Campbell if he would appear in his upcoming film and got Campbell to agree to appear in “Mallrats 2.” By far, the “Ash vs. Evil Dead” panel was the highlight of the panels we attended.
After the panel we rushed back to the hotel to post about the breaking news revealed at the panel and then headed back to the Javits Center to cover the event as a whole and grab a few more cosplay photos.
Day 4:
The final day was a bit of a wind down for us towards the end where we took care of most of our coverage in the morning. We did an early morning interview with Robert Bruce from AMC’s Comic Book Men. I have to say that this guy is truly a pop culture plethora of information. I see why the guys at the shop always call him in for a second opinion. I think he truly has an eidetic memory. We also had setup an interview with Drea de Matteo (“The Sopranos,” “Sons of Anarchy”) but unfortunately a schedule conflict came up on our part and we were not able to accommodate the interview given the crowds. I’m sure we will cross paths again in the future.
For the tail end of the show we allotted ourselves about an hour of personal time to shop around. I am a big comic book collector myself but more recently I’ve been into collecting statues to put on my mantle.
Here’s an insider’s tip:
Everyone seems to flock to the Kotobukiya or Midtown Comics booth for this sort of thing. While they are a respected distributor, I found the best selection and pricing to be at Royal Collectibles Online
. With a continual flow of people flocking to the booth, the owner stood out amongst the rest of the distributors when it came to a personal touch. He was calm, collected, and courteous which made the browsing and purchasing experience as lot more enjoyable than other booths I visited. I would highly recommend stopping by their shop or online store if you’re in the market for collectibles like myself.
After that we all rushed to pick up our bags from the hotel and start to make our way back home. Overall I would say that New York Comic Con was quite the experience.