Jam-Packed Comic Con Takes Over New York City

[FarCenter]

New York Comic Con is a huge annual event that attracts comic book fans, video gamers and anime lovers from around the world. But above all, it's a place for brands to get people amped for their newest products.

With all the media, industry folk and consumers gobbling up everything in the venue, conventions like NYCC are big stops on the tour for big brands like Marvel, DC Comics and Dark Horse. Gaming brands like Activision and Square-Enix had big sections, and even non-industry brands like Chevrolet and Sprint were prominently displayed.

We went down to the jam-packed Javits Center over the weekend to check out all the happenings. Here's what we saw:


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/new-york-comic-con-pictures-2011-9

[AsahinaKimi]

1. I have been to those before...

Saw some great things and met some cool people, including Marvel Artist Steve Leialoha who drew Spidergirl for quite some time as well as other great stuff. Even my own company, has had a booth at the local comic con, and was at the one in San Jose. Wish I could have attended those, but got caught up in some other stuff. They asked me to be a "booth girl"..but I told them, maybe next time! ^^

[vi5]

2. I went this weekend with my son....

We went last year since he's big in his superhero/Star Wars phase (he's 5) and he enjoyed it. So we went again this year. This year, on the same day of the show (Sunday is "Kids Day") it was so ridiculously packed it was insane. A lot more than last year.

And in my 41 years I've dealt with crowds of all shapes and sizes and situations. Metal concerts in the 80's, protests, amusement parks at peak season, protests, marches, music festivals. Never have I encounted a more rude, self centered bunch than at these comi-cons. I mean like pushing, shoving, knock over a kid to get a free piece of comic swag or a try at a video game level rude.

I guess it shouldn't be surprising since it's a gathering of socially maladjusted people that tend to prefer fantasy to reality, and it's probably much to expect them to fully understand and engage in basic social decorum. But still.

[lazarus]

3. could that brush be any broader?

My family enjoys Comic-Con in San Diego, and we're not socially maladjusted. Every fantasy/comic book/SF fan i know has a firm grip on reality. And virtually everyone I know is a fan.

Yeah, there are jerks and assholes, but guess what? You find jerks and assholes in every group of people. Every one.

[vi5]

7. Yeah, it was a broad brush...I know...

And I'm not without my nerd culture credientials myself. But honestly this was ridiculous. The behavior of this group of people at every turn was really just so far beyond the pale. I'm not naive about crowds and I expect some degree of jostling and aggression. As I said in my post I've been in plenty of them. But when you see 30-50 year old men cutting in front of 6 year old kids to get their picture taken with a statue....when you see 30-50 year old men shoving kids out of the way to grab a free poster they're giving away...and when you see this type of behavior consistently throughout the day in many different locations and from many different people it tends to cause a fairly visceral response.

[AngkorWot]

4. I went to the San Deigo Comic Con a few years back when I happened to be in SD.

It was like attending an Aspergers convention.

[exboyfil]

5. I attended Comic Cons back in the 1970s

in Southern California, and we were not rude or pushy. I remember quietly standing in line to get the autograph of my hero Jack Kirby. The only autograph in which I have ever stood in line to get.

While I don't read comics now, I found them a comfort as a young teenager.

I am sorry that todays children are different.

[vi5]

6. Todays "Children" aren't different...

The kids (I'll say anyone under 12 or 13) that were there with parents were very well behaved.

It was all the adults there who were the problems and were rude.

[petronius]

8. There's jam involved? Eew, that does not sound sanitary at all...

:silly:

[hifiguy]

9. I went to a few in the 1980s and worked a couple in the 1990s

when I managed a sci-fi/comics shop and it was just comics geeks back in those days. No video gamers or multi-media stuff, as there WAS no multi-media stuff in those days. Met some of my heroes of the medium, including Marv Wolfman and Gil Kane (both absolutely lovely guys), Bill Sienkiewicz and a number of others. Chris Claremont, who came to our shop a few times, was a pompous and rather egotistical character, but the old-timers were all great.

Yes, there a lot of Asperger's types in fandom. A LOT of them. I'm dx'd AS and have plenty of first hand experience of comics fans. ;)