New York Comic Con is the largest of the East Coast nerd gatherings. The convention consumes most of the Javitz center spanning some four blocks. Every continuity in printing comic-dim goes at least somewhat represented and the list of B and C-list celebrities present breaks 100. I don’t read comics nor have I really ever but I like being familiar with them. My relationship with myth is similar in that I enjoy learning about Norse Myth without having read the Prosa Edda. This makes interacting with some fans hard as I can give you the outline of Crisis on Infinite Earths but have no idea how Hawkman was specifically effected.

I’m here for costumes. The excitement and enthusiasm that comes from someone in replica garb is somewhat contagious. It’s also a way of practicing portrait photography under less than ideal conditions. My pictures of the day are below.

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I attended one panel today. Compare this to Dragon*con where I averaged six a day. The panels here, in general, were less interesting to me and didn’t seem to have coherent tracks. If I wanted to spend the day talking to Marvel nerds in sessions, I don’t think I could. The lone panel was a short-story reading by Chuck Piloniak <tk his name>. Chuck is known for his graphic short stories and it’s not uncommon for people to faint or throw up during one of his readings. With this in mind, I didn’t feel bad when I felt queasy midway through hearing about terrible sexual misadventures. The reading began and ended with Chuck throwing plastic limbs into the audience. I’m not sure why but this seemed appropriate.

Comic Con had none of the party atmosphere of Dragon*con and this was reinforced by the venue promptly closing at 9pm.