comics

(Day one) (Day three)

Day two of New York Comic Con 2015! I had a very full schedule of panels starting around mid-day, so I got some time in on the Exhibition Floor and Artist Alley in the morning. I made a point of going through the small press section of the main floor – that’s where all the independent authors would be. I learn a lot from watching and interacting with other authors at these cons – both what to do, and what not to do. One guy jumped down my throat as soon as I made eye contact – nothing against his work, but I could tell at a glance that his comic wasn’t my style. I just smiled at him, wasn’t stopping, but he launched into a detailed description of his book, and when he finished he immediately jumped into a description of his other book without giving me an opportunity to speak or, you know, walk away. It was very awkward. He took a breath and I muttered “thanks” and kept walking. Whereas another person’s book did look interesting to me, I stopped, picked it up, read the back, and she just stood there, staring at me. I looked up at her and she said, “Hi,” and nothing else. I felt too uncomfortable to ask her any questions, so I put down a book I might have bought and kept walking.

Lessons learned – don’t be desperate. Give people the opportunity to walk away politely. But if they do seem interested, engage with them in some way!

I stopped to chat quickly with one author whose booth and books looked interesting (and who struck the perfect balance between the two extremes I just described), Cerece Rennie Murphy. I’m always curious as to whether it’s worth it for me, as a self-published author, to get a booth at NYCC, so I asked her about her experiences. She spoke highly of exhibiting at cons – she does a number of them – so something for me to think about. (Although I enjoy attending NYCC so much that I hate the idea of not being free to wander, go to panels, and take everything in.)

I made my way down to Artist Alley, to check in with Ryan and Mia. Lots of cosplayers, obviously, and I got a couple of pictures.

John Constantine and Zatanna.

And the Sixth Doctor! I love a good Doctor Who cosplayer. He doesn’t have the hair, but that’s for the best. Sylvester McCoy taught us years ago that nobody looks good in a Colin Baker wig. (Real Doctor Who fans know what I’m talking about.)

Here are Mia and Ryan at Ryan’s booth. I love that Death Betty pin-up on the wall. Ryan was talking to some folks and I was trying to capture him being all professional, but he spotted me and I guess wanted to look all smart.

So here he is expounding on comic philosophy. Very erudite! And look at those sketches on the table – gorgeous! You can find more of his work at ryanwinn.com. Check it out!

Selfie with Mia, just like the cool kids are doing!

I said goodbye to them for the time being and headed off to my first panel, wolfing down my sandwich on the way since I wouldn’t have much time for lunch later. First was “Crip Culture and the Media – Perceptions of Disability in Film and Television.”

From left to right, that’s Shannon Devido, Lawrence Carter-Long, Howard Sherman, Maysoon Zayid, and moderator Dominick Evans (sorry, I didn’t realize at the time that his face was blocked by the paper and I didn’t take another pic). This panel was brilliant. It was everything I was looking for in yesterday’s panel on disability, and more. These folks are actual artists and creators with disabilities (except for Sherman, a knowledgeable ally). I’m still processing everything. I was particularly impressed with Zayid, her points about the problems with actors without disabilities portraying characters with disabilities really struck me. Lots for me to think about as I move forward with improving the representation of people with disabilities in my own work.

I got to relax a bit, because the next panel I wanted to attend was in the same room. I moved to the front for “The Next Big Thing: Indie Authors Creating Brave New Worlds.” This was the panel I had been looking forward to the most, for probably obvious reasons.

From left to right, there’s Greg Garay, Cerece Rennie Murphy, Nilah Magruder, April Adams, Neil Gibson, and co-moderators Michael “7” Michael and Dean Plakas. Murphy (remember her, from a few paragraphs ago?) had put the panel together – it was the first of its kind at NYCC. Every year, I respond to NYCC’s feedback request by asking for panels on self-publishing, and I’m so, so happy that this happened. It was great hearing from both prose and comics authors on their own particular journeys to independent publishing. If I’m honest, I can’t say that I learned much that I didn’t already know about the actual self-publishing process, but the audience was filled with aspiring independent creators who I’m sure got a lot of info and some great inspiration. And I got introduced to the work of some brilliant independent authors.

My next commitment wasn’t a panel, but a signing. I’m not much of an autograph hound – if I’m buying a book from a creator, I’ll get it signed because why not, but otherwise, I don’t much care. But I couldn’t miss this one – Ana Matronic, from the band Scissor Sisters, was signing copies of her new book at the Sterling Publishing Booth. It was starting not long after the panel got out so I rushed up to the Exhibition Floor, expecting to be at the back of a long line. I needn’t have hurried – there was nobody waiting at all. WHICH IS INSANE. Ana Matronic is the epitome of awesomeness. So I took the opportunity to get a copy of her book, Robot Universe, and then just sort of stood around waiting for her. A small line did form behind me, but I was the very first to meet the electric Ms. Matronic.

Flawless! I stammered that I was a big fan, she signed my book, and I asked if I could get a picture. She was super nice. Love her forever!

Since I was done much sooner than anticipated, I had some extra free time. I wandered back to the small press section and picked up a comic by Neil Gibson, who had been on the indie panel, and had another quick chat with Cerece Rennie Murphy. I thanked her for putting the panel together and offered my services if she needed any help for next year. I doubt she does, everything went great this year, but anything I can do to increase the visibility of self-published authors at events like this, I’ll do! Need a spreadsheet? I’m aces at spreadsheets.

I wandered around the floor a bit and snapped a few more pics…

Silk! (Update – Instagram has provided some IDs for some of the cosplayers I took pics of – this is @silkyjem.)

Clark Gregg (Agent Coulson!) made what I think might have been a surprise appearance at the Marvel booth, signing whatever was thrust in his face.

I’ve never seen the movie and honestly did not realize that he was Conan. I just thought he was some random barbarian. Nerd cred damaged.

I get Wario and Waluigi, but I don’t know the middle two. Are they specific Mario characters or just general Mario world denizens?

Ms. Marvel cosplay makes me happy.

By the time I made it back downstairs I was at the end of the line for the next panel, but once again, only needing one seat worked to my advantage and I was front and center for “New York TimesOUT Presents Gay Geek Culture.”

That’s moderator Jude Biersdorfer from the New York Times, Sam Maggs from The Mary Sue, author Damon Suede, and actors Paul McGill and Andy Mientus. Judy Stephens from Marvel was also there, but she came in late and I didn’t get a pic. The focus on this panel was broader than just comics, covering all media, including Broadway thanks to those two on the end. I enjoyed that, being a theater person myself.

I had a choice to make – well, really, every day at comic con is filled with choices, because there’s always at least two cool things happening simultaneously. But I try to make it to everything queer I can, and I had to decide between another panel or the “LBBTQIA in Comics and Pop Culture Meet-Up.” I’m trying to get better about networking and being social, so I went to the meet-up. Regretted it almost instantly. It was lovely, everybody was sitting around chatting, but introducing myself to a stranger with no purpose beyond just getting to know them is not something I’m capable of without a vodka tonic in my hand. I did say hello to Andy Mientus because I have a friend in Spring Awakening with him, but after a quick mutual, “Oh, yes, of course, he’s great,” I couldn’t think of anything else to say and just sort of drifted off.

I’m much better with books than I am with people. Sigh. So I left the meet-up prematurely and resumed wandering.

Here’s a shot of the entrance hall. So many people!

Hawkeye, Agent Carter, WWII Captain America (@todaystuesday), and Doctor Strange (@elegantfeatherduster)! Love the mustache.

I really liked these three – Scarecrow, Joker, and Bizarro.

You’re a wonder, Wonder Woman.

The day was winding down, and I was beat, but I still had two panels to go! Penultimate was “Geeks of Color, Third Edition: Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.”

I was actually seated way in the back, but I snuck up to get this pic. When they were actually speaking I couldn’t see them, so I might have my who’s who wrong (sorry!), but I believe from left to right it’s Camilla Zhang, Shelley Diaz, N. Stephen Harris (hidden by the podium), moderator Diana Pho, Melissa Grey, Eric Dean Seaton, Tatiana G. King-Jones, and Tracey John. Another good talk on representation by some smart artists, but I confess my attention lagged. I couldn’t see them so it was sort of like listening to a podcast, and I was tired, tired, tired. Not their fault – what I remember was great! (I’m so lame.)

My final panel began right after, at 7:45pm. I had been at the con for a million hours by this point, but I wasn’t about to give up in the home stretch. I made it to “BookTube 101” right on time.

From left to right, that’s moderator Natasha Polis, Christine Riccio, Kat O’Keefe, and Jesse George. BookTube is the name used for a subset of YouTube channels all about books, and it’s something I know very, very little about and thought I should learn more. These four were a lot of fun, I can see why their channels would be popular – they were all very charming and funny, and damn, their enthusiasm for reading was just a complete joy to experience. As tired as I was, they kept my interest for the whole hour. Really glad I stayed for this one.

And that was that! Ryan and Mia finished up in Artist Alley around the same time as I got out, so we went and grabbed some dinner at Chelsea Grill followed by cookies at Schmackary’s. (Can’t go to Times Square without Schmackary’s cookies.) Then home for a rest and recharge before day three.

Day two loot! It was a light day – I didn’t have much time to shop! Twisted Dark is the comic I picked up from Neil Gibson of the indie author panel, and Robot Universe is of course Ana Matronic’s book. (I love the kitty-cat crimefighter tote bag I got free with it.) The rest is assorted bookmarks and fliers I either took or had shoved in my hand. I do look at them all, once I’ve decompressed – I’ve found some good stuff I otherwise would have missed that way.

Sleep!

(Day one) (Day three)

It’s here, it’s here, New York Comic Con is here!

I got my pro pass well in advance this year. My plan is to do three of the four days. I took Thursday and Friday off of work, and will be going Saturday as well. There’s some fun stuff on Sunday, but I expect I’ll be pretty wiped by then and ready for a day at home. (Especially as I’m considering attending the Geeks Out after party on Saturday night…)

So the pro pass is a great deal – it’s cheaper than a single day pass, and it’s for the whole con. The only other benefit it provides is you get to enter through a different door than everyone else, skipping the main line. Every other year I’ve gone that hasn’t really been an issue – maybe it’s just been the times I’ve been getting there, but there’s never really been much of a difference in wait time between the “blue door” and the main “green door.” Not this year! The con started at ten, and I got there shortly before. There were con volunteers blocks away steering people in a certain direction, but I ignored them and continued to the blue door.

I got in very quickly, but figured it wouldn’t have made much difference if I had followed the herd. I was very wrong! I was supposed to meet my friends Maggi, Ron, and M at 10:15, but a text from Maggi told me that they were in the main line – and would likely be there for quite a while. The line was winding up, down and all around the town. Some scofflaws were apparently jumping to the front of the line without consequences, but my friends are law-abiding citizens and had to wait.

Meanwhile, I seized the opportunity to explore the almost empty exhibition floor. Er, sorry, guys. (And thank you, pro pass.)

Found a great cosplayer right off the bat – love this TARDIS outfit. (I think she was actually working at this booth, but I can’t remember what it was for…)

Most of the vendors were still getting set up, so I went over to Artist Alley, always my favorite part of any convention. Just at the entrance, a small crowd was gathered, watching some television getting made.

Seth Myers was interviewing cosplayers for a segment on his show. Pretty cool! They were wrapped and gone very quickly – I assume they were taking advantage of the outside line chaos and getting out before the bulk of the crowd had made it inside.

No pictures of Artist Alley – I’ll try and get some tomorrow – but I did stop at Ryan Winn‘s booth to say hello. I know Ryan and his wife Mia through my friend Kate Danley – in fact, I first met them at my first NYCC, a few years back. Kate couldn’t make the trip this year, but it was good to see Ryan and Mia. And to have a place to hover all day whenever I had some time to kill. (I think I managed to avoid chasing away actual customers. I hope so, as I plan to continue visiting regularly for the next two days.) And I picked up the first (or, zeroth, I guess) issue of Death Betty, a comic by Ryan and Adam Jackman. Check it out, it’s great! (Just click all the links in this paragraph. They all lead somewhere good.)

Alas, my friends had still not made it inside, so I went to my first panel of the day, “We Need More Diverse Comics.”

Sorry for the terrible picture of the backs of people’s heads. I sat in the last row so I could slip out discretely if and when Maggi texted me that they had made it inside. But that’s moderator Christian Zabriskie on the end there, and then – and I could have all of this wrong – that’s Karen Green (or her hair, at least), Eric Dean Seaton, Vishavjit Singh, and Ivan Velez. Alex Simmons was also on the panel, but he showed up a little late, after I had taken this picture. Or maybe after and he’s actually in there, it’s not like I can tell.

It was a pretty interesting discussion – I’m a sucker for a good diversity panel. I’m a strong advocate for including lots of different types of people in fiction, as you might know if you’ve read any of my books. Unfortunately I didn’t stay too long – the panel started at 11:15, and at 11:30 Maggi texted me that they had made it in, after an hour and a half in line. Huzzah! I did linger a bit, as Singh started telling the story of how the “Captain America in a turban” phenomenon started. Remember that, from about two years ago? That was him. He’s an artist and had initially drawn an image of Captain America with a beard and turban, which became so popular that he was persuaded to dress that way by a friend. It’s a pretty great story – look him up if you haven’t heard of him.

Cosplay break!

Disney princesses! I think? Who’s the one with the basket, anybody know? I thought it was Alice at first, but the colors aren’t right. What kind of Disney queen am I? Whoever she is, I wish her eyes were open.

Zatanna, mistress of magic! This is back down in Artist Alley.

Hawkman! I am living for those wings.

Lunch at the Javitz Center would cost about the same as my grocery bills for a year, so we all had brought sandwiches. It was pretty crowded but we found some floor space to pop a squat. Hey, wanna see my friends eat lunch?

Ron and Maggi! Note the Predator in the background. Don’t get too excited, that’s a fanny pack.

M!

We had different agendas for the day, so after lunch we split up. I found another cosplayer I had to get a picture of:

Squirrel Girl! I love Squirrel Girl. Then I was off to my second panel, “Disabled or Mislabeled? Graphic Novels and Comics About Disabilities.”

Slightly better picture this time – at least you can see the panel. Unfortunately, I’ve no idea who is who. Google image search wasn’t too much help, but I think this is the order, left to right: Natalie Korsavidis, Valerie Acklin, Jessikah Chautin, and Martha Divittorio. It was a fairly interesting panel. I do wish they had found some disabled creators to speak. All four women, I believe, are librarians and comics fans, so they were able to talk knowledgeably on the subject, but it was mostly a listing of comics characters with disabilities rather than an in-depth discussion of the state of the industry in regards to this kind of representation. It livened up a bit when the audience got to ask questions, although many of those were also just recommendations of more things to read.

I’m probably presenting this a little unfairly – it really was interesting. I had gone into it with unrealistic expectations, maybe – I would like to do better at including people with disabilities in my own work, and was hoping to hear from some other writers on the topic. But that wasn’t how the panel was billed, so I really shouldn’t judge it for not giving me something it didn’t promise.

My friends were in panels of their own (and M was in line to meet Felicia Day), so I wandered Artist Alley a bit more, then hit up my last panel for day one, “New York TimesOUT Presents LGBT in Comics.” I had lingered a little too long – I needed a snack and bought some overpriced cookies at the food court, which led to me getting in line a little late. But being on your own has its advantages (he said, eating a pint of Ben and Jerry’s while watching an entire season of Doctor Who in one sitting), and I was able to slip into an open seat in the second row, front and center.

Which means better pictures! Here’s most of the line-up: left to right, that’s Kris Anka, artist on Captain Marvel and Ms. Marvel; Jennie Wood, creater of Flutter (which I bought the first volume of at NYCC last year, and got it signed by her – it’s good!); Babs Tarr, artist on Batgirl; Kevin Wada, artist on She-Hulk and Catwoman; James Tynion IV, writer of Batman & Robin Eternal and Constantine: The Hellblazer; and moderator Jude Biersdorfer from sponsor The New York Times.

And then slipping in just under the wire, on the far left, is (my favorite) Steve Orlando, writer on Midnighter and Virgil (which I bought from him at Flame Con earlier this summer).

This was a terrific panel – kudos due to Biersdorfer for being a great moderator, asking intelligent questions that kept things moving. Some good questions from the audience, as well. Tynion talked about how important it had been to him to make John Constantine’s bisexuality explicitly clear in the first few pages of the first issue of the relaunched Constantine: The Hellblazer, which I remember came as a very happy surprise to me when I read it, after the producer of the TV show took such pains to make clear the television version would remain heterosexual.

Tarr was fun, she talked a lot about the designs of the various Batgirl characters, including the new costume.

And Orlando spoke a lot about the importance of Midnighter as the only lead queer character currently carrying a solo book from DC or Marvel, and how presenting him as a single, sexually active gay man is as important, and as boundary-pushing, now, as presenting him as in a steady relationship with Apollo was back when he first appeared. Overall, a great panel.

That was it for panels for the day. But not for cosplayers!

Iron Fist!

At first I thought this was Bloodshot, but I think now it’s Captain Atom, from the shape of the chest design, and the costume color pattern. It’s just the lines on the face that have me wondering if maybe it’s a different character entirely. Anyone?

Gritty 90s Aquaman!

And on our way out…

Deadpool conga line! Because why not? Honestly, I’m sort of over Deadpool cosplay – I’ve never been a huge fan of the character (though I do like the most recent run a lot), and the humor of the cosplayers rarely works for me, despite the endless spins they put on it. Okay, I’m a grump. But I did like that the last person in line (who you can’t see in this picture, unfortunately) was Bob, Agent of Hydra, Deadpool’s perpetually unfortunate sidekick.

One last group shot, and we were out! Actually, they went back for an 8pm panel, but I was done so I said my farewells. I’ve got two more days of this to get through, and my legs were already screaming in protest. Super fun first day, though!

Day one loot and swag! There’s the aforementioned issue of Death Betty, signed by Mr. Winn. I got two issues of the Doctor Who comic from the Titan booth, with the NYCC exclusive covers. I don’t actually give a crap about exclusive covers, but those issues aren’t in stores until next week, and you couldn’t get that nifty Firefly bookmark without a purchase, so I figured I might as well scoop them up now. And that book Arena was a free giveaway from the publisher, I don’t know much about it but it sounded all right. The rest is just random stuff I picked up here and there, but I do like that bookmark from The Martian. Words to live by.

More to come!

(Day two) (Day three)