Celebrating Two Decades of New York Comic Con

2 minutes agoEvents, Festivals and Conventions, News

Over 250,000 attendees joined me in celebrating the 20th anniversary ofNew York Comic Con, the biggest comic celebration on the East Coast.While this isn’t my first NYCC rodeo, this is the first time I attended all four days: Thursday through Sunday. Most conventions have pretty rinse-and-repeat schedules, yet New York Comic Con is certainly an event where attending all four days is a must if you want to get the full experience. Saturday is always the first day to sell out, but year after year I find it to be the day that lacks the most stuff to do.

Before the event review starts, I want to give a shoutout to all the convention volunteers and the press media handlers. Everyone I interacted with that was professionally attached to the con went above and beyond. They’re the first people to get hit with the complaints, and I always want to make a point to highlight these unsung heroes when I can. They truly make the show the juggernaut that it is.

Thursday is known for being the slowest, less chaotic day and you could tell it was on ReedPop’s agenda to draw more people to attend it. The con’s first big event was an early screening ofCrystal Lake, the prequel series toFriday the 13th. I got to speak to Jason’s mom herself,Linda Cardellini, and briefly chat about the series. I was granted early access to the season and can confidently say Jason may be the horror icon, but he got his skills from Pamela. 

Friday started off with a bang, meeting the legendaryNancy Allen. Did I meet her forRobocop?Carrie? No, it was forPoltergeist III, of course. While the movie isn’t necessarily my favorite (take a shot every time a character yells someone’s name), the practical effects in it are truly insane. I asked her what it was like filming with all the mirror illusions, to which she responded “on the last day of shooting, the director exclaimed ‘why the hell did I do this?’” Well, he might know why, but I’m certainly glad he did.

Friday capped withBlumFest, known as ‘Early Christmas’ to us horror fans. Hosted byMatPat, this year had a fitting ‘video game adaptations’ theme. I was lucky enough to get reserved press seating for the panel, which made seeing the legendary James Wan up close a very memorable experience.

Saturday is where things went a little south, and it was at no fault of the convention.Whatnotannounced an exclusive signing with legendary rapperBusta Rhymesas a part of promotion for his new comic book. As someone who attended multiple in-booth signings over the years, I was very surprised at the lack of organization Whatnot had. It was one of the bigger booths on the floor, yet it seemed like none of the handlers were on the same page. When asking about how the signing worked, I was told a different thing from each of the five volunteers I inquired to. I eventually cut my losses but my buddy rode it out. Two hours after the initial signing time, the event began. Whatnot really had some great guests this year, I just hope the 2027 people are on the same page.

The silver lining was it gave me more time to meetChristian Slater. Slater is a guest that I haven’t seen attend many cons in the past, so when he was added to the guest list I was thrilled. I brought aTales from the Darksidephoto previously signed by Debbie Harry and James Remar. Slater reminisced about working on the project (although he seemingly forgot Julianne Moore and Steve Buscemi were his costars!).

Thankfully my missed opportunity to meet a rapper was made up for on Sunday when I got to chat withLL Cool J. While promotingNCIS: New York, I got to briefly chat about his horror roots. As the star of two of my favorite horror movies,Deep Blue SeaandHalloween: H20, I had to ask: “How many 90s horror movies can you possibly survive?!” To which he responded “all of them.” Fair play, Mr Cool J. And you definitely earned the ‘Cool’ party of your name.

Overall, New York Comic Con once again proves itself as the best place to be. Its guest list is unbeatable and the exclusives justify the increasing price tag of a ticket. Will I return next year? Well, I have been attending every year since I was 12, so I see no reason to stop while the iron is still hot.