New York Comic Con 2022 is in the books, it was the first time I attended since 2019, like many people. Although it was held with a more limited capacity last year, I was unable to attend for a few reasons. Be that as it may, it was good to get back into the Javits Center and see what all the publishers, video game creators, studios of all sorts, and content creators were displaying.
One of the biggest displays from a height perspective, amount of booth space and sheer presence at the convention was One Piece. A giant pirate ship, a giant statue, huge booths.
Every year there seems to be a standout costume or cosplay, a character or media property that many people will dress up and walk the halls portraying. A few years ago, Rick and Morty was dominant, Pennywise and Harley Quinn have been quite popular most years, but no one thing stood out as the dominant character this year. Maybe what surprised me the most was how much Beetlejuice cosplay was happening. I love the movie, but wasn’t expecting to see that many characters from the movie about the ghost with the most. There was a significant amount of Avatar: The Last Airbender cosplay, especially on Sunday which is family day.
As I’ve done in past years, I wanted to grab a Funko Pop and a couple of characters were floating in my head as possibilities to add to my wall in my office. Having grown to thoroughly enjoy the Horror film Trick ‘r Treat the last couple of years, I landed on good old little Sam.
I’ve already posted the recaps for the panels I attended, “Authors on the Best Advice They Ever Got” and “Spooks, Shivers, and Shrieks: Horror” both of which were superb. I also attended the “Titans of Fantasy in Conversation” panel, which featured Brandon Sanderson, Terry Brooks, and Diana Gabladon, hosted by Shawn Speakman. This was another great panel and the three authors truly are Titans of the genre. Gabaldon is the author of the global sensation Outlander series of books which are the inspiration for the TV show of the same name. Terry Brooks is the creator of Shannara and Magic Kingdom of Landover as well as the new series, Viridian Deep, which began with A Child of Light. Brandon Sanderson was easily the youngest member of that panel, but there is no faster writer in the genre than Brandon. During the pandemic, he was bored and decided to write four (4!) giant novels which became one of the most successful Kickstarters of all time, breaking a record in terms of hitting $4M the fastest. I’ve met Brandon a couple of times and he is a genuinely nice guy, and a fantastic writer
Like the writer’s advice panel, this was interesting because the three writers approach to writing, and path to being published, couldn’t be different from each other. Their anecdotes and personality came through in a great way.
Between panels on Friday and Saturday, I roamed the main hall with a friend and waited in line to get a photo with Professional Wrestling legend Mick Foley. I hit up several publisher booths for give-aways, signings, and purchases. The above photo shows off the stack of books I procured of New York Comic Con in my possession. I bought Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison and Ghost Eaters by Clay McLeod Chapman at their respective publisher’s booth’s (Book World and Quirk, respectively). I spent a few minutes talking to Clay about horror, particularly what a fantastic ending he wrote for Whisper Down the Lane. The Art of Prophecy by Wesley Chu, and Stealing Thunder by Alina Boyden are all signed by the authors. The “Book World” booths, which comprised all the imprints under the Penguin Random House publisher (Ace, Berkeley, Del Rey, etc) had many author signings and giveaways, sometimes giving patrons a free copy of book one in an author’s series for signature.
Not pictured are my signed copies of The Violence by Delilah S. Dawson, Blackbirds by Chuck Wendig, and The Desert Prince by Peter V. Brett. That’s always what I look forward to the most, meeting the authors whose work I’ve enjoyed or hope to enjoy. I’ve met Peter Brett, Delilah Dawson, and Chuck Wendig at past conventions and book signings, so it was great seeing them again, too.
Sunday is when I walk the entire show floor with my wife, she picked up some books and fancy tea. I was happy to see artist Ian Leino at the convention again in his Geek Orthodox booth. Past years, either my wife or I purchased as something at this booth. This year, I picked up this Lovecraft Beer shirt that perfectly blends my love of craft beer (check out The Tap Takeover, my beer blog) and horror/geeky stuff.
One thing missing in the 2022 Convention (and maybe the 2021 Convention) was the Geek Geek Revolution panel. A few publishers from past years didn’t exhibit this year, either.
All that said, it was great to be back in the thick of the fandom.
