New York Comic Con 2010

This weekend I attend New York Comic Con / New York Animefest 2010 for the first time. It's located all the way on the west side and is a pretty far trek from any subway station. Though I am a sci-fi and know a bit about comics and superheroes (I grew up watching all the cartoons of the 1990's from Batman, Spiderman, Ironman, Incredible Hunk, Fantastic Four, X-men) there was a lot more to this convention that was outside my realm. When you first see the Javits Center where it is held you are daunted by the fact that it spans some 4-5 blocks and there are hundreds of people milling about. Once you go in there's a huge "Welcome Banner."

I went with my boyfriend and my little brother. Kids get in for free on Sunday =D. My little brother (10) loved it! Intel made up a huge chunk of the convention hall that involved gaming. The huge screen above streamed previews, live broadcasts of the newest things and also streamed live game tournaments like Starcraft 2 and Counterstrike.

The highlight for me were these replicated race cars that people could sit and drive in a racing game. I thought that was really awesome. The line was extremely long and my little brother gave up after half an hour of waiting. They also showcase their new computers which I must say looks very nice. I'm basing this on just how visually appealing they were. They were stark white with clear inside and had all these lights and stuff. I'm not much of a computer savvy person. In that same room were autograph and artist alley section.

To the right was another huge convention hall with all the vendors. There were a lot of big companies like Nintendo, Marvel, Square Enix etc with playable stations featuring some of their new games. My boyfriend was gaga over the new Golden Sun for DS, I had a taste of FF14 the online game and saw people playing some favorites of mine like Dead Space 2 and the new Spiderman game.

Here was main platform for Marvel I believe. They would give out free things like signed posters, replicas of the characters, t shirts etc. As usual there is a huge huge huge crowd clamoring for them so I usually just avoid them. Stan Lee was also present and was signing autographs and greeting fans. I arrived late so I didn't get to see him =(. A friend did get to shake his hand and he was totally amazed. The wii also showcased the new Micheal Jackson: The Experience dancing game. It was a big hit. Everyone wanted to try it. Several people went up on stage to play the game and dance to his greatest hits. At the end there's always a huge explosion of smoke and everyone cheered. I couldn't help but take a picture of this cosplay based on a lovable game called Castle Crashers which is highly addictive and oh so cute! Speaking of cute isn't this SuperPooch so adorable? He was the model for the small vendor that sold pet costumes. I also saw a Yoda Pooch somewhere =D.

Another amazing sight was this remote controlled R2D2. It moved, it had lights and had all the classic R2D2 sound effects. That was really awesome to see.

Here's some more Star Wars love. Everyone was lining up for the show in which people choreographed fights using light sabers and preformed them for all to see. That was pretty nifty.The highlight of my weekend there was being there with the cast and crew of V a sci-fi series on ABC. Though I haven't seen too much of the series. I'm a huge fan of Firefly and really happy I got to see Morena Baccarin =D . There were three cast members and producer and they were really interactive and entertaining.

Overall I really liked the experience though a few things were lacking. One was that the AnimeFest was delegated to a pretty small and seemingly unfinished wing of the center but then again it's the first year so it's not perfect. Another one was the autograph sessions times and people were nowhere to be found unless you ran to the crowded autograph section or went online. I would like a hard copy at the convention so I can plan while I am there. There was also some pretty bad "con funk" (aka people who seem to forget to take a shower or wear deodorant). Besides that it was fun. I will have to see who and what is going on next year before I decide to attend.

I hope you guys enjoyed the quick rundown on some things during Comic-con =D
Until next time... get out there and delve in the fantasy of superheroes ever so often!