New York Comic Con 2016

What: New York Comic Con (NYCC) 2016
Where: Manhattan, NY
Cost: Hours of anxiety buying in the virtual waiting room to buy tickets then the cost of the tickets, plus the cost of over priced food, plus the cost of any extras (all worth it, though!)
Summary:  It's a utopian no-judgement zone where everything is unicorns and amazingness (except for the lines, oh the endless lines).

So, New York Comic Con. A year ago two of my friends went and had the grandest of times, even if for just a day. The rest of our group decided we needed to go. Through a lucky break, most of us were able to go on Saturday and Sunday and several of us were able to attend all four days. Each of us had a different agenda and different things we wanted to see. ALL of us had a ball. While the highlights for me were the signings with the Wynonna Earp group and photo ops I got to share with my friends, I didn’t buy the tickets with the expectation of either of those, and it is the entirety of the experience I will remember and treasure.

This post grew from a funny little ‘this is what xyz looks like…’ for a few funny things that I saw but quickly grew into a full account (well, at least a full smattering, if that’s even a thing) of my long weekend.

If you are at all interested in pop culture, I recommend attending a Comic Con; it’s a trip and a half.

So without further ado, this is what 4 days at NYCC 2016 looked like to me. :)

General:

(these photos are from the around the convention in general, but the majority were taken on the 'Show Floor')

This is what your home-away-from home* (aka “the Queue Hall”) looks like.**

*You won’t know this will be your home away from home, at first, but it will be

**When they are loading it first thing in the morning after you’ve already spent 1.5 hours in a 6 block line outside that wrapped around the building and you sat on the cold cement and ate an egg sammich and couldn’t have been more excited or happier about it.***

***On day one, at least.

This is what a fully loaded Queue Hall looks like:

This is what I-Can-Haz-All-These-Things-Plz? (aka “the Show Floor” aka where all the vendors and publishers and other sellers set up) looks like to someone who is 6’8”:

This is what I-Can-Haz-All-These-Things-Plz (aka “the Show Floor”) looks like to someone who is 4’8”:

This is what rockin’ pink and being photobombed by Maleficent on the Show Floor looks like:

BTW, this is what part of the Show Floor looks like in map form (each box is a “booth”):

This is what Level 2 (that is, a massive hall which doesn’t appear to have an official name on the map and is really just a unfortunately confusing and crowded purgatory* that you’re required to go through if you want to go from the Queue Hall level to the Show Floor level or vice versa) looks like:

*yes, I used that word because I knew some readers would appreciate it

And this is what Level 2 looks like with a Super Hero looking out over it:

This is what traversing from one Level to the next on an escalator and someone at the bottom of the escalator inexplicably STOPS RIGHT AT THE BOTTOM looks like.*

*Reenactment as the actual event inspired actual panic and no picture taking

This is what Where’s Waldo looks like in real life.

This is what needing to actually schedule time on your calendar to go to the bathroom while female looks like*

*picture taken near the end of the line; yes there is a line; finding said line is part of the joy of the experience

This is what NOT having the experience above looks like*:

*actual text from a friend of mine; yes I totally believe she sent it from exactly where she said she sent it from; my friends are awesome like that.

This is what line management at NYCC on Sunday looked like*:

*in other words, it wasn’t always stellar.

This is what a total geek* looks like hugging a BB-8 in some booth somewhere on the Show Floor.

*’Total geek’ might be me.

Speaking of total geekery and also in some booth somewhere on the Show Floor, this is what the utensils that any self-respecting Star Wars fan uses to eat Asian food look like (yes, those are light saber chopsticks):

This is what a totally awesome Steam Punk hat looks like:

This is what a child’s-toy-turn-the-stuff-of-nightmares looks like:

This is what the Funko booth selling exclusive NYCC merchandise at the end of the day while I look on longingly and wistfully, wishing I could have gotten the Golden Girls exclusive for a friend looks like*:

*was tempted to add tumbleweeds to this photo in post production but somehow resisted

This is what Peter Capaldi who just happens to walk by while you’re innocently standing in line at the IDW booth on the Show Floor waiting for the Wynonna Earp signing and then he high fives your friend, OMG you can’t make this stuff up!!!!!!!!!!! looks like:

This is what not-quite-as-exciting-as-Peter-Caaldi-but-still-super-exciting-to-an-X-Philes “I’m a Believer”/”I’m a Skeptic” free button swag looks like.

Speaking of innocently standing in line at the IDW booth on the Show Floor waiting for Wynonna Earp signing, this is what that looks like (OMG they’re all sooooooo genuine and friendly! *squeeing inside* (okay, maybe squeeing outside, too)

And if Wynonna Earp isn’t your thang (but really, it should be, give it a try), this is what getting a Bloom County Book signed by the author, Barkley Breathed, looks like (Woooah!!!)

This is what, after your badge, the most important thing you can have at a con: a con pack looks like. Actually, this is what a pack of con packs being all packy looks like:

This is what Trekie merchandise heaven looks like:

This is what a United Lego Nations looks like:

This is what my FAVORITE booth looks like*:

*Why is it my favorite booth? Because it’s the publishing company (IDW Publishing) of the comic book that my favorite TV show (Wynonna Earp) is based on and they played Wynonna Earp episodes on repeat in the booth and the staff there didn’t mind that I lurked and kept returning to ask if they had gotten in a special edition signed comic yet and then hosted a signing of super awesome people involved with the show… more on this in a different post. :D

As for panels…

(Because it's not a comic con without the panels where you get to attend and see your favorite people talk about your favorite things...)

This is what being super excited to see your first panel ever at any #NYCC and so you hold your badge up to take a picture of it with an empty stage looks like!:

 

This is what a terrible picture of the Ash vs. The Evil Dead panel (a panel you never intended to attend but it was right before Neil deGrasse Tyson panel so you went and OMG it was hysterical and while the show is a little more bloody than you’d like it’s hysterical and you might actually watch it!) looks like:

This is what Neil deGrasse Tyson checking twitter in real time looks like:

This is what Alan Tudyk using binoculars to look out in the Main Stage audience looks like:

This is what the cover of an amazing comic compilation looks like*

*In all seriousness, they talked about this in the IDW Publishing panel and it is a joint effort between IDW and DC in response to the massacre in the Orlando night club. All proceeds go to victims, survivors, and their families. Pre-order here or go to your local comic book store and reserve a copy.

Okay, back to the other panels…

This is what nirvana looks like*:

*also known as the Wynonna Earp panel

This is what Tom Mison describing how awesome it was to meet me and have his picture taken with me just a few hours ago looks like*:

*that’s totally not what he was talking about in this photo but I still like to tell people it is

And now… cosplay.

(because what's a ComicCon without Cosplay?)

This is what a Ghostbusters fangirl fangirling over Ghostbusters cosplayers looks like*:

*Ghostbusters fangirl might be me

This is what every single Johnny Depp character in one costume apparently looks like:

This is what a flash mob of Flashes looks like:

This is what Rebel pilots it the rain look like:

This is what the Predator fondling a yellow Chevy looks like:

This is what the most adorable badass in a galaxy far far away looks like:

This is what 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea signing up for free swag looks like:

This? This is what an awesome human being looks like.

And this is what trying to take a picture at dinner of you with long time friends who came to the con with you and you’re using your camera’s self-timer and it goes off WAY before you’re ready for it to looks like*:

*not a re-enactment; an actual photo.

And that last photo also serves as a good waving goodbye.  It was an amazing four days. When it was over, my body was thankful, but my heart couldn't wait to do it all again next year.

So until then!