New York Comic-Con '11!

Hello Chums,

The title is New York Comic-Con '11? Yep, that's right after much debating I went. Did I have a good time? No, I Had A Great Time!

Since I got in around 1200 (and the con didn't open until 1600), I had a few hours to kill. So my first stop was The Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. This is where the U.S. Open is held every year. I walked around the grounds for a couple of hours. I saw several courts, the wall of champions and the unisphere. With Autumn in the air, the grounds were really nice and I'm glad I went.

This second photo is the outside of the Javits Convention Center as I walked up.

At the New York Comic-Con I went to a few panels, talked to a few pros, bought many o' books (and swag) and saw a few great costumes. Check out my pics.

How about these three comic book legends.

First is Joe Simon at his panel. At 98 year old, the Captain America creator was pimping his new autobiography. I stood in line after the panel to get a signed copy, but after waiting 45 minutes the line was capped and I didn't get one.

Next we have Geof Darrow. Then is Walter Simonson.

Friday night I went to see the Broadway show "Spider-Man - Turn Of The Dark" It Was Phenomenal! I'm not a fan of Broadway shows or show tunes, but if ever there was a show made for me this was it. Subject: A comic book character. + Music: By U2! = Slam Dunk. The story, set design, lighting and of course the ariel spectacle made this show a winner.

Here is my two favorite costumes that I saw. Besides the fact that the costumes were nicely done, the people in the costumes had the right body type for them. To me this is critical. Nothing is worse than seeing a 250lb. girl in a Slave Leia costume.

Check out Luke Cage - Power Man. Nice costume and the guy was a muscular 6'5". Well played sir.

Next is Peter Porker -Spider-Ham. Once again nice costume, but the best part is the guy had the right pudgy body type for the character.

Next up is me and one of my favorite writer-artists Paul Pope. I went to the Legendary panel that he was featured on. During the question and answer part of the panel, all questions were primarily focused toward Frank Miller. I got to ask a question of Paul Pope (and took a jab at the questioner ahead of me). After the panel, I met Mr. Pope outside the panel room. He thanked me for coming out (to the panel) and answered a few more of my questions. And then he asked me to follow him on twitter. He ended up being a really nice guy to talk to.

I went to NYC by myself (which was great). However, the last thing I wanted to do was go to restaurants by myself. It's boring and a waste of valuable con/trip time. Enter the best of both worlds: Outdoor vendor carts! Some cooked with charcoal others with gas. These were my primary eating establishments. I found the food on them to be pretty good. If it wasn't nobody would eat there a second time - right? So what did I have? Lamb gyros two days in a row. Very tasty! Sausage dog, Beef shish-ka-bob and Roasted peanuts. I also had pizza at two different walk up windows. The food (for me)

in NYC was kind of like going through

a drive thru. You walk up, get your food and keep walking to your next destination while eating. If I lived in NYC, I would have a bigger gut from all the street food and bigger legs from all the walking.

All in all. I had a great time and would consider going back again. However, I found the show just as crowded as San Diego. Now that was a bummer.

K.R.C.

D.L.