What’s up world? The name’s Chris. I’m an aspiring writer working on a few things.  I’m also a HUGE comic and movie fan. Jay (Neo Windu) was kind enough to invite me along on this joyride so you’re gonna have to put up with me being a bit of a back seat driver , but I will do my best to bring you nice little tidbits and a different point of view.
Once I get acclimated I’ll start to leave some interesting stuff and reviews, but for now I’ll quickly touch on the more obvious…The Big Apple Con. Neo touched base on a few things already, so I’ll just meander a bit. To begin with, The Javits it is not! The set up was more of an upside-down T, artist alley all the way at its base. I felt bad for these guys because there were heaters blowing directly down on some of their tables. This sucked for the people waiting for an autograph or a sketch, as well.
Sketches, my friends, are a whole different story, don’t even get me started on what some of these artists charge. I admire the ones that remember this sort of thing is just as much for the fans, if not more, as it is for self promotion, and not just a “fan” for the flames of their ego. There were a few well knowns, but more that I have never heard of, or just weren’t on my radar. I suppose the beauty of these events is, if nothing else, discovering new things (that and filling in the gaps in your back issues). Rare and Cheap comics were in no short supply. It was collector heaven. I’d even rate it better than the last Comic Con in that respect. I could barely walk, my back pack was so full at the end of the day. Remind me to call my chiropractor about that. Right in the midst and clamor of the “alley” was a superb chalk artist. Really great stuff.

People should have been asking this guy for his John Hancock.

As you’ve seen in previous posts, there was plenty of eye candy. The Delorean and original tv Batmobile were parked right next to each other, and right in the same area, at the top of the T, were the likes of Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong, Ernie Hudson, Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca), Adam West, Julie Newmar, Will Shatner (Who I didn’t see), and Thomas Jane (who I also didn’t see). Lest I forget, what would a COMIC Con be without Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges? (Don’t ask me).
In that same General Vicinity was not only the Wizard Booth, which had scheduled signings throughout the day with Jim Lee, Joe Quesada, Adam Hughes, and the Kuberts, but also a booth dedictated soley for one of my great Batman Idols, Neal Adams. I had the great priviledge of talking to him and getting my favorite old key issues signed (most of which he worked on with long time collaborator Denny O’Neil). I was lucky enough to be shown art that he is working on for a new Batman tale where Bruce is telling his life story to a yet to be revealed character. The work was beautiful. All of his old standards were brought to life anew. Man-Bat. Ra’s Al Ghul. Of course his sketches of Bruce were amazing. He voiced his distaste for some of the changes in the Universe, most notably all the new people brought into Batman’s life. He felt it odd how there seems to be Robin after Robin growing up and yet Bruce doesn’t appear to age much. I tended to agree whole heartedly on his oldschool view of things. He assured me Dick Grayson would be Robin in this piece. Can’t go wrong with that! I had wanted to get something drawn by him, but 300 for something i can fit into a wallet photo insert was too rich for my blood. My Batman 232 also got damaged during a signing, but that’s a whole different mope-fest (I’m over it) haha.

Neal Adams working on a personalized trading card.

On our way out there was a big Nintendo testing area with plenty of Wii’s and DS’s to try out new games on. The hottest buzz seemed to be around the New Super Mario Brother’s for Wii. Like the DS’s version they are going back to the old side-scrolling based adventure, but with the addition of possible 4 person Co-op. Right by the entrance was a promotional area, and meet and greet, for Joe Mad’s “Darksiders”. That seemed very cool; from what I saw, a more open worlded RPGish experience. This you can also read about in Neo’s Big Apple article. To sum it up, this was at best a tide over until the next “Comic Con”. There were very few sneak peeks and Screenings, no big panels, and although I was surprised by the celebs they pulled in on short notice, it seemed thrown together last minute. It was, however, a little bigger than last years Big Apple Con, just not quite WIZARD caliber. Give me more comic creators and artists any day…sorry Ferrigno!

Well, I had fun messing around on this tonight, tomorrow is the early shift (and comic book day!!!) so I’ll say goodbye for now. Stay tuned, and if you have any questions just drop me a line! —ExSleepyInk

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