New York Comic Con 2018... What more needs to be said!
Four glorious days of total immersion in comic books, things related to comic books and their unique and specific culture, and - as these festivals have evolved over the last two decades or so - things NOT so related to comic books and their unique and specific culture, from Thursday, October 04 thru Sunday, October 07, 2018!
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 04: For someone still primarily dedicated to filling those remaining holes in the old comic collection, as I am, Thursday is always the best day to be there! It is a work and/or school day for many would-be attendees! Thus, the crowds are more manageable to negotiate and more conducive to a focused day of comic shopping.
And fill those nagging holes, I did... with some of these!
But, even in a world graced by the vast talents of Segar, Sagendorf, and London, the Charlton POPEYE comics are a somewhat delightfully off-kilter experience, and worthwhile - if you find them cheap!
And, the prize catch of the day...
If I'm not around by then (a good bet, alas), maybe Averi can take it over! I hope she remembers this on December 31, 2044!
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 05: With my hardcore shopping virtually completed, this was a day to wander around the parts of the con not staked-out by comic book dealers - an ever-growing segment of the greater whole, unfortunately!
Dodging the cosplayers and their bothersome, oversized, and aisle-blocking props - and the additionally aisle-blocking ubiquitous persons who stop all forward progress to photograph them, I visited various publisher booths and related attractions.
For the first time since NYCC 2014, the IDW booth was NOT a stop for me. For those wondering why, look no further than THIS POST!
On the plus side, I visited the "TWO MORROWS" booth, meeting Keith Dallas, author of some of the very best books on comics... like these!
I literally devoured the former a few years ago, and am currently immersed in the latter. I cannot recommend the "American Comic Book Chronicles" series more highly! Go to Amazon, and order all of them - now!
They're not just all about DC and Marvel - but EVERYTHING gets a proper examination! Note Uncle Scrooge in the upper right corner - next to a "Wishnik", of all things!
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 06: Saturday is the con day I dislike the most! The crowds are at their thickest and most obnoxious! The cosplayers and their adoring, picture-taking fans are (like VISA) "everywhere you want to be"! Shopping with any purpose is nearly impossible - as is even normal conversation.
I've gotta wonder... Since (from my limited and admittedly "Old Grumpy Comic Book Collector" point of view) cosplayers appear to "be there just to be seen and incessantly photographed", what do they do with their vast array of costuming items and accessories for the rest of the year?
Do they go from con to con doing the same thing for as many different shows as time and travel budget will allow? And what - really, what - do the folks who take picture after picture of cosplayers do with those photos? Is it like the odd Millennial custom of photographing YOUR FOOD, when you go out to dinner? (I've really seen that several times!) I guess it all ends up on social media somewhere and somehow... but to what end?
No joke, I'd really like to know. And, just because I'd like my aisles clearer and easier to negotiate, doesn't mean I dislike cosplayers. Quite the contrary... I appreciate their inventiveness! I just wish there were specifically "Designated Cosplay / Picture-Taking Zones" to give me the feeling that they've all "gotten off my lawn" - and out of my shopping-intensive way!
But, to show there are no hard feelings, please note that I am very likely the first person ever to use the term "Cosplayer" in a Disney comic book! See the panels below from IDW's UNCLE SCROOGE # 37 (2018). Click to Enlarge!
On Saturdays, I generally ARRIVE LATE and LEAVE EARLY! This year was no exception!
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 07: Sunday USED to be a noticeably quieter, calmer, and less-crowded day than Saturday. Last year and this year, would seem to disprove this, as it felt like "Saturday II"!
Still, there was time, more as the day wound down, to make one final pass of all the dealers and "call it a year"!
The true highlight of the day was a post-con dinner with "two-of-my-favorite-persons-not-named- Esther-or-Averi" at one of our "regular places", Dallas BBQ near Times Square! The food is always great, and I feel they handle high-volume crowds better than just about any place I've ever eaten in New York City!
And so, with a heavy heart, a heavy tummy full of delicious Dallas BBQ food, a heavy pack of back issues, and a lighter wallet, I say farewell to New York Comic Con for another year!
If you've gone to NYCC before, please try to go again.
If you've never been to NYCC, please go! Collector or cosplayer, you won't regret it!
Even "Legendary Super Monkeys"!
I'd like to dedicate this post to my late friend Chris Barat, with whom (back in the 1990s) I shared many a trip to what was once the "San Diego Comic Con"!
During our respective Fanzine and APA column days, Chris would chronicle the annual visit to SDCC with a day-by-day report of the day's activities. And, while writing this, it occurred to me that I have just done the same thing with this Blog post! ...Just not as well as Chris did!
It's a pity none of you can read Chris' accounts of all the purchases we made, things we did and people we met - and all the damned FUN we had as part of a large group that descended on San Diego nearly every year. Unlike me, he REALLY made you feel as if you WERE there!
One of my own favorite memories was the hotel breakfasts we would have before venturing over to the San Diego Convention Center for the day. Just before leaving, I would give a short and melodramatic speech at the breakfast table to inspire us all to get the most out of these precious San Diego days...
...And each of those daily speeches would with end with my loudly declaring: "NOW, LET'S GET OUT THERE AND KICK SOME DEALER BUTT!"
One time, Chris made a particularly ill-advised purchase (can't recall if he "paid too much", or merely got a notably inferior piece of merchandise), and we laughed as I said: "Looks like Dealer Butt kicked YOU!"
Those were great days, and I only wish Chris was still with us to share more of them!
20 comments:
Aw, glad to hear about everything! I sure hope I make it back to NYCC sometime soon. (Also, I don't read the main title, but Scooby-Doo Team Up is one of the best books on the newsstand.)
Glad to know you've had fun! And congratulations on the completed set of Andy Pandas.
Concerning people taking pictures of cosplayers… post them on social media and gush about them amongst other cosplay-enthusiasts, basically, from what I've seen. And, of course, there's the thrill of meeting one's heroes "for real" (albeit in unlicensed, happy-go-lucky fashion in this case), the same one which Disney took notice of when they introduced all those meet'n'greet characters in their parks. If the cosplay's good enough, the con-going fan can really feel as though they've met their beloved Captain Exampleman; a tremendous occasion, and one which, like all stereotypical tourists, they want to commemorate with a bunch of pictures to prove to their loved ones back at home that they really did happen. It's basically the Il Millione di Marco Polo of modern travelers.
Myself, I never quite understood that sort of cosplaying. I'm all for dressing up as beloved characters, but then I don't ‘waste’ it by wandering around a crowded convention; I make a fanfilm out of it, or at least an amusing in-character photoshoot. Maybe this is just me being an overachiever, but cosplayers who spend all that time looking just right then barely do any acting at all, let alone make a story out of it, strike me as something of a wasted opportunity.
I'm not entirely sure you are the first to use the term cosplay in a Disney comic, though you are probably the first to have it printed in English as such. I recall a very amusing story (Italian, I think? could've been Flemming Andersen) where Duckburg held a convention of faux-Tolkien fans and Donald tried to participate in a cosplaying competition. This devolves into a brittle-mastery story as Donald orders a fully-death-ray-equipped giant faux-Sauron robot suit from Gyro and goes mad with power, scaring the living daylights out of the smaller, meeker cosplayers who'd dressed up as hobbits and faux-Aragorns.
Also and in conclusion, one thing I'd like to note: the phrase "Comic-Con" continues to look very odd to me. Not only is "con", by pure coincidence, an extremely rude word in French, but in English itself, "con" supposedly describes a hustle… so wouldn't a "comic-con" be something the Comic Book Crooks from The Beagle Boys #17 did? Does the mind not boggle that something called a "comic-con" is a place to get good deals for used comics? Honestly!…
Hey—photographing one's meal long predates those whippersnapper millennials!
Why, some of us Gen-Xer foodies did it too, by tunket! And the reason's simple, really: I want to share images of an interesting dish with fellow gourmets—and either lure them to try the restaurant (or a similar one) themselves, or make it easier for us to cook something similar at home. It's not too hard when one can look at photos and more easily remember what was in a recipe.
I mean—if Burger Beagle had ever thought of photographing his number plate, he'd never have had to take a bite out of it to remember what it tasted like! (No, wait, something wrong here...)
Joe: You may well be the "first" writer to use the word "cosplayer" in a Disney comic book, especially considering that it was uttered in ancient Egypt at the time! Certainly that use "pre-dates" any other use in a Disney comic that I can think of--and this time anomaly secures the theory, because unless there is another time-travel story that goes back farther in time, I think it's a safe assumption. (Let's just hope that Bubba Duck never coined the word, or we'd have to start unraveling its use all over again.)
It was interesting to note the cover of "The Many Faces of Magica de Spell" on that montage.
Also, that Andy Panda cover looks appealing, especially as Andy is alone on it. (You know what I'm tactfully NOT saying!) And now you've got a complete set of Dell Andy Pandas? I am so jealous...but in a GOOD way!
Your appreciation of the Pink Panther comics makes me want to go back and appreciate them more. And I haven't mentioned this before, but I owe my creative writing life to those Pink Panther comic books. They started me on a writing trajectory that continues to this day. It's a long wonderful story which I will relate some time.
Looking forward to more about your new treasures!
Off subject: Are you going to do any post about Ducktales volume 4 finally being released?
Anon:
Until you mentioned it here, I had no idea the remainder of “DuckTales Classic” was finally being released. I looked it up and it looks as if it’s going to be another of those “Disney Club” (or whatever) exclusives – explaining why my usual sources did not list it.
As such, and as I did with the final volume of TALE SPIN, I will be content to wait until I find a reasonable price on the secondary market – no matter how long that may take.
So, since I don’t expect to actually have the item for some time to come, I guess the only mention of it around here will be in discussions such as these. I really thank you for the news! Just wish it was a general release.
Now, back to your comments (as they say when some corporation or agency puts you on hold) “…In the Order Reveived!”
JoeC:
I, too, hope you make it back to NYCC sometime soon.
SCOOBY-DOO TEAM-UP is INDEED the BEST title of its type available today… especially in view of recent changes elsewhere in comicdom. But, even before these occurrences, I’ve done nothing but heap great praise on the title. Now, it’s just “more alone” at the top of the mountain!
I didn’t buy the main SCOOBY title for a long time, because it’s become half-reprints – but the “other half/new stories” tend to be largely by Sholly Fisch, the brilliant writer of every issue of SCOOBY-DOO TEAM-UP, so I’ve relented.
Besides, something’s gotta pick up the slack, as certain other titles give way.
Achille:
I do SO enjoy your well-thought-out comments! Really!
I guess the “cosplayer” thing, and its assumed reverberations and regurgitations throughout social media, is simply one of those things I’ll just never “get”!
And, yes… just walking around in a costume DOES seem to be a waste, if that’s all one does! Perhaps it’s nothing more than an “ego thing” that is stoked by the incessant throngs of admiring photographers!
If one’s “heroes” are fictional, then one cannot “meet them for real”! It was once possible that I *could* have met my two heroes, Carl Barks and Michael Maltese, even though it is no longer so.
If other “heroes” (to use examples I’m fond of) happen to be “Batman”, “Captain Crane”, or “Major Don West”, then the closest thing that can occur would be meeting the actors who played them, as I *did* have the pleasure of meeting Adam West, David Hedison, and Mark Goddard, respectively. At least they could provide some insight on what it was like to BE those characters.
But one can get no such insight from the multitudes dressed as Harley Quinn, The Joker, Star Wars Stormtroopers, fantasy characters carrying big guns, or big axes… or even “legendary super pickaxes”! Especially the latter!
At best, you can get a photo of someone wearing the product of a talented costume maker. But, that would seem to be all they need! “Hey, look at me with Wolverine!” …I’m not sure where I’m even going with this, but it’s interesting nonetheless.
On the use of the word “cosplay”, unless the actual English word was used in the story of which you speak, I’ll still claim that honor for myself – unless someone can cite that it was printed in the USA… and used that word as such.
Finally, as someone who regards words as a “tool”, and an endless source of fun and fascination, I wonder why I’ve never considered the word “con”, in the context you have! It also implies the negative, as in “Pro and Con”. …And, while there IS a certain amount of “Con” at New York Comic Con, there certainly is more than enough “Pro”!
Though, perhaps, your use of the word “Con” COULD apply to the time that “Dealer Butt kicked Chris Barat”, may he rest in peace!
David:
On “photographing food”… Um, I suppose… maybe… I guess…
Like the “cosplayer” bit, it’s another of those things I’ll just never “get”!
Doesn’t make a “cosplayer” – OR a “foodie” – any worse than a comic book collector. Especially an “Old Grumpy Comic Book Collector!”
Scarecrow:
I’m not at all concerned about Bubba Duck possibly uttering the word “cosplayer”, because I don’t think his vocabulary stretched much beyond “Scooge”, “Tunes”, “Bubba”, “Trubba”, or “Clubba”!
Now, “Princess Oona” on the other hand – who was Bubba DONE RIGHT – may very well have uttered it.
Hey, now… Andy Panda without Charlie Chicken is like… is like… is like… Oh, Boo-Boo without Yogi!
I never realized just HOW GREAT the PINK PANTHER comics were until relatively recently. Fortunately, unlike so many other comics that I DID concentrate on in the 1980s-1990s, they are still relatively inexpensive to pick up!
With Pink Panther for you and Snagglepuss for me, it would seem that “Big Pink Cats” were rather influential on our writing lives! How ‘bout that!
Sure, you can't properly meet fictional characters — but it's nice to imagine, isn't it? Disneyland "meet'n'greets", live appearances of actors as their iconic characters at various events, Internet ask blogs, even the appeal of certain interactive video games all derive from this most common dream of fans'.
And besides, if you're lucky, there are a few ways it can just-almost-happen. If the character is a live-action character whose actor has a good enough grip of the character to improvise an in-character conversation with you, for example (something Doctor Who actor Peter Capaldi has been known to do for young fans, for example). And if the actor is also the writer, that makes the experience even more genuine — imagine a live appearance of Charlie Chaplin as The Tramp, shaking your hand — haven't you come preposterously close to meeting a fictional character?
Achille:
You write: “…haven't you come preposterously close to meeting a fictional character?”
You mean outside of David Gerstein? :-) Oh, wait… Esther and Averi must be “fictional characters”, because they’re “too good to be true”!
As for the “Disneyland ‘meet'n'greets’”, I once asked a Disney World Mickey what it was like for him to “Outwit the Phantom Blot”.
I must have brought up a bad memory or something, because he couldn’t bring himself to answer me.
Changing the subject, I inquired about his days working with Floyd Gottfredson and Paul Murry. Still nothing, though he DID wave, before moving on to the next person! Perhaps there were some difficult experiences there as well. …He just couldn’t find the words!
Hey, even David Hedison remembered fighting “The Lobster Man” when I met him (Yes, really… He brought it up himself!), so what was Mickey’s problem! (Sigh!) In real life, your “heroes” sometimes fail to live up to your expectations! :-)
True story, I might add! I wonder if the poor fellow, sweating inside that costume over 20 years ago, had any idea what I was talking about.
I guess what I’m saying, in a very roundabout way, it that it takes more than a costume (even a very convincing one) to capture the essence or “spark” of a character, just as it takes more than an ordinary literal translation to do the same for that character in a comic.
Perhaps it was good that I had to leave the park before I could find Donald, and ask him how it feels to “Find Pirate Gold”!
Glad you enjoy these things! Since I'm averse to big crowds, and since I'm not really a comics collector per se (just a comics lover!), the only thing that can induce me to go to a Con is the chance to meet a favorite creator. I did attend the Baltimore Comic Con twice (it's less of a mob scene!) to meet Don Rosa...and I attended a small local Star Trek Con back in the day to meet Carolyn Clowes, the author of my favorite Star Trek novel, The Pandora Principle. Those meetings were highlights for me, memories I still treasure.
I'm not interesting in cosplaying, but it's not so mysterious to me. When do adults get to dress up as the person they'd like to imagine being? American kids can do it on Halloween. Some American adults have costume parties at Halloween...but cosplaying at a Con means that you will be among people who will recognize and (like you) love your fantasy alter ego. I can see the attraction of that. Nothing more disappointing than to dress up for a party as Bandette or Squirrel Girl and find that no one knows who you are.
In some other countries, costume parties for adults are a much more established part of the culture. I learned from European Disney comics that in some European countries New Year's Eve is celebrated with a costume party.
Elaine:
Costume parties for adults seems to have been a very big thing (in the Post War World, thru the sixties?), because so many Hanna-Barbera series did episodes about them, and the mix-ups that can occur at them… The Flintstones, Wally Gator, Magilla Gorilla, Loopy De Loop, and very likely more!
And there must be some basis in fact for the ubiquitous “Costume Shoppes” that proliferate in comics, cartoons, comedies, etc.
I really don’t know if the “Adult Costume Party” was actually a real and regular thing, or largely a myth perpetuated by cartoon gag writers, but by the time Disco boogied-in, in the 1970s, I saw none of this as I entered adulthood! …Of course, Disco fashion was a sort of “costuming” of its own!
Not that I’m any authority on the subject but, from my perspective at least, cosplay seems to have grown out of the Star Trek Convention phenomenon! It slowly infiltrated what were conventions that were more solidly focused on comic books (…or, as I call it, “The Good Old Days”!), until they sorta took over!
Ahhh… More power to ‘em!
And, hey… Thanks to you, I would recognize someone dressed as Squirrel Girl!
Oh, Joe, that anecdote is precious. But to be fair, the Costume Mickey guy had two handicaps — first, I don't know if face characters like he and Donald are supposed to talk, since the imperfect voices would ruin the illusion. Second, he was playing Company Emblem Cartoon-Mickey, moreso than Adventurous Detective Comic-Mickey. I know you don't much care for Disney movie characters, but those (especially the one played in the flesh, rather than with masks) are usually much more responsive and witty; I have heard much praise for the Mad Hatter character, at least as he existed in the mid-2000's.
Also, fellow Squirrel Girl enthusiast over here. Not sure how a costume would be achieved, though — is there a place to get a self-upholding, waist-strapped, man-sized squirrel tail prop? For a reasonable price?
Achillie:
Of course the “costumed animateds” don’t talk. Not unless the late Wayne Allwine or Tony Anselmo had recorded a number of pre-set phrases to suit a variety of situations, and that could be activated from within the costume. …Hmmm! That might not be such a bad idea! It could add more authenticity to the illusion.
But the anecdote was simply me being a comics-centric wise guy, as opposed to the kindly, sweet soul who presides over this Blog! And, it’s to the actor’s credit that he rolled with it - or merely ignored it – so well.
What you say about the non-masked characters is true! Delightfully so!
Time for a bit of a digression here. Elaine wrote: "I learned from European Disney comics that in some European countries New Year's Eve is celebrated with a costume party."
Check out my all-time favorite opera "Die Fledermaus" by Johann Strauss Jr. It's a New Year's Eve opera, and I was a New Year's Day baby. The whole plot of the opera is centered on a New Year's Eve party which is a masked ball. A husband and wife who are somewhat estranged go separately to the party in costume--each thinking the other is going somewhere else. They meet at the ball in disguise and fall in love, believing it's an extra-marital affair, when it's really their own former spark of passion rekindled. Oh, there's some music involved, too...including one of Strauss' greatest waltzes.
So these European Disney comics are reflecting a cultural phenomenon that dates back to at least the 19th century if not earlier. Thanks, Elaine, for reminding us of a great tradition!
Please forgive me, but I have to say it…
Was this the German origin of “Batman”, aka “Fledermausmann”?
You know like after the party, a dastardly crime occurs and our hero, momentarily startled by a flying rodent resolutely states: “Es ist ein Omen, ich werde eine Fledermaus!”
And he can have all sorts of things like a “Fledermaus-Rope”, “Fledermaus-Mobile”, and, of course, a “Fledermaus-Legendary-Super-Pickax”!
I’m sorry, Scarecrow! And to you too, Elaine! Couldn’t help myself! Once in a while that “comics-centric wise guy” who dared to jest with the Mickey Walk-Around, sometimes still supplants the “kindly, sweet soul who presides over this Blog”! …Sometimes, ya just can’t “Hyde” from your “Jekyll”
https://youtu.be/tBXL9CPjEjY
For a while, Mickey Mouse COULD talk to park guests (although not about a lot of things). Certainly "Talking Mickey" wouldn't have had a working knowledge of his many, many comic strip adventures, nor could he have regaled you with stories about working with Floyd Gottfredson, Bill Walsh, Paul Murry or Romano Scarpa (or Casty, David Gerstein or Jonathan Gray, to name a few modern-day folks our round-eared rodent would have worked with). But as of May 13th, the leader of the club that's made for you and me has been silenced:https://wdwnt.com/2018/05/update-talking-mickey-meet-and-greet-at-magic-kingdom-now-silenced/
Awww, maaaan…
I really wanted to ask him if Eega Beeva actually PRONOUNCES those “P”s at the beginning of words, or if they’re silent!
…I guess we’ll all have to keep imagining how we hear it!
Here are Deb’s links:
Talking.
Silenced.
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