NYCC From the Ground Level

You've read the 100 news stories to come out of New York Comic Con. You've watched the YouTube videos. You've complained about all the changes on your favorite social media.

Now you'll get your Man on the Floor report!

No, seriously, I was only there for six hours on Sunday and wanted to pass out on the floor just to give my feet a break.

Crowd Layout

There's an interesting crowd dynamic at the Javitz Center. Basically, the further to the right you go, the thinner the crowds.

First, a proviso: I didn't visit The Block, that section to the far left with all the hard core video games, toys, and random stuff in it. It's just past that section of small press tables that are mostly safe to ignore. The only thing I missed there was the Wacom booth, but time was an issue.

Rush Hour

After that though, you hit the Big Media Booths. The bigger, the better. The taller the walls, the higher the signage, the brighter the tv screens, the better. Boom!, Marvel, IDW, Image, and Oni top the list for the comics folk. I can remember the humble beginnings of these booths at the first NYCC years back. Boom!, for one example, had a few long tables and some books piled up. Now, it's a full store with signing areas, a big storage/meeting room in the middle, and a non-stop parade of creators. Impressive.

That's the model for all the second tier publishers now, though. It's table stakes for a convention today. I can't imagine the costs in setting one of those displays up. Just the shipping costs to move all those books in blows my mind.

Mixed in with that is all the various media properties with their big loud booths in support of some kind of anime or video games or movie/tv shows or statues. I didn't pay them much attention, so I couldn't even tell you their names.

This is the section of the show you want to avoid at all costs. It's where the heaviest foot traffic is. It's a combination of lines waiting for autographs from ticketed events, or waiting for the cast of the latest TV series to show up "as a surprise" to sign posters, and giveaways/exclusive sales. On top of that, you have the shoppers wandering their way through tables filled with comics that they should have bought at their local comics shop already.

Traffic Lull

Things start to thin out after that when you hit the book publishers. They're still busy over there, especially when they're having frequent giveaways or great sales. (I took advantage of some of those, myself, on Sunday afternoon.)

To top it off, Del Rey has carpeting in their aisle so ridiculously plush that it feels like you're on a springboard. You might as well be on a trampoline. Your feet sink into the stuff and your whole body is lifted into the next step. It's luxurious. If you just spent hours at Artists' Alley and its solid concrete floor, the book publishers are an oasis of comfort you can't afford to skip.

Tumbleweeds

After that, you hit the original art dealers and the comics dealers. Longboxes packed to the brim line up across tables. That's where you can breathe again. Spread your arms wide; it's OK, you won't touch anyone. You might have to wait your turn at the 50% off trade paperback boxes, but it's worth it.

Turns out, the best place to get away from the people at a "comic con" is wherever the comics are for sale by someone other than the publisher.

Full Scale Gridlock

Now, there's one other dynamic to take into account. When you go to the back of the hall, you enter a bazaar of dealers offering up everything from classic toys to Japanese imported toys to Care Bears to leather belts and fancy belt buckles. It's an oddball and nearly random assortment of… stuff.

People stop to shop there. Makes sense. Except the aisles aren't any bigger than anywhere else on the show floor. I got stuck in there mid-afternoon on Sunday while looking for something cute to bring home to my daughter. I very nearly never got out. All I could imagine was someone pulling a fire alarm somewhere in Javitz and my name would be listed amongst the dead trampled by the insane crowds that didn't know how to walk.

Walking back there made me long for the days of cosplay pictures in the middle of the aisle just outside the Marvel booth at the same time the cast of their new movie was on stage while someone on a megaphone offered free comics. Those crowds looked more manageable next to that claustrophobic mess I was stuck in.

Artists' Alley

Artists' Alley is a pure delight. Even when it gets crowded and busy, it's still navigable. It might take a little bit of patience, but there's always room somewhere in there. I wish the aisles were another foot wider, maybe, but there's only so much room in that building. It's as good as it's going to get, particularly with the extra wide middle aisle.


I spent most of my time walking up and down those aisles, sometimes randomly, occasionally in search of something, and often just biding my time for an artist I wanted to talk with to have a slightly less busy table lineup.

Scary enough, it's unknown if that building will be available next year for Artists' Alley. It's planned for a big change/remodel in the next year, though nobody seems to know into what. Odds are good, I'd bet, that it will be disruptive.

To me, Artists' Alley is the thing that separates NYCC from all the other "pop culture events". You'd think that the separation would be a hindrance, but it's just the opposite. It's a whole 'nother show, and one that comic fans will enjoy the most. Turns out, the creators like it that way, too. To lose that would be to lose a defining feature of the show.

Artists Who Draw a Line

It's always interesting to see who pulls in the biggest crowds. There were two clear winners that I saw.

The first, as usual, was Katie Cooke. She does this every year. The line seems to always be at least 10 deep. Thankfully, she's at the end of an aisle with plenty of open floor space next to her.

Before I get to the biggest winner, it always surprises me which artists aren't fending off the hordes from their tables. It might just be my dumb luck that I passed by at bad times, but still. Some of the biggest names in comics from the last 30 years can be seen just sketching away, and never have a line around them. I wonder what that's all about? "What have you done for me lately?" "Everyone else has made their careers copying you, so you're boring to me?"

Just to be clear, the people I'm thinking of here (and not naming) are currently active professionals working at Marvel and DC, even. People still love them. At conventions, though, their presence feels much lighter than their stature.

The big winner of the show as far as adoring fans, though, was Fabian Nicieza. Yes, the man who was busy writing something like six Marvel books a month 20 years ago is experiencing a convention renaissance. He can't beat the crowd back with a stick anymore. He needs a carefully curated line that stretches back a couple of aisles. People must be waiting on that line for a half hour, at least.

It's the Deadpool effect. And with Rob Liefeld not at the show on Sunday, he was the red-and-gray man's sole father at the show that afternoon..

I remember reading an interview with Nicieza where he said "X-Force" #1 had bought his house. Now it seems like "New Mutants" #97 and "X-Force" #2 will land him at any convention he'd want for years to come.

Good for him.

I wonder if Joe Kelly is seeing the same impact?

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