Hank McCoy (Before the Fur)

So another New York Comic Con has come and gone. And actually? It went pretty well. Although, I have to say you could barely move at that thing. I’ve been in mosh pits that were tamer than a few of the booths at that con.

What can I say? It’s gotten so popular. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing…it’s just sort of the way of things.

I think our biggest concern at the con last year was the how much of the floor seemed dominated by video games and anime. Not that we don’t love those things and want them to have a place at the con! It’s just I couldn’t have found a comic book there to save my life last year.

This year seemed more contained. But the flow of people from place to place was pretty hazardous. I literally remember feeling TIRED thinking about crossing the floor from one side to another.

What’s helped NYCC reach this magnitude?

Well, Hollywood, I guess. With the meteoric rise of comic book superheroes jumping to the big screen, NYCC has become a much more lucrative enterprise than probably the twelve guys who started in twenty years ago ever imagined. Movie stars, MTV and illustrators all looking for their big break are all over it.

I suppose the other part that’s helped is this: being geeky…is cool now. I’m not quite sure how or why the lines between ‘dorky’ and ‘sexy’ started to blur but they really have, haven’t they?

I mean, I think it sort of started with George Lucas. Who made science fiction funny, cool and romantic, maybe for the first time?

Now, thirty years later, it’s just blown up. The entertainment business in America has gotten to be bigger than it ever has been. I mean, even E Hollywood magazine has reviews for DC comics and so on.

It continues to amaze me just how deep this phenomenon has taken root in our culture. I mean, it’s kind of like The Simpsons. I think that television show kind of revolutionized our sense of humor. Any kid my generation thought like The Simpsons when they put a joke together (even if that joke involved just quoting lines from the show).

I still can’t believe the amount of obscure stuff that gets taken hold of and made cool again these days. I mean Doctor Who has always been big on the BBC, but I wasn’t prepared for the number of Doctor Who T-shirts and cosplayers walking around the place. Really. Blew me away.

I think at home media--mainly video game consoles--is a big part of this too. Fan-culture, it seems, is much less of a minority in America these days. As seen by the wave of people roaming the con.

Well, no complaints here really. I just hope they build an extension onto that plaza for next year or something.