ADW ART DEPARTMENT WEEKLY ISSUE 93 VOL. 9
Spreading WHAT CAUGHT OUR ATTENTION
2017 Cons
FAN GATHERINGS FOR BOOKS, COMICS + MORE
YOU ARE HERE
SOME OF THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BOOK CON AND COMIC CON
COVER
ENTHUSIASM FOR PRINTED WORDS
BOOK CON
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MY LITTLE PONY
SCAVENGER HUNT
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TOYS!
VIDEO GAMES
TOYS
30
...
NEW JERSEY COMIC EXPO
FUN IN JERSEY
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2
BOOK CON
70
MINI BOARD
ED LETTER
53
NEW JERSEY COMIC EXPO
71
SCHOLASTIC
23
COSTUMES
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CREATORS
72
LIBERTY SCIENCE CENTER
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DUAL EXPERIENCES
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83
BETTY
68
5 THINGS
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BEYBLADES
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26
CAMERAS
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BEING A KID
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NEW YORK COMIC CON
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54
LITTLE GOLDEN BOOKS
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NEW YORK COMIC CON
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4
4D COLORING
... 12
MINI BOARD
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TAKING THE KIDS TO CONS
69 “What concerns me is it’s saying pre-order for delivery June 2020, but it’s June 2020!”
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Art Department Weekly is published by Dinosaur Girly Productions, 184 Bay 26th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11214. The entire contents of ADW are protected by copyright and may not be reproduced without expressed written consent of the publisher. ADW accepts no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts and/or photographs and assumes no liability for products or services advertised herein. ADW reserves the right to edit, rewrite, refuse or reuse material, is not responsible for errors or omissions, and may feature same in other mediums for any and all purposes.
IN THIS ISSUE 3
Editor’s Letter
4
Mini Board
6
Book Con Excited to Read, Journey Begins, Welcome Banners, Scholastic, Tigra, Little Golden Books, Rogue Released, HarperCollins, Oxford Press, Mature Content, Kid Like, My Little Pony
22 New York Comic Con
Excited to Play, Hidden Fun, Dual Experiences, Let It Rip, Two Things, Game On, Awesome Exclusives, Favorite Places, Missing Someone, First Last Best, The Books, Comics of the Year, Snoring Dead, Headlocked, Artist Alley, Marvel, DC, The Block, Spawn, Star Wars, Wacom, Wrapped Up in Fandom, Fly Your Freak Flag
70 New Jersey Comic Expo
Back for More, Not the Same, Time to Buy, Interview Skills, Fangirl, Most Improved
84 Five Things
ART DEPARTMENT WEEKLY LUIS VEGA CHIEF CONTENT OFFICER MADELINE STRUM MANAGING EDITOR CREDITS MADELINE STRUM PHOTOGRAPHY PHOTOGRAPHED AND ILLUSTRATED THE COVER
NYCC 2017
SO LONG AGO I’M DESIGNING AND EDITING THIS ISSUE while listening to podcasts playing the sounds of protesters being cleared from Lafayette Square in D.C. and neighbors attacking each other in Little Village outside Chicago. I guess I don’t listen to uplifting podcasts, but I highly recommend The Daily and United States of Anxiety. When I hoped to finish this all in time to be the May 5 issue, I thought reading about the 2017 conventions would be a fluffy distraction. I did not expect weeks of protests. To flash back to June, October, and November 2017, though, I have to assume that, on top of knowing the 2015 and ’16 con issues weren’t done yet, I found talking about conventions to be so far removed from reality. 2017 as a year was filled with so many infuriating stories about what was happening at the southern border and around the administration. In 2017, Puerto Rico was hit by two hurricanes, but could not receive aid because “it’s surrounded by a lot of water.” White supremacists gathered with tiki torches in Charlottesville, NC, and ended up killing a counter-protester but it was not okay for professional athletes to kneel during the national anthem. At this moment, I hope that with all the conversations happening in response to all the protests, we won’t still be explaining why it is unacceptable that a white shooter lives to see the inside of a courtroom while a black person dies at the hands of police. The legal actions
taken in response so far are heartening, but fuck Rand Paul. If someone gets in their pickup truck and hunts down a jogger, that someone ought to be prosecuted. The Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill was first introduced in 1918 to establish lynching as a federal crime because locals were not prosecuting lynchers. More than a hundred years later, the Senate unanimously approved an anti-lynching bill and sent it to the House. The House renamed it to honor Emmett Till. Now Rand Paul says he can’t approve the almost literally identical bill. We’re supposed to be cutting back on bad words around here, but FUCK Rand Paul. I’m not about to applaud his proposal of banning no-knock warrants. Local governments were already doing that. Meanwhile, Trump-appointed Justice Neil Gorsuch writing the majority opinion to protect LGBTQ rights the same week Trump rolled back trans protections is quite the plot twist. I can’t wait to see what’s next. Written by Madeline
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MINI BOARD
2017 TV REDUX My streaming slowed down a ton in 2017. In fact my TV consumption was barely a trickle (besides sports and wrestling). We recently discovered a 2017 hidden gem in TruTV’s I’m Sorry— Andrea Savage’s ridiculously hilarious comedy. The show hinges on the hilarity of Andrea’s career as a comedy writer and how she juggles being a mom and wife at the same time. Pure comedy gold. Besides that, I’ve caught up on Better Call Saul and, I must say, I enjoy that almost as much as Breaking Bad. Bob Odenkirk’s performance is nothing short of mesmerizing. —LV
TIME FOR JUSTICE I feel like Luis is down playing his frustration with DC Extended Universe killing the best movie Superman. The feelings are so repressed he even looks at me like I’m speaking gibberish when I say Justice League 2. (But, when I googled a picture for this piece, the above picture was attached to a blog about Zack Snyder saying the crosses in the background of this set would have been addressed in JL2—until there wasn’t a JL2.) Luis had to wait three years between Superman killing Zod and then Doomsday killing Superman. This is not the way DCEU should have treated its best movie version of the best superhero. Luis simply says, though, “The culmination of Superman vs. Batman: Dawn of Justice was the death of Superman at the hands of Doomsday. With the release of Justice League shortly after NYCC 17, I was both eagerly anticipating the film as well as trying to find any information at all on how they would treat the death (and return) of the man of steel. As Madeline likes to remind me, I was always quick to point out that the ‘S’ in the ‘You Can’t Save The World Alone’ always featured the Superman shield. So even if he didn’t appear alive in the film, he was definitely set to reappear.” As a cameo?! The repression. Searching just now in June 2020 to check if Cavill appeared in CW’s “Crisis on Infinite Earths” when Brandon Routh and Tom Welling did, I found more than a few “DCEU did Cavill wrong” articles. At right, Yadvender Singh Rana designed a new costume for Cavill’s future appearances in the DCEU franchise. While other fans are excited for Snyder to release a new cut of Justice League on HBOMax, the only thing I think Luis would want to see is a new ending on Man of Steel and less of an attempt to make Superman the Dark Knight. —MV
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@ultraraw26
NOT SORRY I sat through a 35-minute Yahoo! interview with Andrea Savage to find out what’s happening with Season 3 of I’m Sorry. That interview and hunting around for promo art gave me all the words to explain what I like I about this show. It’s sweet and raunchy. It has no laugh track. Tom Everett Scott is a dramatic actor, so he’s never going for the laugh—and then it’s that much more believable that they are a real couple. (See my review of Amy Schumer Learns to Cook in the previous issue.) It’s the show about working moms we never knew we needed. Season 3 did start filming, but Savage doesn’t seem to know when they will get to resume, and edit, and release new episodes. —MV
WHITE KNIGHT
FATHER’S DAY
I’ve been catching up on DC Comics through the DC Universe app. None have enthralled me as much Batman: White Knight. Set in a world where the Joker is cured of his insanity, Joker, now known as “Jack Napier,” sets about trying to right his wrongs. Jack’s plans are centered on trying to save the city from the one person who he thinks is truly Gotham’s greatest villain—Batman! Writer and artist extraordinaire Sean Murphy has created a brilliant 8-issue miniseries of a twisted Gotham with a huge cast of heroes and villains that is a tragic story of a hero and a villain: Batman and The Joker, but which is which? Books written by artists are rarely as well-balanced and crafted as this story, I think. I couldn’t put this down. —LV
Luis began to tell me about a 5-pack of G.I. Joes he needed, but it would include the less-fancy Snake Eyes. I told him that meant he could give the extra to Betty. He said no. He had also told me the day before that Betty was interested in a 2-pack of the casual Princesses, but there was also a 14-pack on the market. I said I don’t need 14 new dolls in the house. So, then I had to tell him I don’t need 5 new dolls for his collection either. He said G.I. Joes are not “dolls.” “My only hesitation,” he said before describing some more of what he was looking at on the laptop, and I burst out laughing. “Go back. What is your hesitation?” “Are you transcribing this?” “Yeah, I need content.” Luis did not like that answer. The site says the toys are set to arrive June 2020, “but it is June 2020!” I told him not to order it. That was not the answer. “Everything is delayed because of Covid 19.” Okay, then go ahead and order it. There’s no way to find this in a store when stores either aren’t open or aren’t restocking toys. Happy Fathers’ Day! Luis placed the order with Big Bad Toy Store. The same retailer that sold him “the Heavy Gunner that is still not here.” (His words.) “It’s a reputable company. I’ve ordered from them before...?” —MV
D
R A E RH
T R YA
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“I know how to make a man feel good. And I do it way better than anyone else. Because my heart is gold… but my vagine is platinum” -Corinne
“You have to make the [U.S.-Mexico border] wall out of something impossible to get through, so I guess Season 1 of Iron Fist, yeah?” -Trevor
“Let the past die. Kill it if you have to” -Kylo
“Darkseid is.” -Scott
BEST OF 2017 We recapped the year Trump was inaugurated, the Atlantic hurricane season brought three of the costliest hurricanes, and the things Betty did to make us smile. Go back in time with us at https://issuu.com/artdepartmentweekly/docs/adw-2017 —MV
“If I could, I would have voted for Obama for a third term” -Dean
“We got backed to the fucking future” -MacKenzie
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EXCITED TO READ
A 7-YEAR-OLD’S TAKE ON THE BOOK CONVENTION VIDEO STILLS FROM MADELINE STRUM PHOTOGRAPHY
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Kal’s journey beyond the pages started underground
At this moment, he was reading the dollar section version of Tom Sawyer. There is a cave adventure, and, as a huge Minecraft fan, he wanted more stories of kids fighting bad guys in dark places. I picked up this copy at Target along with Pinocchio and Jungle Book when I was trying to get his library started in 2010. Kal had just gotten to a part where they are talking about tick bugs, which was funny to us because the parents at his school had been obsessed with ticks during the previous week’s Field Day.
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—MV
The escalator at 34th Street Hudson Yards 7 station is 172 feet long, traveling maybe eight stories down.
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WELCOME BANNERS It’s funny to see which are still relevant now
Kal was ready to take it all in see the differences between a comic convention and a book convention. There were still security, comic fans, Disney characters, and reminders to not inappropriately touch cosplayers, but there were also giant empty spaces in the basement and gray carpeting on the Show Flow.
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Girls on Vinyl
Hidden Fires
Jojo’s Guide seemed as unlikely to be read in my house as Lumberjanes, but, about the time I was finally pulling stills for this issue, Betty became a huge Jojo Siwa fan. Meanwhile, I wanted to be sure to get a picture that day of She Persisted but don’t know if Betty will ever read that. (She has heard I Dissent.)
I didn’t notice Little Fires Everywhere until I was scanning video clips to use for still frames. I actually haven’t seen the show or read the book, but everyone seems to recommend the second novel by Celeste Ng that was released in September 2017. I think it’s a good display of how removed Kal and I are from what’s making news in book publishing that we walked past all her signs without much consideration for how one day in the near future everyone we know would be talking about Shaker Heights, Ohio, and the Hulu adaptation. —MV
Like any convention we’ve been to before, Waldo was everywhere—this time as cut outs.
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A Camper Full of Fun Scholastic gave away books, pins, high-fives, and more Kal was more than happy to stand in line for his turn to spin the wheel and give Clifford a hug. There is a video of Kal saying this was the best thing ever because they gave him a pin promoting Jedi Academy and a bookmark. “I spun a wheel and landed on Yoda,” Kal wrote. “The pins were designed to be pages of a yearbook, and I chose one of Darth Maul that said ‘Best Dancer’ was what he was nominated for.” Kal did not seem to remember any of this when I showed him the stills. Clifford the Big Red Dog meant nothing to him at all. “Who’s Clifford?” “The dog you were happy to hug.” “Oh.” It was fun at the time.
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Coloring a Friend Kal tried out the interactive fun with Tigra
Kal received the Crayola version for Skylanders in 2016, but we never really played with it, so I wasn’t about to spend extra time learning about how many more companies were making 4D coloring pages. He colored at the Tigra booth like he had no idea what might happen. Other companies had recognizable licenses, like Rovio and Hasbro characters at Devar, but Devar was not open for kids to try out the technology. (In fact, there’s maybe one employee in the booth on our video.) For me, the best part of Kal playing with Tigra was quickly making a video of the process to share on Twitter.
Did Kal Read It? Remy came with a mask we still had almost three years later “I got a book, Remy Sneakers VS. the Robo Rats, and because of the fact that I had been reading books with no pictures that were much more serious, I never really got around to reading Remy,” Kal wrote. I remember him complaining pictures weren’t finished and me trying to explain it was an uncorrected proof. “I was much less interested in books that seemed really silly or, depending on what the book is about, a lot of pictures,” he wrote. But he was also reading plenty of graphic novels. Maybe Remy was too basic to make much of an impression.
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Still Golden Little Golden Books have been a childhood staple for 75 years Growing up, I loved Little Golden Books. They consisted of The Little Engine That Could and Little Pokey Puppy. Little Golden Books still has those offerings, but now they have so much more. Since they started offering licensed characters, they have broadened their releases to include some of the biggest stories in pop culture. For me there is none bigger than Star Wars. Little Golden Books started releasing books from the original trilogy, then continued with the prequels. They then started to release the “I Am A” series covering everything from princesses to Jedi, droids to pilots. The artwork is beautiful, the stories are light and help expose a younger generation to the wonders of a galaxy far, far away. —LV Kal reads I Am a Stormtroooper before checking out classic and new titles inside the Little Golden Books booth. He also played with gigantic band-aids on the walls.
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ROGUE RELEASES Two of my favorite books from 2017 both took place in the world created from the brilliant Rogue One. Disney Publishing was out in full force in support of Rogue One, releasing books for a variety of different age groups.
Kal recognized more characters from Mo Willems and Shopkins. None of these pictures elicited much a response from him.
Rebel Rising tells the story of a young Jyn Erso and bridges the gap from the time Saw Gerrera rescues Jyn to when we find her incarcerated at the very beginning of the film. Guardians of the Whills recounts the first meeting of Chirrut Imwe and Baze Malbus and how their partnership came to be. Well-crafted and written in great detail, it’s hard to believe this book is written for a pre-teen. Their introduction and team-up while helping refugees on Jedha is excellent. Both of these books (as well as Catalyst—a story on the life of Galen Erso) help fill in the blanks on the brilliant Rogue One. I can’t wait till my kids pick up these books and take these wonderful journeys for themselves. —LV
Books in the Disney section were expanding on movies Kal hadn’t seen yet, like Aladin and Rogue One. Books we hadn’t seen before by Leslie Patricelli were more exciting to us.
History on Paper Kal found some things to appreciate when forced to look I made Kal stop at the huge HarperCollins Publishers display. They were celebrating 200 years of publishing. I’m sure he had no desire to look at what seemed to be an old boring museum—too many words, not enough color—but Kal’s read some old books. Charlotte’s Web, Goodnight Moon, and Where the Wild Things Are were some he recognized in the captions. I thought he should know what the bigger picture looks like. When I pointed to Mark Twain’s name on the wall (in a portion also talking about Charles Dickens), he had no idea who that was. Um, he wrote the book you were reading at the start of this adventure... Tom Sawyer? Then I showed him Harper’s monthly magazine in a shadow box on the wall, telling him once it was cutting edge. “I do like the design, but it could use some more color,” he said. The design of the type seemed to provoke a lot more thought from him than the different options for the cover of Danny and the Dinosaur. There was a picture of the original The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe cover that elicited jumps for joy. “I love that book!” As a 7-year-old several hours into the day, this wasn’t making for very good video. At that time, I put away the shirt he was wearing and planned to shoot more video later. All this time later, I think the only part I’d be interested hear him talk about is why he thinks there seem to be only white people on that long wall. —MV
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New Title Showcase Books full of words Kal has trouble pronouncing Other sections of the floor with the white bookshelves and meeting tables were already cleared out by the time kids were welcomed into the convention. This section was still full and Oxford Press had a few covers that caught Kal’s eye, including Confluence of Random Thoughts and Living with the Living Dead. I asked Kal to say “nihilistic” for the camera and say whether it would give him nightmares. I can’t even imagine how much darker and more wandering those authors’ thoughts are three years later. —MV
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MATURE CONTENT Most of the con is geared toward adult fans. Kal tried to engage, but he wasn’t really about to hang out in the lounge or articulate #whyiread when he could get back home to play video games. Before BookCon, Luis had been wondering why no restaurants have turkey burgers. Then Kal stopped to talk to the rep at Action Burger. Turkey burgers are on their menu. People are supposed to come for the comics, sci-fi, and thousands of retro video games, but I’m more interested in the deep fried waffle and pretzel burgers. Kal doesn’t remember talking to this guy—or thinking some of these T-shirts were the funniest thing ever. At right is a still of him asking me if I remember seeing the shirts 2 minutes earlier: Not just lazy—super lazy! And at the time he told me that he is the kitten saying one more chapter, but now he thinks the tees look like every con. —MV
Owlcrate had a humongous line
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KID LIKE Normally, we are at the Javits Center on the third day of New York Comic Con. There’s less space to walk let alone sit down on the Show Floor for a catnap. Kal doesn’t remember sticking his face over the railing. “I don’t remember the vent games.” The Quarto Group set up a coloring station (not a slime station to promote their slime cookbooks), but Kal mostly wanted to keep moving—see which characters he recognized and what he might like to purchase. We took home a copy of 51 Things to Do with Egg Cartons.
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ON THE HUNT Before leaving for the day, I thought we should walk the basement level to see how it was different from NYCC. I had no idea there was a Family Lounge sponsored by My Little Pony. To promote their new movie, they had a scavenger hunt. Now Kal asks if there is a scavenger hunt every place we go.
First he colored the wall.
Then we realized there was a hunt.
So we went back to the Show Floor.
He stopped to pose...
...at the Captain Underpants booth.
He ran way ahead of me.
Like way ahead.
Stamps were at four different publishers.
He happily talked to all the vendors.
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Every stop was ready to stamp his poster.
Some had separate prizes.
We raced back to the lounge.
Kal received movie posters, mini comic books, The Art of the My Little Pony the Movie, and blind bags for all the effort. Then he sat down to watch some episodes of Friendship is Magic.
Kal read the comic on his way home. Then we made a video for Boom’s Blind Bags to open the mini ponies he won. Check the recap of the scavenger hunt at https://youtu.be/vIESWBrhYIo
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The pineapple under the crystal palace gave Nickelodeon fans a chance to check in on beloved characters.
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EXCITED TO PLAY
SAME SPACE, DIFFERENT PACE FOR NEW YORK COMIC CON The SYFY Fan Lounge cared for those who were geeked out with charging stations and cushy spots to relax. Their bags are also easy to spot in many pictures and videos.
The WebToon lanyard included an extra rubbery piece for Kal to play with when fidgeting with his lanyard, and the basement was full of tables, vendors, and fans in the Artist Alley. As an attendee, that made the day a lot easier than the walk to the North Building in the past.
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FUN HIDDEN ALL OVER A cardboard sign a few blocks from the convention blames flashpoint for him being there. Farther down the block, Cambell’s promotes #comiccan with a trailer for The Last Jedi that Kal couldn’t tear himself away from. Later, he plays hide-and-seek with a T-Rex at Domo World’s booth. —MV
While the courtyard has changed over the years, attendees still line the curb when they need a spot to sit and maybe people watch.
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Kal was excited to talk to Ahsoka while Betty picked up (and dropped) a set of chattering teeth from Harley and Joker. Even on the days that are not Kids Day, the convention is ready for little fans. Imaginext let Kal push the buttons to operate the limited edition Batbot Extreme.
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DUAL EXPERIENCES Every year we see members of the Empire advertising Blast-a-Trooper. This was the year we’d actually do it, I thought. But even though Boom and I got in line first thing, the line was already closed. We came back later to get in line for Padawan Training and that was also closed. Kids Day is always the most crowded of day of NYCC, but there had been empty spots in Padwan Training on Saturday. A Sith wrote on the board we should direct our complaints to Reed Pop who didn’t provide enough space or time. When I asked Kal if he remembered it, he immediately started rubbing his hands together—the first thing trainees did to help them feel the Force. Then Kal watched the videos to help him remember more of the experience. “At Comic Con, after a, let’s say 1.5 hour (or felt like that) wait, I went to a Padawan training activity that I happened to be dressed for,” he wrote. “I learned to dodge, block, attack, Force push, and many more skills for fighting Sith.” As I remember it, we came back from lunch, went to the sign-in table, got a ticket, and sat in the hallway for maybe 10 minutes. All the trainees were given lightsabers that lit up and learned a set of moves before Sith invaded the room and needed to be defeated. All the participants received a certificate. Boom being denied access twice was more rough when he knew how much fun his brother had had there. —MV
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When we couldn’t get into Padawan Training, Boom and I went over to the Family HQ—right before Reed Pop tried to clear the room for Katie Cook’s workshop. Staff said to direct feedback to organizers for 2018.
Boom had about 20 minutes to hunt through Beyblades bins and play with some before I decided we should be better audience members or leave.
Kal and I had purchased Cook’s Obi-1 2 3 on Saturday at her Artist Alley table where she was busy painting. When it was his turn, Kal requested a bantha.
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LET IT RIP Free beys in Family HQ
The days Kal and Betty were there, we couldn’t figure out what the Beyblade Burst banner was promoting. On Kids Day, Boom went to the Family HQ after he couldn’t get into Padawan Training and there were dozens of empty Hasbro boxes. The staff just kept opening them and dumping them into bigger boxes for kids to pick from. No one there seemed to care how many Boom wanted to play with as long as no one took the stadiums and everyone made room for the next panel. —MV
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NYCC2017 TWO THINGS The most memorable things to come out of our trip to NYCC 2017 were the “Let’s Get a Big Pretzel” song Boom wrote and the start of his Tentacle Kitty collection. (I like to call them Tentakitties, so we’ve been affectionately saying it wrong for almost three years.) He had no idea the kitties were there and argued all the way to that last stop. —MV
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While I saw Scott Snyder on the Comic Con Live stage with Kevin Smith and Dan Didio, Luis saw Snyder with DC Daily’s reporter.
GAME ON When we stumbled upon the Fandom Gamer Den, I wasn’t sure how to help Kal understand that everyone on the couches were waiting their turn to play (or at least pretending to wait their turn while they ate snacks). It was cool how Fandom divided the space to be two dens—one from the ’80s and one from the ’90s—with different furniture and video games to feel like we were time traveling. Kal ended up only getting to play Rock ‘em Sock ‘em Robots with a stranger, but that seemed to be enough.
Gaming demos and tournaments were all over the Floor. Lego brought models and mini builds for its participants while War for the Planet of the Apes required players to mount a horse body. Kal remembers he did not want to wait in line to get on the horse.
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EVERYWHERE In the entrances, attendees could line up to play on Bandai’s screens or Injustice 2 demos. Booths with consoles and VR were all over the Show Floor.
Marvel vs. Capcom is a series of crossover fighting games developed and published by Capcom, featuring characters from their own video game franchises and comic book series published by Marvel Comics.
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SPINNING TIME Kal won a fidget spinner for playing The Walking Dead mobile game, so, of course, it was on Boom’s list of things to do the next day. Kal totally remembered this. “It was like Angry Birds Epic.”
“The spinners broke after a few months from being dropped so many times” when he would balance it on his thumb with no finger, he said. He needed to try that trick almost as soon as he won the spinner. “It was greatly imbalanced” after a piece fell out.
Kal did not really remember playing any other games that day.
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The plasma ball completely drew Kal to this booth, but then he debated with himself too hard about whether or not to touch it. There was no pay off where his long hair stood on end.
Meanwhile, no one was supposed to touch K2-S0 and Kal did not care to try.
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ANOTHER LOOK Voltron, the Migthy Morphin Power Rangers cast, a Yu-Gi-Oh! tournament, Pop! vinyls, the end of a line, really expensive toys, a classic photo op, cute socks, and scary plush toys were some of the things we saw.
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Ashley Ekstein poses near the Reed Pop booth selling Her Universe Comic Con exclusive fangirl fashion pieces.
Luis wanted a Lego Khal Drogo, so I sent him a picture of what else I had to buy on Sunday to get that figure. (Minecraft sheep were cheap.)
Luis took a picture of Mego figures and the Playmobil booth selling Ghostbusters because he would never say no to a Mego Superman and he really wanted the new firehouse.
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Izabel & Hazel
AWESOME EXCLUSIVES Following up on the successful Saga action figure two-pack from last year is this two-figure set of IZABEL AND HAZEL. Izabel has all her intestines falling out and Hazel is sculpted in her winged glory. Available at the Skybound side of the Image Comics booth. At the Toys ‘R’ Us Fan Vault on the New York Comic Con Show Floor, this LOCKJAW figure is far better than the terrible Inhumans TV show. Over in the Reed Pop booth, this amazing Skottie Young baby Marvel stuffed SPIDER-MAN hanging from the suction cup. Lego eschewed the Show Floor to have their exclusives van parked outside near the food trucks. The best of their exclusives was the BOBA FETT AND CARBONITE HAN brickheadz two-pack. Brick perfection. Hallmark continued their convention Itty Bitty exclusives with a WALRUS MAN (Ponda Baba) on Kenner retro style packaging. The longest lines of any exclusives booth as per usual was Funko. Two of their bests daily exclusives were first appearance SUPERMAN and GOT badass LYANNA MORMONT.
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MY FAVORITE PLACES People from all walks of life attend Comic Con and, as someone who understands needing to get across the Show Floor or escape the noise or use the bathroom with a little boy, I personally loved these signs. I love to complain that no Family HQ is as good as the one sponsored by My Little Pony at Book Con, so all these additional rooms are necessary. —MV
Entry on Friday morning was delayed, so Luis took a bunch of pictures. We’re not really sure why this happened and the internet is not helping us. All I keep seeing is that Reed Pop claims NYCC 2020 is not canceled despite the fact the fact they haven’t put tickets on sale yet.
This might be the only time the Mac & Cheese Truck did not have a long line. Inside, SYFY was visible through the glass.
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MISSING SOMEONE Superman died at the end of Superman v. Batman, so in October 2017 we were all wondering what was up. “Henry Cavill is signed on for the two upcoming Justice League movies, so Superman can’t really be dead,” as popsugar.com put it, but Luis needed his cues like the “s” in “save” using Superman’s logo because Superman did not appear in the poster. I mean, it’s possible he was signed to film flashback scenes. Meanwhile, Flash fans were more noticeably freaking out. Ezra Miller—not Grant Gustin—would play Barry Allen. From what I’ve witnessed, the CW seems to constantly poke fun at past and alternate Barrys. Knowing this issue was not actually written in 2017, I can freely say I love that Miller actually appeared with Gustin in CW’s “Crisis on Infinite Earths” cross-over. —MV
Some of the big draws for attendees were the Lore booth, Marvel on Hulu, and The Walking Dead’s 100th episode. Amazon promoted its video series based on the Lore podcast with the museum. Attendees were able to hunt for Runaways swag at a variety of stations inside the convention. And The Walking Dead cast and executive producers held a roundtable at the convention to reflect on how far they’d come.
A large area was dedicated to Alex Ross art sales, including not only the galleries but also a room with glass doors to presumably finalize sales.
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FIRST LAST BEST New York City Comic Con 2017 was my first comic book convention I’d ever been to and I got to experience it with my best friend, Richie. He and I went together and it was a great time. We wore DC character themed outfits. I wouldn’t say we cosplayed, I would say we dressed to symbolize what fandom we were a part of. He wore The Flash and I wore Wonder Woman. We roamed the Show Floor and took pictures with cosplayers, then walked over to the huge DC booth to take pictures of the Justice League movie costumes. While walking around the Show Floor, Richie saw a cosplay of the tenth doctor and I saw the fourth doctor from Doctor Who, and we both took pictures with them. I went down to look for Art Balthazar, artist for Tiny Titans, and there I picked up a Tiny Titans-style Supergirl and Flash. Later, we walked over to the Marvel booth and met up with my dad and met a writer for Marvel comics. At the end of the day, we walked away with a few comic con souvenirs and sketches from artists in Artist Alley. That was the last time Richie went to Comic Con, and I’m glad I got to experience it with my best friend. It’s a comic con that I’ll always remember. —Megan
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THE FIRST THING KAL HEADED FOR inside the Javits Center was the table of Minecraft books. In the videos, he jumps up and down while he tells the two people at the booth about which books he already has how much he loves them. He had not seen Mobestiary before because it would not be on store shelves for at least another month, so he knew what he wanted to buy. “Mobestiary is introduced by a person who lived in game and talks about ancient legends,” he says. It covers every mob, animal, and boss in the game at the time it was written.
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THE BOOKS Kal has a lot of Minecraft books—handbooks, guides, activities, and novels. The first chapter book he ever read was Minecraft fan fiction about a character named Gamerknight99. The author, Mark Cheverton, was at a few cons Kal attended, but we never met up with him. Of all the Minecraft books he has, Kal says his favorite are the narratives—especially the series promoted by Mojang: The Crash, The Island, and The End. Kal explains: “The Island has nothing outside the game. It’s better than the others, like The End and The Crash. All those are better than Gamerknight99 because there’s nothing the characters are trying to accomplish outside the game. The Crash was similar to Gamerknight99, achieving things inside and outside the game.” (All of the books have different authors and characters.) “The Crash you know who they are. The Island doesn’t give you many details about the narrator. The End, you know that they think they’re Endermen and then they realize they are people—completely different people.” Back when he used to play and watch StampyCat on YouTube, Kal needed to save his money from the tooth fairy to purchase the guide books for farming and potions. “You learn to farm mobs and plants because you don’t want to use all your coal and run around all day when you could just raise chickens. You don’t do much harm to the environment then,” Kal explained. “The first one I needed to have of the new ones was Enchantments and Potions.” Like farming, potions has fascinated him. While he hasn’t played the game in forever, he has all the books still—some even right next to his pillow.
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COMICS OF THE YEAR I love comics. They are my favorite form of literary entertainment. Here is my recap on the very best in comics 2017. Four of these books are repeats of my 2016 list
MISTER MIRACLE The best book I’ve read since the late ’80s run of masterpieces (V for Vendetta, Watchmen, Dark Knight Returns). Sheer perfection to read and look at. King and Gerards have created a masterpiece. BLACK PANTHER Ta-Nehisi Coates built off the
momentum of the movie and has T’Challa in the best place he’s ever been.
SAGA Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples’ tour de
force continues. No book carries the emotional weight of this series. Every issue leaves you wanting more. PAPER GIRLS More Brian K. Vaughan, this time
been the best single issue of comics the entire
teamed up with Cliff Chiang. This is time travel at its best with an almost all-girl teen cast. Wonderful.
THOR Jason Aaron’s continued exploits of Jane
The best monthly Batman run of my lifetime.
BATMAN/ELMER FUDD This one shot might have
Foster wielding her hammer continue to astound. So good. THE WILDSTORM Warren Ellis’ re-imagining of the
Wildstorm universe has been wonderful. I love how simple and small it is now, and am hoping it keeps this pace. BATMAN Some more Tom King mastery (yes, King
and Vaughan are exactly half my top ten). The introduction of Thomas Wayne to the DCU proper has been great. All with a rotating team of artists.
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year. This Tom King and Lee Weeks collaboration is so much better than I expected it to be.
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SUPERSONS No book puts a smile on my face more than this Tomasi and Jimenez production. There is an energy in the art and the writing that is unmatched. DOOM PATROL Gerard Way is channeling his inner
Grant Morrison while teaming with Nick Derrington for a really fun take on the zany Doom Patrol. While I don’t always know what’s happening, I’m definitely strapping in for the ride.
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SNORING DEAD By the time 2017 rolled around, the shine was already off AMC’s The Walking Dead. It had been almost a year since the controversial arrival of Negan and his murdering of Glenn. That proved to be a major turning point for the casual fans of the show. Even though it took place exactly as in the books, the brutality of watching it live seemed to turn off many fans. A full year later, the buzz was gone and people had moved on. As the show zombie walked towards its 100th episode, it was almost like no one cared.
HEADLOCKED Headlocked Comics started out over a decade ago as a tiny, grass roots, independent publisher aimed at wrestling fans. Their initial offering toiled in obscurity until 2010 when they partnered with Jerry “The King” Lawler. With The King lending the brand some credibility, they have grown in leaps and bounds releasing over-the-top wrestling stories with covers that are an homage to some of the greatest covers in the history of comics. They have become one of the hottest destinations in most cons by having photo ops and meet and greets with past and present wrestlers while also pushing out new stories featuring the individual talents. At NYCC 17, Christian, Lita, Diamond Dallas Page, Tommy Dreamer, and Sting all had a presence at their booth.
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LA BORINQUEÑA While this book debuted in 2016, two hurricanes hit Puerto Rico in September 2017—so close to NYCC—and brought a lot of energy to supporting the project. Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez has raised close to a quarter of a million dollars for grass roots organizations in Puerto Rico via the La Borinqueña Grants Program. Recently, La Borinqueña has been raising money to fund masks for front line workers.
AMY REEDER took a picture of Kal (but in my videos, he never stops moving to pose
for her) when we stopped by her table. Kal loved the job someone had done in the coloring book, but we didn’t stop to contribute. This version of Bliss would have been a much more amazing 4th Powerpuff Girl
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ROWDY ROOKER My favorite part of comic con is running back and forth between the Marvel and DC booths, getting sketches from creators. Without fail, ever year, I seem to be in the Marvel booth when a celebrity is there doing a signing, giveaway or photo op. NYCC 17 was more of the same. While I was in line for Amy Reeder and Brian Montclaire, what else was going on... Michael Rooker, Yondu himself, was on the Marvel main stage riling up the crowd and doing some giveaways. The crowd was huge and they were way into the small prizes he was giving out. His energy was off the charts and even though fans know him best as Merle (from The Walking Dead) or Yondu (GOTG), my favorite role of his will always be Rowdy in Days of Thunder.
Hanging around Marvel, Luis snapped pictures of Lorraine Cink, Chris Claremont, and an artist who was handed a fluffy pink pen.
Marvel gave away tiny glow-in-the-dark cosmic cubes in support of the Secret Empire mega-crossover event. While it didn’t contain the power to make Captain America into a Hydra-loving minion, it’s a fun little tschotske.
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NYCC2017 Jimenez flips through a copy of Supersons after being stalked by Madeline and Betty
RISING (SUPER)STAR
HARD TIMES
One of my favorite books of 2017 was Super Sons written by Peter J. Tomasi with art by newcomer Jorge Jimenez. Once I scoured the signing schedule at the DC booth, there was no one creator I wanted to meet more than Jorge Jimenez. His art on Super Sons had been an absolute revelation to me. His line work was infused with an energy that I hadn’t seen since a young Joe Maduiera but with the cross-hatching skills of Jim Lee. There was absolutely no one like him and he was quickly rising the ranks of my favorite artists. I’m rarely if ever star struck, but seeing Jorge excitedly walking around the DC booth before his signing time started left me geeking out. I was able to get Jorge to sign all my issues of Super Sons before he even started his signing, which left me plenty of time to get in line and get a sketch of young Jonathan Kent— Superboy. It was my favorite sketch of the entire convention. —LV
Back in 2017 I was getting ready to go to an independent wrestling show where three stars of NXT UK were set to headline. In the lead up to the show, I drew a piece of Tyler Bate, Pete Dunne, and Trent Seven— British Strong Style. I posted it on Twitter as an animated gif to show the process of pencils to inks on each of the subjects. Much to my surprise Steve Orlando, who was writing Justice League of America, liked my tweet. Steve is a huge wrestling fan and happened to come upon my piece after it was retweeted by BSS. When I saw Steve’s name on the list of talent at the DC booth, I was instantly excited to talk to him about how much his like and retweet meant to me. When Steve arrived he was wearing a sweatshirt emblazoned with the classic Dusty Rhodes “Hard Times” promo. Steve and I then went on to have a lengthy conversation about wrestling with a little bit of comics mixed in. This was one of the highlights of the entire weekend and has become a routine Steve and I have replicated every year at NYCC since. —LV
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TALENT AT THE DC BOOTH Hang on as we take a spin around this spread to name everyone. Jorge Jimenez (opposite) was outside the booth while his friends Bruno Redondo’s (also seen below) and Dan Sampere signed at one table. Writers Ray Fawkes and Brenden Fletcher (opposite bottom center) were signing at the other table. Above, the booth exterior was designed for Geoff Johns’ Doomsday Clock. Wristbands were required for Jim Lee. Luis got an “awesome fucking” Superman sketch from Nick Derington. Everyone received a copy of Agnes Garbowska’s Super Hero Girls. Luis was happier with his Mirka Andolfo (below left) sketch than his Ed Benes (below right).
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That giant pug is great for helping you figure out where you are on the Floor. Luis liked Star Wars gear at Anovos and Uniqlo. Chevy had a spot on the Show Floor and at the entrance. The entrance booth promotes Making Strides Against Breast Cancer.
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AROUND THE BLOCK Jellly Belly’s artist never fails to entertain me with the hundred hours she puts into crafting artwork every year (and free samples), but it was funny to take a closer look at other booths from 2017 and see so many masks (or face coverings if you prefer). While everyone might have received a free headpiece from Frombie again in 2017, how many people thought to order from Tiny Top Hats or the other vendors in 2020...
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25 YEARS OF SPAWN At NYCC 17, one of the most popular creators in comics history, Todd McFarlane, was making the rounds talking about his deal with Blumhouse Productions and his plans to release an R-rated, horror focused Spawn film. No new major announcements from Todd McFarlane Productions, but Todd talked about how proud he was for Spawn to be celebrating its 25th anniversary. While they talked a bit about a soft reboot of the character, a 25-year run of an independent book is one of the greatest accomplishments of modern times. —LV
HERE FOR THE CLUES Verizon sponsored a gallery of props from the new Star Wars movie, such as helmets, Finn’s backpack, blaster rifles, and models of the TIE silencer and Resistance bomber. Staff wore T-shirts asking who would be the last Jedi. I was not so hard up for answers to wait in the line. —MV
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Brooklyn Lager continued its deal with Reed Pop to be the official beer of NYCC. “Defend Beer is the belief that beer should be interesting, delicious, accessible, unpretentious, and downright fun.” Looking at the sign, I’m kind of sad it’s not Amy Reeder’s redesign from 2014.
CHILD-FREE FOR A MINUTE Wacom had a booth on the floor (above), but they also had a series of demonstrations in a private room (below). I left Betty with Luis so I could see how working artists recommend using the technology. Jerry Gaylord walked us through the layers he sets up to sketch, finalize shapes, color, and correct tones. Watching him correct the colors might have been my favorite part because Superman uses primary colors, but RGB can be garish. Panel topics sound so hopeful and inclusive, but Gaylord really did have me thinking I could be a better illustrator. —MV
Fans could join the Justice League with the help of green screen. Participants received a print of their photo.
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WRAPPED UP IN FANDOM
Costumes of all kinds takeover the con. Here are more than a hundred pics we took of some we liked
Boom doesn’t remember seeing Optimus Prime in person, but says, “His costume is awesome.” He wants one like Bumblebee.
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The dodge ball team stopped to gawk at the two Bumblebees in the underpass.
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PASSING THROUGH The underpass at the Javits Center has been the place for pop-up photo studios for as long as I’ve been attending NYCC. I’ve been telling myself for years that I couldn’t do that because I don’t have a battery pack and I don’t want to compete for space and what if no one wants to pose for me... Seeing how easily Luis came through and photographed cosplayers getting ready to take pictures, I wonder why I’ve built it up to be so difficult and competitive in my head. —MV
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WHERE DOES IT ALL GO? There is a lot to record at New York Comic Con—exclusive content, memorable interactions, and jaw-dropping costumes. But part of me was fascinated by all the different equipment photographers were using. I’ve had people stop me to ask me what I’m shooting with, but we don’t talk about where it’s going. Obviously, Reed Pop needs material to recap and promote. Other vendors are live streaming. Everyone has some sort of vlog. But it’s funny to see the range of accessories—flashes and lights attached to still cameras and harnesses for video—when at this point there were plenty of phones that could take really high quality photos. I brought a separate microphone in case my kids wanted to do interviews with strangers. We were also advocating for middle school space at the same time, though, so I wanted content that might be more viral than my usual Tweets at the mayor. My thing was we’re looking for a hero but maybe the mayor could tell his Department of Education that we need space. I had Boom sit down and talk about how Amadeus Cho is one of the eight smartest people in the whole world, but he’s a minority so he’s stuck in New York City public schools—a system that doesn’t seem to be encouraging all kids to achieve more. (Boom wasn’t really into it, but the edit I landed on is us laughing that he couldn’t say “New York.”) Kal posed with the “Equality” bag we’d picked up at a rally where parents demonstrated how much they want space for charter schools. Luis had at least four cosplayers say, “Hey, Bill, be a hero,” and then I Tweeted them at the mayor. My favorite might have been my video of a Michael Myers cosplayer sitting on the floor with a Chucky doll to say “We think a lack of proposals for #spacetolearn is even scarier.” —MV
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Betty was not into the costumes. This is her face after seeing Stitch in Artist Alley. If she decided to lay on the carpet down there, I didn’t get it on video. To see how Betty handled NYCC, check out https:// youtu.be/xRMU6tjBYI
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FLY YOUR FREAK FLAG ARE YOU HURTING ANYONE? NO? THEN BE YOURSELF. LUIS EXPLAINS WHY HE TAKES HIS KIDS TO CONVENTIONS As a comic book fan, I feel like that was something that had to be hidden or spoken about in hushed tones. People would often make fun or say things like “I used to read comics when I was a kid”. I think it’s great to expose my children to an environment where everyone is free to be who they are and support whatever pop culture they like in an accepting environment without bullying. It’s an inclusive, stress-free environment where I can share my love of comics, toys and pop-culture with my children.
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BACK FOR MORE UNFORTUNATELY, THERE WASN’T REALLY MORE After NYCC17, I figured I was done with the convention season for 2017. Then received an email from New Jersey Comic Expo inviting me back to cover the event for a second season. I remembered going in 2016 and having a good time at the smaller, calmer show. NJCE16 seemed to have the one thing most other conventions don’t have: space. The expo was held in a big venue with limited booths and a smaller number of attendees. With that positive experience in mind, I accepted their offer and returned.
—LV
The Main Stage looked legit, but most of the space felt like it was devoted to Funko Pop! boxes
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Tables of comic boxes made it look like a comic convention, but the walls of Pop! vinyls left Madeline feeling like it was a Pop! convention. There was a table for face painting, but our kids weren’t interested.
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NOT THE SAME AS LAST YEAR What I instantly learned was that not only did the show not grow, it seemed to have shrunk. The show I was so charmed with in 2016 took a step backward. Artist Alley was smaller, there were fewer vendors, no celebrity photo ops. Coming off NYCC just weeks earlier and NJCE’s proximity to Thanksgiving, I wonder if there was some fatigue in creators not wanting to be on the East Coast again. While some heavyweights still attended (Peter J. Tomasi, Neal Adams, Rags Morales, and Rick Leonardi), there simply weren’t that many comic-focused activities, like artists auctioning live drawings in panel rooms. —LV
Some of the tables that stopped us: Rags Morales, Greg Land, and Gail Simone. Madeline wanted to tell Simone she loves her on Twitter, but then she thought against it.
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Kal completely remembered throwing the football at the Cosplay Culture Magazine booth to win a duck for Betty.
“It was cool as a ninja star. It did not work as a duck-a-rang.” -Kal
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Ecto-1 was not behind draping, so Betty tried to get in. With plenty of space that early in the day, she wanted to run around after the car ride to Jersey. Boom was more than happy to take her spot in the stroller.
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TIME TO BUY “It might have been that one with the Minecraft Lego mini figures with tools that didn’t resemble any Minecraft tools,” Kal said when I asked him if he remembered shopping at NJCE. “They might have been hoes.” “We bought a shit ton of Minecraft figures,” Luis said when asked if he remembered any purchases. “They had some that were pre-packed or you could get them à la carte. The kids were very specific in the ones they wanted, so we didn’t get pre-packed.” Betty wanted a bracelet to celebrate her love of Minnie Mouse, but the deal was better if we bought two, so Boom received one decorated for Pac-Man. —MV
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INTERVIEW SKILLS To start, I asked Boom to tell me if the NJCE big pretzel was as good as the NYCC big pretzel and whether there were enough blind bags. He was disappointed Tentacle Kitty did not have a booth there. Then Kal came back from hunting for Black Series figures, and they took turns telling me they planned to buy a bunch of Minecraft figures—specifically the Lego wither skeleton—and what they thought of the science stations. Check out their video (with Betty) at https://youtu.be/cgKPpfUjrGI —MV
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“I remember I kept running into the same Sith at different cons,” Kal said. This group did not include the cosplayers he’d seen at Eternal Con and NYCC. These were affiliated with the Mandalorian Mercs we’d probably seen the year before.
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“A Jedi gave me a lightsaber for the picture—and I got to hold it!” -Kal
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Deadpool was Boom’s favorite character at the moment.
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FANGIRL Betty took off running to catch up to the princesses after they checked in and walked to the back of the convention floor. She needed to touch Elsa’s sparkles, show them her new bracelet, and talk to them about their tiaras. I said several times, “Who needs to go all the way to Disney?” This was all believable enough for her. “My favorite memory of the entire day will always be Betty chasing around a cosplayer dressed as Elsa,” Luis wrote. “In fact all my favorite memories of NJCE 17 are the kids being in awe of some of the cosplayers and wanting to have their pictures taken. Boom with Deadpool, Kal with various Star Wars characters, Betty chasing Elsa... They seemed to truly enjoy the wonderment of it.” —MV
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The star gazing show didn’t go well for Betty who got scared according to Luis. They came out after 10 seconds. “I didn’t see anything,” said Kal. “It looked like a wall and we were in between. It was literally a wall. It was a wall! We were being a wee bit claustrophobic.” They posed on the Iron Throne and tried to build catapults of their own design.
At the drone station, Betty seemed to get her hands on a controller quickly, but I think the battery was dead. One attendant was left to facilitate the kids in line and teach them to fly the drones through hulahoops attached to the booth. “I remember trying to fly it, and it just flopping all over the place,” said Kal. I think most of the time we spent at that station was waiting for everyone to get a turn.
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MOST IMPROVED “The event was saved by the addition of the Liberty Science Center which had a number of activities for the kids to do. The drone obstacle course was a huge hit,” Luis wrote. It was so much better than the coloring tables we typically see. Our day ended at this station, though, when Kal got too close to the liquid nitrogen-soaked tablet. Kal doesn’t seem to remember touching anything, getting screamed at, and suddenly leaving. “So you weren’t permanently scarred?” I asked. He checked his hand to see if the mark was still on his ring finger... That’ll be a great podcast episode. —MV
“The robotic cubes were fun. I remember!” says Kal. Performances of how liquid nitrogen works were a good way to wait your turn at other stations.
Kal gets his face too close to the track where the cold in the tablet is helping it conduct electricity so it can fly.
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FIVE THINGS ON THE MIND OF LUIS ON JUNE 16, 2020
SLEEP
I miss it. I wish I was sleeping better.
ZIONMANIA
I can’t remember the last time I was this excited for a basketball player. I eagerly anticipate Zion highlights.
VIDEO GAMES
I’m loving waking up early and playing video games with the boys. I also love staying up late and playing video games.
Hands-down, my favorite PODCAST. I look forward to every Monday morning to get my new episodes.
G.I.JOE CLASSIFIED SERIES
This line of figures look unbelievable. My favorite toy line in a 6-inch highly articulated, highly accessorized scale... These figures are ridiculous, and I need to have every one of them.
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