My First Big Apple Comic Con

This past Saturday I attended my very first Big Apple Comic Con.  I can not begin to describle how excited I was leading leading up to the day.  I really didnt know what to expect.  I headed into the city with my 9 year old son in tow. 

Leading up to the convention I received tons of updates on what stars, sports figures, wrestling stars, artists, etc. were appearing.  I couldnt beleive how many people were going to be appearing.  Since I had my son with me I had no plans to stand in line for autographs.  The basic plan was to just walk around, check this shin dig out and of course buy some comics while in the process. 

Walking up to pier 94 I was not sure where to go and approached some guys wearing volunteer shirts who directed us where to go.  We headed up to the registration area.  Suprisingly there were no lines and we walked right up to register and get our wristbands.  My son was instantly excisted when he received a free "How to Draw" Wizard book and several "Toy Fare" magazines.  We then headed down to get in line to get into the convention.  He was already digging into the Toy Fare magazines and laughing it up as we walked to get in line.  Although the line was long it moved fast.

After we walked in we got ourselves oriented as to what was where.  We first decided to walk through the Autograph area to see who was signing.  I am used to baseball card shows and long long waits for autographs.  I can not begin describe how shocked I was that all these stars, wrestlers, sports figures were soooo accesible.  There were really no lines at all and it was noon on Saturday!  The longest line was for Kelly Hu and I think there were maybe 10 people waiting!  I was so impressed at how al these famous people were so personalable, they smiled if you looked at them and even said hello if you made eye contact with them!  They took pictures, shook hands and genuinely seemed like they were enjoying themselves.

Once we got through the autograph area we headed to where all the vendors were set up.  I couldnt beleive how many vendors were there.  Deal after deal.  I was a little disappointed in the fact that there seemed to be a lot more silver and golden age comic vendors that more recent 80s to current vendors.  I did find some great vendors with dollar bins (some great great treasures found there), 2 for the price of ones, buy one get ones, etc.  I found that I was as organized as I wanted to be.  I had somewhat of a "want" list that I forgot at the last minute and I had an idea of what I was looking for.  Lesson learned for the next one is I will do a lot of prep work.

Another great feature was what they called the "artist alley".  My son and I were in awe as we walked through this area and watched as these talented men and women skecthed some amazing work right there while you waited.  Again all of these people were so freindly and pleasant to talk to that it really made for a great experience and great impression on my son!

Overall I had a great experience.  It was well run, people were friendly, the staff was helpful and the vendors knew their stuff.  There wasnt as many people dressed up as I thought there would be (people watching is just as much fun) but there were some great costumes.  I am already psyched for the next one and may have to take some road trips to hit some other comic cons like philly!