My Very First Time: Comic Con NYC 2017!!!

Me with Ultron from Marvel vs Capcom Infinite.

As a child I always loved anything that involved superheroes, especially from Marvel and DC. This would eventually lead to a love for Anime and Manga as well. Growing up in Orange, New Jersey, my favorite activity was talking with my friends about the latest episodes of our favorite shows and discussing what happened in those episodes and what would most likely happen in the next episode. However, as I was getting older I noticed that was slowly changing. Instead of sitting on the stairs discussing our favorite shows, my friends and I started joining after school activities, going to local hangout spots, some of us even got our first after school job. Eventually my friends and I no longer talked about the latest episodes of shows we watched together. Then came Comic Con NYC!

Despite getting older, I still enjoy watching anything Marvel, DC and anime that premiered on Toonami, but I still carved a place where I could talk freely about said shows and not be discriminated for it. It wasn’t until the age of 18 that I discovered Comic Con NYC. I heard of it [Comic Con NYC], but didn’t know exactly what it was. At first, I thought it was just an event to discuss comic books and only comic books, but upon further research, I soon discovered how wrong I was. Comic Con NYC is a geek’s paradise.

            Live Action Bumblebee Cosplay

Despite wanting to go to Comic Con there was always something standing in my way. First, I was still in school and my job at the time prevented me from attending. After several years of missing Comic Con for one reason or another I felt that I would never get to go and gave up the task all together. However, my current employer at Region 99 who is also a huge fan of geek culture sent me and my fellow employees a link for a pro badge to attend all four days of Comic Con. I applied for the badge and was accepted. I was in total joy about going to Comic Con this year and for all four days as a plus. When my badge finally came I immediately activated it and even sent an email asking the Comic Con staff for a confirmation email that my badge was activated to avoid any problems. When they responded, they said so with such optimism that all I could think about was going to Comic Con.

On Thursday October 5, I woke up, showered, boarded the train, got off at Pennsylvania Station, walked to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, went on line, got my badge scanned and that was when my dream finally became a reality. I was in awe from the very moment and didn’t know where to begin. I knew I had to post every amazing thing I saw on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. Instead of trying to map out where to go I decided that I would just wing it and go wherever my gut told me to go and all I can say was how good of a decision that was, for if I hadn’t I probably wouldn’t have done as much..

I got to experience wall crawling like Spider Man and see a realistic Bumblebee costume. However my favorite part was seeing all the amazing cosplay. The cosplay range from all aspects of pop culture including manga/anime, adult shows, kid shows, TV/movies and video games.

I really enjoyed interacting with various people at the con. I enjoyed talking to people about their costumes and why they decide to go as that character. I especially liked when I asked certain people what is it about cosplaying that was so much fun. Their answers made my experience more amazing and memorable. Below are some of the answers I was given regarding cosplay.

• Niko Davanzo, Lynbrook Long Island NY, Cosplay Wolverine- “A tribute to Hugh Jackman he was just my favorite character of all time”.  
• Isiah Velez, Brooklyn NY, Cosplay Bat Joker - I’m was a big comic book freak back in the day when I was a kid, so I get to bring these characters back to life”.
• Julian Caraballo, West New York NJ, Cosplay Naruto- Spider Man Hybrid- “I think everyone should cosplay”, “The creativity and it’s just fun you get to be someone for a day and no one can judge you it’s just great”.

Overall, my first time at Comic Con was nothing short of amazing. I managed to spend four days interacting with people that share my interests without fear of being mocked, ridiculed or laughed. I got to play the latest video games and I even experienced virtual reality. I also saw amazing cosplay and art work from people all over the country. I saw people of all ages, races and nationalities come together and  love for all things geek. My only complaint is that Comic Con is only once a year.