A Different take on NYComic-Con 2018: A Fan's Perspective...Thursday Edition
So….. Reed Pop’s 2018 New York Comic Con (NYCC) has started and your humble author has decided to do something different this year, rather than write about the pros and cons of the event by placing a critical eye on the 4-day weekend, I decided to go back to my roots..
In order to do this I had to reflect on the ten years of my attendance at NYCC and what it meant to me as a member of the culture: The video games, the comic books, the indie booths, the cosplayers, even the action figures. One of my colleagues, Tiffany Southall said five words that sealed my decision to write this piece in a different way, ‘Why don’t you just go as a fan!’ I really had to think about those words for a minute. ‘A fan’? and in so doing, nirvana hit me right then and there. I thought about my first time there when I had just $100, a 3-day badge, some peanuts and water and I wanted to buy and see everything.
‘A fan’, I lost the meaning of those words in the past 10 years of attending NYCC. I forgot what it was like to just see and take in the sights, to explore the newcomers in the industry in regards to the art, graphic novels, comic books, the cosplay and so forth. As I sat back and reflected even more on those words, I decided to dive deep into my subconscious and release for the next 4-days my inner child….
I decided to go to this year’s con as a fan…
A Grown Man-Child Fan
No lets get to Thursday
Thursday was ripe with pop-culture fanatics as Comic Con was underway at New York City’s Jacob Javitz Convention. Still under construction on the Artist Alley side, Reed Pop had to still find a way for both the famous actors and artists of the culture to be in a comfortable environment…. with appropriate ventilation. This year they finally got it right as they were able to provide the fans with some ‘bangin’ AC and breathable room for all. Now even though I was a little critical here, I had to speak on that, because last year a lot of comments were directed towards the Artist Alley and how the temperature in there was similar to a closed door ‘chicken factory’.
For this year, 2018, the start to the comic con season was a blast as I was able to navigate the showroom floor and see some great cosplay. Today, for me, wasn’t about the purchasing or the criticalness of the environment, today was about seeing these great and wonderful people take off of work to let their hair down (or up) and be one with their most famous selves in costume form. It was a great day as these people brought to me the real meaning of pop-culture in comic-book form:
Below are some of the pictures that I took. Additional ones are on Instagram: @region.99
I also saw in the artist’s alley, two authors of indie comics that I absolutely love: Yehudi Mercado, writer and artist of the soon to be a Cartoon Network Series, Sci-FU and Bingo Love, by Tee Franklin and Jenn St-Onge, Joy San and Genevieve FT.
Sci-FU – Cartoon Network’s next great series.
Sci-FU is the story of a DJ named Wax, a mix-master (DJ) in the 1980s who creates the perfect beat and summons a UFO that transports his family, best friend, and girlfriend crush to the robot-dominated planet of Discopia. In order to fight this intergalactic menace, Wax and his squad now have to master an intergalactic martial art known as Sci-Fu to beat them. Sci-Fu is a graphic novel that is full of both music and martial arts. Yehudi was in attendance as he was talking to other individuals about the response he received in regards to Sci-FU. I asked him about the second book to the series and he stated that it would be coming out in 2019. I also told him that his work is great and has the potential to be the next big thing on Cartoon Network or Disney XD. It really is that good.
Sci -FU creator Yehudi M.
Bingo Love – A Netflix Series in Cartoon Form
I recently found this gem at a book con in NYC. Bingo Love tells the story about two African-American women, Hazel Johnson and Mari McCray and how they fell in love in the 1960s, a time when being a member of the LGTBQ community was not accepted. When spotted sharing their first kiss, their families forced them apart and had them conform to the societal standards of the time by having them marry men and have families. As years progressed they reunite again at a church bingo hall and reestablish their forbidden back then romance.
All I can say is that the comic is awesome with its focus is on the functionality of love and its many forms therein, especially in the age of intolerance and acceptance.
Why I feel this is a Netflix show waiting to happen? Well for one, it comes from a place of unfamiliarity to some millennials, the 1960s, and during that time it was hectic: the Vietnam War, Civil Rights Protests and lets not forget the assassinations of both John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King. Could you imagine a forbidden love story during a very critical time for America?
Thursday was an amazing experience. Looking at it from a fan perspective was truly what I needed to bring that magic of New York Comic Con to back to life for me. I can’t wait to see what happens on Friday, Saturday and Sunday!!!
