Bri_2J Presents: What is Comic Con? Why, It’s Nerd Christmas!
What is Comic Con? Comic Con is a place where thousands upon thousands of people pour into a venue and spend a fair amount of money & time to purchase things that they either need or want to “flip” for either money or as a bargaining chip for a future item they need. Just because I wrote that, doesn’t mean that’s all it’s about.
At a comic book convention, one either goes there solo, with friends, or even with family. A lot of the time, one walks out having made new friends or in my case, a new family. At a convention such as NYCC(New York Comic Con), one can express themselves in ways that make them feel free to do so. It’s honestly an amazing feeling to watch and experience. If for example you wanted to be a duck wearing a Jedi robe, you can & will probably bump into someone dressed very similar to you!
My first convention was in 2012. I walked in knowing I had to attend this every year for as lone as I can! Lineups do however change year by year. For example, my brothers joined me that first time. Each year since, I was with new people for the most part. 2013 to 2016 I was with my InnerCityGeeks family, 2017 on I have been with both them as well as my family from the ACBA (Articulated Comic Book Art).
This year I knew it would be a mixture of both!Day 1 started out as rainy morning, however to me this the equivalent to a kid on Christmas morning. I in fact referred to it as “Nerd Christmas” to my wife several times. It was a cool rainy 55 degrees as I headed to the Javits Center, and I didn’t mind one bit! I won’t bore you all with the full on details of day 1, however I will say that it was nice seeing old friends as we apparently think alike and headed over to Mezco Toyz as we wanted the con exclusive action figures.From what I learned over the last few years is that the toy community is quite large and travel in from various states. Aside from seeing old friends, we of course make new ones as that’s been what Comic Con has always been about for me. Once we all split up as we all want to see various things, I depart from the group for a moment to take a ton of pictures as well as record some footage for YouTube & Innercitygeeks.com as well as get interviewed by my buddy Rob for his channel Red Cup Reviews. Before I knew it, day 1 was over and it was onward to day 2.
I had a feeling day 2 would be a wild one. It started off nicer in weather and my walk wasn’t too bad this time around. I ran over to the Mezco Toyz booth as they were about to unveil a new figure that was just sitting under a box to keep people guessing. Turns out it was a classic look for Wonder Woman. Once I left the booth and took some photos, I traveled upon the convention floor some more and was told about the AEW panel which was going on later that day by my friend Mario of the InnerCityGeeks family. I of course being a wrestling fan needed to go! I grabbed my friends who are just as big into wresting as I am and we proceeded to go into the panel. For those that do not know, AEW stands for All Elite Wrestling and is a new company that’s taken to the circuit by storm.
The panel was wild! It had all of the top names from their federation and was about an hour long. They were all interviewed by a moderator until it was time to have the fans in attendance ask their own questions. This is where it got crazy and I’ll let you see for yourself. (AEW - NYCC 2019 Panel https://youtu.be/MnIKg8AuU08 )
See what I mean?! After all was said and done, we leave the panel and keep on talking about how crazy good it was. We all went back to the main showroom floor and met up with some more friends in which we walked and walked until they closed the door for day 2 and just like that it as onward to day 3!
Day 3 started off the way I like it... The most needed cup of coffee throughout the entire weekend!! Saturday’s are always the busiest, most tiresome day of the con. At least for me as I like to go all 4 days because I like to see everything. Not just because I’m a nerd or a geek, but because being a blogger, a podcaster and photographer, it makes for great media content to share with those who cannot make it. Where with me, I like to go all 4 days, my wife however is good for just the Saturday. It’s not uncommon as most of my friends family members are the same way. They just want to experience it in small increments.
After a lot of walking around, the primary thing we like to discuss is “What’s the plan for the annual dinner?” The dinner is what we like to do every single year as I noted before, some of us are from out of state and we like to catch up and just talk. A lot of us know each other a long time and again some of us just met that weekend or that day. So it becomes this annual family dinner that we really love having.
This year we settled on a Pizzeria/Tavern not far from the convention center. We didn’t realize how small the place was as the images on Google were deceiving. The food however was tasty and considering we were all really hungry, there was nothing left on our plates! Dinner this year was really fun as I alway love catching up with those who live further away. Once dinner ended, we all traveled home to our apartments and hotels, and we said “Onward to day 4!”
Day 4, Sunday, the final day of the convention. I was exhausted and every single bone in my body was cramped from 3 previous long days of walking around. Was it worth it? Yes it was!! I wake up, get coffee(I may have jumped the gun before as this was a more important cup of coffee!), I head out and I take it all in that this is nearly over for the year. Once I get inside, I walk some and take some final pictures as well as footage. As the clock ticks away its final minutes of the last day of the year, I head on home, exhausted but satisfied, I hop on the train back to Brooklyn, text my wife “Homeward bound, what’s for dinner?”, then started writing this blog.
So again I ask you, “What is Comic Con?”. Comic Con is a place that you head to, dressed as you want to be. It’s a place where families connect. It’s a place where you can reunite with old friends who you haven’t spoken to for a month or in a year or even make new friends. It’s a place that despite whatever you’re going through, you know that for at least that day, you can think about something else. I can’t wait to go back next year and do it all again, because for me, I’m all for “Nerd Christmas” & I hope to see you there!
