Pictures from the 2013 New York Comic-Con, part 3: the Aftermath

I've got a few more pictures to share from October's New York Comic-Con - these were taken just following the show.  I've also included some of the swag I picked up and feel like displaying.  Let's get to it!

New York can be a lovely city at both day and night.  Above are some of the well-known landmarks, all lit up and the like.

The FUBAR crew got together at an Irish pub just a few blocks from the convention center on Saturday night.  We pulled tables together and had a nice night of it.  Pictured jutting his head in front of Jeff McComsey on the left of the picture: Rafer Roberts.

On Sunday, while the show was winding down, I hit the road to nearby Metlife Stadium to see the Steelers wallop the Jets.  Wins have been a precious thing this year for the Steelers, but this was one of the good days for sure.  As the clock ran down, fans of the black and gold took over the stadium.  Here I am with some new friends.

Unbeknownst to them, I also took some pictures with Jets cheerleaders.

In my one day at the con, I managed to pick up a number of really cool items.  Here's what they all look like piled up next to each other for some reason.

First off, we've got some original art.  Both the above and below pages are original inks over reproduced blue line pencils (so these are both original and not original art pages).  At top is Scott Hanna's inks over the blue lines of Stuart Immonen (doing his best Bryan Hitch impression) from Fantastic Four #569!  Despite my misgivings about the Thing's doomed wedding from this issue, having an image of Ben Grimm in a tux is a wonderful thing.

I bought this page directly from Joe Rubenstein.  It's his inks over the blue lines of Mark Bagely from the very recent Fantastic Four (current series) #12.  We've got all four members of the team, Franklin, Valeria, an alternate reality Human Torch PLUS some weird dinosaur thing!  Super neat.

Upon buying the highly recommended Battling Boy, I was given a poster, a shirt and a limited print for free!  It was quite a deal - and Paul Pope signed both the poster and the book as I waited.

Here's another installment of "it pays to know people".  I met up with Rafer Roberts - artist on FUBAR, Plastic Farm and the above comic - and I convinced him to give me a copy of the newly printed, fantastic mini comic Thanos and Darkseid: Carpool Buddies of Doom.  It's every bit as good as it looks.

Roberts previously worked with writer Justin Jordan on a short Thanos/Darkseid carpool story that knocked everyone's socks off.  How do you top a story like that?  You add in Dr. Doom, of course, and the result is just magical.  I have no idea if any of these books made it out into the real world, or if they were just handed out to fellow creators at NYCC.  It's a great item, to be sure, and I'm happy to have one for myself.

I also met briefly with Jon Goff, a fellow writer who had issues of Big Hitters on sale.  Goff works on Big Hitters with Travis Sengaus, who has done some art for Teddy and the Yeti and Ultimate Hero with me.  The book itself comes highly recommended.  It's an epic space romp and it plays very well.

Lastly, I picked up this tiny page of thumbnail art from Jeff McComsey!  At it says, this is some mini art from the upcoming Mother Russia graphic novel.  I'm a big fan of production art (and pretty much any art, really), so this is going up on the wall at some point.

The New York Comic-Con is a fun place to be.  It's definitely over crowded and it doesn't live up to the hype of, say, Comic-Con in San Diego, but it's still one of the country's premier comic conventions.  I hope to be able to go next year as well.  If I do...I'll take some pictures.

Pictures from the 2013 New York Comic-Con, part 1

The 2013 New York Comic-Con was, by all accounts, bigger than ever, and I was lucky enough to receive a professional pass for the show, which now takes up four days, including an extended "preview" Thursday.  My work schedule meant that I couldn't make it for the entire show, so I drove out to eastern Pennsylvania on Friday evening and made my way into New York City on Saturday, October 12th for one of the country's largest comic and pop culture conventions.  I took a number of pictures, some of which I'll share today and a few more times in the days to come.  Let's begin!

Parking in New York City is obviously outrageous (in 2010 it was $50 per day), so I drove to Newark and took a train into Penn Station.  I wasn't the only one who decided on this route, as I was accompanied on the train by the Blues Brothers.  They looked like they knew what they were doing, so I followed them through the maze from Penn Station to street level to the convention center.

Upon arriving from underground, there was a famous landmark or two to take in.

The way to the convention center, along 34th street, was easy enough to follow because the way was lined with folks in costumes.  Even so, there were convention workers in bright orange shirts along several street corners, directing the human traffic toward their destination.

As a perk of having the professional pass, I was allowed to enter through a side entrance.  There were a handful of others entering at the same time I was, but there were no lines to speak of, and I basically walked right in.  My badge was scanned and I successfully managed to make it to NYCC without getting killed!  Very exciting.

There was lots to see upon entering, and for a while I just wandered around, looking to see what I could see.  Eventually I made my way to the artist alley section, which was a little out of the way, so I could get to the FUBAR booth.  I wanted to say hello to the guys working there, and I selfishly wanted to drop off some of the things I was carrying.  Along the way I saw this person dressed up at Ragdoll from the Secret Six.

I talked to the FUBAR guys for a while, and got a peek at Dom Vivona's personal sketchbook.  He showed me this great illustration of the Tick, reminiscent of the early Edlund work.  Very cool!

I eventually made it back to the convention floor, where I saw the First Second display.  I walked up and bought the recently released Battling Boy, which I was looking forward to, when someone asked if I was in line for the Paul Pope signing.  I had no idea what he was talking about, but I soon found out that Pope was making an appearance soon and, from where I was standing at the booth, I was accidentally around seventh in line.  I kept my impromptu spot and soon I was able to get the copy of my book signed by Pope himself.  I also landed a number of promotional items, all of which I'll show off a little bit later.  It was a lucky score for me.

I was pretty excited to see Nick Fury's flying convertible in the new SHIELD program; so far it's been a highlight from an otherwise mediocre production (pick it up, Whedon!).  Having a car at the convention was a nice touch as well.

Since I've taken in some episodes on Netflix, I've come to appreciate Bob's Burgers for what it is.  Here's some younger costumers at the show.

And here's a slightly more modest Molotov Cocktease from the Venture Bros.!

The accessories obviously make this costume.

Some '90s, cartoon-era X-Men.  What's that guy in the bottom right got going on on his iPad screen?

A few "Age of Apocalypse" X-Men!  And...Lady Deathstryke, I think?

Teams were a big focus of a lot of costumes on Saturday.  I wonder if these were groups who came together, or individuals who found each other at the con and decided to take advantage of a good thing.  This '80s era Justice League did a nice job.

And here's a group of Fantomex characters...and Vision...and...Waldo.  Okay.

Lots of cool things to see at NYCC.  I'll post more pictures soon!