New York Comic Con Keeps Getting Better and Better – Mostly
To many comic book fans and cosplayers New York Comic Con is considered to be one of the most important shows of the year. Held at the Jacob Javitz Center in Manhattan every year since 2006, the show gets bigger and bigger each year. And last year the con had more than 150,000 attendees, making it bigger in numbers than San Diego Comic Con.
While the official numbers are not up yet for 2015 it was definitely a packed house so to say. (UPDATE: The official number is out, and it is 167,000 — 17,000 more than last year – Ed.) I have been attending NYCC every year since 2011 and I must say this was the best experience I have had at New York Comic Con ever.
Once those Jurassic World doors opened up I knew we were in for a treat. It is great to see the Javitz Center fully utilized for the show. In my opinion despite the sheer number of people the con draws each year — with an ever increasing number of attendees — I do not believe the con is overcrowded. After doing DragonCon for the first time this year and trying to get through the sky bridges to get to anywhere, I don’t get that feeling from NYCC. The only time I felt it was “crowded” was when we were all leaving Sunday afternoon and everyone was heading toward the exits. To me it isn’t crowded but to many who are used to smaller shows and cons I can see why they feel this way
Speaking of the con, the show floor layout seemed more spacious to me this year. Not so cluttered and there was actually room to walk. There may not have been as many booths as previous years but to me I felt it was easier to get around than in the past. Overall the Javitz is a beautiful con center and I couldn’t picture NYCC without the Javitz. Even better this year for the commuters, the 7 line of the subway stops right across the street, making it easier to get to the con. Not to mention the beautiful new park the subway station sits in is a great location for cosplay photos.
One thing that always excites me about NYCC is the consistently impressive cosplay at the con. Whether it was seeing the spectacular Hulkbuster Iron Man (made by Extreme Costumes, and the winner of the Costume Contest) walking around the con or the Zone of the Enders Anubis and Jehuty, the cosplays were on point. There may not have been as many big costumes as previous years but the quality and creativeness of some of the cosplays I saw this year was very impressive.
NYCC will always be on my list of cons to go to every year. It is one of my favorite cons along with Colossal Con and DragonCon. Of course I have to address the elephant in the room — getting passes seems to get harder and harder every year for a lot of people. I believe the badge system needs a little more tweaking before it is perfect. There is also NYC Special Edition and Midtown Comics to help get badges in case you were not able to buy a badge online. Just maybe a little more improvements made on the ticket sales system to make people happy — other than that I have no complaints for this year’s NYCC.
I look forward to attending next year and seeing more impressive cosplays and enjoying another amazing weekend in the city. Now time to figure out what costumes I am doing for NYCC 2016 (Oct. 6-9). I hope to see you there.
