I have been covering New York Comic-Con for a good several years. However, I don’t go to the con with a press standpoint; I choose to pay, go, and hang out with my friends. Same thing, every year. Co-founder of the site, Bill Bodkin, has offered me a free way for a while now. Al Mannarino, Managing Editor of Pop-Break, has also said a Press Pass would be something I could apply for, easy. While I thank both of these gentleman for their efforts (and friendship), I have declined their persuasion to the highest amount. A press observation of the event would be nice, and maybe one year I will cash in and interview some people who some would only dream of meeting, but this year was once again a time I would work the convention from the main floor.
In addition, for the first time in a while, this year I only spent two days at NYCC. Due to finances (just moved into an apartment this past March), leaving the con one day early was an idea that would save me money and exhaustion. You are probably thinking, “Exhaustion? Looking at comic books and associated merchandise is tiring?” Yes, only because a) you are pretty much walking around 8-9 hours a day b) walking somewhere for lunch/dinner/drinks/whatever in the city because con food is too expensive c)walking to and from your place of transportation, residence, or temporary stay. A convention does a number on your legs, especially if you don’t warm up first. Actually, even if you do, it’s probably not going to do much.
ANYWAY, two days this year. But it was a packed two days! Friday brought in a view of a massive Jurassic World gate to welcome all the con goers, young, old, and in between. The insanely memorable Jurassic Park theme was playing on a loop non-stop, guaranteed to make you hum the tune all weekend long. Cosplayers were a sight for the eyes, ranging from simplistic to over the moon creative. The DeLorean was parked in the area outside the main con floor, a beauty to behold. People dressed as Marty from Back to the Future tried their luck at scoring a Pepsi Perfect, and if they didn’t succeed, they could come back later to try to score high in a Wild Gunman tournament (Wild Gunman is a Nintendo arcade game and appeared in the Cafe ’80s, the fictional restaurant from Back to the Future Part 2). This booth was a highlight for me, only because of my major love of the film trilogy. I probably took about 10 pictures of the DeLorean. I don’t think it was enough.
Due to my limited time at the event, I knew artist’s alley would be a definite place I’d want to see on Friday. Based on the fact that I now reside with my girlfriend on our own, the place needs artwork to make the place a little bit more cozy. My lady is also a geek, so she wanted something as well.
Walking up and down the aisles, nothing really struck me as anything worth buying. However, in our pacing, I was overjoyed to find the booth of a one Mr. Christopher Uminga, who I had been following on Facebook and Instagram for a good long time now. His art is unique, and covers a lot of bases as far as pop culture. There was no line to meet him, and I was like a kid in a candy store flipping through his art. I landed on my favorite superhero, Spider-Man, and knew I would purchase the piece. My girlfriend noticed his amazing The Sandlot piece, and she wanted that as well. Mr. Uminga actually priced his pieces very fairly-Buy 2 for $20 each, get the third one free. A beautiful Harry Potter piece was added to the other two, and the artist behind them was very kind to answer my request for a picture. This made my day, as good as meeting any celebrity would be. You can follow Christopher Uminga on Instagram and Twitter at @uminga720.
With artwork in hand, we took back to the floor, eyeing all the booths, merchandise, and what not. But this year, I really only wanted art from the convention, and I happily got it, and to add to it, it was art from a guy who I had been following on social media forever. Friday was a success, and with the day behind us, Saturday was dedicated to a cosplay that I’ve had stuck in my head for years.
Since meeting my girlfriend, I’ve shown her many films I’ve loved. However, one that defines us is Wall-E. I’m Wall-E, the hopeless romantic who collects things and she’s Eve, the humorously violent one with “agendas.” More than any other movie couple, these robots that I speak of are “us.” I’ve always wanted to cosplay as the two, and this year, robots became reality.
Except we weren’t really robots, but rather humanized versions of the couple. Despite the alteration, Wall-E and Eve are not seen at many conventions, mostly because its out of the pop culture pulse, so to speak. That being said, while our cosplay did not garner the attention as it did last year when we were Lego Movie people, it still held high praise in the eyes of the public (even managing editor Al Mannarino dug it).
One of these people who loved our costumes was Dan the Pixar Fan, who we discovered at an art booth late on Saturday. Getting his approval as a lover of all things Pixar was huge, and he even took to instagram (@danthepixarfan) late Sunday night and shared our cosplay with his fan base. That, to me, is a massive honor, and it gives me and my lady great joy that our work was loved by so many. I don’t mean to brag (although I guess I am going to), but people called our cosplay “genius” and “so creative.” From the bottom of my heart, though, the best thing about Saturday was seeing a geek idea come true with a person I love very much. Just like Wall-E and Eve do.
Ok, so I’m done being cheesy and romantic. Seriously though, NYCC 2015, despite being one day less, was one for the books. Not being at the con Sunday was tough, as the past few years I’ve experienced all three days. However, two great days are better than nothing. October 2016 needs to get here quickly.
Is it here yet?
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Logan J. Fowler is a senior writer and video game editor on Pop-Break.com. He contributes his thoughts every week for Trailer Tuesday and ABC’s The Goldbergs.” Logan’s “kid at heart” nature has led to his discussion about pop culture that many geeks love to talk about, including superheroes, Super Mario Bros., Pixar, and Muppets, among other things. In addition, one of his first pieces for the site, “Top Ten Comic Book Movies,” was picked as a “Freshly Pressed” piece by WordPress and remains one of the site’s most well-read articles. Many of Logan’s friends have said that he moonlights as Spider-Man but this is so not true. Wait, are those police sirens I’m hearing?! Gotta go! -thwipp-
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