Logan J. Fowler gets his geek on…
I realized that when I have detailed my experiences at NYCC in past years, it becomes less of an entertainment dissection and more of a glorified “gather around and listen” story. However, this year my time spent at the Jacob Javits Center dealt out a fair amount of stuff relating to the pop culture world, including some personal stories that I will remember for the rest of my life.
When arriving at NYCC early Friday evening, I met up with my friend Steve, representing talkingcomics.com at the convention. I strolled the floor with him as he innterviewed artists and snapped pics of folks in cosplay. The people who donned costumes this year were impressive. So many good ideas and hard work put into form on the floor. I didn’t play dress up this year though, but it allowed me to take in more of of the cosplay goodness this year.
The holy grail of this year’s comic-con was meeting a cinematic legend. He played the guy that was frozen today in Suburban Commando, the psychotic cartoon judge in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and of course, the wide eyed infamous scientist who made a time machine out of a Delorean in Back to the Future — Christopher Lloyd. Being in his proximity was the shared objective of my friend Harry and I, and that Friday night, shortly after my comrade got his replica of the flux capicator signed by Lloyd, I made my way to the “basement” of the Javits center to make my dream a reality.
The line for Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter movies) was double, maybe triple that of Mr. Lloyd. But the Doc’s time to wait was pretty substantial compared to Burt Ward’s, who played Robin in the old Batman television show. In any case, the left and the right of me fell out of vision, as my goal was straight ahead of me. However, as I was just about to cross the roped barrier, the NYCC employee held out her hand, telling me that Mr. Lloyd was wrapping up for the night. I was heartbroken.
However, I was not without a way through. My aforementioned friend Steve had passed in front of me before they stopped yours truly the gate. He began talking to a bouncer of sorts in the line, and before I knew it, my friend was heading back to me and saying “You can have my spot. I know this means a lot more to you than it does for me.” I don’t remember if I gave my buddy a hug or a slap on the back or a handshake, it was all a blur. But I do have an abundant amount of gratitude for my pal, so thank you sir.
With the green light given, I moved up the line and handed a man standing next to Judge Doom my Hot Wheels Back to the Future DeLoreans to be signed. Then I moved to the right. And there he was, in all his glory: Christoper Lloyd. I felt the chills of being starstruck running down my spine. I spat out a “hello” and he nodded and smiled. What should I say? Not to be overwhelming, I just stated “It is an honor and a pleasure to meet you.” He nodded and smiled yet again, then slid the DeLoreans back to me. He reached out for my hand, and I returned the gesture, feeling mine clasped in his massive hand grip. He looked at me and said “Be well.” I said “Thank you, you too.” I exited the line with a smile 10 thousand yards wide. It was a dream realized. Even though not much was uttered, the story as I have ended it in its many re-tellings was that the meeting was “too awesome for words. Literally.”
Friday night seemed to effortlessly roll into Saturday morning, as a few hours of sleep was the only thing standing in my way of my first full day at the con. I spent most of the day at Artist Alley, reuniting with more friends as I checked out some stellar artwork. Most people spend a good chunk of money here, as the variation of different characters or exclusive pieces can have any geek opening their wallets more than they want. I did walk away with three prints and a bookmark. Thankfully that was all.
As I made my way back up to the show floor, I perused the comic long boxes, nabbing the whole entire run of Avengers vs. X-Men. In addition to that glory, I made my way by the Mattel booth,
and in a glass case nearby was a replica of the infamous hoverboard from Back to the Future Part II. The BTTF theme continued as my friend Harry questioned a Mattel rep to see
if we could hold the thing. He gladly obliged, discussing all the bells and whistles. It does glide, so to speak. The rep pushed it on the floor and it was cool to see move in a smooth
fashion. You can stand on it, and it has noises coming out the side. It feels sturdy so it is safe to say that it won’t break easy. The hoverboard replica comes out in December and has a reasonable asking price of 130 bucks. Will I bite? Not entirely sure. I would love to own it but I would feel bad just propping it up in a corner while it collects dust. Mattel needs to work on making it really hover. They still got three years.
Perusing the floor some more, I also got to check out the Wii U. I didn’t play it, but like the hoverboard, I wanted to see how it weighed. The Wii U tablet was pretty light. Batman: Arkham City was demoing on it, but I really had no interest in playing it. The Wii U launches November 18th and will be about 300 dollars. Hopefully Nintendo won’t disappoint.
With Friday in the near past and Saturday done, I prepared to make the best of Sunday considering that the weekend was already so memorable. With the Back to the Future love hitting strong Friday and Saturday, Sunday devoted more of its time to my favorite superhero. What I’d like to call “Spidey Sunday,” I started off the last day of Comic-Con 2012 celebrating Spider-Man’s birthday. In the IGN theater located in the bottom of the Javits’ center, not too far from where I met Christopher Lloyd, there was a panel honoring 50 years of the webhead. Fans young and old were treated to a performance by Reeve Carney, who plays Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the Broadway musical Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark. Carney sang “Boy Falls from the Sky” as four Spider-Men danced behind him. The star of the show then exited the stage as the director (Phillip McKinley) and choreographer (Chase Brock) of Turn off the Dark invited kids on stage to learn some Spidey moves. When all the kids departed from the stage, I got to snag a picture with the director of the show as well as the birthday boy himself. Quickly discussing one more Saturday event, my Comic-Con gang and I signed Spidey’s birthday card, in which they were trying to achieve a Guinness World Record for signatures.
After all the Turn off the Dark events came to a close, the folks sitting in the theater were treated to an episode of Marvel Studios’ Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon. It was kid friendly and pretty silly, but I found it charming and hilarious at points. They were planning to show two episodes, but my company and I split because I had a con appointment that I just couldn’t be late for.
Making my way to the show floor for the final few hours, I waited in line for one more signature. The recent comic book run of Amazing Spider-Man has been nothing but awesome, and it’s all in thanks to writer Dan Slott, who just happened to be sitting at the Marvel booth that day. Thankfully one of Slott’s ASM arc trades was in my bag for him to sign. I got up to him finally, and thanking him for everything he’s brought to the Spidey universe, I asked him for a photo. He said only if we could do thwipp hands. I gladly obliged.
I scanned the comicsone more time to gather four issues of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics and an almost completed set of Avenging Spider-Man 1-12 (missing two). Following that, I said my goodbyes and exited the center. I can’t even say I was leaving on a high note because any more time spent would’ve just added to the highlights.
Every year it seems that NYCC is better than the last. I can honestly say that this has been my favorite con yet without fail. With the signatures gained, the memories formed, and the weekend being a super success, one couldn’t ask for much more.
It’s going to be a long wait until next year.
Amazing write up dude! Thanks for the shout out! Even though it was super crowded and painful at times, I agree that this was the best NYCC we’ve ever had. Can’t wait until next year!!