New York Comic-Con. My Christmas. The weekend that I cherish every October, and miss so bad when it’s over. This year was no different; NYCC 2013 wasn’t full of celebrity meetings and panels for me as compared to the past, but it still was no less memorable.
This year though, cosplay was huge. No doubt about it, I saw some of the best costumes ever this year. Some were creative, some were creepy, and some looked like they took forever to put together. And of course, fresh off her stint of Heroes of Cosplay the gorgeous Yaya Han was on the floor posing for pictures in a Power Girl outfit on Sunday (She was present all weekend though). Heroes of Cosplay focused on Yaya and her friends who donned really outlandish costumes that demanded attention, and combined the geek culture with drama on the Syfy network. Entertaining stuff to say the least. Hopefully the show returns, as it definitely was an entertaining watch. Truth be told, I miss it!
Anyway, NYCC starts for the important people on Thursday, but I didn’t make it in until late Friday night. Thankfully cell phone service was running on all cylinders for the first time ever, so whoever made that happen, thanks so much! It was way easier to make contact with people, with minor bugs here and there, but nevertheless, what was there was important.
With not much time to see the floor on Friday, Saturday was the day for taking it all in, and therefore that’s what I did. Heading down to artist alley, I made my first purchase off writer and artist Kevin Bolk, who writes the hilarious comic strip, It Sucks to Be Weegie! The strip focuses on the inner psychological breakdown of the most famous player 2, Luigi. It’s a very Charlie Brown-esque look at the green and blue plumber, but it’s no doubt hilarious. Cameos from the Nintendo world make appearance to aid and poke fun at the Weege. Recommended for the fans of the Mario Bros. franchise, or like me, the devotees to Team Luigi.
Speaking of Nintendo, myself and traditional comic-con crew member/ friend Harry got to visit the Nintendo booth. Giving away free cat ears to promote Super Mario 3D World for the Wii U, we couldn’t say no. We had to preview two demos to get said ears, so we tried out the aforementioned 3D World and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze.
Super Mario 3D World, from what I played, was fantastic. In the level, myself, Harry, and two other players jumped on a large dinosaur for a water ride. Working together, we made the large creature weave in and out of rings, make timed jumps, and look for collectibles. The challenging nature of the level and the bright, gorgeous graphics kept me smiling.
Could this finally be the Wii U game I’ve been waiting for? I hope so. I’ve been using the system to mainly play my Wii games lately, which obviously is not what its’ intended for. I’ll definitely have a review for the site around the game’s release, which is in late November of this year.
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze was a lot of fun as well, but paled in comparison to 3D World. It’s very familiar in its gameplay and mechanics, and similarities to Donkey Kong Country Returns are instantly noticeable. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but the generation gap between the Wii and Wii U should’ve helped add something different to the proceedings of Donkey Kong’s latest outing. There are dynamite camera angles being shown off in game, and in game cut scenes that take place during play, but I found the cut scenes to interrupt the action, and not really add much to the game. I did really love Returns but this one seems more of the same. I’ll probably rent it or wait until it drops in price. The game has actually been delayed twice, and is (hopefully) set to release in February of next year.
Walking the floor, I did get to snap a photo of the Ghostbuster who still loves to dress up, Ernie Hudson. He played Winston Zeddmore in the films, and he posed for fans by an Ecto 1-A (from the sequel) and an inflatable Stay Puft. In the proximity were a DeLorean (oh how I love it so) and a Batmobile.
The rest of Saturday flew by, and Sunday arrived and ended pretty quickly. Now it’s pretty important that I mention here that my significant other Jacie attended New York Comic-Con for her first time. Not only did she take the train back and forth between New York and New Jersey due to overlapping events, but she joined me for cosplay Sunday. Participating in my first ever couple (and group!) cosplay, I donned a costume that was the wardrobe of a one Wreck-It Ralph, while my lady rocked the wardrobe of Ralph’s buddy from Sugar Rush, Vanellope Von Schweetz. She even wore real candy in her hair! Friends of ours (the aforementioned Harry and his gf Brittany) dressed up as the couple from the animated short Paperman, which was in front of Wreck-It Ralph in theaters. We walked the floor together and while we rarely ever were asked to pose as a group, we both got our fair share of fans requesting pictures. Sunday was by far my favorite day of the con, and while it wasn’t a convention that brought in discussion of upcoming comic or film/TV projects, the weekend was special enough in its memories of all that went down.
New York Comic-Con has something memorable from every year. It never fails me. This year, it was the participation of my girlfriend and the more than enjoyable Sunday that launched NYCC 2013 into another one for the books. I’ve walked away from many conventions in the city that never sleeps, but NYCC 2013 is the first one I’ll say I want back each and every day. I miss it terribly, and while the panel/celebrity portion was low, the enjoyment level of this year’s New York Comic-Con was extremely high.
Next year can’t come soon enough.
Oh. And I almost forgot: I did meet somebody famous. Four famous people actually! Well, not people, but more along the lines of animals. Cowabunga dudes!
Love your costumes!