
An estimated 90,000 people attended the three-day New York Comic-Con.
It was massive fun and a giant traffic jam at the same time.
(Photo © 2010 by Bryan Reesman.)
Two words to describe this year’s New York Comic Con: Awesome. Clusterfuck.
With attendance reportedly jumping from 77,000 at the February 2009 event to 90,000 for this month’s extravaganza — no doubt thanks in part to an 18-month hiatus and the simultaneous New York Anime Festival being held in the same venue — the Jacob Javits Center in Manhattan was teeming with fanboys and fangirls checking out movie panels and previews, participating in video game demonstrations, parading around in costume or simply shopping for comic book and trade paperback bargains. I visited both as a fan and as a reporter for MSN Movies. (You can find my extensive MSN coverage here.) It was exciting that the event grew and more people showed up; that’s also what made it difficult to navigate when the floor became jam-packed with people by the midday hours. Still, I was amazed at how quickly time flew. Of course, I was covering panels, doing interviews, taking photos and shopping; even then, I only witnessed a small percentage of what transpired at this colossal event.

Chatting with Cary Elwes about the return of
Dr. Lawrence Gordon in SAW 3D: The Final Chapter.
(Photo © 2010 by Bryan Reesman.)
The highlights of NYCC 2010 for me were interviewing Cary Elwes (SAW 3D: The Final Chapter comes out October 22nd), seeing artist Herb Trimpe and his wife Patricia again (he drew my portrait last year), participating in the first Geek Girl On The Street podcast and getting to meet original V baddie Jane Badler for five seconds in the hallway. Then there was shopping for vintage comics. I found a lot of great ’70s titles (War Is Hell, Son Of Satan, The Witching Hour, Plop, and Kamandi among others) for $2 a pop. And as I noted in my MSN story, the “liquidation sprint” during the last hour was tiring and exhilarating. I snagged six trade paperbacks in good condition for $20 in a manner of 15 minutes. Sweet. (Thanks, Comically Speaking!)
Following are photos from Friday night and Saturday. (Sunday pics are available in a separate post.)

Monsters director/creator Gareth Edwards previews and discusses
his low-budget giant monster film to an impressed audience.
(Photo © 2010 by Bryan Reesman.)

Edwards' well-attended panel benefited from an audience boost during the second half of his
presentation, with fans anxious to check out the BBC's Sherlock preview.
(Photo © 2010 by Bryan Reesman.)

SAW 3D director Kevin Gruetert is psyched for the release of the film.
He directed SAW VI and edited parts I - V.
(Photo © 2010 by Bryan Reesman.)

L to R: Director Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. and co-stars Joel Edgerton
and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje at The Thing prequel panel.
(Photo © 2010 by Bryan Reesman.)

L to R: Co-stars Eric Christian Olsen and Ulrich Thomsen with
producers Marc Abraham and Eric Newman at The Thing prequel panel.
(Photo © 2010 by Bryan Reesman.)

I love the look, feel and smell of old comics.
If you're a true comics aficionado, you know what I mean.
(Photo © 2010 by Bryan Reesman.)

The Fox Home Entertainment booth boasted a replica
sleep chamber from Alien's Nostromo starship.
Predators and Na'vi babes were nearby, but I missed them. Alas...
(Photo © 2010 by Chris Chiarella.)
Related Posts:
Deep Inside New York Comic Con 2010: Sunday
Geek Girls Invade Comic-Con
Herb Trimpe: If It Ain’t Fun, It Ain’t Comics
Retro Avengers: A Marvel Comics Pre-Make
Perfect first sentence! And great pics.
Great photos. I wonder what your thoughts were about the New York Anime Festival portion of the show. Did you know about it?
I posted my thoughts about a possible phase-out of NYAF. You can read it at: http://www.mangatherapy.com/post/1300806600/nycc-nyaf-afterthoughts
I enjoyed the con as a whole since I got to interview some Japanese music artists and attended some good panels.
I knew the NY Anime Festival was going on at the same time, which may account for the increased attendance this year, but I did not have time to delve into it because I was covering a lot of NYCC for MSN Movies. I’ll check out your wrap-up!