 New
York Comic Con 2011 Review
Thursday, October 13th - Sunday, October 16th, 2011
New York Comic Con 2011 was a four-day entertainment event held
in New York City's Jacob K. Javits Center. The NY Comic Con (NYCC) 2011
featured a host of special guests from Japan and the United State. There
is a wide range of activities to choose from including a massive exhibit
hall, panel discussions, screenings, art exhibitions, concert performances,
cosplay, meet the guests receptions, and much more. The NY Anime Festival
was part of the NYCC again this year. AsiaFinest was at the NYCC all four
days to cover as much as possible. The New York Comic Con was bigger and
better than ever! AsiaFinest took hundreds of pictures and videos of the
NY Comic Con / Anime Festival 2011, so be sure to check them out.
Thursday October 13th: Preview Day
 This
day was reserved for Professional, Press, VIP, and 4 Days ticket holders
only. It was a great way to preview the exhibits before the event kicks
off the following day. It was a taste of all the exciting things to come.
Is the extra day worth it for a 4 day pass? We definitely would recommend
it. There was a few special autograph signing sessions with featured guests
such as Bob Burdern of the comic "Mystery Man" and Robert Kirkman
(creator of the popular comic and TV series, "The Walking Dead").
The line to all of the signings was relatively short compared to the next
few days.
As a special bonus, there was a free concert later that evening headlined
by DJ Z-Trip! Tom Morello kicked off the afterhour concert with a nice
set of songs and introduced the audience to his new "Black Spartacus"
guitar. Next came the crowd favorite, DJ Z-Trip. Z-Trip is considered
to be one of the best live performance DJs in history, by both fans and
peers. Fans voted him “America’s Best DJ” in 2009, beating
out over 100 other DJ’s in DJ’s Times highly acclaimed readers’
poll. He played a special custom set list just for New York Comic Con.
Remixing everything from Star Wars to Super Mario Bros. The audience loved
every bit of it!
Friday October 14th: Day 1
We started the day in the early morning with a special invite from Viz
Media to join their private panel where they announced WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP
ALPHA. Each new digital issue of WEEKLY SJ ALPHA brings manga fans in
North America the latest chapters of their favorite series only two weeks
after it debuts in Japan’s massively popular WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP Magazine.
Currently, Japanese releases are often several months to years ahead of
North American print titles; WEEKLY SJ ALPHA eliminates the delay in unprecedented
fashion. The first issue of WEEKLY SJ ALPHA goes on sale January 30, 2012,
and will be available through VIZManga.com.
Day 1 was filled with energy and excitement The comic con fans lined up
early and was hyped and full of adrenaline. The opening day line was really
long. The wait time for people who brought tickets online and had to pick
them up was pretty lengthy, but way better than last year. That's one
of the major improvement over the previous year. The previous NY Comic
Con's overcrowding was one of the biggest complaints. This year the handling
of the crowds was way better. The staff was better equipped to handle
most of the crowds. Some of the staff held "End of the Line"
sticks, so that people knew where the last person on line was. This helped
a lot when it came to popular autograph session from comic artist such
as Todd Mcfarlane.
There was so much to do on day 1. The preview from the day before allowed
us to plan ahead. We headed over to check out the Kid Robot booth. Kid
Robot was selling limited edition New York Comic Con exclusives such as
a Glow in the Dark Blanka (Street Fighter 2) and Zombie Kenny (South Park)
figures. The lines wasn't too long, probably due to a few other companies
such as Capcom and Hasbro selling NYCC exclusives too.
 We
checked out all the major booths. The first huge booth that you'll notice
as you step into the convention area is the Black Eyed Peas Experience
game booth. It was a huge stage where the attendees was able to get on
stage and dance to all the popular songs from the Black Eyed Peas. Other
major booths included Star Wars, Hasbro, Capcom, Marvel, and many more.
There were giveaways, pictures with booth babes, and other entertaining
interactive things to keep attendees interested at each booth. There was
a small wait for each booth, but it was well worth it. Attendees got to
play video games such as "The Darkness 2" and "Max Payne
3" months before it will comes out.
We covered a few of the panels today which include the popular show, "Robot
Chicken", "Jay and Silent Bob Get Old", and the upcoming
movie, "Pizza Man". We were given a preview trailer from the
upcoming movie, and the cast of Pizza Man was nice enough to sign autographs
and take pictures with fans at the end of the panel.
We interviewed Comic Con attendee, Alex Chan, from Brooklyn NY, on what
his thoughts was for the event, and this is what he said: "This is
my second time coming to the New York Comic Con. I am looking forward
to the Marvel's Avengers panel this year. The exhibit hall is enormous!
The crowd is great. I love interacting with fellow cosplayers. Everyone
is so friendly. It's a great atmosphere."
Saturday October 15th: Day 2
 We
knew based on our past experiences that Day 2 was going to be hectic.
The most popular day out of the comic con. The cosplayers came out in
full force today. Costume characters ranged from old school favorites
"Ghostbusters" and "Sailor Moon" to the popular "Naruto"
and "X-men", and even a gigantic transforming Bubblebee from
Transformers! The major panels was also scheduled for today. Maggie
Q was back for a Nikita panel. AMC's The Walking Dead was on hand
with the cast from the hit TV show, as well as the creator of The Walking
Dead comic, Robert Kirkman. The main event was Marvel's Avengers movie
panel. The main complaint that we have heard during this year's comic
con was that some fans had to wait hours, while a lot of fans weren't
able to get in due to the people staying inside the theater from previous
panels. We didn't get a chance to cover it due to a special invite to
cover the US Theatrical
Premiere Of Naruto Shippuden: Bonds, with a special appearance by
Junko Takeuchi.
After rushing back from the Naruto's premiere at the School of Visual
Arts Theater, we made it just in time for the final main event for the
night, the New York Anime Festival Cosplay Masquerade Costume Contest.
As always it was a fan favorite event that consisted of the top cosplay
costumes from the NY Comic Con / Anime Festival. Prizes includes various
sponsors' gifts and $1000 in prize money. A fun filled events with a lot
of laughs provided by comedian host, Uncle Yo.
Sunday October 16th: Day 3
 The
final day of the the 2011 New York Comic Con. You can see the wear and
tear from all the events affecting some of the attendees today. Even we
were starting to feel tired from running around to all the different events
and panels. Sunday was pretty much NYCC KIDS day. A great time to bring
out the younger audience. A lot of events were geared towards the kids
today including Wand Dueling for Kids, Kids Costume Contest, and the U.S.
BeyBlade Metal Masters Championship.
The merchant area was less crowded today, so we decided it would be the
best time to really check it out thoroughly. Since it was the last day,
a few of the merchants had discounts on their products, so we couldn't
help but to make a few purchases ourselves. By 5pm, everyone was tired
from the long but fun filled weekend and was clearing out of the Javits
Center. Most of the attendees were sad that the event was coming to a
close, but still hung around the convention center area to take pictures
and interact with fellow comic con fans.
Conclusion:
The New York Comic Con 2011 was definitely our favorite event to cover!
We didn't think it was possible, but this year's NY Comic Con was indeed
bigger and better. More visitors were able to enjoy this year's sold out
event due to more space being utilized at the Jacob K. Javits Center.
The bad side to that was that it resulted in a lot of panels being overfilled
which disappointed many fans that were shut out. Most attendees felt that
the anime festival was overshadowed by the comic con last year. To the
delight of many anime fans, this year, the anime festival section had
an entire top floor dedicated to it.
Overall the New York Comic Con is a wonderful experience for everybody,
including people who are new to comics and anime alike. There is something
for everyone. Most attendees would agree that it was worth every penny.
We recommend that everyone get at least a 3 day pass. You will need all
3 days to truly experience everything. We feel that even the 4 day pass
is well worth it with the addition of a kick off concert. Plus it gives
you a chance to preview most of the event so that you can better plan
out your time at the convention. We are definitely looking forward to
next year's New York Comic Con 2012. The NYCC will be held at the same
place, Jacob K. Javits Center, on October 11 - 14, 2012. We highly recommend
that you order your ticket as soon as it becomes available as it will
get sold out again! So be sure to mark it on your calendar and we'll hopefully
see you there!
New
York Comic Con 2011 Pictures || New
York Comic Con 2011 Videos
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