New York ComiCon 2006 Report

Well, the smoke has cleared from the first-ever New York ComiCon 2006.

Friday was fairly busy, but certainly not a harbinger for what Saturday would bring. Alas, it was too late to snag a sketch from Jose Garcia-Lopez, but I did manage to get a Wonder Girl sketch from the talented Olivier Copiel, who was doing sketches for those patient enough to wait.

I checked out the DC booth to see what books were available for preview. Sadly, no Teen Titans to be seen in the previews; Geoff Johns tells me every page is spoilery. I did check out Outsiders and the Batman Annual, which by now, have been read by the general public. I managed to see the Teen Titans Go! Team, writer J Torres and artists Mike Norton and Todd Nauck. Sketches scored! Look for a buncha Titanic guest stars coming up in the Titans Go comic!

Saturday was a breeze to get in for me with my badge from yesterday. But many others were not as lucky; It appears that the con had to turn away somewhere around 6,000 people at the door! People also had trouble reentering the show if they left for lunch, bathroom or what have you. All a learning experience, it seems. The people running the show vow to have more space next year. I guess we know the show is a success!

Saturday was, of course, the busiest day of the show. I managed to get a Superboy sketch from the always delightful Phil Jimenez; As a bonus, I had the piece inked by Andy Lanning [Phil's usual inker]. My proudest piece from the con! Andy was charging a fee, but donating all proceeds to the fund for Jeph Loeb's son, Sam. Nice gesture by Andy.

Scored some more sketches Saturday, including a nifty Ravager sketch by the ever-reliable Andy MacDonald of NYC Mech fame and a Cheshire sketch by Dale [Villians United] Eaglesham.

Attendees of the First Annual New York Comic Convention were invited to attend the Indie After Party on Saturday February 25th from 8-11 pm at The Twins Pub in New York City. The party took place on the entire upstairs level of the bar and will featured free food, cash bar and comics for sale. Neat idea! Cool hanging out with the creators of such books at Sentinels and Quantum: Rock of Ages.

I also met some of the nice folks from the geoffjohns.com message boards, who were meeting for drinks at the nearby TGIFridays. Colin Solan became my sketch-shadow all weekend as we sought artists for our sketchbooks [or, was I his sketch-shadow?]; I ran into fellow George Perez devotee Erik Sellers; And the message board mod "Captain Dallas" [or, Keith in his civvies] was jokingly moderating the table.

Geoff Johns himself stopped by after his DC dinner and took some time to have some drinks with us. We chatted Crisis, Titans and comics in general. Geoff always tries to make time for his fans; The Geoff-fan-hour sessions have become something of a con tradition. Cheers, Geoff.

Sunday was a sketch collection day. Got some stuff from the guys at Udon Studios. Got a coupla pieces from talented guys like Khary Randolph and Brad Silverman. All in all, a great New York Comicon! Look forward to next year!

So you wanna see sketches?? Well, check out the recently-retooled titanstower.com gallery. And to see the New York ComiCon sketches, check out this page.