New York Comic Con was a dream come true. Ever since the Ember Island Players episode debuted at New York Comic Con in 2008, it was my dream to one day fly to Manhattan and totally geek out. Four years later and four years wiser, I finally had a chance to check out New York Comic Con. I was not disappointed.

Unfortunately, Scarlet Rhapsody was denied press badges for New York Comic Con. Apart from printing out over 50+ pages of coverage, we were not able to get our credentials approved because we are a niche webzine. I do appreciate Reed Pop’s honesty and transparency. However, the only thing I am annoyed with is this new trend with comic cons to print out hard copies of articles and coverage. It is a waste of resources and bad for the environment (particularly if you have to go out of your way to print pages of articles and editorials). I would recommend comic cons to require electronic submission of all materials for credentials to be approved. I will admit, it felt weird not being able to go into a press lounge when we have for major anime conventions and not getting priority seating and entrance to a few major events and panels.

However, it was still fun experiencing the convention from the attendee side. I can say it was worth the $65 badge price. It allowed you to shop at one of the best dealers hall imaginable – lots of variety and I felt I was not seeing the same things over and over again. The price also allowed you to check out some really interesting panels. While there was not enough panels to gauge my interest, if you are a hard core comic fan, then this is a great panel hopping event for you. Just make room to check out the dealers hall. I was very lucky to get a three day badge at New England Comics, days after the three day badges sold out on the website.

I really did enjoy the overall vibe and atmosphere of the convention. People were very receptive towards my Mabel and Fluttershy cosplays. It was really fun just talking to random people at the convention and random dealers. I actually did run into a steampunk person who said I looked like a Lolita friend of his from Southern California and even that served as a pretty nice talking point.

Fan gatherings and cosplay shoots were really hard to find at times. I heard about the My Little Pony and Sailor Moon gatherings from word of mouth and out of sheer randomness. The anime side of New York Comic Con is just as strong as the comic side. We still had some awesome Japanese guests and industry announcements. Not to mention, there were tons of Sailor Moon cosplayers. It made me happy seeing a lot of Sailor Moon cosplayers at New York Comic Con.

The hallways can been really crowded, especially on a busy day like Saturday. Sunday was not so bad. Friday was the lightest day. If you fear crowds and feel like you get overwhelmed by them, I recommend taking a day off and going on Friday. I did not bother going into the dealers hall on Saturday because it was too cramped to get in and out.

Traveling to and from New York was a piece of cake. The Bolt bus from Boston and back was about $50 and it dropped you off near the New Yorker hotel. The New Yorker is a nice place to rest your head while you are on vacation, but keep in mind, New York hotels are super expensive. While I did enjoy the iconic Tick Tock dinner, I did not like the hotel service and the room seemed to be very bare bones – no coffee maker for hot water. However the New Yorker was one of the better dealers for the NYCC partner hotels. If you can aim for a bed and breakfast that’s close to either of the A, C, or E blue lines. The walk from 35th street to Javits is not too bad.

I highly recommend this convention for anyone who is a nerd in every sense of the word. I enjoyed panels that had smart discussions – Rose of Versailles and Annie. I also enjoyed a lot of the appreciation for old school anime. As mentioned on Zero Hour, I’d like to see the Western Regional Squad of S|R check out New York Comic Con, even for a day. You can pretty much see everything you need to see in the dealers hall, artist alley, and the block in one day and reserve the rest of the weekend for doing touristy things in Manhattan.

Many thanks to Danny for handling the hotel room situation gracefully with class. Thanks to the Jersey Scouts for nudging me to room with them after plans had fallen apart in my original hotel room situation. I wish I had joined you for Sailor Scout time, but I am sure there will be plenty of opportunity for that. Many thanks to Becky and Chris of Epic Cosplay for helping me pick wigs for Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Mabel. Many thanks to Otaku Haven and Joe Dinh for the awesome photo shoots!

Overall, I highly recommend New York Comic Con for townies and tourists. The more I go to Manhattan, the more I think that New York is a nice place to visit, but I would not want to live there. The only thing more fearsome than Loki attacking the city is entitled tourists.

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