New York Comic Con Thoughts

So the 2009 New York Comic Con is done. We're still unpacking and thinking about the rest of our Con plans for the year. Thanks to everyone who stopped by to say hi! Makes me wonder if we should plan a mass Double Midnight trip to the Oct. 2010 show! Scott Wegener and Mike Lilly stopped by to sign and sketch and they were a hit! They caused small crowds to gather and watch. Thanks again guys!

I got to catch up with a few artists. Khoi Pham stopped by in the brief seconds he had, Jamal Igle was smiling while he was sketching and Mitch Breitweiser was making his way through the halls. Art Baltazar was so busy with his crayons that many happy kids had their Tiny Titans sketches!

Pat was fun to watch. He's a noob to the whole comic scene and had to call me to tell me he was 3 yards away from Brian Michael Bendis. I didn't get to see Pat as he walked through Artist Alley...

Speaking of Pat, watch for the Pat-isms either this afternoon or tomorrow.

One of the big sellers of the weekend were trade paperbacks. We moved lots of Ultimate and Civil War titles. People were asking for World War Hulk and Green Lantern. Why? Because they are fun books to read and everyone wants in on the upcoming GL line. Speaking of Green Lantern, there was lots of people walking around in the new Lantern shirts, the Blue, Indigo, Orange and even Black Lantern shirts. Graphitti Designs were selling them early, look for them in store in the next week. Back to the trades, the weirdest story was a guy who was buying trades to read in the shower. Yes, the shower! He said he has ADD and it's the only way he can finish a storyline. The books don't last long, but he gets through them. Yeah, everyone's made the obligatory reading on the can line, so let's move on.

I know Walking Dead is huge, but I didn't expect people to ask every half-hour is we had issues 1-5. The Spider-Man Obama covers were still going strong. 1st prints were moving at some booths between $75 and $150!! Second Prints were moving around $15 and the 3rd and 4th prints were moving at cover price. David Gabriel (VP at Marvel) said they are approaching 1 million copies. That hasn't been seen in decades!!

On Saturday I got to take part in a panel titled "So You Wanna be a Comics Retailer" sponsored by ComicsPRO (a retailer organization that we are a part of). It was lots of fun and it was nice to be up there with guys that managed 7 stores, one that owned 3 and another who helped run Jim Hanley's 2 stores. I agreed to be on the panel so I could learn a few things myself.

It amazes me the lengths people will go to for their costumes. The Emma Frost/White Queen was my favorite. Very detailed. Ask Derek and Pat. Then there was Scooby Doo, the Watchmen Banana (Peanut Butter Jelly Hrrm).

All in all we learned quite a bit (like don't leave the van key at the Convention Center). This was only our 3 major con setting up in and we know what changes to make. We'll be looking for help at upcoming shows. Stay tuned...