Corriente Latina 
Written By: Max Hellion
New York Comic Con 2014 (NYCC 2014). This past weekend super heroes, animated characters, freaks and geeks and ALL forms from the sci-fi to the supernatural descended upon New York City as the 8th annual New York Comic Con took place. The four day event, which took place from October 9th to the 12th at the Jacob Javits Center, sold more than 151,000 guests surpassing the 130,000 of July’s International Comic Con (or SDCC as it used to be called, the mecca of ALL Con’s) making it the BIGGEST Con of the year.
NYCC began in 2006 and before then the industry wasn’t even sure if New York had a large enough fan base to attract huge numbers. 2006 proved them wrong when an unprecedented 33,000 attendees showed up. Since then the fan base has done nothing but grow and like San Diego (which began in 1970 with just 145 attendees) attracts attendees (both fans and vendors) who travel from as far as Japan JUST for the Con.
In addition to having a SLEW of merchandise you can purchase like t-shirts, comics and action figures there’s also a line up of comic book artist’s and writer’s who are there willing to sign their work for free (some will even do a sketch for a fee). There are also panels presented featuring tv shows (like the CBS hit Person of Interest, Fox’s Sleepy Hollow and the upcoming new series Constantine from NBC) and movies (like the upcoming Birdman staring Michael Keaton & Edward Norton, ).
There’s also a section of the center designated for autographing and/or personal photo ops with celebrities for a fee. This year featured some current and fan favorites like Arrow star Stephen Amell (who I did pay $50 to meet and got two autographs, the second autograph I snuck in once I was standing in front of him) and Karl Urban (Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness) to wrestling superstar Hulk Hogan and Star Trek alum William Shatner just to a name a few.
WEAR comfortable shoes, arrive EARLY (doors open at 10am) regardless if you simply are going in or planning on attending a panel or paid autograph line (MANY are thinking the same thing so expect to be waiting on line at least an hour or two. BRING. A camera because some of the costumes you will see will BLOW your mind. Another good tip…BRING cash. Many sellers charge a 1% surcharge for using debit and 2% for using credit (the more you spend the more it adds up which is money you could be spending on something you want).
For those interested in attending next year, comic book stores like NYC’s own Midtown Comics sell tickets for the Con. Be warned though, the first person to line up was standing outside at 10pm awaiting the stores opening at 8am the following morning. GOOD LUCK and see you next year!
Images from the 2014 New York ComicCon
