New York Comic Con 08 Wrap Up

As Frank Thomas donned the powder blue Toronto Blue Jays throwback jersey last Saturday for the last time, I attended the NY Comic Con with my good friend Hugh Surratt.

My last comic conventions were the inaugural Marvel Comics Convention and Superman's 40th birthday party in 1975 and 77, held in the Commodore hotel. Many of the same folks and companies were there, but the biggest differences are:

Comic-based movies are now big business

Toys and other merchandise based on comics is massive

Video and computer games are way beyond "Pong."

And I'm about 30 years older!





Websites and a culture of commentary and podcasts has arisen, many with hilarious names like Nerdcast.

Topps Trading Cards, recently bought and "re-purposed" by Michael Eisner, had a big table promoting the Topps Vault, a collectibles auction site that's fun to play look at. They were giving away very rare Comic Con only items, which I will feature in a contest here as well.

I had an awesome encounter w/a Gomorrean Guard, reprising Gary Garver's wonderful interviews on Howard 100. There were many fans dressed up for the event, including Hellboy and a gaggle of Princess Leia in the hostage costume.

My friend Whitney Matheson of USA Today had a typically tight wrap-up in her blog.