Man, I’m still not even done with day one pics! And for those who might have possibly missed them…
NYCC 2008 Day One (continued)
Those unfamiliar with the world of modern comic book collecting might not be aware of how serious collectors will send their most precious books to be appraised by some firm, which then seals them in plastic, and gives them a grade to let the whole world know of its true value. Well the same idea is coming to video games. Is it a good one? That’s not up to me to say…
Okay, I’ll admit it: this shirt made me LOL…
Other than checking out strange things and people, the true appeal of comic shows for me is the chance to hang with friends. Specifically comickers that I rarely get to see outside of shows, from way across the way, like good ol’ Todd Webb!
Though its also a chance to hang with more familiar faces, like Hilary…
Alright, back to pics of freaks and geeks; near the end of day one, I spotted some dude with a large Burger King king mask, and a Storm Trooper uniform, which I swear I’ve seen before, run around with a camera crew to capture him surprising girls and then thrusting his hips at them…
… Its not as amusing as you’d think.
Meanwhile, on the totally opposite end of the spectrum of coolness comes this dude dressed as Wreckgar. This dude (or at least his outfit) was simply awesome…
Nothing Says 31 Than Screaming Mr. Crowley
So I guess that’s it for day one… what about afterwards? Well, aside it being the first day of the NYCC, it was also my birthday officially. I had no real plans to celebrate since I knew lots of folks would be busy that evening, due to the show, hence the decision to party the week prior. Though Katie had something else is mind… Hence why she surprised me with plans for karaoke!
The place was a maid cafe-themed karaoke joint in the Upper East Side called Hiyoko. Katie and I both knew about the place from a postcard, and I honestly can’t remember where and how it was acquired. While on our way there, we went past various noisy and annoying clubs, all packed to the gill with yuppies and guidos that they spilled out onto the street, to the point that I honestly began to fear for the worst. Yet our destination ended up being the total opposite; quite nice and small, almost quiet, as well as very Japanese.
It was a small crew, but the perfect one of the occasion, which included Katie, naturally, as well as Hilary, Mooney, and Dave Mauro. We all got our singing and drink on way into the night; Katie and I got there at 9, and I originally wanted to do only two hours, three at most, since I had to get up early the next morning for the show, on the behalf of CBR, but instead, most of us were there till past two. Which is hardly a surprise; not only was the place totally awesome, with even the paint-job on the walls feeling quite Japanese, as was the beer, the music selection was crazy varied (yet missing some various obvious standards… oh well)…
I must have had at least eight pints of beer, for a lightweight as myself, was pretty crazy. I’m still shocked that I didn’t pass out, plus I had barely anything to eat that entire day. At one point, management asked us to move to a smaller group so they could accommodate a large gathering that just showed up, and for happily obliging, we were treated to a free round, hence the change in color to the walls…
By the end, the tab was nice and big, though considering five people singing for about five hours, and all the beer we drank, the bill was relatively insanely cheep. I believe we have a new place, and they have new favorite customers!
NYCC 2008 Day Two
Surprisingly, I was able to get up the next morning with total ease. Guess it was the energy of the show! And it was in full force the morning of day two…
Here’s some kid I ran into the bathroom putting on his Nightwing costume that I figured might make for a decent pic, which is why I throw caution to the wind and risked looked like some perv, wanting to take a picture of a boy in a public bathroom…
It’s always nice to run into some Watchmen…
As its always awesome to run into anyone dressed as anything related to Venture Brothers, especially when its a cute chick…
When I asked Pit to pose for a pic, and I called him by his character’s name, his friend, dressed as Yuna from Final Fantasy X found it to be “cute”…
Inside, the place was packed, with all sorts of action going down. Here we have a game of D&D going on, with the latest rules in play, which I hear has been a source of controversy. That might explain why everyone looked so friggin tense…
The day prior I had hung out with Joe Simko quite a bit, and on Saturday Joe was joined by June and Joe’s buddy from back home, John. And while walking the floor, Joe spotted a bunch of kids going through the trash, which Joe felt was a bit “early” for that kind of thing. Well here’s a pic of June looking and pointed at them, though the moment had passed…
… Yet, the idea behind the pose is to use it for other pics. You’ll see.
Hey speaking of buds, another out of towner I ran into was Zack Giallongo at the Comics Bakery table. Here he is with Dave Roman, the other half of the Life Meter duo…
And speaking of duos, here we have Farel and Zack Baldus, another founding member of Meathaus and old college bud…
Meathaus #9 (called S.O.S.) made its debut at the show, and is being published by Nerdcore, which also produces a series of calendars featuring “nerdy” naked girls. Well, more like girls who happen to do “nerdy” stuff. Whether that makes them nerds or not is totally open to debate…
Here’s an example from last year’s edition, which was gamer-centric…
… Anyhow, one of the girls from the latest calendar, which is comic book-centric was on-hand to sign autographs, and while I was at the table to talk with Farel and Zack B, she stood super close behind me for some on camera interview. And which I didn’t notice, btw, so when I stepped back to move on, I ended up slightly bumping into her, which got her all fucking pissed off for no good reason. Fucking cunt.
But anyway, what else was the show chock full of that I totally go ga-ga for? Shirts of course…
… I really regret not taking better notes of who sold what (I was SO not organized for the show). Though I do know the dude behind Mr. Toast is behind these…
A rather nice print, also spotted in the artists alley…
… Okay, the final round of pics coming up next!
