Geeklings, I am still coming down off of the high of this year’s New York Comic Con, or maybe I’m just coming down from the Con Cold I got from two days with minimal sleep and lots of hustle, but it was all worth it. New York Comic Con is like geek Christmas and it’s one of the things I look forward to the most during the year. It’s that rare instance where for two days I can be free. Does that make sense? I know here at I Am Geek, I’m free but NYCC it’s a different feeling. It’s like “this is where I belong. This is what I’m striving for”. It’s just a very electric very personal kind of fun for me. Two days full of overwhelming excitement and this year did not disappoint.

It started with some really poor sleeping for Alyson and me, Alyson who was attending her first Con, and a sleepy ride into the city. It was one of those instances where I was too tired to sleep but also had a coffee after dinner that doomed me to get no more than two hours of sleep. Oh, the perils of getting older. Coffee had Bailey’s in it so it was totally worth it. For those who were wondering.

Anyway, we got to the city butt early and got online inside the Javits Center. I had a pretty intense game plan for Friday. There were tons of writers and artists I wanted to meet and I planned on getting that all done on Friday. Saturday I wanted to be a little more relaxed and filled with panels, so in order to make that happen, I had to get my hustle on. As soon as the doors opened I hustled to Artist Alley to get my ticket for the Tom King signing, and happily procured that item for later in the afternoon. Boom! Right off the bat, we were sitting pretty.

From there we walked the floor. We had three newbies with us (Alyson, my brother-in-law Paul, and his nephew) so Jennifer and I were excited to show them what the draw is. We did a Mortal Engines fake trailer where we dressed in costumes from the movie and were inserted into the trailer. Jennifer nails her point of doom and hilarity ensues and we celebrated by tasting some truly horrible jelly beans because… why not? After that, it was hitting the vendors, walking around talking to cos-players, and just soaking in the general vibe. Any and all picture opportunities were taken as our newbies did really well adjusting to the crowds and the scene. Alyson especially, who gets a little anxious with the crowds. Somewhere during these travels, I ran into Robert Kirkman and quickly talked a little Walking Dead with him.

After some walking around and lunch, I ran back to Artist Alley to meet Wes Craig (artist on Deadly Class) and had a solid ten-minute conversation with him about the series and where it’s going. For those wondering, Wes believes they’re only halfway through the story which I’m cool with. The more Deadly Class the better. I quickly ran back and got in line with the rest of the gang for a Harry Potter interactive exhibit which was a fun experience and ended with a photo op with wands. Plus, the line moved quickly which was fine by me because I had to head downstairs for a Brian Michael Bendis signing.

The only thing about that signing though… it was a lottery entrance and I wasn’t part of the lottery. Total bummer. I and seven other guys who didn’t know it was a lottery hung around in hopes of getting in and the awesome people of New York Comic Con gave us the go-ahead ten minutes before the signing. To say I was overcome would be a bit of an understatement. Bendis has been a long-standing favorite writer of mine and I was able to tell him how much Miles Morales meant to me and got him to sign a couple of books. He couldn’t have been any sweeter or genuine and meeting him has been an all-time NYCC moment for me.

After the Bendis signing it was off to Artist Alley again to meet with Tom King who was super cool and discussed Mister Miracle and what Marvel character he wishes had written (The Thing for those interested). I got a couple of books signed by him and Mitch Gerads (artist on Mister Miracle) and headed back to the floor with everyone else, had a run-in with Joe Hill, and then walked through Artist Alley one last time before heading home. It was here that Paul geeked out with DMC (of Run DMC fame) and we ended the day with a fun conversation with one of hip hops all-time greats. Not a bad first day. Seriously, I had a list of things I wanted to accomplish day one and I hit every box. This was quickly turning into a dream con experience.

Day two was just Jennifer and I but still resulted in waking up at the ass crack of dawn. We spent most of the first half of the day checking out panels starting with Amazon’s Good Omens (which is going to be a blast), and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. In fact, we saw the first thirty-five minutes of Into the Spider-Verse and it already might be one of my favorite, if not the favorite, Spider-Man movie yet. I could have easily spent the rest of the con watching the film and felt completely happy. Seriously guys, this movie is incredible and it’s going to melt your faces. I promise you. December can’t get here soon enough. There was one scene where I was fighting back tears because of how good it taps into the emotion of Spider-Man… ugh, I wish I could watch it again.

I couldn’t though so we left the Garden to go to Hammerstein Ballroom to catch the premiere of Deadly Class (which will be coming out in mid-January), which was very cool. I think they did a really solid job capturing the tone of the comic and I’m really looking forward to when it comes out. Plus, I’ll be doing the reviews over at Fan Fest News. This ended up being our last panel for a while as we took one more walk through the con floor before heading back to the Garden for The Walking Dead panel. I really enjoyed being apart of Andrew Lincoln’s last con and it ended with a sneak viewing of the new episode. Sooooooo much exclusive content on Saturday. It was like ten pounds of awesome in a five-pound bag. Getting to see all this stuff before anyone else definitely makes you feel like an insider. I’m still bragging about Into the Spider-Verse.

Once The Walking Dead wrapped it was time to go home and rest. Seriously, my entire body was sore and tired. I could have slept for days. All in all this year’s con was a blast, and like I said, a dream con experience. Meeting Brian Michael Bendis and Tom King were some serious highlights as their work inspires me on the constant. It’s always great when the people you admire turn out to be super awesome.

Now begins the long wait for next years Comic Con. Ugh, only a year away, only a year away, only a year away…