NYCC: Thursday Recap

Guest blogger Renato Regalado recaps NYCC Day 1: Thursday for NerdSpan. Check it out below.

So let me just start out by saying that this was my VERY FIRST COMIC CON EVER and the week leading up to NYCC was filled with fantasies of me meeting the Firefly Cast and becoming best friends with them(as well as the occasional Natalie Dormer falls in love with me fantasy). My sheer excitement and joy were eclipsed by the mere fact that there was so much to do and see. My Friend, Chris, also an avid comic book nerd, recommended hanging out in Artist Alley. I’ll do thattomorrow but first I needed to put the press pass to good use. From the looks of it, the Press Pass isn’t much different from the 4-day pass, which means I wore my brown suit and fedora with the label “PRESS” on it for nothing! There was a couple of “press only” panels, but they all seemed to be about the industry, Libraries, and comic book stores competing with digital media.

So, Day 1 involved me taking the M and 7 train from Brooklyn to the Javits Center in, of course, Hell’s Kitchen. The day was somewhat tame, mostly because it was a lot more press and industry guys, but you still had a good amount of cosplayers and people with the 4-day pass. I got my hands on some really cool prints, like this Daredevil print for the Netflix show. They also had this awesome advertisement for Nelson & Murdock.

I spent part of my day queued up for the Game of Thrones panel. This one was absolutely STACKED. Because I underestimated the queue, I ended up standing at the back of the room. During “A Panel of Fire and Ice”, Natalie Dormer was joined by fellow stars Keisha Castle-Hughes, who plays Obara Sand, and Finn Jones, who plays Ser Loras Tyrell. Plot details were absolutely under lock and key. But when Keisha was asked who she would like to work with in the future, she said Jon Snow. Finn Jones stepped in during a pregnant silence and said “No wait, he’s dead!” So I guess that confirms he’s alive (this is what I’m telling myself)! There was also a weird/funny moment where they compared Natalie Dormer to Kermit the Frog’s new girlfriend, Denise. She was amused to say the least.

Down on the floor, I was happy to have free Wi-Fi provided by Lexcorp. And I was told to be on the lookout for some Lexcorp USB sticks with goodies in them. Still no luck finding them. There was an amazing HulkBuster Iron Man in the Marvel booth. There was also an adorable couple, both dressed as Loki. And of course there was legions of deadpools walking around. I’m a terrible photographer so I really hope my pictures do them justice. I’m a bit of a gym rat so meeting Mr. Olympia competitor Kai Green was amazing. I spent the better part of an hour talking about protein powders and workout regimens with him but, like me, he’s a huge nerd at heart, and he is promoting his own comic, King Kai. I skipped the after-party invites I’ve been flooded with and went straight to the gym to do an extra leg day.