Saturday Means Business

By the time I was awake and ready to leave for the convention on Saturday morning, I’d fully given over to not using the press room as a viable option for completing my tasks for Bleeding Cool. Since my computer would be of no real use to me and my archaic-tech flip phone had all the necessary connections, I opted to pocket anything I really needed with me and go all out basic. You guessed it, the handy, dandy notebook was my preferred device for this day. At least it couldn’t be silenced by lack of power and impossible to maintain wifi! I was also feeling much, much better than the day prior and really needed to step it up for the site. I had nothing scheduled for the entire day, purposefully keeping it free for what is traditionally the busiest of convention days, regardless of city. I had a list of booths and people I wanted to visit and whatever came at me for the length of the day would certainly throw some hiccups in those plans.

I was getting messages from people wondering where my articles were, and as of early Saturday morning, none had appeared. That would change later, but I couldn’t share them to social media with my phone. Luckily, my favorite magician, Jason Azze, discovered the first one to be listed for me, for which I thank him beyond the Facebook. After that, they started to trickle in. I didn’t understand the delay and never got a chance to ask anyone why, but I suppose that’s the nature of the medium now, considering the way this sort of reporting operates.

One of the things I really wanted to do was reconnect with Jacob Kirton and Tristan Powell, and discuss with them their Seven Scrolls of Shitorio in more detail. I flipped through it Friday evening, trying to get a feel for it. I spent a little more time with it before leaving for the city and was blown away by what I saw. THIS was what I loved to discover at shows like NYCC. And I was going to make sure others knew about it. But before doing so, I needed to connect with IDW Games and swing by the Steve Jackson Games booth, which was being sponsored by the Compleat Strategist, one of New York City’s greatest game stores. Steve Jackson was, by far, the most high-profile tabletop game company to be appearing at NYCC this year, and I aimed to see what was up with them. It was also imperative that I talked to someone at the Action Labs booth. Action Labs, a small comic book company that I discovered a few years ago by accident, had published some of the most interesting comics I’d read recently and their growth had me extremely interested. They were being promoted on the NYCC website and catalogue as a premiere exhibitor, which I never did find out the meaning of, but I did know they had a rather large booth, so that may have been one reason.

A pleasant aspect of the Jacob Javitz Center and the unprecedented growth of the New York Comic Con is the versatility of the building itself. There are so many different entrances and exits, it’s become fairly easy for ReedPop to organize designated entrances for specific badge holders. Guest and VIP badges go through one entrance, Press and Professional badges go through another, daily attendees through still another. It makes for better than average crowd control, in most cases. Having had a Pro badge most of the years I’ve attended, I can appreciate that. The first couple of years were a misery, even if you were a vendor on the exhibition floor. I can’t say that NYCC is perfect when it comes to crowds and crowding, but they have improved in ways comparable to the opposable thumb. As more of these types of conventions stray into media blockbusters, signature and photo ops, cosplay shows and hype, as more and more people are finding “geek culture” to be acceptable, attendance is spiking and greed is becoming the norm for event organizers. The recent overcrowding of the Rhode Island Comic Con (RICC Apologizes) and continuing last-minute shuttering of conventions for no real reason (Awesome Con Miwaukee Canceled) proves that fact. NYCC isn’t completely innocent here either. The true reason they wanted to open the convention to all on Thursday was to sell more Thursday individual tickets and claim they had more unique ticket holders than the biggest and oldest comic convention, the San Diego Comic-Con (don’t forget that hyphen, they trademarked it!). I have been toying with running a convention for some time now. I just think it’d be fun to attempt, but the cost layout is daunting. I wouldn’t even try to compete with these guys that have come in and plopped another blowout of a con in Bridgeport (ComicConn) or the monstrosity Connecticon. It was one of the reasons I was so interested in the Library-based Comic Con panel the day beforehand; it may be a way to have an event that’s not so… flashy, yet fun and reminiscent of conventions I enjoyed before being a geek was “cool”.

Anyway, regardless of ticketing or badge, I entered the con enjoying my freedom from baggage and heavy outerwear. The best thing about a pullover hoodie is the ease in which it’s carried after you take it off, if you need to. It’s also toasty warm on cool, overcast days, which this particular Saturday was. Rain was being threatened, and it was scattered on and off when I left New Jersey. The city was still mostly dry, but honestly, I didn’t care. I was in a giant building with hundreds of thousands of other people. The most wet I was going to get was from spittle from a rabid Marvel fanboy, or sweat from Dan the Didiot’s* bald, dull head.

I traveled in a wandering line to the Walk on Water booth, briefly visiting the Momentum Volsk area again, to at least let them know their article had been sent in and to keep an eye out for it, but they were mobbed with people and filming the tables for their website. Cosplay attendance had increased, as expected with standard attendance higher on Saturdays, and I was amused to see some volunteers trying to maneuver cosplayers and picture takers away from areas of ingress/egress. That was new to me and something I’d hoped to see more of. Or, at least, from actual event staff and not the volunteers, who are usually young, inexperienced and unsure of their ability to enforce rules. More on that later, before I get tangential and miss the point of this particular A Leaf on the Wind.

Nothing new or interesting stirred me on the way to the Walk on Water booth. People still staggered around with their noses in their smartphones instead of noticing the things around them, picture takers were clogging up aisles not just wanting photos of cosplayers, but items in booths. Wetaworks, the group that designed most of the creatures and sets for the Peter Jackson-directed Lord of the Rings films (amongst many others) had a huge display of statuettes and replicas, attracting many a lookie-loo. Other outfits had the same, but listing them all isn’t my interest or intent. You want to see them? Buy a ticket to next year’s show. Regardless of how NYCC perceives itself in comparison to the San Diego show, it still doesn’t sell out as fast, or as early. I know that and have never been to San Diego.

Tarachu was being photographed at the booth by some schmoe who thought it was a good idea to sit on the floor to get a good angle when I finally got there. I didn’t want to get in their way, particularly if it was helping to promote the book, but it was my impression he was only interested in the costume, not the reason for it. I could be wrong… but I’m comfortable typing the belief here, so what do you think?

In any event, I bombarded Jacob with questions, needing more information for what I felt could be a good piece on The Seven Scrolls of Shitorio. I spent a goodly amount of time there before letting them free to promote themselves to the masses, and scampered off to the Steve Jackson booth. Calling it a booth is somewhat of a misnomer, it was more of a display with tables to playtest games upon. The actual booth was next to them, that of the Compleat Strategist, selling the Steve Jackson Games product, along with a good selection of other product. I spoke with NAME REDACTED of SJG, who gave me quite a bit of information on their upcoming products, their recently released products being displayed at the show, and some news regarding one of their old games, Car Wars, that I didn’t end up using in the blurb I dropped to Bleeding Cool.

Car Wars was originally printed in 1980, gained a following and has maintained that following even though no new material related to the original game had been released in over 15 years. Car Wars, for the uninitiated, is essentially a game of modified motor vehicle battles, in which you, the driver, try to eliminate all of your opponents in either a set amount of time or in a last man standing situation. Think of it as Death Race 2000 

with a bigger budget and more death. At a game convention, Car Wars is always a draw, if not to play, then at least to watch. Some referees put a lot into the physical appearance of their games, which amps up the fun. Car Wars was originally a chit game, with little cardboard pieces representing your vehicle. Take a look at what some game masters have done to make it even more entertaining:

NAME REDACTED informed me that not only had SJG run a successful campaign to reprint the original boxed game of Car Wars (which is out now – get it here! Car Wars), the company had rehired game creator Chad Irby to produce new Car Wars product. When it comes to games, everything old is new again.

From there I moved on to the IDW booth, to finally talk games. I was on a roll and really starting to enjoy myself. It was finally getting fun for me, low tech and all. I noticed that the stack of games that was displayed on Thursday was significantly diminished and that two of the games were open for playtest. I waited until there was a free staffer, looking over the details of a game called Tammany Hall, which looked like it was right up my alley. When the staffer was free, I found myself talking with Nate Murray, the IDW Games guy I’d corresponded with previously. We had a great conversation of IDW, their Publisher-in-Chief, the games they’re planning and what they’re doing differently from other game companies. It was a fruitful talk and became yet another update for Bleeding Cool.

After parting with Nate, I realized I had a couple of more questions to clarify some points with Jacob Kirton and returned to the Walk on Water booth. He was being interviewed by someone with a video camera, so I waited while he finished his interview. While doing so, I began to really notice his neighbors. Here’s a quick list of the people and things I discovered there, because the article they all landed it was never run by Bleeding Cool.

Nathaniel Burney is a lawyer. He started writing a blog for lawyers until he realized if he wrote it with the general public in mind, he’d find a larger readership. Turning it from blog to web comic, he started to explain various parts of law to the layman, in a straightforward and sometimes comedic manner. It was an instant hit, and in January of 2012, less than two months after his comic debuted, he was contacted by the Jones McClure Publishing group to get the comic into book form. The Illustrated Guide to Law: Criminal Procedure was the first in the graphic series, with Criminal Procedure II following. The next in the series is Constitutional Law, due out soon, and even more are being prepared further down the line.

I had to laugh at the whole concept of it, but it really, really works. The drawings are cartoony and add more amusement factor to the whole strip, making it one of the more curious books I found at the show. As we talked, I discovered I wasn’t the only one to mention Trademark and Copyright law to him as a topic for a book, or a portion of one. With so many different fights over comics and comic creations making headlines, I hope he does consider it. Of course, the best part of my chat at his table was when a couple came by and the blonde woman in the business attire grabbed each of the books in an excited manner. She was a lawyer and when a friend had told her of the series, she had to have them. Her boyfriend was the comic fan, but the excitement this woman had in finding something that was hers and hers alone within a shared medium was fun to witness.

The Illustrated Guide to Law can be read at www.lawcomic.net, or you can purchase the books through Amazon or better bookstores. I mean, we have the Illustrated Guide to the Universe and the Illustrated Guide to History, so why not Law as well? Litigiousness is the right of all good, red-blooded Americans.

Next to the Walk on Water booth was the Mythopoeia booth, housing the creators of the beautiful Skies of Fire first issue, which had been a successful Kickstarter campaign and focus column before NYCC on the Bleeding Cool website. I spoke to Ray Chou and Vincenzo Ferriero about their book after noticing another book sitting on their table, a special NYCC edition of a book called Action Johnson. I mean, with a title like that, how could I not take notice? Unfortunately, Nic Shaw, writer of the book, wasn’t at the table at the time, so I instead took a look at Skies of Fire, which I’d heard about but knew little of. It’s a phenomenally gorgeous comic, in a non-traditional size that I find appealing. It’s not quite magazine sized, but it’s not quite exactly the size of a Golden Age** comic, either. Want to check it out? You should. Their website is www.mythopoeia.us and you can immerse yourself into something other than the title to the new Star Wars film for a bit.

I told the guys I’d try and meet up with Nic Shaw before the end of the show and work Action Johnson into my small press column, got the needed answers from the questions I had to ask Jacob and headed to the Action Lab booth. The day was already getting late and I still needed more info for the article, and that’s when I remembered FUBAR.

To be continued…

*Dan Didio, aka the Didiot, is co-publisher of DC Comics. With his regime, I’ve seen creators bashed, blacklisted and driven away from what was once my favorite comics’ publisher. I’ve seen fan-favorite characters killed, series ended, editorial policies shift in the most inane and juvenile way and witnessed, in person, his lying mouth in action. He is the worst “editor” currently on the job.

**The Golden Age of comics is an era of varying years, generally running from the late 1930’s to about 1952. Precise dates differ from historian to historian, and which advent to which advent. Comic sizes of this era were larger (imagine that), running roughly 7 and 1/4th" x 10 and 3/8th" compared to today’s “Modern” comic, which is essentially 6 and 7/8th" x 10 and 1/2". Sigh.

Press on Friday

I woke on Friday after a particularly sleepless night and grabbed a quick bite before hoofing it out quickly for the bus ride to the city. I borrowed a power strip from my friend before leaving (thanks again, Gail) thinking that maybe, just maybe I could get some work done in the press room this time.

My shoulder and back were already sore from hauling around my computer all day prior but I was thinking that with the frequent breaks off my feet this day it wouldn’t be an issue. I had a meeting scheduled with Miya Sohoza of the Rare Elements Foundry at the McDonald’s a block away from the Javitz Center fairly early, in which I was going to learn a little about the product she had created for games, and what she planned for the future. I grabbed a giant coffee from the extremely busy McD’s crew and sat down to wait, while also watching for any fellow Bleeding Cool writers. I didn’t see any of them, but I certainly saw a large proportion of convention attendees flowing through before hitting the as-yet-to-open exhibition hall.

Once Miya arrived and we got down to brass tacks, she showed me some of the wonderful coins she’s having minted as part of the Rare Elements product line and we talked for nearly two hours, giving me a wealth of information that I hoped to turn into a good write-up for Bleeding Cool.  I was surprised to discover she had also been to this year’s GaryCon (mentioned in the last A Leaf on the Wind, i.e. the coolest game convention yet) and I didn’t notice until my memory began to wake up. I didn’t see the stuff at GaryCon, but it is quality work and more people should be aware of it. In fact, do yourself a favor and stop by the website, www.rareelementsfoundry.com and see for yourself. Here are some pics to motivate you.

Miya and I separated before heading into the con. I had been getting text messages all morning from my friend John Amenta, who was heading in from Connecticut to get his geek on, and my mum, the beautiful and amazing Tara Johnson, known to most as Tarachu! And don’t you forget it. She was appearing as a “booth babe”, or a “booth bunny” in my nomenclature, for a friend who had a new anime-styled product out. She was appearing in costume of one of the characters and I figured I’d swing by the booth to see what this thing was.

Since I didn’t get into the con at opening, I didn’t get to see exactly how long any of the wait lines were. I imagine they were pretty deep, as my vantage point from the top of the stairs to the main entrance showed a massive glut of con attendees at their specified entry point. Anyone trying to get through that way to the North Hall of Artist’s Alley was in for a long trek of crowd surfing, or in the esteemed words of my friend Bob McCallister, “Toy Show Etiquette”.

[An explanation: Toy Show Etiquette is essentially used to describe the way certain convention attendees would bump into you, sometimes on purpose, and not excuse themselves. Or just rudely bash their way through to get to the ‘good stuff’. It tends to work as a name for just about any large convention where people bottle up and shove their way through.]

I stumbled around a bit, making a few more notes and writing down “overheard at the con” lines from people. And then I began to feel unwell. Was it the beer from the night before? Was it the food? Was I already getting hit with the dreaded Con Crud that seems to infect large scale conventions? Or was it the fact I had two giant coffees at McDonald’s on top of the two Vivarin tablets I took at the bus stop? (There was a booth handing them out at the show all weekend). I mean, who gets sick from caffeine, right? Well hey, it can’t be that, must be something else. So, it’s time for a go-to home remedy: Coca-Cola! Woo! Feel that sweat pour off me as I move around the multiplying cosplayers standing and waiting for photos to be taken! See me cringe in growing irritation at the stumbling, shambling mouth breathers that look like tourists on their first trip! Watch as I push through the sweat and oogly haze of blechh as I try to regain myself in my almost loud shirt!

Anyway, I met up with Mr. Amenta and his friend Lou Federico in the Artist’s Alley section, shooting the shee yite while passing judgement on various creators, companies and comic stores. Just like any decent comic book fan is wont to do! By the way, Jim Calafiore is still a fantastic artist and person, Atomic Robo from Red 5 Comics (www.red5comics.com) is still one of the best, most overlooked comic books on the market and Kevin McGuire still draws the most expressive faces seen in comics. Go ahead, tell me otherwise! I dare you!

After abandoning John and Lou to Alex Maleevemealone, I staggered through the costumes, the swinging bags, the poor kids nearly being trampled by the ignoring crowds, the lackadaisical event staff and the overwhelmed convention volunteers, headed for the Walk on Water booth, where me lovely mum was at. I had some time before the panel I had signed up to cover was scheduled, so it worked out well, regardless of my increasing wooziness. The booth was smack dab in the center of what I like to call the “small press” area, because it holds the most concentrated amount of small press publishers at the show.

Before I continue, I’ll say this for the NYCC organizational staff, at least as far as how they lay out the even floor: it makes no bloody sense. It never really has. At the main entrance, you get the biggest, most prominent booths for those that want to pay the price for it, as is standard. This could be comic book publishers, toy companies, movie promo booths, video game companies or anything else that fits. Geico* wants a giant motorhome near the main entrance? Bill ‘em! Steve Geppi** wants a huge area to promote his comics museum? Have him pay up! But when it comes to the rest of the show, other than Artist’s Alley, it makes no sense. Why is there a booth selling flasks in the shape of old Nintendo cartridges right next to a booth promoting some low-budget horror movie? Why is there a girl at a booth dancing on a stripper pole near one selling comics for a younger audience? Why is one game manufacturer at the furthest end of the show from another? Why are all the small press guys not in one section? Mindboggling to be sure, and something I’ll come back to regarding Saturday’s adventure.

I spotted Tarachu in her interesting costume at the booth and we shared a fun greeting and chat while people took pictures of her next to the life-sized standup of the main characters of the book Walk on Water was promoting, The Seven Scrolls of Shitorio. Tara introduced me to the artist on the book, her friend Tristan Powell, who explained a little of the book to me. The concept still eluded me, an anime-inspired novel with art. Tristan designed the character Tara was modeling at the booth, the lightly attired Katora. Here’s a pic of us together: 

You can’t tell, but I was feeling more and more horrid prior to this pic being shot. I also look fat. Regardless, I spoke briefly with Jacob “J.J.” Kirten, writer of the book, and before I took my leave, he and Tristan gave me a copy. I still had no idea how I’d turn what they were doing into an article, but inspiration was just a nap away.

I figured a sit-down would do me good, as well as some time spent on the computer. I headed to the press room and discovered every plug in use. I was going to offer up the power strip when I realized I had only an hour before the Library-Based Comics Conventions panel was to begin, so I opted to try later. I rinsed the sweat off my head in the tiny men’s room (I’ve opted out of telling the tale of the bathrooms of this area… I’d rather forget it, myself) and went back to rest and brainstorm in the press room. Seats were at a premium and I had a couple of nice chats with folks there, learning that my problems with the room were the norm for everyone. I was told the year prior, there was a whole row of computers for use, as well as outlets for everyone. Go figure. I tried to take a quick 15 minute nap to shake off the woozy, but that didn’t work out. Some of the others told me I looked under the weather, which didn’t help me. I couldn’t sit for long, though. I felt better when moving about and figured a good long walk to the panel would do well for me. And it did. On the way there, a tiny convention volunteer was rushing through with a fellow volunteer and smashed her face into my upper arm. She didn’t look too well and I apologized, even though she was the one that walked into me, but they just kept walking to wherever they had to be. And if she thought my arm was like hitting a brick wall, she should be glad she didn’t hit the other side, where the computer was slung. Yow.

I located the panel area, which was closed at the time I got there, so I sat outside with the five or six others that were interested in it. We all were joking about how few people we assumed would be in there while we discussed the con, the crowd and other such inanities. While sitting there, a younger couple came down to the end of the corridor that we were at and he started helping her out of her clothes. She was dressed as the DC Comics character Zatanna under her street clothes and he just knelt down and started stripping her. Surreal. Good costume, though. Many that try and do Zatanna miss something here or there and it looks… less. Here’s a recent a good image of Zatanna next to a decent cosplay of her.

The panel was about to start, but not in the room we were led to believe. It was setting up in the room next door, for some reason not explained by the volunteer manning the door. And if it wasn’t for one intrepid person, those of us sitting and waiting would have been left to sit and wait. Lovely.

The room for this panel was in one of the smallest designated for them, yet still seemed larger than I expected. I’d been to the larger panel area in previous conventions (some with disasterous and aggravating occurances) where the lines are structured with switchback ropes, as if in a bank. I call it herding, you can wall it waiting. The fellows running the panel seemed to be out of sorts for a few minutes, giving me time to get out my pocket recorder – which died on me two minutes into the talk. I must have put the dead batteries back into the thing when I was checking them, but what the hell? They shouldn’t have worked at all if they were the dead ones.

Back to the handy, dandy notebook. Sometimes, low tech is just the best tech.

The panel ended rather quickly, it seemed to me, and was much better attended than I expected. It was likely some of the people were riding through it to get to the next scheduled one, but I’d heard everyone was being asked to vacate before entering again. I wonder if that was true for all of the panels or just those deemed “hot”. I grabbed the offered handouts on the program and you’ll likely be hearing more about this from me in the future. Let’s just say I’ve already approached my local library to see if they’d be interested in such an event.

After this it gets a little hazy. I know I went outside to see if a bite to eat would help my woozy, but even my favored food cart couldn’t help. In fact, it was extremely difficult to get anything down. I tried to walk it off a bit more, texted a few “cheers, I’m outta here” and headed back to the crash pad.

I typed up a couple of quick articles for the site and sent them off. And then, down for the count.

*Geico actually did have a huge motorhome set up near the main entrance. I still don’t know what the hell they were trying to do.

** Steve Geppi is the president of the only comic book distributor left in the country, Diamond Comics Distributors. Regardless of what you may think, the Department of Justice deemed that NOT to be a monopoly after a three year investigation. He also runs a museum of comics, comic art and merchandise in the Baltimore, Maryland area. No, I’m not linking to it.