Every now and then it is great to have a mini adventure with a friend and/or reconnect with friends you haven't seen in a while. Columbus Day weekend was an opportunity to do both. With Part 1 I will focus on my trip to New York City, or Metropolis for some, to visit NY Comic Con. In Part 2 I will focus on the rest of the weekend, where I got to see a few good friends.
NY Comic Con
This year has been definitely a convention filled adventure for me with Boston Comic Con in August, a couple hours at Temple Con and volunteered at 2016's Pax East (yes I am overdue for a write up on that). NY Comic Con was by far one of the largest of it's kind, attracting literally thousands! According to their website, the Con attracted over 167,000 attendees in 2015 alone. It was my first time and, of course, was a little overwhelming. But with anything, it is best to look at it as an adventure.
An Offer I Couldn't Refuse:
One sign of a generous friend is getting an invite to such an occasion and willing to grab you a badge! My friend Tina, a fan girl of Wonder Woman for years (to say the least), had been planning on going for weekend. When she offered to grab a badge for opening day for me if I wanted to go, my response was along the lines of "Hell Yeah!"
Trials and Tribulations of Travel:
To say there wasn't some sort of challenges to our travel would be a lie. We made arrangements to take a bus from Boston to New York City the morning of Day 1 of the Con. I admit this was the first of a few challenges we faced. Not surprising, traffic was insane when we got close to NYC:
When we finally got to the bus stop, our next set of concerns were checking in, getting ready, and whether we had to wait to in an insanely long line we saw from the bus once we arrived at the Con.
 |
| At one point the line wrapped around a NY city block! |
One small grace that helped the process along was being able to check in early at the hotel. This definitely helped logistically, because we would otherwise need to find a place for Tina to slip into costume and find a place to stow our luggage while we went to the Con. Also, if anyone had asked me how much experience I have in assisting in lacing a corset, I can now, as of writing this entry, I can say at least once.
 |
| Deadpool approves |
Just need a ride there...
The next trick was just getting a ride over. Protip: if you decide to take a cab in NYC, once you get in and say where you are going, they are not supposed to refuse you service. Of course one of the 5 cabs we got in that was parked across from the hotel did just that. We found out after we could have made a fuss but decided to walk to the corner to hail another one, with no luck. Even asking a few park cabbies if they were on duty before getting in yielded little luck. We decided to hail an Uber with much better results. Of course, one of the cabbies that was on lunch offered his services while we waited but we declined of course.
 |
| If we knew Captain Iron Man was there,we would have asked for a ride... |
We arrive at the Con. To our amusement and good fortunate, the line was essentially non existent. Before heading in, we grabbed hot dogs and water from a hot dog vendor strategically outside the entrance. We head in and it was a bit overwhelming to see how many people in one place.We tried to keep an eye out for a con program but didn't have much luck. We did find our way to the dealer's room to see what wears they had. And they had something for almost everyone! Game vendors, art dealers and small publishers, plus of course comic book vendors, plus a cool Wonder Woman display celebrating Wonder Woman's 75 years. And for Deadpool fans:
I asked Mr Pool himself and I think he approved:
 |
| Apparently, he has issues, I just have a t shirt |
 |
| There is something about art pieces that combine 2 completely unrelated comics |
Our Goal Was in Reach:
At that point of the day, we had been at the con for a few hours. We were on a mission to to get a couple comic artists' signatures. Con staff members seemed to be in short supply, like the aforementioned programs. After a little searching, we were able to find a couple Comic Con staff members that were able to direct us to where Artist Alley was. We made our way there with purpose. Ironically, we found near the entrance of Artist Alley a few programs waiting!
Tina decided to relax since her feet understandably were killing her and had the rest of the weekend to get signatures. I made a game plan of who I wanted to get an autograph. The most important signature to get was this guy:
 |
| Like Deadpool? Thank this guy! |
End Scene:
After getting Fabian Nicieza's autograph, we called it a day for the con, which meant heading back and for Tina to change out of her costume and get food. We decided on getting a bite at Pergola Des Artistes, which fortunately for us, was across from the hotel.
 |
| Steak! It's what's for dinner.... |
And you would think that going to a comic shop after going to NY Comic Con would be overkill... But I was surprised Tina had never been to one in NYC. We were fortunate enough to find Midtown Comics near Times Square, which was also a short walk from where we stayed!
 |
| Surprised we didn't hear "Shut up and take my money!" |
Despite the set backs and little things that annoyed both of us, it is fair to say Tina and I had a great time and made the most of the convention! Although I headed out the next day, Tina had a blast the rest of the con, getting a few signatures, cool pieces of art for herself, and an upgrade to her room. Success!
Thank you for reading and stay turned for Weekend Geekdom, Part 2!
