Rob Anderson, Panda Dog Press publisher, and writer of
Animal Control: Special Creatures Unit, attended the New York Comic Con on October 8 - 10, 2010. Here's his report:
I made my first ever trip to the NYCC this past weekend -- what a blast! I had decided after Baltimore Comic-Con that this was a trip I *had* to make, so it was somewhat short notice, and I was only able to pull it off due to willingness of my
Comics Experience friends to allow me to join in on the
Elevator Pitch Press booth at the last minute.
Pictured below -- all Comics Experience alums -- are (left to right):
Jim Moore (with his back turned!),
Eric Drumm,
Rob Anderson (me!),
Joe Sergi,
Dan Rivera,
George O'Connor, and
Richard P. Clark (in front). Other Comics Experience/Creators Workshop folks in attendance (not pictured) included
Janine and Ken Frederick,
Kevin Byrne,
Elizabeth Amber,
George Northy,
Josh Wigler and
Bill Yurkas.
Hanging out in the Elevator Pitch Press booth gave me a home base for the convention to: (1) network with publishers and other creators; (2) hang with my friends from Comics Experience courses and the
CE Creators Workshop; and (3) sell some copies of
Animal Control: Special Creatures Unit. On all fronts, the convention was a success!
The Exhibit Hall, Artists' Alley, and even the Anime Artists' Alley were as packed as you've heard. Saturday it was as hard to move in the Exhibit Hall as San Diego Comic-Con. Personal highlights for me included meeting
Jim Valentino, attending several excellent panels--most I attended were organized by
Buddy Scalera, who did a *great* job--and just networking in general with friends new and old.
Also, a huge highlight was doing a video interview with Pete LePage of
Newsarama and the popular Tuesday night talk show
Comic Book Club. We chatted a bit about
Animal Control: Special Creatures Unit -- and then Pete did another interview with Elevator Pitch Press colleague and a pro artist in his own right,
Richard P. Clark. I don't have any pictures of my own interview, but at left is a shot of Rich being interviewed by Pete. Thanks for taking the time to talk to us, Pete!
Yet another highlight was getting to catch up in person with Comics Experience founder and fearless leader,
Andy Schmidt, and co-Moderator of the
CE Creators Workshop,
John Barber. Andy, working his day job as Senior Editor at IDW, was completely *swamped* doing portfolio reviews on Saturday. I walked the line, which wrapped halfway around the massive IDW booth, and there were more than 50+ hopeful artists waiting patiently. Some of those folks need to come check out Andy's
CE Creators Workshop!
Like SDCC, NYCC is worth the trip. Nowhere else -- on the East Coast at least -- will you see such a spectacle centered around comic books and popular culture. I plan to return next year, perhaps with a full-blown Panda Dog Press booth!
-- Rob Anderson
Rob Anderson had the pleasure of hanging out with Matt at the 2010 Baltimore Comic-Con and most recently at New York Comic-Con, where the Secret Identity Podcast was a sponsor of the great Indy After Party hosted at Blaggards Pub. Rob had a great time at the party (thanks, guys!), and was suitably impressed that both Matt and co-host Brian LeTendre have been drawn into a LOT of comics...including Jonah Hex # 34, with art by Mark Sparacio. How cool is that?
