New York Comic Con 2023 Pt. 2

Nightcrawler print from Todd Nauck

Friday started by heading to Artist Alley. Comic book artist Todd Nauck was the first person I wanted to see that day. I had the chance to meet him at Boston Comic Con in 2015 and that meeting gave me a new appreciation for comic art. A funny thing happened while in line for Todd though, he had been talking to Andy Lanning and as Andy went to leave, my wife and I were introduced to him. He could not have been nicer. We actually discussed Disneyland Paris with him. Andy Lanning is known for his work on Guardian of the Galaxy.  If you can, make sure to check out those stories. 

Talking with Todd was great. I got to thank him for giving me a greater appreciation for the artwork in comics and I purchased a Nightcrawler print he had at the con.  It was another great meeting. I hope to purchase a page of his original comic art in the future. 

Costumes from The Marvels

We walked around the show floor a bit and saw some of the cooler things on display. Some of the highlights were costumes from Loki Season 2 and The Marvels movie. Also, various vendors throughout the show had celebrities at their booths as well. The details and the craftsmanship of the costumes were evident when seeing them in person. 

Costumes from Loki

w/ Sam Riegel

From here we headed to the photo op area again as we had a photo op with Sam Riegel of Critical Role. Even in the short time of the photo op, he was very welcoming. Having been a Critical Role fan, this was somewhat surreal. 

w/ Claudia Gray

This was followed up by a return to Artist Alley. There we met Claudia Gray the author of multiple Star Wars books.  It turns out she was a big fan of Andor and Rogue One. This led to a ten-minute conversation where we completely geeked out over both. I picked up a copy of Master and Apprentice which she kindly signed!

w/ Chris Evans

After this, we headed back for another professional photo op. This one was with Chris Evans.  Being from the Boston area ourselves, it was pretty funny to meet a Boston guy in New York so the only fitting thing to do was to say “Go Red Sox”.  

W/ David Tennant

Next was the photo op with David Tennant, who played Doctor Who and Killgrave. He was very nice and seemed genuinely excited to meet all of his fans. I had the chance to meet him previously at FanExpo Boston and he was just as nice here as he was then.

We wrapped up NYCC 2023, by doing one more trip around the convention floor. We purchased some fudge from Copper Coast and decided to head out. However, one last stop on our way out of the convention was the Burger Mobile that was used to promote Good Burger 2.

Burger Mobile!

New York Comic Con 2023 Pt. 1

 Having been to FanExpo Boston and Rhode Island Comic Con multiple times, I thought I was prepared for New York Comic Con. I was not. This event is bigger than I could have imagined which was great and not so great. 

Jim Cummings

I had tickets to attend NYCC 2023 on Thursday and Friday. I knew Saturday would be overwhelming and I did not want to travel back on Sunday after the con. Thursday was a very cool day at the con. I met Ryan Parrott, the writer for over 100 issues of Power Rangers for Boom! Studios, Dee Bradley Baker, the voice of almost all of the clones in Star Wars animation, and Jim Cummings, the voice of Winnie the Pooh and Hondo Ohnaka.  

Tait Fletcher

I had the chance to talk to Tait Fletcher, Paz Vizla in the Mandalorian, again. My wife and I originally met him in July at Terrificon in Connecticut. Both times talking with Tait was great. He is a very nice and personable guy who makes you feel like you have known him forever. Also, try to check out some of his other work if you have a chnace.

Thursday finished up with a professional photo op with the cast of Star Wars The Clone Wars, Ashley Eckstein, James Arnold Taylor, Matt Lanter, and Dee Bradley Baker.  Having had the chance to meet all of them before the photo, I was excited to meet them again. Photo ops are much quicker than autograph signings but it was still a great experience. 

All in all, Day 1 was great. Spending sometime in Artist Alley was really cool. The crowd was definitely manageable. Lastly,  never be afraid to make friends with other people at the con. While in line for Dee Bradley Baker we met this awesome family who are huge Star Wars fans. We kept running into them at the con and enjoyed each meeting.

Voice cast of Clone Wars. (Left to Right)
Dee Bradley Baker, Ashley Eckstein, Matt Lanter and James Arnold Taylor