Every summer, the internet is flooded with photos of attractive girls dressed in costumes, as well as thousands of hilarious images titled “types of people you will definitely see at the Comic Con” and the like. This is frequently accompanied by fan meetings with movie stars, fresh and unexpected trailers leaked to the network and later angry performances by film studios that “did not plan these videos to be viewed by the mass public.” In short, there is nothing more intriguing for a pop culture enthusiast. Learn more about the New York Comic Con at newyorkski.info.
Specifics of the New York Comic Con festival
Visitors to these thematic events come together to meet famous people and communicate with each other. Such festivals typically last several days and feature multiple events.
One of the most memorable aspects of the New York Comic Con is the abundance of cosplays (costume play). Visitors to such events dress up as characters from computer games, movies, literature, comics, anime and so on.
Participants dress as heroes and try to portray the personalities, body plasticity and facial expressions of their favorite characters. Typically, this hobby includes making a costume and other outfit elements.
The beginnings of the festival
The history of thematic gatherings that brought together connoisseurs of unconventional art forms extends more than a decade. Whether it was comics, science fiction movies or cosplay, their admirers have always been considered oddities by the general public. Science fiction fan events have been popular since the mid-1930s.
It was a long way to promote popular culture. In 1960, Jerry Bails, who later received the title of “Father of Comic Book Fandom,” decided to get through it. After establishing the Academy of Comic-Book Fans and Collectors, Bails organized the Alley Tally convention in Detroit, which was the first large gathering of comic book fans.
In addition to the convention, the Academy supported the creation of the Alley Awards, which, like the Oscar, recognized the greatest hand-drawn stories in a variety of categories.
In 1969, 36-year-old Sheldon Dorf became obsessed with the idea of creating a place where fans of comic books could meet the creators of their favorite stories, characters and entire universes. With the support of like-minded people, Dorf and his colleagues began implementing their plan, unaware of the incredible scale to which it would grow. However, the 1970s were particularly challenging for comic book readers. People were so repelled by hand-drawn stories that even science fiction lovers looked at Superman fans with disfavor. However, this only motivated the organizers because they were all working toward the same goal: to build a place where the “exiles” of society would feel at home. As a result, the New York Comic Con was born.
One day, Dorf’s team paid a visit to Jack Kirby, the artist who developed the great majority of Marvel superheroes. This meeting marked a watershed moment, and not just because Kirby participated in the festival as a result. The artist gave very important advice to Sheldon and his team.
In addition to Jack Kirby, renowned science fiction writer Ray Bradbury also attended the first New York Comic Con. The author requested $5,000 to participate in the event, as he did for other speeches. However, when Bradbury discovered from Dorf that the organization was non-profit, he agreed to come for free. The fact that it was untrue at the time.
The peak of the festival’s popularity
The watershed event was the July 1964 New York Comic Con, which drew about a hundred visitors. The main purpose of the event was buying, sharing and selling comics, however, nothing restricted attendees from freely communicating with people who shared their interests. Furthermore, the New York Comic Con was the first convention attended by industry stars such as artist Steve Ditko, who collaborated with Stan Lee on Marvel Comics, Florence Steinberg, an independent comic book publisher and a key figure in Marvel Comics and artist Tom Gill, known for the long-running comic book series “The Lone Ranger”.
By the way, the first person to purchase a ticket to the festival was 15-year-old George Martin, the great author of “A Song of Ice and Fire”. In 2014, on the Comic Con panel, the writer dubbed himself “the first fan of comics,” joking about the occasion with the ticket. Martin truly was the first on the list of festival attendees.
Development of the New York Comic Con
The festival expanded its audience year after year by attracting guests, including Chuck Norris in 1975. However, at the moment, the karate player had a less impressive experience behind his back.
The festival truly took off in 1976, when “Star Wars” premiered at one of the first Hollywood stands. Which, however, did not become particularly popular. In general, despite the fact that Hollywood was among the participants of the convention, the Comic Con failed to please the filmmakers.
The festival’s popularity grew year after year. In 1985, an unbelievable thing happened: Alan Moore, author of “Watchmen,” “V for Vendetta,” “The Killing Joke,” “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen,” and many more equally iconic comics, attended Comic Con. The truth is that at the time the man did not particularly enjoy leaving England or his residence, nor did he enjoy being around people. As a result, the appearance of a figure of this scale sparked unprecedented excitement among admirers.
Three years later, in 1988, they started presenting the Eisner Award, the most important comic book industry award. By then, the festival had grown into a massive melting pot of popular culture, with everything from board games to Hollywood movies available at the stands. The filmmakers were the only ones who did not accept the Comic Con, but even they changed their minds.
This took place at the 2000 event when the first “X-Men” were introduced. The picture gained such strong support that Hollywood rushed to get in line for the stands. Additionally, in the early 2000s, the relationship between the Comic Con and the film industry improved when studios started mass-producing comics.
The festival’s popularity in other states
The festival’s popularity, which in 1995 received another name – the Comic-Con International, could not be limited to a single city. Conventions began to appear in every state. Every year, there is talk about relocating it from New York to a “more suitable place” such as Los Angeles or Las Vegas, but this is all just rumors.
However, if you believe that this is the most popular comic book festival in the world, we will disappoint you. The New York Comic Con falls behind the French Angoulême International Comics Festival and the Japanese comic book festival, which attracts over half a million manga and anime fans each year.
Indeed, such festivals can help people feel more connected to their community and support them in the search for their identity. They provide possibilities for self-expression and self-realization, which is beneficial to mental and emotional well-being.
In general, festivals are quite important to our society. They not only entertain and inspire, but also provide a platform for interaction, development and change. As a result, festivals continue to be an essential component of cultural life.
