My experience at Day 2 of 2012 New York Comic Con October 15, 2012

Other New York Comic Con recaps: 2014 Day 1, 2017 Day 1, 2018 Day 1, 2019 Day 1, 2021 Day 1

Friday marked my first time at the annual New York Comic Con, held at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on 11th Avenue on Manhattan’s West Side.  The Javits Center stretches from West 34th to 40th Streets, but the main entrance is at West 37th.

My day at the event was scheduled around the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles panel, which was to be held at 6:45 PM.  Bored at home, I left the house just after 1:00, 90 minutes earlier than I planned.  I walked to the Wantagh LIRR (Long Island Rail Road) station (a 20-minute walk), bought a round trip off peak ticket in a ground-level vending machine, and waited on the platform for the train to arrive.  I saw one person in costume, which meant I wouldn’t be the only one bound for NYCC on the train.  With the air temperature in the low 50s and a stiff breeze, I was dressed for winter: a winter coat and a long sleeve shirt, but no costume.  As the joke goes, I went as myself.

After an hour-long train ride to Penn Station, I walked up to the street and had two slices of pizza at Famous Famiglia on 8th Avenue, one of many locations in New York alone.  It was an appropriate lunch on the day of the TMNT panel.

After passing the Houndstooth Pub at the corner of 8th and West 37th Street, the site of many contemporary jazz shows I’ve attended, I crossed west and then north to walk on the north side of West 37th.  There were groups of people ahead of me also heading to Javits.  Part of the walk featured an overpass above Dyer Avenue, which leads into the Lincoln Tunnel.  Once at the Javits Center, I walked in the green entrance.

Friday was the second day of four of the Con.  A sold-out crowd packed the Javits Center, making the indoor temperature feel like close to 80.  If only I had chosen a spring jacket and short sleeve shirt.

According to my camera, I took the first picture in this post at 3:18 PM, within 40 minutes of arriving at Penn Station.  Let’s see those pics, shall we?

I expected to see press conducting interviews, like Bill Schulz and Jesse Watters did last year, but I only saw crews passing by with their equipment off (seen here after I left the Show Floor):

Taking the escalator to the Show Floor:

Leaving the Show Floor:

The next few pics are LEGO displays built by LUGs (LEGO Users Groups) in New York and Connecticut:

Quidditch:

I put the camera down for the next hour and a half to take in the sights and sounds, and grab an early dinner at the food court.

By the time I got to the conference room where the TMNT panel was, there was a line.  I took this pic of the schedule board while waiting on that line, which went on to extend well past me:

As the wait continued, Peter Hastings, one of TMNT’s executive producers, walked by taking pictures of the line.  I recognized him from a Talkin’ Toons with Rob Paulsen podcast back in May.  As he passed near me, I asked him, “Are you Peter Hastings?”  He said yes, then wondered as he shook my hand how I knew who he was.  I told him it was from his body of work, and I cited Pinky and the Brain and TMNT; all I could think of offhand.  I couldn’t tell if he was scared, shocked, or flattered that I knew of him.  It reminded me of when I was at the will call booth at the old IMAC in Huntington before a Rippingtons concert in 2006.  (You can see my pics with Jeff Kashiwa and Steve Reid here.)  Musician Tom Huber was in line ahead of me and I recognized his name when he told it to the ticket taker.  I told him I knew of him through his background vocals on two tracks from Steve Briody‘s (“BRY-dee”) “Keep On Talkin'” album.  Tom’s response was, “Are you kidding?”  In Peter’s case, he assured me the next day on Facebook that he was flattered.  I thanked him for that.

NYCC staff opened the doors to the conference room just after 6:20.  I managed to get an aisle a few rows in (behind a few reserved rows).

(After the above pic, I switched from my Nikon D3100 to a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8 because I don’t yet have a long lens for the Nikon.  I switched back after the panel.)

The panel began at 6:47 with the TMNT title sequence projected on screens and through theater-style speakers.  The crowd erupted in cheers as Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, and Donatello approached the dais.

Donnie, Raph, Mikey, Leo:

The panel was moderated by Ray Rahman, a writer for Entertainment Weekly and “somehow, the senior Ninja Turtles correspondent, which is a title I take as seriously as you guys do”:

Here is Ray’s pre-panel write up.

The panel consisted of executive producers Ciro Nieli…

and the aforementioned Peter Hastings:

The rest of the panel was four cast members: the voices of three of the four turtles and their sensei.

Sean Astin as Raphael:

The aforementioned Rob Paulsen as Donatello:

Rob was also Raphael in the original TMNT series that premiered 25 years ago.  (Talkin’ Toons podcast live: original cast reunion)

(IGN’s interview with Rob)

Greg Cipes as Michelangelo:

…and Hoon Lee as Splinter:

Rob acknowledged that TMNT voice director Andrea (“ahn-DRAY-uh”) Romano was in the audience.  She stood up and waved to everyone:

(That was the best image I could get.  Sorry about the poor quality.)

Greg, Rob, and Sean reenacted a fight scene from the show while watching the scene on screen:

What they were reenacting:

Greg and Sean looked at the screen to their left (above) while Rob looked straight ahead at the reverse side of a second screen.

It ended with Donnie screaming in shock!:

What the scream looked like animated:

Ciro, Greg, and Rob watching the sneak previews:

As quickly as the panel began, it was over.

An hour flies when you’re having fun.

As the crowd left, a music video set to “Gangnam Style” by Psy played on the screens.

Meanwhile, Greg stuck around to greet fans and sign autographs:

Some of my pictures from the panel were vidcaps (or screencaps), pictures captured from my computer screen while playing video, which I then edited in Photoshop (cropping, adjusting color).  My camerawork was iffy because I used a mini tripod and tended to shake.  Neil Vitale did a much better job than me.  Here’s his video:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles airs Saturday mornings at 11:00 Eastern on Nickelodeon.

About ten minutes after the leaving the conference room…

…I was out of the Javits Center.

Fifteen minutes later, I made it back to Penn Station’s LIRR terminal.  On the train ride back, I sat next to two people that also attended NYCC.  One of them came with a group of anime fans and she was dressed as a character.  But I don’t remember which one.

I arrived home at 9:45.  It was quite an 8 1/2 hour adventure, one that I won’t soon forget.

We leave you with a picture of the ticket holder I wore and badge that it held:

10/16 UPDATE: Meredith Blake of the Los Angeles Times wrote on Friday about how New York Comic Con is catching up with the bigger Comic-Con (note the hyphen) International in San Diego.

10/19 UPDATE: Andy Levy of Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld was on the Show Floor last Friday when I wasn’t.  Click here to see his report.