Aftermath: New York Comic Con 2010

Holy crap what an INSANE weekend!! So insane that it took an extra week of me recovering before I could even think about updating my blog here with any sort of con report. Get ready for some TL;DR action!!!



So late, late Thursday night after the whole 'meeting my childhood hero Pee-Wee Herman'-thing happened, my BFF Fenny came up from Washington DC to join me in convention exploits for the weekend, resulting in about 4 1/2 hours sleep as we got up for the convention Friday morning at 7:30am to hopefully arrive at 9:30-10 for our set up/opening table shift for Girls Drawin Girls, which so did not happen (we got there more like 11-12). So Fenny and I after we got our insane pin-up girls costumes on trekked to the Javits Center with 2 stuffed suitcases of GDG merch and after looking for our table, found this:



So our space, which was supposed to be a 6x6 booth with a 6' table and 2 chairs looked more like where they put the trash cans. Like it was literally as big as a bathroom stall. And I being the first to arrive with Fenny, and either of us having no idea what the hell was going on, and I being convinced for sure NYCC REALLY hates me, resulted in me having a full tilt fit of crying. Thank god GDG founder/President Melody Severns was on her way, since I didn't have a clue as to who to talk to to alleviate our situation. It literally looked like we had been Punk'd.


Me, post fit of crying.

Fortunately Melody had the proper contact info and information and wasn't afraid to pull her bitch card to get shit done around the con. One of the options the floor managers had for us was moving the table altogether, but with a completely sold out convention plus having ordered a thousand postcards with our booth number on them, unless that spot was awesome we weren't gonna move. Especially since the only options it seemed right off the bat for moving to was the Anime Festival floor, which was in the basement. Which was not an option, we had a decent space and we weren't going to give it up for something even worse. So after realizing that the reason why the size of our booth had shrunk was because of the whiny, over-weight middle-aged men on either side of us who didn't seem to realize 6 foot wide booth plus 6 foot wide table equals no extra space for them to waddle in and out of, so that extra foot of they commandeered on either side of their tables to get in and out of is actually encroaching on our footage. And once we reclaimed that space you couldn't hear the END of their incessant whining about fire hazards and how they're supposed to get out. Ugh. So once we got the booth the correct size (with the help of some teamsters we batted our eyes at) and got ahold of our table and chairs over the span of 3 hours that morning, we were set up and I started my booth babely duties while Fenny got her cigarette tray on and walked the floor with promotional items.




So after we got everything set up and started getting into the groove of selling, one of the Reed Expo floor managers who was really going above and beyond helping us out came by to check up on us and told us that there was a 10x10 corner booth in the next aisle that was a last-minute cancellation and if we wanted to move there. And wow- before we can even give her an answer- dude next to us interjects with a condescending 'Well, if YOU GIRLS don't wanna move because of all those postcards- *I* can move there instead.' Like, yeah- really. To which Melody asks the floor manager- but you're offering the table to US, right? Floor manger nods. Melody- let's go. But yeah, really- how much of a gaggle of idiots do you think we are, dude? Ugh.
So we move to the new space, which is AWESOME and they even throw in another 6 foot table to cap off the L shape to the booth at no extra charge. It is glorious, the amount of cross traffic from the two aisles converging results in us being consistently busy all weekend. Even when we were still setting up we were swarmed.




So with the stressful morning behind us, and our relief shift of Daisy and her husband finishing pricing and setup, Fenny, Melody and I hit the super-nice, super not crowded at the time Lucky Strike bowling lanes up the street for a good solid 3 hours of drinking alcoholic Arnold Palmers and talking about boys.




Afterwards Fenny and I departed for dinner then headed home where we got to work on finishing up our costumes for Saturday.



Thankfully I had a closing shift at the table Saturday, so I could sleep in a bit and relax before the barrage of people that awaited me at the con. We didn't actually arrive til about 1 and took our costumes in trash bags so we could change in one of the bathrooms at the show. We got quite some interesting looks from the overcrowded ladies room as we attached feather bustles, applied flash tape to our boobs and laced ourselves in corsets.






The cigarette girl costumes were definitely a hit, alot of people stopped us to get pictures taken and get one of our postcards and buttons. I seriously can't wait til the next time I get to wear these costumes, they were so much fun to wear.

We actually got some inquiries from other companies on our cigarette girl promo idea who showed interest in hiring us to represent them at other conventions. Hopefully that'll pan out, cause that would be soooo sweet!

We were also interviewed by my friend Tameeka for her pop culture blog Tameeka Time- I was a bit overwhemed by the con and exhausted at the time so I don't have too much to say. Fenny however totally rocked it.






With my pal and fellow GDG member, Maria Danalakis- check out her work!


Even though Saturday is usually the 'big party night' at the con, the sheer exhaustion I felt from way too much interaction along with spending a little too much dinero at Lucky Strikes lanes on Friday had me wanting to head home after the show. Even Fenny went out to party, I just gave her my spare keys and let her have run of the city. From what I remember I changed into my pj's, ordered Thai food (Drunken Noodle- my fave!) and watched The Losers with my boyfriend.

Sunday morning Fenny actually left early, so I donned my Wonder Woman costume and went to the con with Phil later that afternoon. And how funny- one of the first pics taken as I came into the convention ends up being for UGO.com's NYCC 2010: Babes of Comic-Con photo spread.



From the rest of the day:





The Wonder Woman costume was extremely well-recieved! Alot of people even said it was the best WW costume they had seen all weekend and gave me praise for the old school sensibilities and how classy it was. It's really comfy and I love wearing it as well- it's got such a great amount of personalization to it since it's made from things I found in my closet. The only things I had to do were add the stars and get some yellow nylon rope from the hardware store.

So with NYCC over with for another year it looks like the only con standing between me and 2011 is King Con Brooklyn in about 3 weeks, which I will be a guest at and looks like I will be speaking at my first ever panel for, about the Sexualization of Women in Comics. Which for some reason I feel I'm going to be playing the Devil's Advocate for.

Also thanks to Champion Eye Media for usage of his con pics- be sure to check out his whole gallery on his website.