NY Comic Con 2011

By Dani Aronson and Jenny… AKA Leela and Jet Girl

Leela: When we get off the A train at 34th street and start to make our way to the Javits center, we are walking in a sea of cos players and comic enthusiasts; it’s the pilgrimage of the nerds, and we are instantly excited for this day!

Jet Girl: BUT first we had to get out of Brooklyn. We ate egg sandwiches at Brooklyn Fare where a lame middle aged man on a scooter looked at us like we were strange. Then a little boy on a scooter stared at Leela’s wig while we were getting on the subway and asked his mom, “what is that?!” On the way to Comicon we passed lots of great costumes and a girl dressed as Hanna, the Saoirse Ronan serial killer, but the only way we knew she was Hanna was because her shirt was splattered with fake blood and she wore a sign that said “Hanna.”

Leela: ‘What Happens in Comic Con, Stays at Comic Con’ is one of the first signs we see upon entering the Javits Center in New York City. Indeed, conventions like this are the nerd equivalent of a weekend clubbing in Las Vegas or Spring Break in Daytona. Have you ever dreamed of making out with an anime goddess, Harry Potter or Dr. Who— well, at comic con, you can make those dreams come true.

Jet Girl: Literally the longest line at Comicon is for speed dating, and there are six year olds dressed up as spiderman waiting on it. And you get to see people dressed as robots and wolverine sprawled on the floor eating pizza. And about 12 girls dressed as Ramona Flowers sending an empty box of Western Beef Ice cream sandwiches up and down the escalator.

Leela: Also, if you think the girl’s bathroom at your school was a fun place to hang out, you should check out the women’s bathroom at comic con:

Leela: The first panel we attended was the ‘Attack the Block’ panel. Director Joe Cornish, ‘Moses’/actor John Boyega, and actor Luke Treadaway were in attendance. Upon their entrance the crowd chanted ‘Moses! Moses!’ They showed a few clips, and took questions. I am a huge fan of this film and am happy it seems to have found a following in the states. They also handed out posters which the panel signed for all, when Treadaway signed my poster I mention to him that he reminded me of many of my friends in Dalston, and he responded with a chuckle and said, ‘funny enough, I based that character on a friend from Dalston’.

Jet Girl: We tried to escape for awhile but were stopped by a guy carrying a
chain saw. When we finally escaped we went to eat diner food and Leela almost lost her eye in the middle of 11th avenue but I saved it from a speeding car!

Leela: When we were watching the wind pick up outside, I overheard a girl say quite seriously, ‘I wish I had known it was going to be windy… I would have been Storm, that would have been perfect’. HA!

Leela: One of the most exciting parts of comic con is just walking around and seeing cos players play fighting and posing for pictures. I saw Mortal Kombat battles, men in robot suits fighting the Rocketeer, and Harry Potter (possibly Tina Fey in costume) getting excited by a chance encounter with Marty Mcfly. Only at comic con will you see scenes like this.

Jet Girl: There are also really random booths, like Archie and Sesame Street and a table where I entered a contest to win two tickets to a dice convention in New Jersey. The only downside is the entire second floor smells like spoiled cheesy popcorn and we tried to get Geek Girl books but they were sold out. On the upside, we got to meet “Mr. T” and get lots of free t-shirts and postcards and see a puppet show and watch Just Dance and get boxes of nerds!

Leela: The final panel of the day was Beavis and Butthead. They are going to be airing all new episodes on MTV this year, and Mike Judge was appearing at the con to show the first episode. They handed out Beavis and Butthead masks, t-shirts, and Luke Wilson was the surprise moderator. The first episode is pretty funny, poking fun of MTV’s own horrible programming such as Jersey Shore, and 16 and Pregnant. Wilson and Judge are friends in real life, and had great banter on stage. Then the Q+A started, and although there is always a bizarre question or two when it comes to panels at the con, this panel turned out an especially large number of wacky fans. One young woman asked Luke Wilson if she could touch his beautiful hair…. And… he said ‘YES.’ I saw this woman again after the panel and she was still feeling the post coital ecstasy off her Luke Wilson hair encounter.

Then, as I made my way home, with all my swag in tow, three young nerds started to chat with me about Beavis and Butthead. One of them asked if he could walk me to the train, where we spoke about cos play, Beavis and Daria. When I got to the train station it was a mix of comic fans and ladies in slutty dresses looking confused.

Leela and Jet Girl: It was our first comic con, and boy did we have fun! We know to bring extra protein bars, water and nose plugs to keep us going for next time!