Adventures @ NYCC 2014: Day One

After feeling not my very best in Toronto, I'm trying to rebound by having a good time at New York Comic Con. This is my ninth time going to NYCC, which is based on the west side of Manhattan. To me, it's too close to home to consider not going. And like Comic-Con International in San Diego, the convention has gotten bigger over time. The organizers wound up throwing a smaller con at the Javits Center -- Special Edition NYC -- several months ago. I wound up spending my first hour there waiting on line to getting my NYCC admission. Not the sign of a sane person, but here I am.

So far, I've been having fun. I wound up taking 14,565 steps, a lot of that was from walking from Sixth Avenue all the way to the Javits Center. I could have taken a shuttle, but I wanted to get off to a healthy start. The convention isn't as spread out as Fan Expo Canada . . . there are three levels of action to be had. The main floor is located upstairs, the ground floor features Artist Alley, and the lower level hosts panels. Once you get the hang of the basics, you're home free. You just have to give yourself enough time for the panels.

THE GOOD: I wound up hitting one panel, on Doctor Who in comic books. It was pretty good. I indulged my Titan blind box habit, winding up with a 1-in-40 figure of Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor. I also got five sketches, which might be a first-day record for me. This time, I'm trying to save my money, so I'm hitting the DC Comics area at Artist Alley for freebies. I also got to meet Gail Simone for the first time since Special Edition. I wound up getting my copy of Batgirl: Future's End autographed . . .

THE BAD: . . . which I ended up losing, because I was using the issue as a reference for a sketch. I think it fell out of my sketchbook. I'll have to check Lost & Found tomorrow, but I'm resigned to getting another copy. Also, I didn't get a freebie sketch from a famed artist. No big deal . . . I wasted a little time, but I knew the odds of me getting something from him were pretty slim.

Things should pick up tomorrow. I won't stay out too long . . . The Amazing Race will be on at 8 p.m., and I want to catch it "live," even thought I'll be DVRing it.