My NYCC Experience

On my second day of New York Comic Con, I headed straight to the Empire Stage for my first really big panel: Marvel’s Amazing X-Men & the Marvel Universe.

Ushered into the room, I found myself surprised by the sheer scope of it. None of the other panels had warranted much more than a large classroom, this was more like a well-funded lecture hall. As we sat down a series of screens announcing the day’s panels sprung to life and subjected us to a loop of one of the most life-draining advertisements I’ve had the displeasure to view. I won’t go into the specifics too much, but, as the panel was sponsored by a certain drink company, we had to see their latest attempt at uncomfortable pandering: a lengthy commercial advertizing their “big cans”.

Amidst this sea of fandom, it was both uncomfortable and disheartening to see such corporate schlock on the screens. I couldn’t help wonder if this was just what they thought was funny or if it was trying to appeal to the con-going community specifically. If it was the later, I’m deeply saddened to know that this is what companies think of us, but I’m happy to say that, for the most part, there was universal mockery and scorn for the ad.

Thankfully, that only lasted a few minutes, and soon Marvel Senior Editor, Nick Lowe, took the stage to introduce our panelists. Though the architects of the current X-Men line, Jason Aaron and Brian Michael Bendis, were not in attendance, it was still quite impressive. The panel featured Gerry Duggan, the co-writer of Deadpool; Marjorie Liu, an acclaimed novelist who is just ending her run on Astonishing X-Men; Brian Wood, the writer of Marvel’s new X-Men; Dennis Hopeless, the aptly named scribe of Cable and X-Force and Avengers Arena; Charles Soule, the man behind Thunderbolts; Simon Spurrier, who writes X-Men: Legacy; and Peter David, who is finishing his lengthy run on X-Factor. The panel also included three editors: Jeanine Schafer, Jordan D. White, and Daniel Ketchem.