New York Comic Con Wrap-Up
By Ryan Mita
From October 4th to 7th, New York Comic-Con brought 250,000 fans closer to their favorite characters and creators. ReedPop hosted NYCC and separate events off-site, like the Harvey Awards and Raina Telgemeier’s announcement: Scholastic Graphix is publishing her two new books next year!
The CBC Graphic Novel Committee sponsored the panel “Laugh & Learn: Humor in Children’s Graphic Novels” at New York Public Library’s flagship location. Speakers included: Jeffrey Brown (Lucy & Andy Neanderthal), Kristen Gudsnuk (Making Friends), Natalie Riess (Space Battle Lunchtime) and Sean Rubin (Bolivar). The amusing panel was a piece of dedicated programming for librarians and educators; From the opening keynote by Marjorie Liu (Monstress), NYCC @ NYPL was again successful.
At Javits Center, we also sponsored the panel “LGBTQ+ in Children’s Graphic Novels”. Despite a late time slot, the audience arrived early and asked inquisitive questions. The moderator Gina Gagliano (Random House Graphic) kept the discussion fresh and smart, with strong questions.
Although the show floor was large, luckily most CBC member publishers’ booths were close to each other. Sales were strong and by Sunday, many member publishers were sold out, or down to their last copy. It was also wonderful to meeting colleagues face to face, after we collaborated over email.
The Harvey Awards were a delight. Organized by Nellie Kurtzman (HarperCollins, daughter of the award’s namesake Harvey Kurtzman) and hosted by Calvin Reid (Publishers Weekly), many CBC members had their outstanding graphic novels recognized. In the Children’s and Young Adult category, the presenter Liniers (Goodbye, Planet) pointed out that all finalists were created by females, before announcing a tie between The Prince and The Dressmaker, Jen Wang (First Second) and The Tea Dragon Society by Katie O’Neill (Oni Press).
Until next year, New York Comic-Con!
