Special Edition NYC review

Special Edition NYC as a comic con is considered the little brother of THE BIG ONE in October ,but this was in no way a small show. Tons of Cosplay, tons of dealers, and tons of artists. I’m going to give you a quick rundown and review of the show, so here we go.
First off I need to give a shout out to my friend Midtown Martian for the ticket to this event.
As soon as I walked in, I quickly found the booth for Creature Entertainment. I mentioned in my upcoming books to watch out for that this company will be a major player in the years to come. It was my pleasure to meet and talk with the artist Juan Navarro and the writer John Ulloa. These are the guys behind the indie hit Ravenous (if you haven’t read it yet copies of Ravenous #1 can be picked up on eBay if your local shop doesn’t have them, including some of the rare variants.) Issue 2 comes out this week.
They also are working one a very controversial book named Tommy which they had a 1:30 NYCC Special edition variant. The premise is a kid named Tommy has an imaginary friend called Jack who is a serial killer. This kid has serious problems. We spoke about issue 3 which was so controversial Diamond didn’t want anything to do with the 1st draft of the book. The story is deep and dark, this book is not meant to be controversial for shock value purposes but the mature content in issue 3 could touch a spot with certain people. We also talked about THE GUN, which is soon to be released. It tells the story of a gun and its different owners, which in my opinion are a fresh and great new idea, so if you are tired of Marvel and DC rehashing stories give the great guys at Creature Entertainment a shot. Make sure to check out the Creature Entertainment Website.


Next I headed over to the Valiant they had Divinity #1 1st prints on sale for 4 bucks, great deal. I spoke with them about the movie deal. They are looking for a 2017 release for Bloodshot, I shared my story of my older brother having tons and tons of 90’s Valiant that neither of us can find. Also I asked about a Turok and Solar movies. I was shocked to learn that they no longer own those characters (EDITORS NOTE: Both are now under Dynamite). I tried to get a sample of Book of Death, but sadly I was told I will just have to wait and see, but they did say its going to be HUGE.

Next it was off to the dealers. Two booths really stood out among the many Vendors that were there ROYAL COLLECTABLES, which was owned by Mike (defiantly forgot his last name, sorry Mike)These guys had darn near everything from RAW books, to CGC books, to statues. I found some small gems in his Dollar boxes, and the great thing about his booth was he and his staff were hands on with every customer without ignoring anyone. He worked in the store since he was 13 and years later he became the owner, which I find fascinating. In NYC you have the big boys at Midtown Comics, but when I see a small mom and pop store, not only surviving but kicking butt in the comic store world, I have to shop them. He is more than willing to work with you on the price of books so if you’re in NYC check them out and tell them Mel sent you.


The next standout booth for me was our friends over at ComicXposure. Eddie and his staff are the rebels of the Cons, they are doing their thing, I remember when they started they had one small booth, but now they had a whole row to themselves. I did an interview with these guys that ran earlier tonight (you can read that HERE). once again Eddie is more than willing to help you out with prices and his Staff is real cool. A bunch of go-getters making waves in this game. I’m glad to see people start from the ground up make it big.


One of the reasons I love the opportunity that Tony has given me is that it allows me to find new and up and coming talent in the comic industry, and it was my pleasure to come across an artist I never heard of named COLIN LAWLER (BE ON THE LOOK OUT FOR THIS KID his Game of Thrones art is some of the best I have seen). You know when you gravitate towards something just by glancing at it, that’s what his art did. Check him out at http://spiritscomic.com and his twitter and Instagram is @spiritscomic, show him some love.
Another artist to look out for is WAYNE ARTHUR MURRAY, he has a real gritty style to his work which I like and he is a real down to earth person. I asked him how difficult it was for a African American artist to break through in the industry and he said extremely. We got into a whole conversation about how its not just about being African American but it’s very tough in general. Check him out at WAMCOMICS.COM
The biggest surprise of the show: Only 3 vendors had Enormous. 90% of Vendors had never heard of Enormous. If you have copies HOLD ON TO THEM, WHEN THE 1ST TRAILER HITS THIS BOOK WILL GO CRAZY.
I met Larry Doherty of Larry’s comics (and previously of CHU Larry’s Picks of the week) and the father of the Phantom Variant. The dude is a hell of a guy to sit and chat with, in the brief amount of time I spent talking with him I learned a lot about the flipping side of the game. He was very insightful and was more than willing to share tips. I finally know why Phantoms can never be found in NYC. We even laughed about the fact that the internet is tired of seeing AMS 300 covers, but there might be 1 more that “will drive you nuts” hint hint. Also he told me his idea for his next series of Phantoms, I can’t revel it yet, but if it comes to fruition the fans will be more than pleased.
Overall it was a great show I picked up Star Wars #42 and #68 for 80 bucks, Non Player #1 for $25, Han Solo cover Star wars 2 for $20 a piece (THANKS EDDIE) and Bag and Boards 100 pack for 10 FOR A SET which is a GOD SEND. I scored a ton of free stuff from CREATURE ENT. (Thanks JUAN AND JOHN).
SEE YOU ALL NEXT WEEK WITH MY REVIEW FOR ETERNAL CON