The New York Comic Con is an annual New York City fan convention dedicated to Western comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, cosplay, toys, movies, and television. It was first held in 2006.Thomases, Martha (September 7, 2008). "Interview: Harry N. Abrams' Charles Kochman" . ComicMix. With an attendance of 200,000 in 2022, it is North America's most attended fan convention. The New York Comic Con is a for-profit event produced and managed by ReedPop, a division of RX and Reed Elsevier, and is not affiliated with the long running non-profit San Diego Comic-Con, nor the Big Apple Convention, later known as the Big Apple Comic-Con, owned by Wizard Entertainment.
History
Previous conventions in New York The first recorded "official" comic book convention occurred in 1964 in New York City. Known as the "New York Comicon",Ballman, "The 1964 New York Comicon: The True Story Behind the World's First Comic Book Convention (The 1960s: The Silver Age of Comic Conventions) (Volume 1)"History Channel, "Superheroes Decoded: Comic-Con | History"Schelly, Bill. "1966: The Year of THREE* New York Comicons!," Alter-Ego No. 53 (Oct. 2005). it was held July 24, 1964, at the Workman's Circle Building. A one-day convention organized by 16-year-old Bernie Bubnis and fellow enthusiast Ron Fradkin, official guests of the Tri-State Con included Steve Ditko, Flo Steinberg, and Tom Gill.Q, Shathley. "The History of Comic Conventions," PopMatters (June 17, 2009). Reports were of over 100 attendees. In 1966, comic book conventions continued to evolve and expand, The July 23–24 New York Comicon (not to be confused with the later "New York Comic Con") was held at the Park Sheraton Hotel, in New York. Produced by John Benson,Schelly, Bill. "The Kaler Con: Two Views: Bigger And Better Than The Benson Con Just Three Weeks Before?? (Part VIII of '1966: The Year Of (Nearly) Three New York Comics Conventions')," Alter-Ego #64 (Jan. 2007). guests included Jack Kirby, Jim Steranko, Otto Binder, Len Brown, Larry Ivie, Jack Binder, Roy Thomas, Gil Kane, Archie Goodwin, Bhob Stewart, Klaus Nordling, Sal Trapani, Rocke Mastroserio, and Ted White.
New York Comic Con The New York Comic Con is a for-profit event produced and managed by ReedPop, a division of RX and Reed Elsevier, and is not affiliated with the long running non-profit San Diego Comic-Con, nor the Big Apple Convention, later known as the Big Apple Comic-Con, owned by Wizard Entertainment. ReedPop is involved with other events, including Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2) and PAX Dev/PAX East/PAX Prime. ReedPop and New York Comic Con were founded by Greg Topalian, former senior vice president of RX.
The first con was held in late February 2006 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. Due to RX's lack of experience with comic conventions (they primarily dealt with professional trade shows prior to 2006), attendance was far more than anticipated, and the main exhibition hall could only hold 10,000.Comics in Context #123: NY Comic-Con 2006, IGN, March 6, 2006. Retrieved 2012-2-28. Despite crowding on Friday afternoon, tickets continued to be sold due to low pre-reg numbers (4,500), and the non-counting of professionals and exhibitors. The main exhibition hall hit capacity Saturday morning and was locked by the fire marshals until people left, with the lockdown ending in the afternoon. Major guests, including Kevin Smith and Frank Miller, could not enter the main hall.REPORT: New York Comiccon 2006 , popimage. Retrieved 2012-2-28. The line to enter the convention wrapped around the building with waits of two hours to enter, and many were turned away.New York Comic-Con – The Show & The Crowds , CBR, Feb. 26, 2006. Retrieved 2021-10-15. Ticket sales for Sunday were suspended.NY Comic-Con Suspends Ticket Sales on Sunday , CBR, Feb. 25, 2006. Retrieved 2021-10-15. Reed announced that additional space would be acquired for the 2007 show.
The second con was held in 2007, with the convention organizer booking double the floor space than the previous year's space, and moving to the upper level of the Javits Center.NYCC--They All Got In , ICv2, Feb. 26, 2007. Retrieved 2012-3-17. The show on Friday was again only open to industry and press until 4 p.m., when it opened to the public., Fan Cinema Today, Feb. 25, 2006. Retrieved 2012-3-17. Due to better planning, advance ticket sales were controlled, and the convention sold out for Saturday.NYCC: Can you get in Saturday??? , ICV2, Feb. 24, 2007. Retrieved 2012-3-17. Lines started forming at midnight Saturday to enter the convention, and by Saturday morning, there was a 2-hour wait in 20 degree temperatures to enter.NYCC Half-mile long lines in 20 degree temp , ComicMix, Feb. 24, 2007. Retrieved 2012-3-17. Crowding was a problem in the Artists Alley, which was off the main convention floor, causing it to be moved to the main floor for 2008.Reid, Calvin. "Indie Outreach and More for NYCC 2008" . Publishers Weekly. August 27, 2007. Retrieved March 5, 2010. The American Anime Awards, hosted by New York Comic Con, was held on February 24 at the New Yorker Hotel, during the Comic Con.A Backstage Guide to the American Anime Awards , Animenewsnetwork.com, Feb. 28, 2007. Retrieved 2012-3-17.
The third con held in 2008 moved to April, continued to grow (expanding space by 50%), and occupied most of the main level in the Javits Center. Stan Lee was awarded the inaugural New York Comics Legend Award at the Times Square Virgin Megastore before the Comic Con.NYCC: The New York Comics Legend Award , Edrants, April 18, 2008. Retrieved 2012-3-18. Kids' Day programming was added to the convention on Sunday with the help of Kids's Comic Con."NYCC Adds Kids Day' , ICv2, Oct. 1, 2007. Retrieved 2012-3-18."Kids, Parents Turnout for Kids Comic-Con 2008" , Publishers Weekly, April 1, 2008. Retrieved 2012-3-18. The fourth con held in 2009 returned to February and featured a charity art auction to support The Hero Initiative."Hero Initiative's New York Comic Con Auction" , Comic Book Resources, Jan 16, 2009. Retrieved 2021-10-15.
Due to scheduling conflicts with the Javits Center for spring dates and the creation of the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo by Reed, New York Comic Con was moved to October for Halloween starting in 2010.Reed Announces Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo , ICv2, Feb. 2, 2009. Retrieved 2012-3-18. The New York Anime Festival, previously a separate event created by Reed, was also merged into Comic Con.Aoki, Deb. "NY Comic-Con and NY Anime Festival to Combine Shows in 2010" About.com. September 10, 2009 Registration for the combined events was 190 percent ahead of 2009's numbers, convention space was increased by an additional 40 percent, and the anime festival was moved to the lower level of the Javits. The main floor of the convention center was split by a large construction area due to repairs to the Javits Center.
Intel Extreme Masters Global Challenge – New York took place in Comic Con 2011. It featured esports tournaments for games such as StarCraft II, League of Legends, and Counter-Strike.
In 2011, the convention was expanded to four days. The first day of the convention was initially limited to press, professionals, and fans that purchased a four-day pass. This changed in 2013, when single day Thursday passes were put on sale for the first time. With this addition, attendance at New York Comic Con grew to over 151,000, surpassing SDCC to become the largest comic convention in North America. The latter was unable to grow further due to venue capacity limits and an attendance cap of 130,000.
In 2016, it was announced that everyone attending NYCC 2016 would be required to complete a "Fan Verification" profile. The event organizers explained that this step was implemented in an attempt to reduce the number of scalpers and resellers who purchase tickets. Fan Verification would only be open from May 20 - June 14, and tickets purchased could only be assigned to someone with a profile. It was also announced that NYCC would no longer be selling VIP tickets, and that show tickets would not be sold at any retailers or events leading up to NYCC 2016.
In 2017, the sale of 3-day and 4-day passes to the event were discontinued. Only single day Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Sunday kids tickets would be sold for the event.
In 2018, the event organizers announced a partnership with Anime Expo for show called Anime Fest @ NYCC X Anime Expo.
In 2019, the sale of 4-day badge returned along with the single day Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday Kids Tickets, would be sold for the event once again, but the 3-day tickets were still discontinued.
The convention's 2020 show was originally scheduled for October 8–11. However, in August, the event's organizers announced the cancellation of their in-person event, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, a virtual event called "New York Comic Con X MCM Comic Con Metaverse" was on those dates. Tickets to the 2020 in-person event had not gone on sale prior to its cancellation.
New York Comic Con returned to the Javits Center in 2021 with an in-person event held on October 7–10. All attendees over the age of 12 were required to show proof of vaccination, and children under 12 had to show a negative coronavirus test result.
Location and dates