The weekend is over, and thus my second ever visit to New York Comic Con is in the books!

My visit to one of the great comic conventions was planned in a rush less than a month before the show, so I was only able to attend one day this year, Saturday the 14th, but it was a very full day of exploring the Javitts Center and seeing all of the sites. The first point of comparison I could make is that, while New York Comic Con is always bustling with excitement and activity, the 2023 crowd was much larger than its 2019 counterpart.

Perhaps it’s that we are in this weird phase where we feel “safe” from COVID-19, but we are also in the shadow of it enough to know what it’s like to miss out on entertainment; the show was full of fans, cosplayers, and just overall geeks, all excited to see what was offered, what was coming their way, and who they could meet!

Having partnered all day with Joey from the delightful So Wizard podcast, our first target was a Energon Universe panel starring Robert Kirkman, Joshua Williamson, Danel Warren Johnson, Lorenzo De Felici, Tom Reilly, and Sean Mackiewicz.

(First of all, I want to say that, as a podcaster, Sean Mckiewicz’ voice gives me large amounts of envy)

But aside from that, the panel was wildly entertaining as the group discussed–and tried not to spoil TOO MUCH–Skybound Entertainment and Hasbro’s shared Energon Universe line-up, featuring classic characters like G.I. Joe and the Transformers, as well as Kirkman’s Void Rivals title.

In addition to the ongoing Transformers book that has already started, two more solo series, Duke and Cobra Commander, were announced, and those of us in attendance received an ashcan addition of Duke #1–an edition I was lucky enough to get Joshua Williamson to sign later on in the show.

We also got a sneak peak at panels from those upcoming books as well as from the next issues of Transformers and Void Rivals.

The only other panel we were able to attend on Saturday due to some scheduling conflicts was one hosted by our chums over at Nerd Initiative. They brought in Academy Award winning make-up artist John Caglione Jr. He was an incredibly charismatic interview for the folks at Nerd Initiative, and he was happy to answer the questions of close to a dozen of those in attendance after the segment was over. He offered his social media information to those with more thorough questions so he could contact them directly without feeling rushed.

He also showed off a makeup he did that very day, a combination The Dark Knight Joker (a makeup for which he was nominated for a second Academy Award) and a more “Classic Comics” Joker. I can attest to how phenomenal it looked; I did not even recognize the member of Nerd Initiative all made-up, and I’ve talked to him several times before!

Much of the rest of our Saturday was spent exploring the main convention floor, artists’ alley, and the cosplay areas of the show. In artists alley, we spotted the frantic tables of comics legends Chris Claremont, Tom King, Artgerm, and more. We stopped to talk to Joshua Williamson to let him know how much we appreciated his humor and information at the Energon panel, and we also met briefly with David Pepose and Tini Howard to have some books signed and discuss their recent comics work. Personally, it was a blast to talk to Ms. Howard about her decision to have Shogo Lee turn into a dragon in her recent Excalibur run in the Krakoan X-Men era.

And, oh yes, speaking of which, I was able to stop by a stand on the convention floor and get THREE new Jubilee variant covers to add to my Jubilee wall. You know me; can’t get enough good Jubilee books… even if she is only on the cover.

As always with conventions, especially ones as large and busy as New York, one of our favorite aspects is checking out all of the inventive and impressive cosplay that folks show up in. There’s a lot more to see over at So Wizard and at SWO Productions’ Instagram page! I have dozens that I will be uploading over the coming days, and Joey at So Wizard is putting them into NYCC TikToks. Be sure to check those out, because it was as good of a year as ever in regards to costumes and outfits!

And that’s it for the SWO Productions’ coverage of New York Comic Con 2023, a trip I made on incredibly short notice. I’ll be hoping to get the event planned for myself much earlier in 2024 and getting to attend all four days and many more panels to report on individually.

Until next time… take care!