Hacked!?!

Crap. We've been hacked. Some weirdo with a butterfly fetish hacked newyorkcomiccon.com. We're trying to fix it now.

Backstage Pass! NYCC Volunteer Blog #1

Question: There's a Volunteer Team?

Answer: You Bet!!!!!

Anyone who was there the first two years at NY Comic Con will understand that it can get pretty crazy at NYCC, and the volunteer team is right there to be just a little bit crazier - but in a good way! With an emphasis on fun, the volunteer team is like a s.w.a.t. team of friendliness and cool.

"Well, what the heck does that mean, and who ARE you?" you ask? Okay, okay, i'll tell you.

My name is Carly Slater and I'm the Volunteer Manager for NYCC's volunteer team. That means i have the absolutely most fun job in the building. The volunteer team consists of the coolest, best, most fun people we can find and I spend a LOT of time with them throughout the whole weekend. We task volunteers as-needed, so there's no way of telling what anyone will be doing, but in the past volunteers have done everything from line control (which means directing people and of course socializing with all the con-goers - yay) and even hanging out with the likes of Stan Lee and Kevin Smith (it's no guarantee you'll be chatting up celebrities if you become a volunteer - but it's very possible). We also share space with the 501st Battalion of Storm Troopers and Star Wars costumers, so hey - you get to hang out with Darth Vader and Boba Fett!

As if that wasn't enough, our volunteers also enjoy some supercool benefits like:

- Having your weekend pass reimbursed means FREE ADMISSION.
- Get your Geek on: lots of other great comic fans to meet!
- Fun volunteer-only games, with *prizes*.
- Special guest appearances in the volunteer room (who could it be? you never know!)
- Super fashionable t-shirts!
- Be the FIRST to get announcements & programming info and meet other volunteers on our EXCLUSIVE volunteer yahoo group.

Actually, this is just the tip of the iceberg - there's a lot more perks to being a volunteer, but i think that should whet the appetite. So, have I got you interested yet? Know a friend who might be? We're still taking applications (the team's gonna be pretty big this year!). If you're over 14, go to nycomiccon.com and click on "Volunteers" at the top of the page to find our online form.

Next time: FAQ#2 "What tasks can I expect to do if I volunteer?"

-Carly Slater, Volunteer Manager, New York Comic Con

Q&A w/ T.M.R! An Experiment in Democracy!

New York Comic Con is honored to have T.M.Revolution perform with us this April, and personally, I'm very, very excited. Even more than that, from everything I've heard from his fans in both America and Japan, everyone is ecstatic. Our staff, partners, and sponsors are just really happy right now. And so is T.M.Revolution.

T.M.Revolution's New York Comic Con concert is going to be -- to use a word frequently popping out of my younger, hipper, trendier girlfriend's mouth -- epic.

And to foster more good feelings, I'm pleased to announce I'll be sitting down with T.M.Revolution next weekend to conduct a little interview. What'll I be asking him? I don't know. See, all the questions will be coming from you! I'll be asking T.M.Revolution 21 questions, which means you've got 21 chances to get your question answered personally by one of Japan's biggest pop stars. How do you ask T.M.Revolution a question? Simply leave a comment. I'll be going through all the comments and pull the 21 best and/or most interesting and ask them myself.

Want to know T.M.Revolution's favorite song? Want to know what brand of gel he puts in his hair? Curious whether or not he's a fan of creme brulee? Maybe you're just dying to know if he's got any cute pets? Post your questions right here, and I'll ask T.M.Revolution for answers.

All questions must be posted before 12 PM EST on Friday, March 14!

Tatara Makes Revolution!

Hellboy, Hulk, and Wanted at NYCC!

Guillermo del Toro!

Ron Perlman!

Selma Blair!

Doug Jones!

Mike Mignola!

All at New York Comic Con! All in the IGN Theater at 2 PM on Saturday, April 19! All thanks to our friends at Universal!

And, over 200 NYCC street banners all around New York City featuring Hellboy II, Hulk, and Wanted! Again, thanks to the guys and gals over at Universal!

Huzzah!

(Lance blogged about this yesterday, but his words seemed a little bit less than certain, so I'm repeating the news in a bit more definite tone. Excited yet?)

Happy Birthday, RandomGuy!

A year ago today, a little video about a Spider-Man and a Superman action figure was posted on YouTube. The image was shaky, the toys not always in focus, and Superman sounded kinda funny. Yet, there was something about the thing -- something charming, something stunning, and something true. Now, after 365 days, that video has over 2,500,000 fans. Who knows what the next year will bring?

Congratulations, ItsJustSomeRandomGuy, on your first year anniversary! Your Marvel vs. DC videos have won the world over and it's impossible to tell just how many hours have been spent watching your movies -- and how many hours have been spent watching your movies instead of doing work.

I wish you all the best and hope to see a lot more big (and small) stuff from you soon!

If you, dear reader, would like to wish ItsJustSomeRandomGuy a Happy Birthday, too, head on over to his most recent video -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXRpPja3AMA -- and leave him your warmest regards! Try and tabulate how much more productive you would have been if you weren't constantly watching Marvel vs. DC, too!

I Remember Spikey

I remember the first time I stumbled upon theOtaku.com. It was years and years ago. I was Marketing Manager at Central Park Media, the people responsible for Grave of the Fireflies, Revolutionary Girl Utena, and -- admittedly -- a lot of yaoi. I don't know where or how I found theO, but I knew I liked it. It was slick, it was fun, it had a personality, and it had Spikey. Thinking back, Spikey is what really did it for me. TheOtaku.com's very simple and very spikey mascot set the mood, and I've loved watching theO and Spikey evolve through the years.

Now, five or so years later, theOtaku.com has grown and grown up a lot, and I'm proud to offer my congratulations today, the day the newest evolution of theO --Version Vibrant -- launches. I'm pleased to see Spikey's part of the new theO, and I'm very pleased to see he, just like the entire portal, has matured.

If you're new to theO and are reading this without any real clue as to what I'm talking about, theOtaku.com is the definitive internet anime art portal. Built from the ground up to showcase anime art and foster a unique, collaborative, and thriving community, it's an amazing thing to behold. The passions of hundreds of thousands of artists, authors, and creators are poured into this place, and it's all because of the passion of a single man, a nice guy who lives in New York City named Adam.

A few months back, Adam and I met up for lunch at Kinokuniya Bookstore in Manhattan, and over Asian fusion paninis and designer green teas, he revealed to me a draft version of Version Vibrant. I had seen bits and pieces of the new theO ever since Adam unveiled a preview during the New York Anime Festival in December. I loved what I saw and expected great things, but I was totally unprepared by the full size, shape, and scale of theOtaku.com's Version Vibrant.

As he led me through the new site, I saw killer app after killer app after killer app. The engine that powers Version Vibrant offers users a level of customization and creativity that's simply never been done before. Version Vibrant gives its visitors the ability to create, to make, to mold, and to -- honestly -- be themselves. And, more brilliant than any of theO's new features is the way theO sticks them all together so rather than being daunting and overpowering, they're natural. They work in harmony.

I know I'm speaking in a lot of vagaries, and that's because the new theO is something you really have to experience for yourself. I don't want to spoil the site. Instead, I want you to explore and invent here. I want you to discover everything that Adam's crafted.

And I want you to know that Adam's crafted all of this himself. TheOtaku.com is an impressive, impressive thing, and it's all the more awe-inspiring when you realize it's the vision of a single man. Adam and a very small team have given life to theO, and the feats they accomplish every single day are nothing short of monumental.

And through it all, Spikey's remained. While theOtaku has grown and grown up, become more things to more people, and developed a sophisticated substance, look, and feel, it still has the same spirit that started it all, and now, through Version Vibrant, this spirit is more alive than ever.

Well done, Adam. Congratulations!

Artist Alley is Online!

Where's Artist Alley? Where's Artist Alley? Where's Artist Alley? Where's Artist Alley? I'll tell you where! Online right now at newyorkcomiccon.com. It's online. All of it. Go now!

Highlights include Mark Buckingham, C.B. Cebulski, Colleen Doran, Danny Fingeroth, Keith Giffen, Bob Layton, Jim Lee, Rob Liefeld, Monte Moore, Rags Morales, John Romita, Jr., Jim Shooter, and Jim Valentino.

Artist Alley

PS - my plane is about to fly, a steward could knock this blackberry out of my hand at any moment. Why do I risk it all?

To tell you Artist Alley will be on NYCC.com tomorrow and here and in a press release.

Thanks for waiting!

L
Lance Fensterman
Vice President
BookExpo America
New York ComicCon
New York Anime Fest
Blog:

www.mediumatlarge.net

203.840.5507 (o) 203.417.3607 (m)
--------------------------
Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld - Please excuse any typos!

Hellboy 2, Hulk and Wanted at NYCC........

2pm Saturday in the IGN.com Theatre at NYCC Universal plans a serious roll out of these three films. It should make for a great afternoon and another sign that Hollywood is hitting NYCC hard.

Sorry, I'm mogging as I wait for a flight to Belgium here at JFK so this post will be brief, link free, and full of typos, but I thought you'd all like to know the official news as soon as I did.

I'm certain Universal will bring Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones and Guillermo del Toro to talk up Hellboy 2. As for Hulk and Wanted, talent of the first rate is being worked on, but nothing that we can confirm yet, but our hopes are high!

Further proof that the studios are making a splash at NYCC? Universal will be ringing the city with Hulk, Hellboy and Wanted banners promoting NYCC from light poles all over Manhattan. Over 200 in all. Damn cool! So when you hit the big city for the con, you'll feel like the entire city is decked out to welcome you.

We've got more good stuff coming and hopefully this week. So stay tuned and remember, as soon as I can tell you any news, dear blog readers, I will!

-L
Lance Fensterman
Vice President
BookExpo America
New York ComicCon
New York Anime Fest
Blog:

www.mediumatlarge.net

203.840.5507 (o) 203.417.3607 (m)
--------------------------
Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld - Please excuse any typos!

You remember the line.

Want your NYCC ticket mailed to your home? You've got to order by March 13. After that, you'll have to wait in line. Yeah, the line. You remember the line. So, let's avoid it and order that ticket ASAP.

New York Comic Con Show Store! Online! Almost!

The New York Comic Con Show Store is totally almost completely online. Want proof? Head on over to this far, far too long link…

http://www.nycomiccon.com/App/homepage.cfm?moduleid=3277&appname=100453

We've got a fine assortment of New York Comic Con apparel and exclusives that'll be on sale in just a little bit.

NewYorkComicCam.com and CosplayTeamUSA.com Launch!

I'm pleased to announce two new websites have launched today that expand the New York Comic Con and Anime Festival online family. Both sites are something special, something unique, and something designed and coded by yours truly.

First up we have a dream come true for gawkers, stalkers, and voyeurs, NewYorkComicCam.com. Ever wonder what we're doing at NYCC and NYAF when we're not blogging? Well, click over to NewYorkComicCam.com to find out. We've got our first webcam -- the CouchCam -- already set up, and I want you all to expect a lot more soon.

Going online in the next week will be the LanceCam, a tiny little camera in Show Manager Lance Fensterman's office, and a little after that will be the TataraCam, a joyous camera overlooking my very desk. I've also got plans for a FridgeCam, JohnCam, LarryCam, and a few more. I've just got to make certain I pace myself and continue to place webcams in my spare time rather than working on new cameras instead of doing actual work.

Second is CosplayTeamUSA.com. At New York Anime Festival 2007, the World Cosplay Summit's Team USA was chosen. These two women -- Renee Gloger and Sonnya Paz -- will be traveling to Japan this summer to compete against cosplayers from around the world in a competition to crown the best cosplayers on Planet Earth. (I'll be going, too, to supervise the gals.)

CosplayTeamUSA.com contains profiles, pictures, and the Team USA blog, and regular visits to CosplayTeamUSA.com will keep you up to date on what's going on with the girls, their costumes, and their general musings as they prepare for the World Cosplay Summit Finals. And, just like NewYorkComicCam.com, what you see on CosplayTeamUSA.com is just the start. I've already got a new round of images from both Renee and Sonnya, and you should plan on a lot of pretty and pretty awesome things coming to the site in the coming weeks and months.

Enough about my pet projects, though. Time to go back to work. I should announce some new guests or screenings or something.

My Weekend: A Note To Lance

Lance,

Hi, it's Peter. I hope you're doing well. I'm writing you this note because you're not at work today. We were supposed to do a snazzy photo shoot for the upcoming NewYorkComicCam.com, but you're sick. I hope it's not too bad. You're going on some business trip to Europe tomorrow, no? Your recent speaking tour throughout South East Asia didn't happen, and I hope the European sojourn doesn't also go the way of smoke and ghosts.

Anyway, I was going to swing by your office to talk to you about my weekend, but since you're not here, I felt we should have this conversation via MediumAtLarge.net in front of all ten of its readers. (Hi, Lance's mom!) Realistically, I know you check this blog more often than your actual e-mail, so don't complain. In fact, I think this blog should be the channel by which we have all future conversations. (Hey, Lance, is that guy I can't mention who's connected to that thing I can't say going to come again this year? Yeah, fans are going to have that reaction I can't talk about!)

I spent Saturday at Queens Gantry Park, a little strip of green at the edge of Long Island City overlooking Manhattan's skyline. I took pictures of all of New York Comic Con's 2008 exclusive toys and apparel and am working to have them online -- hopefully -- before the day is through. The photos are, at least in my estimation, good, and considering all my complexes and neuroses, if I approve of them, they're probably honestly not crap. I went to school for this stuff, ya know.

I didn't go out to take pictures of products. No, I went out to take good, striking photographs that just happen to feature the NYCC logo on occasion. I also snuck in a copy of Werewolf By Night that was actually given to me at the first New York Comic Con and some Del Rey books to keep Ali T. Kokmen happy.

I was going to spend Sunday doing my taxes, but after you let me know you and Mrs. Show Manager weren't going to make it to a play and offered me the pair of tickets, I changed my plans and also added you to my BFF list.

Admittedly, I'm not the biggest theater goer. Honestly, I don't think I've been to a play in the three years I've lived in NYC. Don't take this as me saying I'm not cultural. I am! I just spend my time at the Angelika and Independent Film Center. In fact, I just saw In Bruges.

(What's a "Bruges"? A sleepy, tranquil, fairy tale of a town in Belgium that Colin Farrell tears the fuck up in In Bruges. Before going into the screening, I wasn't expecting much and had images of Smoking Aces and Shoot 'Em Up swirling about my head. I figured In Bruges was going to be a lot of violent nonsense with witless exchanges of sash mouth haphazardly thrown into any moment whose aural real estate wasn't occupied with automatic gunfire. In fact, In Bruges was a lot of violent nonsense with witty exchanges of sash mouth skillfully placed into every moment whose aural real estate wasn't occupied with automatic gunfire.)

Getting back to the wobbly line that is my subject, I and Miss Programming Manager took in The Slug Bearers of Kayrol Island (Or, The Friends of Dr. Rushower) not really knowing what to expect, something which should come as no shock to you as all of our e-mails prior to the show revolved around me talking about giant slugs -- while there wasn't a single slug featured in the play at all.

The Slug Bearers of Kayrol Island was some pretty powerful and fun stuff. Fusing the art of cartoonist Ben Katchor, the music of Mark Mulcahy (who did the music to The Adventures of Pete and Pete), and some real, live actors, the result was clever, surreal, triumphant, and tragic. It was pretty deck. It was pretty deck, too, that actor Bobby Steggert looked a hell of a lot like a young Dave Foley and Jody Flader looked just like a hot boss from one of my previous jobs.

The only thing that wasn't pretty deck was that our seats were right next to a fat man in a Miami Dolphins jersey and his gassy wife. My girlfriend spent the entire play with her arm around me and head on my shoulder, both of which I assumed meant your tickets were going to get me some. As she explained soon afterwards, though, she was only in that position to put as much distance as possible between herself and the gassy woman's anus.

After The Slug Bearers of Kayrol Island, we headed over to chic vegetarian hangout Zen Palate in Union Square only to find it had closed down. There was a note on the door stating that the rent jumped just too high. There are other Zen Palate locations in NYC, but it's a shame the Union Square restaurant closed. Rent everywhere in New York City is perpetually going from astronomical to incredulous. I honestly don't know how long I'll be able to stay in Long Island City. My rent's preposterous and there simply aren't any alternatives. If I look down my block, there aren't any new apartments available. There are plenty of condos, though, and there are more going up every minute. The condo across the street from me wants $450,000 for a studio. That's eight times the price of my parents' house.

We ended up going to Quantum Leap on 1st Ave. Quantum Leap, like Zen Palate, is a vegetarian joint, but it's decidedly more hippie and hipster friendly. My girlfriend got a vegan chicken and bacon sandwich. I got a veggie burger topped with avocado and onion rings. Good stuff. We also talked about me being a hipster. Apparently, I may be one. Sure, all my friends ditched work on Super Tuesday to volunteer for Obama. Sure, I give money to and am right now listening to NPR. Sure, I've got a different blazer for every day of the week. But I know shit about indie music, hookah bars, and absinthe. Wait, no, scratch that last one. I know a guy with a bottle. Wanna take a guess who?

If I am a hipster, there are a few parts of my personality I've got to correct to better fit the counter-cultural mold. I'll steal some index cards from the supply closet this afternoon and have to remember to regularly use the word "deck", which I already started experimenting with above.

This just about brings me up to today. I'm working on some website updates, some programming, some barters, and some busy work. What else? Greg wants to see the next Marvel vs. DC video, and the blog widget over on newyorkcomiccon.com has been giving me errors for the past few days. I'm looking into it, and if it remains unstable, I'll be swapping it out for something else. Fret not, though, as whatever I replace it with will still be pulling in content from MediumAtLarge.net. When can we start selling ads on the blog and pocketing the profit?

Since you've got an Xbox 360 now, you need to get yourself a few games. Wouldn't it be nice if the blog could pay for 'em? Just a thought. Let me know, too, which games you've picked up for the 360. Get Gears of War yet? If not, you should. You should also figure out some way to get CliffyB to New York Comic Con.

At this point, I think I've gone on long enough. I'll leave you with this...

It's awfully suspicious you got sick and didn't show up for work the day after you bought an Xbox.

Love,
Peter

What's Better Than Press Coverage Of New York Comic Con?

JAPANESE Press Coverage of New York Comic Con!

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/entertainment/news/20080208-OHT1T00094.htm

T.M.Revolution was also on Appare Sanma Shin-Kyoju on Fuji TV yesterday talking all about us.

NYCC VIP Tickets - Coming Soon!!!

At long last, I’m going to leek out a little info on the NYCC VIP ticket we’ve created for this year. But here’s the deal we have to make; They are not on sale yet and while I hope to have the ready to go this week, I can’t guarantee it – so please be patient. The VIP packages going live are tied into a big guest announcement as well which means it’s out of our hands right now (I’ll tell you why the two issues are linked later in the post). So please be patient with me on getting them posted for sale, ok? I’ll make sure you faithful blog reader arte the first to know when they’ll be available…..

Ok, on to the business of VIP packages.

This year we are offering one huge VIP ticket to the show. It comes with swag and access, but it comes at a cost. Separate from the VIP package we are offering individual Ultimate Experience tickets that I’ll tell you more about in a minute.

NYCC VIP Ticket

- Weekend pass (special credentials, different from all other tickets)
- Limited quantity of 500
- Advance access to the con on Friday from 10-3 (the con opens to all other fans at 3pm)
- Dedicated counter for VIP package pick up and questions
- Dedicated entrance to the con for pro’s and VIP’s only
- Premium seating at panels in the IGN.com theatre
- NYCC exclusive Marvel t-shirt
- Marvel limited edition lithograph (signed by Joe Quesada)
- NYCC sweatshirt
- Marvel limited edition Iron Man bust
- Marvel NYCC variant comic
- DHL overnight delivery of credentials before the Con
- The cost: $400

Ultimate Experience’s

As I mentioned you’ll also be able to buy Ultimate Experience tickets to get even more access to some of your favorite guests. In all we hope to have about 20 of these different Ultimate Experience packages with the first round going on sale, along with the VIP tickets, this week (we hope!). This is the sticking point I mentioned – We have a huge guest announcement that we need to make before we can release these as we have an Ultimate Experience set up for this guest – that’s why I can’t guarantee when this will all be available, sorry!!!

So for example, you could buy the Lance Fensterman Ultimate Experience ticket for 100 bucks that would be a private meet and greet with me and 15 other fans only, along with a merch signing. Get it? All these tickets will be available online and we’ll do two or three waves of releases as we confirm the guests and the experiences. We have some really freaking cool stuff lined up for these, I mean it, not just signings and meet and greets but actual crazy experiences.

All of the details of the merch in the VIP packages and the Ultimate Experience stuff will go up at one time on the web site, so please stay tuned to the blog, I’ll tell you when we are going to launch it…..

-L

Fancy Pants Comic Con and Anime Festival MySpace and Facebook Pages!

Anyone familiar with MySpace knows the New York Anime Festival's MySpace Page gets daily if not hourly updates. Anyone familiar with NYAF's big brother -- New York Comic Con -- knows its MySpace page has been updated a little less than not as much. Why's this? NYAF's page is the work of myself and -- when I'm too busy watching MTV's That's Amore or doing real work -- my girlfriend. NYCC's page has floated among a number on the Comic Con team, with no one really claiming it as their own. Until now. I'm proud to say I've adopted New York Comic Con's MySpace page and will be showering it with love, affection, attention, and updates from now on.

I've already completely revamped the color scheme and made sure it reflects NYCC 2008. There's still some MSN passport window that I've got to make sure is eliminated, but all in all, the new NYCC MySpace page is better, cleaner, prettier, and -- most importantly -- accurate.

Beyond the new MySpace page, there's the brand new Facebook page. Again, while my baby -- New York Anime Festival -- has had a Facebook presence, New York Comic Con lacked one entirely. But no longer! So, whether you're a MySpace fan or prefer the flavor of Facebook, we've got you covered. Now, go, and friend us, because while we may be pals, it's not official until we're recognized by both MySpace and Facebook.

New York Anime Festival MySpace Page
http://www.myspace.com/newyorkanimefestival

New York Comic Con MySpace Page
http://www.myspace.com/nycomiccon

New York Anime Festival Facebook Page
http://www.facebook.com/pages/New-York-Anime-Festival/8913086326

New York Comic Con Facebook Page
http://www.facebook.com/pages/New-York-Comic-Con/10852735578

Free, the new $9.99

Indulge me with a little business talk……

The blogosphere is buzzing with Chris Andersons Wired article on Free, which in fact is a free excerpt from his forthcoming book. The article is exceptional and one that is extremely relevant to our business of publishing, comics, games, etc. He also has a nice piece in Ad Age you can read here.

I’ll give you one non book related example. I broke down and bought an X Box 360 yesterday and with it came no games (Yeah, I’m old school, I remember getting Super Mario with my Nintendo 15 years ago!), so I passed on a few of the upgrades from them (the wireless adapter, HD cables) because I had to buy a game. Overall they would’ve had a larger spend from me had they given me a free game. More to the point why is Super Mario a brand that still survives today? They gave away millions of free game 15 or 20 years ago – not a bad way to build a franchise.

Anyway, read the Wired article and check out Chris’s Long Tail blog (which was also an exceptional book that is insanely relevant to the niche title world of comics and books). Also, as a tease, Chris will be interviewing a HUGE player in the book industry at BEA in June. Look for that announcement in the next few weeks.

-L