Having developed an interest in comics recently, I took a day off and went to the NY ComicCon over the weekend. It was impressive in many ways, just as comics themselves are; often trashy and crowded, but full of wonderful energy and creativity.
It was great to hear Neal Gaiman read and answer questions and hear Grant Morrison kibitzing with the fans in his thick Scots accent. I also went to a panel of (relatively) old-time great comic artists and later got to talk to Carmine Infantino, whose Flash and Adam Strange comics seemed so imaginative and visually arresting when I was a pre-teen.
I also spoke to David Mack and bought some issues of his Kabuki comic that I was missing. He was just as nice as I thought he would be. He and so many of the other artists exhibit an impressive mastery of drawing and page composition.
Ultimately the immense crowds (mostly men in black tee-shirts, it seemed) made me claustrophobic, and I escaped the Javits Center for a quiet restaurant with my son. But comics seem to be full of vitality these days.
