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I remember at one point at New York Comic Con in 2023, standing on the show floor and admiring not just the mammoth, oversized One Piece booth, but the equally oversized line of fans eager to get into the booth and see it for themselves. Beside me, another con-goer was doing the same thing before leaning over to comment, conspiratorially, 'Comic Con? It’s not really about comics anymore, is it? It’s more like anime con!' To which there is only one reasonable response: 'Isn’t it great?'

I mean, sure: objectively, it’s a complaint that doesn’t really make sense. Even if you ignore the fact that the majority of anime properties that go big are based on manga which is, you know, comics — even if you, as I suspect the gentleman in question was doing, very deliberately define 'comics' as 'that specific thing you grew up with as a kid, almost certainly featuring superheroes and published monthly by Marvel, DC, or Image' — there was, last year, as there is this year (as there is every year!), a lot of comics at New York Comic Con. Publishers have booths on the show floor, there are countless panels about the comics and comic book culture, and the talent filling Artist Alley is enough to put every other convention in North America to shame. Really, you could spend all four days of the show in Artist Alley and have a great time, although you’d probably end up broke from all the art you’ve bought in that time.

That’s still missing the point, of course. I understand fully why the stranger leaned in to snark to me; I am a man of a certain age, and as a white bald man with a beard, I am visually identical to roughly 60% of the people inside the U.S. comic book industry (and, alas, probably a similar percentage of the audience of the same). There’s every chance I, too, would be someone who feels as if NYCC or any other comic convention should be centered around the things that I love with only a cursory nod to anything else, like the “good old days” of… hell, even just a decade or two ago at this point.

The truth of the matter is, though, that the more conventions I go to, the more I’ve come to realize that one of the finest joys of a comic convention is to be exposed to fandoms and things you don’t understand in the slightest — and get to appreciate other people’s joy.

The most extreme example of this for me recently was PAX West 2024, which genuinely turned me on to gaming culture even if I’ve yet to become a gamer in my own right. (I don’t trust my thumbs, what can I say?) Thankfully, every single comic convention offers an easier, and less intense version of the same experience, and New York Comic Con more than most. While it is definitely possible to spend all four days of NYCC inside a bubble of your own pre-existing tastes and favorites — and there’s no shame in doing so, says the man who’s going to be looking for very specific '80s back issues of The Flash during his NYCC this year — there’s something uniquely fun in exposing yourself to something brand new at some point and seeing what happens next.

In the worst case scenario, you’ll get to see other people get excited about things, even if you don’t understand why, and who doesn’t want to see other people be excited and happy? (I’ll admit my bias: I genuinely love to get second-hand fandom buzz, especially when I personally don’t get it and have to pick up context clues.) Better yet: in the best case scenario, you’ll discover something that could become a new fascination for yourself sooner rather than later.

For me, cons are one of the best places to discover new pop culture: you’ll likely have easy access to the material, whatever it is, you’ll be surrounded by people who are ready to answer any and all questions you have about any part of the topic, and you’ll finally know who all those people have been cosplaying as all this time. One of the best things about pop culture is that sense of discovery, of the new thing that you just found and want more of, and conventions are the ideal place to make that happen. (Again, NYCC better than most, just because of the sheer scale of the thing.)

All of which is to say: yes, it’s great to me as someone who didn’t grow up with manga and anime that Dragon Ball and One Piece and similar shows are so huge at New York Comic Con. Because if you can’t let other people’s excitement lead you to finding something new and different to check out at a show like NYCC, then, really, you’re missing out.

New York Comic Con runs October 17 through October 20. When I’m not working or looking for back issues of The Flash, look for me in panels I’ve no idea about.

Get ready - tickets for NYCC 2024 are on sale now!