Unlike its October counterpart the New York Comic Con, which is dense with video game and film promotions, Special Edition: NYC is an event that’s dedicated to comic books, cartooning and the graphic arts.
The inaugural convention is being held this weekend at Javits Center North, the newish extension of the Javits Center.
This June con is more focused on comic books, with dealers and publishers taking up the front of the hall and the back half dedicated to artist alley, where writers, artists and other creative types are set up to meet the public and sell books, comics or artwork.
Queens based writer/artist Joe Mulvey will be setting up in artist alley, where he’ll be selling copies of his new hardcover collection of his comic “Scam,” as well as some new prints.
At New York Comic Con, Mulvey is typically located at his the table of his publisher, ComixTribe, but at Special Edition, he’ll be on his own.
“New York Comic Con itself is primarily ComixTribe’s biggest show of the year,” says the Middle Village resident. “I know that if I put ‘Scam’ … or any of the books that we put out at ComixTribe — if I just get people to look at it and put it in their hand for a second — it’s almost a guaranteed sale.
“So making an event that’s smaller where I can open my big New York mouth and try to get people to put the book in hand, it’s great,” he continues. “That’s definitely a nice opportunity to allow people who might not have seen myself or ComixTribe, to just give us a chance.”
Mulvey’s “Scam” is one of those incredibly clever ideas that makes you wonder what took so long for it to happen. It was inspired by something his dad said to him.
“I was a kid and my father would always take me to Vegas,” Mulvey explains. “He knew I was a big reader of comics, and he’d be like, ‘Imagine if any of those superheroes you read were here.’ So all the sudden I had this idea of Magneto playing roulette or Professor X playing blackjack. And I was like, ‘When I grow up, I’m going to make a story about the X-Men go to Vegas.”
Mulvey took that idea and turned it into a five-issue miniseries, which he first started off hand peddling to stores. It is now collected in a 276-page book, funded through Kickstarter.
“I’m lucky enough that I can do comics full time now,” Mulvey, 34, says. “I kind of feel like we’re going through a boom … where people are thirsty for new stuff. … So that’s where the fun of comics is now and I’ve been lucky enough to ride the wave of it.”
Four panels to check out
There’s lots of programming going on this weekend at Special Edition: NYC. amNY picks out a few you should check out.
Marvel’s All-New Young Guns
Get a look at the hot new artists working on some of Marvel Comic’s biggest titles like “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Wolverine and the X-Men” and “New Avengers.” Saturday, 12:15-1:15 p.m., Theater A
Reimagining the Female Hero
Join some of the most prominent female writers and artists for this discussion about the growing number of female protagonists in comics. Saturday, 4-5 p.m., Theater A
Batman 75th Anniversary
The Dark Knight is celebrating 75 years of fighting crime. Stop by to hear from some of the creators of his current comic to see what’s coming up. Sunday, 12:15-1:15 p.m., Theater A
Creating Comics: Inside the Art of Visual Storytelling
If you want to learn how to make comics, stop by this panel with ex-Marvel Comics Executive Editor Carl Potts, author of “The DC Comics Guide to Creating Comics: Inside the Art of Visual Storytelling.” Sunday, 4:15-5:15 p.m., Theater B
If you go: Special Edition: NYC is Saturday and Sunday at Javits Center North, 11th Avenue at 39th Street, $30 adults, $5 children, specialeditionnyc.com
