Hey, Gang, Let's Put On A Show!

Reed Exhibitioners, the lovely folks behind the recent Book Expo in New York, have announced a new New York Comic Convention, to be held the last weekend in February at the Javits Convention Center. This is going to be a "big" con, not as big as Chicago and San Diego, but on a level with WonderCon and Megacon, which are pretty darn big themselves. The presence of Marvel and DC, both located in Midtown Manahattan, is seen as fait accompli.

It'll be interesting to see how this affects the national and local con picture. To date, only Big Apple Con, whose shows are quite small compared to the big boys, and the Museum of Comics and Cartoon Art, with its annual festival in Soho, have offered comic-centric events to Tri-staters. Big Apple Cons are more or less quarterly, and MoCCA annual but focusing solely on independent exhibitions. This would be a whole new type of event for the area, and a boon to hardcore fans who can't afford the travel and hotel costs of the West Coast and Florida cons.

The biggest concerns, so far, have been regarding weather and the somewhat inconvenient location of the Javits for those who rely on public transportation (although a proposed extension of the L train would, eventually, alleviate that concern somewhat). But New York is the birthplace of comics and still home to a large population of professionals and hopefuls, and deserves a comic show to call its very own. So I'm rooting for 'em.