NYCC 2014 – Day 4

The final day of New York Comic Con had the fewest amount of panels I was going to, as usual, but was not without interest, particularly after I did some more room camping and ended up seeing panels I would not otherwise have seen.

The first ended up being a Doctor Who panel – I got there an hour early, which was fortunate, as the line was so big many were turned away. This didn’t have any of the cast or crew, however. It was a panel with several SF and fantasy authors discussing how Doctor Who influenced their work and what it meant to them. As I expected, most of the discussion involved the new series, though a couple of the authors noted experience with Classic. When asked about what they took away from the series, they mentioned the character-driven stories, the philosophy the program has explored, the ethical questions it finds itself embroiled in, and how it prefers cleverness over brute force. One author, Mike Cole, seemed to be only a casual fan, and in fact discussed how his dislike of chaos and love of efficiency has led to him siding with the villains much of the time!

After this was a panel run by Kickstarter, discussing how to crowdfund your comic book, with several people on the panel who had done just that. Kickstarter was emphasized as a place to build communities, and as an added bonus you can get publicity that isn’t all self-generated. Kickstarter by its very nature lends itself to comics and small press publications – there are 4700 projects that are comics related on the site. It also helps gain an audience of pros and editors, who do pay attention to things like this – new talent is appreciated.

When asked about advice, one point was hammered down over everything else – think about your shipping costs. When you offer stretch goals, think about what weight is added that may put your calculations over what you assumed. For that matter, think about your stretch goals, period – they can make or break a project. Most Kickstarter projects get their money in either the first or last weeks of the funding period, when it’s either getting new eyes or when people on the fence make a decision to pay. All the panelists were clearly enthusiastic about this as a way of getting their work out there and noticed.

After that came a panel that was more in line with my actual coverage, Kodansha Comics. They had four new titles to announce, all of which are exciting. I may have had my issues with Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, but if CLAMP can get past the morass of plot kudzu it became and make it more like the start of the series, then Tsubasa World Chronicle, coming out next year, should be a treat. As for Fairy Tail: Blue Mistral, it was a fairly obvious pickup as well, being a shoujo spinoff focusing on cute young Wendy and her magical adventures. There’s also a brand new series by the creator of Gantz, called Inuyashiki. It’s so new Kodansha couldn’t tell us much about it, but it comes out in Fall 2015. I wasn’t the biggest Gantz fan, but it certainly sells well, and barring Kodansha licensing Hen or HEN – both highly unlikely – this is the next obvious choice.

The big surprise for me was the pickup of L♥DK. Not really because I didn’t think it fit the company – after Say “I Love You” and My Little Monster it’s an obvious choice. No, it’s more due to the fact that it’s 15+ volumes. The author has had several other series in various Kodansha magazines over the last few years, mostly in Betsufure, which is also where L♥DK comes from. But I believe this is her first title over here. It did have a live-action adaptation come out this past year. The plot is not really anything new – school prince ends up being forced to move in with our heroine, a fact they have to hide even as she falls for him. If you like any of the recent shoujo Kodansha has done, this will be right up your alley.

My last panel of the day was Crunchyroll Manga, though sadly they were unable to announce any new titles, although they said it should be ready to announce in a week or so. So we got to see some of the editor’s favorite titles, including ones she wish got more clicks such as Memoirs of Amorous Gentlemen. They’ve also recently updated both the web and mobile applications, making for a smoother reading experience. A relatively quiet final panel allowed me to duck out during questions (which tended to be of the “have you guys considered licensing title X’ variety) and head over to an amazingly packed Artist’s Alley before leaving.

NYCC has grown exponentially over the years, to the point where I think this year it passed 150,000. It’s not a con for the casual or the introverted. That said, it was gratifying to see they sorted out many of the tiny room issues (lines were still prohibitively long, but well-policed, and there were few arguments that I saw) from last year. The fans were enthusiastic as well – I had several long conversations about cartoons after the early panel Saturday, and spent Sunday talking with a 16-year old Doctor Who fan and a young woman babysitting her 13-year-old charge, a huge Attack on Titan fan, and had gone the extra mile for him by dressing up as a Survey Corp member herself. The con may have been packed, but everyone was having a lot of fun. And that’s really all that you can ask of a con this size.