East Coast vs West Coast
We live in a day in age where people compare everything. Something always has to be ‘better’ then something else. French toast or pancakes, maybe American cartoons or Anime? Marvel vs DC? There are absolutes here, meaning there is no such thing as a wrong answer. Opinions are almost a thing of the past with the introduction of social media some years ago, the way of the opinion has changed its course…in a bad way. No one is privy to the burn of someone getting reprimanded because of the way he or she may view a particular topic. This rings especially true with politics. No worries, we won’t get into any boring political talk, besides this writer does not want to get scolded. We are supposed to be talking comics after all.
InvestComics LLC arrived back home from New York Comic Con 2017 on Monday. Every single year since 2010 there is a question that comes up. More like an opened ended opinion question. Which is better, NYCC or SDCC? Being that we’ve been to both we can weigh in. The answer is the answer, an opinion. It’s not incorrect or not without merit. New York Comic Con is the better chaos con. Let’s see why…..
Let’s get one thing straight, NYCC and SDCC are both chaotic. Too many people in a small area at NYCC, and too many people period at SDCC. SDCC edges out NYCC in the category of spacing out people to walk around though. There is a little more breathing room. Maybe it’s because SDCC is so much larger as far as real estate than NYCC. The aisles also seem wider, so the walking from one place to another is more of a pleasurable experience than NYCC. At the NYCC show, it’s almost near impossible to walk from one end of the floor to another end and not get very frustrated by so many things. Fans walking too slow, stopping in the middle of the aisle to take a picture, having a conversation in the middle of an aisle, etc. So many factors come into play regarding the walking procedure at NYCC. There are simply too many people in a smaller area than that of SDCC. Shoulder to shoulder fans trek through artist alley every single year at NYCC. This especially was prevalent this year due to the construction at the Jacob Javis Center where artist alley was usually stationed. NYCC moved artist alley downstairs and it was a bit brutal at times, but fans dug in and made it work….somehow.
Besides the crowd issue at NYCC, it still is a better show. The analogy I always use is this, imagine you buy a ticket to New York City and you are staying for just the weekend. It’s almost a given that you will, in fact, miss out of some highlights the great city of New York has to offer. It’s simply not enough time to cover everything. The same logic can be applied to SDCC. It’s too much in too little time. All of the vendors inside and outside, the tents with activities, the theaters, the giveaways, the exclusives, the panels, the events and on and on. You as a fan have to plan accordingly for SDCC. Even through planning, you will miss something, almost guaranteed. Let’s say you want to see the latest Batman v Superman trailer, that line was 23 hours deep. Yes, fans waited an entire day to see the debut trailer to that movie in 2015. So that’s one day completely gone from your SDCC experience. This leaves you with 3 days to cover an abundance number of goodies and panels, etc. within this time frame. Newsflash, it’s probably not going to happen for you. NYCC does not do this to a fan. Yes, there will always be scheduling conflicts at big shows, but not to the extent of a SDCC show.
If you’re looking for a show that fulfills your movie, television, cartoon, anime fix, then SDCC is probably for you. Be prepared to make tough decisions though regarding panels. You will have to give up something to see something else. SDCC is media driven. It’s not a comic book show….anymore. NYCC is no better in this respect, but they still make you feel like you are indeed at a comic book convention. A large one. SDCC makes the vibe feel like a big media day for 4 days. Everything revolves around the big celebrity name and not so much the comic book genre. Granted, Stan Lee is not doing SDCC these days, but if he did, he wouldn’t get top billing. At NYCC, he would. See how this works? The difference. SDCC will focus on the next Justice League movie with stars Gal Godot or Ben Affleck and not focus on a Stan Lee. A ‘comic book’ guy. It’s not about comics for SDCC anymore. It used to be, not anymore.
NYCC packs their show with comic book talent. If you are in the market for a large comic book driven presence, NYCC is for you. This year’s NYCC felt as though there were more comic book vendors around. This felt good for this fan. Although not a plethora of vendors like yesteryear, it was a decent amount to get some comics you may have needed to fill in some gaps in your collection. A nice selection of back issues was available too. A lot of key Silver, Bronze and modern books to barter for with the vendors. Lots of them not budging on the hot Venom, Gwenom, Deadpool books at all. Matter of fact, no one was coming down on those books.
There are many variables as to which comic convention fans like more. Yes, there are fans that would choose Emerald City or Boston or DragonCon or C2E2 or even their smaller city show, but this is about NYCC v SDCC. If you had a chance to win an all-expenses paid trip, including full access to either New York Comic Con or San Diego Comic Con, which would you choose and why?
-Jay Katz
Jay Katz, a comic book collector since 1983, is the owner/creator of InvestComics LLC since 2005. Originally a magazine before the website launched in 2005, InvestComics LLC is the number one speculative/entertainment comic book source on the internet.
Their motto is: Invest wisely. Read comics.
Follow InvestComics LLC on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, Pinterest, YouTube
Find us, we’d love to hear from you!
Be sure to visit www.investcomics.com for new content all the time.
