New York Comic-Con attended by many studios
Gotham event draws bigger crowd
By Laurence Lerman -- Video Business, 2/10/2009
FEB. 10 | NEW YORK--Like Marvel Comics’ Incredible Hulk, the fourth annual New York Comic Con grew bigger and stronger this past weekend.
Held over three days at Manhattan’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, the show opened on Friday, Feb. 6, to a respectable but unspectacular assembly of attendees (predominantly industry professionals, at least for the first half of the day), but grew as the weekend commenced and fans of all ages began to show up in force. According to NYCC show manager Lance Fensterman, the show drew nearly 77,000 fans, a marked increase from last year’s show, which was attended by approximately 67,000 people.
Although a handful of suppliers were represented in the exhibition hall—including 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, Anchor Bay, Funimation Entertainment and Media Blasters—the majority of the studios and other major suppliers opted to get exposure via sponsored screenings and Q&A sessions.
Most prominent among these were a screening of footage from upcoming films Astro Boy, Knowing starring Nicolas Cage and The Hurt Locker directed by Katheryn Bigelow, courtesy of Summit Entertainment; a presentation and signing by Jackson Publick, creator of TV’s The Venture Bros., from Turner Home Entertainment; a video presentation and Q&A with cast and crew from TV’s Fringe; a sneak peak at the first act of Joss Whedon’s new series Dollhouse with Eliza Dushku, from Fox; and the premiere screening of the new animated Wonder Woman feature film from Warner and DC Comics.
The most popular event was Warner’s screening of the first 18 minutes of the upcoming Watchmen, followed by a discussion hosted by Dave Gibbons, the co-creator and illustrator of the original Watchmen graphic novel.
