New York Comic Con: Nerds can unite over TV and ‘toons

While comics, video games, and cartoons might sound like relics of a childhood past, they don’t have to be. Geekdom is very much alive in college, especially at Columbia—and certainly in New York, where the 2010 New York Comic Con aims to bring out the inner superhero in everyone who attends.

While there are many on-campus groups with similar themes, such as CU Anime Club and the Columbia University Science Fiction Society, New York Comic Con is an all-inclusive nerd menagerie, featuring panels and events focused on everything from graphic novels to previews of blockbuster movies. But are Columbia students embracing their inner nerds and attending?

“I’m going because I think comics are entertaining, but I don’t have a lot of chances to read them since it’s an expensive hobby, and also because I’ve wanted to go to San Diego’s con for years, so this is the closest I’ll get to something like that for a while,” Isaiah Everin, CC ’11, wrote in an email.

The fifth annual NYCC, though not as well known as its San Diego counterpart, has no lack of promising events, even for the superficial fan of comics and pop culture. The popular college programs that compose “Adult Swim” will be on hand at the con with panels about their popular shows, including “Robot Chicken” and “The Venture Bros.” For fans of Joss Whedon and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” bad boy James Marsters, who played Spike in the cult hit, has his own panel as the spotlight event. There are also previews and discussions with stars of the BBC TV show “Sherlock,” the creative team behind the new AMC drama “The Walking Dead,” and a talkback with Eric Bana, Joe Wright, and Saoirse Ronan, the stars of Focus Features’ new film “Hanna.”

But comic cons are known for their academic and industry events as well as for their celebrity panels and big previews. There are panels that will appeal to any type of student—from “How to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse” and “Psychiatry and the Superhero,” to “How to Protect Your Intellectual Property and Not Infringe Others.” In addition to the jam-packed schedule (over 300 events), there is the “floor” chock full of exhibitors and booths with new video game tutorials, artist signings, and more merchandise for sale than is even imaginable.

Brian Hunter, SEAS ’12, wrote in an email, “Often people who enjoy comic books and video games do so on their own, as it doesn’t sound like a group activity to most people, but in reality it’s a lot of fun to hang out and enjoy them with people who share your interest in them.” Whether it’s joining an on-campus group or attending impressive events in the city like New York Comic Con, it’s okay for students to embrace their inner nerds.