The wind was howling between the tall buildings, creating a bitter cold wind tunnel.  People franticly marched up and down the street, rushing to their destinations, and keeping their bodies moving in an attempt to keep warm and avoid the freezing cold February weather.  Car horns blare in anger, as the hurried pedestrians block traffic.  Sounds like a typical Saturday in New York City , except this was not just any ordinary Saturday.  Just to the left of the chaos in the streets stood a ridiculously long line that stretched almost the perimeter of one square city block.  This line consisted of tuskan raiders, stormtroopers, orange-clad little ninjas, famously fallen Final Fantasy VII vixens, Captain America , and many many comic and anime fans.  What could possibly motivate such a motley crew to stand in such a huge line?  It was the New York Comic Con at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center !

09:10AM EST – I arrived with my friends to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center greeted by that same line filled with a rogue’s gallery of geekdom.  It was still early, as the doors were not scheduled to be opened until 9:30AM.  So we were left with only one option, making our way to the back of the line and waiting patiently for them to let everyone inside.

09:15AM EST – After much walking and holding in our bodies’ desires for bathroom relief, we finally reached the end of the line.  We found ourselves near a separate entrance to the convention center.  This entrance was only being used for exhibitors, professionals, press, and staff to access the building and obtain their badges for the day.  Fortunately, for me, I happened to be one of those individuals, and thus, was able to make my way into the building through this entrance.  Therefore, I left my friends to wait in line in the arctic cold, while I went into the very warm Javits Center to obtain my badge.  No, I did not have a press badge.  I actually had a professional badge since I am considered an educator at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT).  Once I procured my professional badge from the counter, I decided to take a look around and see what was in store for my friends and I.  Everything was still being setup at this point.  There were multiple kiosks with playable PlayStation 2’s, some of which featured new, unreleased games.  I was not allowed to enter the exhibitor’s area just yet, but it appeared to be much bigger than last year’s con.  Everything appeared to be much bigger, as there was something happening on every floor of the convention center.  The excitement level was building exponentially within me, and I could not wait for the activities to begin.

09:30AM EST – The doors opened to the public, and the staff began shuffling in the crowd.  I thought, since I had a professional badge, I could just walk right into the exhibitor area.  But I was very wrong, as I was told by a staff member that I had to wait in line with the rest of the people.  Apparently, Friday was the special day for professionals only.  I guess I might have to consider going on Friday next year.  Anyway, so I had to be a complete sucker and go wait in line with my friends.  When I arrived to get back in line with them, they gave me plenty of shit since I was talking trash earlier about not needing to stand in line.  Oh well, I guess that is karma for you.

10:13AM EST – We were still waiting in line as it was moving less than one foot per minute.  It was a snail’s pace, and I was a bit ticked that I was missing the Manga Entertainment Panel at 10 AM.  Manga Entertainment was going to announce their 2007 releases, and give away free DVDs.  But I just had to grin and bear it, as I kept reminding myself that there was plenty more to see that day.  Just as I finished that thought, we came across the very first “cool” moment of the day.  Across the street from the Javits Center , there lied the remains of an abandoned, blown/burned out taxicab.  It was definitely one of the coolest things that I have ever seen!  The entire front end and interior were burnt to a crisp.  It appeared that the only thing left of the seats was just the frame.  The windshield and front windows were gone, possibly blown out from the fire.  It was quite a sight!  I only wish I knew when the fire happened, and how long this taxicab was there. 

10:27AM EST – After almost one hour in line, we finally made it inside.  The final portion of that long wait was not too bad as we had the burnt taxicab to occupy our minds.  But now it was time to enjoy the warmth of the Javits Center and the excitement that is the New York Comic Con.  Our very first stop was the exhibitor area.  Wow, it was certainly impressive!  My initial assumption was true, as it was probably double the size of last year’s exhibitor area.  There were so many booths, with an excellent variety.  They ranged from comic books and collectibles vendors to the big boys of Marvel and DC Comics to PlayStation and their playable PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 2 consoles to trading card companies and their playable pre-made decks.  I seriously did not know where to begin.  So we decided to just start from the first aisle on the left and work our way to the right.  The amount of free stuff available was ridiculous.  I grabbed free comics, free PC game demos, free novels, free posters, and other free random crap.  Even each of the major American anime distributors had their own booths.  Viz Media once again had the best booth as they gave away free sample editions of Shonen Jump manga.  The sample editions were a collection of the single chapters (all taken from the first volume in each series) for around six current manga series.  There were three different versions, and you bet your ass that I grabbed one of each.  A few of the manga series featured in these samplers were “Prince of Tennis,” “Hikaru no Go,” “Death Note,” “Train_Man – Densha Otoko,” and “R.O.D. – Read or Dream.”  Tokyopop also gave out free sample editions of manga.  I grabbed a few and headed on my way.  They featured chapters of “Archlord,” “Gyakushu!,” “Phantom,” “Utopia’s Avenger,” and “Warcraft: The Sunwell Trilogy” manga series.  There was so much to see, but I was in a rush because I wanted to go to the American Anime Awards Pre-Game Show at 11 AM.  ADV gave out a free DVD that contained trailers for various anime series and the first two full-length episodes of both “Le Chevalier D’Eon” and “Air Gear.”  I was really excited about that freebie.  Funimation had something similar as they gave out a DVD promoting the new Funimation Channel.  This DVD contained trailers and full-length episodes of “Moon Phase” and “Negima!”  But Funimation one-upped ADV in my book because they gave away punch-out Shin-chan masks!  Apparently, there was a giant Shin-chan walking around the Comic Con, and if he found you wearing the mask, you received a free prize from Funimation.  Unfortunately, I never came across this giant Shin-chan.  I was a very disappointed about that.  Even though I missed out on a costumed Shin-chan, I did encounter plenty of cosplayers.  Since this was a Comic Con, the cosplayers ranged from all different kinds of genres.  The most common cosplayers were the Star Wars fans.  I must have seen at least 20 different stormtroopers, two or three Boba Fett’s, and even a pregnant Padmé.  There were a good amount of American comic book heroes as well.  I saw an excellent Spider-Man, one super hot Dark Phoenix, and the same Captain America as I saw at the 2006 Comic Con.  Nevertheless, you cannot deny anime fans the respect they deserve for great cosplay.  They were out in full force at the Comic Con.  I saw a great Kakashi, several Naruto’s, some great xxxHoLiC cosplayers, Aeris and Cid from “Final Fantasy VII,” a few Inuyasha’s, and many others.  However, the crown for best costume went to the Burger King.  That’s right, the King was there to save people with his delicious Burger King sandwiches.  It was quite an awesome costume.

11:15AM EST – I arrived late to the American Anime Awards Pre-Game Show because I had trouble finding the rooms where the panels were held.  When I got there, they were already discussing the upcoming award show that night.  The panel was made up of some of the most famous English voice actors in the North American anime business.  There was Christine Auten, the voice of Sakaki in “Azumanga Daioh;” Jessica Boone, the voice of Arumi Asahina in “Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi;” Shelley Calene-Black, voice of Kiyoko in “Gilgamesh;” Luci Christian, voice of Kaname Chidori in “Full Metal Panic!;” Alice Fulks, voice of Countess Werdenberg in “Gilgamesh;” Hilary Haag, voice of Rosette Christopher in “Chrono Crusade;” Taylor Hannah, voice of Lia de Beaumont in “Le Chevalier D’Eon;” and Serena Varghese, voice of Rein Tsunomot in “Best Student Council.”  All of whom were scheduled to be presenters during the award ceremony.  So, I sat there and listened to what they had to say for a minute or two.  Then, I realized that I was wasting my time because the American Anime Awards are a complete joke!  The awards were decided solely by fan voting.  Therefore, it was pretty obvious that only the actors and actresses from the most popular anime series would win.  If they really want to make legitimate American Anime Awards, they should treat them like the Academy Awards and have the winners decided by their peers.  So, after only being there for a total of three minutes, I got right up and went back to the exhibitor area.

12:15PM EST – It was now time for the “Afro Samurai: Director’s Cut” Panel.  I was really looking forward to this panel because the creator and the director were slated to appear.  I absolutely loved the entire series and recorded all five episodes as they aired on Spike TV, but now I was about to be treated to a sneak preview of the uncut DVD version.  The panel took place in the New York Comic Con’s screening room.  This year’s screening room was actually fairly impressive.  It was easily double the size of last year’s, and the quality was astronomically better.  The table with the panel members was located at the front of the room just in front of a large drop down screen.  After a brief hold up due to technical difficulties, the show was about to begin.  The panel was made up of Takashi (Bob) Okazaki , creator; Fuminori Kizaki, director; Eric Calderon and Taito Okiura, Gonzo co-producers; and Scott McCarthy, Funimation marketing.  Okazaki and Kizaki could not speak English, so Okiura needed to translate.  Eric Calderon started off the panel by welcoming the crowd and introducing himself and the others in the panel.  Eric explained how he works for Gonzo and his job is to help create fusion Japanese animation, which is Japanese animation that is made in collaboration with western talent or western companies in order to make something that is more marketable for the world rather than just the Japanese market.  “Afro Samurai” is an excellent example of fusion Japanese animation, with its mix of eastern traditions and art with a western sound and feel.  After Eric’s introduction, a preview of the unedited, uncensored DVD of the series was shown.  Before I saw this trailer, I was under the impression that not a lot of material was cut out for the Spike TV version.  Boy, was I wrong!  There was apparently a few minutes of footage cut out of every episode, including a much longer, more graphic sex scene.  Even some of the fight scenes appeared to be elongated and contain more graphic violence.  The amount of “fuck’s” said by the characters in the preview made the series feel more like a typical Samuel L. Jackson movie.  None of these “fuck’s” obviously made it to air on Spike TV.  I was very impressed by the preview, and jotted down in my memory to purchase this DVD when it is released.  After the preview concluded, Eric announced that the “Afro Samurai: Director’s Cut” DVD will be released on May 22, 2007.  He also mentioned that in addition to the extra footage, the DVD will feature some behind the scenes documentaries and multiple commentary tracks.  Then Eric handed it over to Okazaki to tell the story of the series’ origin.  Okazaki explained how he is a huge fan of Japanese samurai movie and hip hop and soul music.  He is even a giant devotee of the Wu Tang Clan, Black Star, and the Roots.  These elements helped to influence Okazaki into creating the original illustrations of “Afro Samurai.”  Okazaki created a short “Afro Samurai” manga series, which had a very minimal distribution.  There were probably only three or four thousand copies produced, and the manga only ran six pages long as it was merely just the beginning idea of the series.  An extremely limited action figure of Afro was also produced.  There were probably less than two or three thousand made, but this action figure played a major role in the future of Okazaki and “Afro Samurai.”  While working in the Gonzo office in Japan , Eric happened upon an action figure of Afro on the wall of a producer’s office.  Eric was in awe of the figure, and asked for a closer inspection.  He knew instantly that this was the project he had been looking for.  Eric asked to meet with Okazaki , but it took much pressing on Eric’s part to get Okazaki to come out of his shell.  Okazaki explained how he and Eric went out for a drink and karaoke.  He thought Eric was very funny, and they got along very well.  They shared similar interests, and Okazaki felt comfortable with handing over his baby, “Afro Samurai,” to Eric and Gonzo.  Eric explained further that this was typically how deals are made in Japan .  A good amount of business deals with Japanese creators is made due to personal interactions and the confidence that comes from these personal relationships.  Japanese creators are the exact opposite of Hollywood , and they want to work with individuals that they respect and enjoy their company.  So after a deal was struck, Eric and Okazaki went to work on an animated short pilot.  The pilot was meant to act as a proof of concept, and a copy of it ended up in the hands of Samuel L. Jackson.  Jackson grabbed it off the desk at a management company, and watched it.  After watching the pilot, Jackson called up Eric and said, “I am Afro Samurai.”  Eric instantly agreed, and Jackson got Spike TV on board.  After the explanation of the origin of the anime series, the director Fuminori Kizaki spoke about his opinions entering the project.  Kizaki worked as character designer on “Blue Gender” and “Galaxy Railways,” as well as the director for “Basilisk.”  When he was approached with the “Afro Samurai” project, Kizaki said that he was very impressed with the characters and feel of the series.  He was excited to work on the series, and working along with Okazaki .  First, Kizaki borrowed some DVD movies from Okazaki ’s collection (ie: “Coffee” and “Jackie Brown”) to better understand Okazaki ’s influences.  Then, Kizaki went to Los Angeles to meet with the RZA.  Kizaki actually never left Japan before working on “Afro Samurai.”  Kizaki loved Los Angeles culture, so much that some aspects made it into the series.  For example, Kizaki was amazed by do-rags and if you watched “Afro Samurai,” you saw plenty of do-rags on many of the characters.  Eric pointed out this fact during the panel session.  Next, Taito Okiura started to discuss the excitement of working with the RZA.  Okazaki was always a fan of the RZA’s music, so this was a dream come true for him.  The RZA was insistent on creating an all-new soundtrack for the series.  While creating the music for the series, the RZA was acting in the movie “Derailed” and producing music.  He actually worked on the soundtrack in his trailer during breaks between shooting for “Derailed.”  “Afro Samurai” was a transcontinental project, with individuals conducting meetings through iChat.  For example, Eric said that the RZA would be in New York City , while Eric was Los Angeles , and the animators were in Japan .  All the while, they discussed the progress of the series and the synchronizing with the soundtrack.  At this point, they previewed one of the special features on the Director’s Cut DVD, “The Making of Afro Samurai.”  This movie discussed all of what the panel members mentioned about the origin of the series, with extra information.  One of the most interesting facts from the movie was about the soundtrack.  The RZA explained the motivation behind each major character’s theme.  Afro’s father was represented by an old school soul theme, while Justice (the main villain) was represented by a rock theme.  The hero of the story, Afro, was represented by a hip hop theme (combination of rock and soul).  I was truly blown away by the depth of RZA’s soundtrack.  I never picked up these themes while watching the series.  He is truly a genius on a level all his own.  After the movie preview concluded, Scott McCarthy announced some of the extras found on the Director’s Cut DVD, including commentary with Samuel L. Jackson, Kelly Hu, and Ron Perlman.  The panel was winding down as they announced other “Afro Samurai” related projects and merchandise.  DC Unlimited signed a deal to produce Afro toys.  The figures were on display at the DC Comics booth in the exhibitor area.  A video game is in development from Bandai Namco.  The game will be released on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.  There is also a live-action Hollywood movie being developed, and Samuel L. Jackson will play Afro.  There was no word as to the actual release dates for the game and the movie.  However, it was mentioned that both the game and the movie will have different takes on the story.  So do not expect a simple retelling of the anime story.  Eric also discussed the possibility of sequels to the anime series, but nothing has been worked out just yet.  But, Eric was muttering “trilogy, trilogy, trilogy” while mentioning this news.  So, we can only hope for a Afro Samurai trilogy in the future.  In the mean time, Okazaki is currently working on a 300-page manga, and he is producing it in an American comic book format.  They are currently entertaining offers for distribution.  Finally, Eric was asked about Afro’s acceptance in Japan .  He explained that the series has yet to air in Japan .  It is set to air in an HD broadcast with Japanese subtitles in early summer 2007.  A Japanese language dub for the series does not exist just yet, as it was produced mainly for airing in the United States .

1:03PM EST – After the wonderful “Afro Samurai” panel, I was interested in hitting up the special Stan Lee panel across the hall.  Unfortunately, there was a ridiculously long wait just to get into the room.  It did not look as though the Stan Lee panel would start on time, or would have any seating room.  So we decided to not bother with the Stan Lee panel, and I walked down a few rooms to see what the supposed major anime announcement was.  I guess this require some explaining.  There was a panel session listed solely as “Major Anime Announcement.”  But, in my opinion, there was nothing major about this announcement.  The announcement was for a new online anime news source and community called “animeOnline.com.”  It was launched by Funimation CEO Gen Fukunaga to be an official anime and manga news source since all the anime and manga news sites are independent of the industry.  The site is supposed to be a place to read news, make new friends, post videos, etc.  Almost like a combination of Anime News Network, Anime3000, YouTube, and MySpace.  Unfortunately, I do not think anime and manga fans are ready to abandon these other sites.  I have seen other sites similar to this in the past (ie: Anime Tribes) that ended up failing miserably.  Another motivation for my presence was the supposed free pocky.  Unfortunately, I was unable to get any.  Therefore, I bolted out of that panel session and headed back to the exhibitor area in hopes of landing some autographs.

1:15PM EST – I arrived back in the exhibitor area, and immediately jumped in line to get David Finch to sign some comics.  He is a well-known artist who works on the new “Moon Knight” comic series and has worked on “New Avengers” and tons of other titles.  Unfortunately, the Marvel booth was horrible, as they limited their line to only a set amount of people.  This was due to the fact that Marvel did not put a limit on the amount of comics that each person can get signed.  So jackasses decided it was a great idea to bring in their entire comic book collection to get signed.  I’m sorry, jackasses, but I have a life and wanted to do more than spend my day giving famous writers and artists carpel tunnel syndrome from having them autograph a million comics.  Hell, I only wanted a few issues autographed.  Screw you, fanboys, and screw you, Marvel!

1:20PM EST – After my disappointment with Marvel, I found the booth for Fan Expo Canada .  This booth was also hosting many autograph sessions with Canadian artists and writers.  However, what made this booth so great was the five comic limit for each person.  This made it possible for everyone waiting in line to get his or her comics autographed.  I was able to get Olivier Coipel’s autograph within a few minutes of getting in line.  This booth instantly became my favorite of the entire show.

1:30PM EST – While I got Coipel’s autograph, my brother Anthony (Ichigo on the Anime3000 boards) and my sister went to meet Takashi Okazaki and Fuminori Kizaki at the Funimation booth.  They were lucky enough to be fifth in line to meet these two geniuses of anime.  When it was Anthony’s turn to approach the table, he thought it was the perfect opportunity to try out his Japanese.  So he approached the table, and bowed to them.  Okazaki and Kizaki bowed in return.  Since he does not know too much Japanese, he essentially said, “Pleased to meet you.  My name is Anthony.  I love Afro Samurai.”  Okazaki and Kizaki were very happy with his attempt to speak Japanese.  Okazaki asked him for his name again, and then proceeded to autograph Anthony’s name on the poster in karakana.  Anthony was giddy for the rest of the day.  He was excited to have an “Afro Samurai” posted autographed by both Okazaki and Kizaki, as well as having spoken Japanese to them.  The two of them were autographing posters for fans for a good hour or so.  They were really cool, and probably the best part of the Comic Con.

1:35PM EST – It was finally time for some lunch.  There is nothing better than overpriced food at the Javits Center cafeteria.  Probably the most interesting part of getting lunch was seeing stormtroopers with lunch trays.

2:15PM EST – After lunch, I wanted to attend the Jhonen Vasquez Spotlight in one of the session rooms.  If you are unfamiliar with Jhonen’s work, he is best known for his alternative comics “Johnny the Homicidal Maniac” and “Squee!” published in Slave Labor Graphics, as well as his animated series “Invader Zim” which aired on Nickelodeon.  It was the tenth anniversary of “Johnny the Homicidal Maniac,” so Jhonen was given this special session.  I arrived a little after it already started.  The session was a straight up question and answer session with fans.  The room was packed, which just goes to show how popular “Invader Zim” has become.  I sat down and settled in for my first experience of Jhonen outside of his cartoons and comics.  There were more than a fair share of dumb questions thrown his way, but he handled them very well and gave plenty of hilarious answers.  One clueless individual asked Jhonen about a rumor of the return of “Invader Zim” to television in 2008.  He responded in a very sarcastic tone, “Yes, if you sit by your TV long enough, it will eventually come on.”  The female individual then continued to dig her own grave by apologizing for the dumb question and then asked if she could give Jhonen a hug.  Jhonen was puzzled and responded, “No!  Why do people at these cons always want a hug?!  If you’ve seen my work, you’d know that I don’t want a hug!  If you tried to hug Zim, he’d kill you!”  There were some good questions spread out amongst the dumb ones.  For example, someone simply asked Jhonen, “Why Nickelodeon?”  He was referring to why Jhonen chose Nickelodeon for the network to air his animated series.  Jhonen responded, “Nickelodeon was IT at the time.  They had shows like ‘Ren & Stimpy,’ ‘Rocko’s Modern Life,’ ‘Doug,’ and others.  But when my show got there, those shows were gone.  Nickelodeon had already gotten big and wanted to protect themselves, and it was not cool to be creepy anymore.”  It was a really entertaining panel session, and I became a bigger fan of Jhonen due to his quick, witty, comical responses.

3:05PM EST – After the Jhonen Vasquez panel, I walked over to the VIZ Media Anime Panel.  I was looking forward to seeing what they had planned for 2007.  The panel was made up of Gonzalo Ferreyra, director of sales and home video; Bill Germain, director of animation production and TV; and Wendy Shimamura, marketing.  They started the presentation by first giving an overview of what is on tap from VIZ in 2007.  2007 will see the release of the “MÄR” and “Prince of Tennis” anime series.  The first DVD volume of “MÄR” will hit stores on June 12^th with an MSRP of $19.99.  Each volume will contain four episodes.  They are still working on the foil packaging for the DVDs.  “Prince of Tennis” and “MÄR” have been broadcast on Toonami the past eight weeks on a trial basis.  The two series should start full airing on Toonami very soon.  When that begins, “MÄR” will air at 10 PM and “Prince of Tennis” will air at 10:30 PM.  Both will also air the first 26 episodes of the series in order.  Wendy mentioned that “MÄR” has been really popular on Toonami Jetstream, as it appeals to both male and female anime fans.  The Shonen Jump home video line made major strides in 2006 with the debut of “Naruto” and “Bleach” anime series on DVD.  In 2007, the line should be led by the “Naruto” movie in September, and consistent “Bleach” releases.  “Bleach” volume 3 will be released on March 27^th, volume 4 on May 29^th, and volume 5 on July 31^st.  Bleach.viz.com will continue to have more updates.  The “Naruto” uncut season 2 DVDs will be released in 2007 in two volumes.  The “Naruto” Uncut Box Set volume 3 will be released on May 22^nd in two different versions.  The standard version will be priced at $49.98, and a special limited deluxe version that comes with a sound village headband and ID bracelet will be released at $69.98.  Each version will contain 13 episodes.  The releases of the Toonami version DVDs will change to a bi-monthly schedule.  The volume 14 DVD will be released on July 31^st.  “Naruto” episodes will continue to air on Toonami on Saturdays and every weekday on Miguzi.  VIZ announced the acquisition of the “Naruto” movie and OVA during the panel.  The “Naruto” movie will have a special theatrical premiere.  It will only be shown in theatres for one night in June 2007.  If you sign up for the newsletter at shonenjump.com or naruto.com, you will receive an update when the movie trailer is released.  The OVA was announced to be 40 minutes in length (which will most likely be the second “Naruto” OVA).  The OVA will also come with an exclusive longer “Naruto” movie trailer.  They began describing the brief synopsis of the “Naruto” movie.  I was very tempted to shout out spoilers during this description, especially since I saw the movie around two years ago.  They also announced that Toonami Jetstream will receive more episodes this year.  The service appears to be doing very well.  The last item on the agenda was the download-to-own service that will be used for distributing the “Death Note” anime series.  They did not have many details to give for this service.

3:25PM EST – I left the VIZ Media Anime Panel early so that I could be on time to catch Kevin Smith.  Kevin Smith was going to be conducting a question and answer session in the same vein as his tours and DVDs.  My friends saved me a great seat in the second row.  So I was really excited for this.  Unfortunately, it appeared that Kevin Smith was going to be late to start.

3:45PM EST – Kevin Smith finally started the question and answer session.  It was typical, golden Kevin Smith ramblings.  This was another highlight of the Comic Con, as I have never been to any of his question and answer shows in person.  I own the DVDs, and I watch them pretty often.  But DVDs are never the same as being there in person.  As with any question and answer session, Kevin received some great questions and some pretty stupid ones.  Then, in true Kevin Smith fashion, he makes the stupid ones enjoyable and tends to ramble on endlessly with his stories of Hollywood .  I won’t dwell on Kevin for too long.  You cannot understand the experience unless you go out and experience it for yourself.  The best comment from the session was a discussion of a battle royale where the Swedish Chef battles Martin Luther King, Jr.  MLK would win hands down!

5:15PM EST – Though Kevin was late, he definitely gave us our money’s worth by giving us a solid hour and a half.  He even wanted to keep going, but I guess the sneak peak of “Hostel 2” was just more important to the Comic Con organizers.  I really wanted to attend the Venture Brothers Spotlight, but it was pretty much completely over.  However, I have been kicking myself ever since learning that the Venture Brothers Spotlight featured the voice actors from the series and they hung around and talked to the fans for an additional 20 minutes after the session ended.  So, not knowing about the elongated session, we decided to attempt to obtain more autographs and play games in the exhibitor area.  We successfully obtained the autographs of David Finch and Ron Garney at the Canadian booth.  Ron Garney is the artist currently working on “Amazing Spider-Man.”

5:40PM EST – There was one last session that I really wanted to attend.  It was the Marvel Comics special two-hour session entitled “Cup o’ Joe.”  This panel session was to cover the upcoming storylines for Marvel Comics in 2007.  Unfortunately, the room was packed with no seats left and absolutely no standing room available.  People were seriously pouring out into the hallway.  It was pretty crazy.  So, we were once again forced to miss a session that we really wanted to attend.  Thus, we decided to go back to the exhibitor area and play some games.  We played some online “MotorStorm” on PS3.  I am really looking forward to playing this game.  It is a really fun racing game with tremendous visuals.  There were also playable versions of “Monster Madness: Battle for Suburbia” for the Xbox 360, “the Darkness” for PS3, and “God of War 2” and “TMNT” for PS2.  There was a significant increase in the amount of video games on display at this year’s Comic Con.

6:35PM EST – It was that time of the day.  After being at the Javits Center for almost nine hours, it was time to head home and hopefully pass out from the overload of excitement we experienced.

I had such a great time at this year’s New York Comic Con.  I had so much fun that it made me wish that I had purchased a full weekend access ticket.  I would have loved to return to the Javits Center on Sunday.  I think they did a better job organizing it than last year’s con.  Last year, there were so many people showing up on Saturday that the New York Fire Department forced the organizers and the Javits Center to suspend entry to the building.  No such problem was faced this year, as they cut off the sale of tickets a few weeks in advance.  I think that the most memorable moments were the “Afro Samurai: Director’s Cut” Panel, the “Kevin Smith Spotlight,” and the “Jhonen Vasquez Spotlight.”  Now, all I can do is sit back and hope that next year’s Comic Con will have just as many excellent guests, free giveaways, and interesting new announcements.  I expect to get a full weekend access ticket for next year, and spend the entire weekend with Inuyasha, Kakashi, and maybe the Burger King once again.