It’s almost New York Comic Con time again. Every year, the East Coast’s premiere comic event gets bigger and bigger. This year it’s gotten so big it’s burst out of the Javitz Center and is spreading its geeky goodness out through both space and time! All through the week of NYCC and through all of New York City, events with be happening under the banner of Superweek, an official collection of comic con related things to do. For the full list of events, check out NewYorkSuperweek.com. But we went ahead and cherry-picked some of the can’t miss events for you, because we love you.
Brains!
If you’re in the mood to expand your mind, Superweek offers a number of lectures and debates with a deliciously geeky bent. For astronomy enthusiasts, there are a number of special presentations throughout the week at the Hayden Planetarium. If you’re interested in the history of Comic Books, Columbia University will be opening its Rare Book and Manuscript collection for Comics at Columbia: Past, Present, Future. If you want to indulge in some macabre pre-Halloween fare The Museum of Morbid Anatomy has a few events including Taxidermy: From Collecting to Making, and Cure You or Kill You: 19th Century Medical Science and Quackery.
Comedy!
Looking for laughs? There’s plenty of comedy to be found like BATSU!, New York’s favorite live Japanese game show. Punderdome 3000, is an interactive pun competition hosted by Fred and Jo Firestone. At Nerd Comedy by Nerds for Nerds, host Kevin Maher (from the variety series KEVIN GEEKS OUT) will be joined by some of the biggest names in nerd comedy including: TV’s Frank Conniff (Mystery Science Theater 3000) Liam McEneaney (from TELL YOUR FRIENDS, the concert film and podcast) Rusty Ward (appearing as redneck comic Jeff Balrogworthy) Meghan O’Neill (Story Pirates, Reductress.com) and Manolo Blank (clown). Legendary writer/producer Dan Harmon (Community, Rick & Morty, Heat Vision and Jack) will be presenting Harmontown Live! a live version of his popular podcast featuring role playing games and celebrity guests. And if you’ve never caught one of his live shows, geek icon Kevin Smith will be doing Fat Man On Manhattan: An Evening with Kevin Smith with Special Guest Jason Mewes, he’s always a treat. Fans of The Thrilling Adventure Hour will be glad to know that the popular Los Angeles stage show is making its triumphant return to the East Coast, just for Superweek.
Books!
It may surprise you, but comic books aren’t the only kind of literature out there. Traditional, non-graphic books have always been a big part of NYCC, and that role is reflected in Superweek. If you enjoy audiobooks, you’ll want to check out Macmillan Audio Presents: Science Fiction Audiobook Narrators Live! where you can get some insight into what it’s like to bring great Scifi books to life! Harper Collins is celebrating their new release ENDGAME: The Calling with their big Endgame Launch Event, featuring the author James Frey and John Hanke, VP of Google’s Niantic Labs discussing the immersive media experience that is Endgame. Barnes & Noble is hosting a Ron Perlman Book Reading and Signing for his book Easy Street (The Hard Way).
Theatre! Theater!, Theatre!
New York is the world capital of live theatre, so it stands to reason some theatre-folk would get in on the Superweek action. Bedbugs!!! It’s A Musical, a typical girl-meets-bug-sci-fi-rock-musical-comedy will be playing throughout Superweek. Radiotheatre’s H.P. Lovecraft Fest is an attempt to stage 40 classic Lovecraft short stories as radio-plays. (If you’ve never experienced it, seeing radio-plays done live onstage is actually a lot of fun.) I honestly can’t adequately explain what Shipwreck with Welcome to Night Vale’s Cecil Baldwin is, but it sounds crazy-cool (It totally is! – EDITOR FRANK). For a trip into the more risque side of things, RAWR! Burlesque Presents: Comic Con Vixens!, and Singularity & Co and Dances of Vice Present Cosplay After Dark: A NYCC Mirror Universe.
Pop-Culture!
There’s also lots of big pop-culture events and meet-and-greets. Muppet Vault: Superheroes! is a show packed with superhero-related clips from Muppety shows and specials both classic and obscure, presented by Muppet fan website ToughPigs.com. Sci Fi Explosion features a special performance by Skeletor and some carefully curated video clips that showcase the weirder world of science fiction and its fandom. For the Nickelodeon fans out there The Adventures of Pete & Pete‘s own Michael Maronna (Big) and Danny Tamberelli (Little), will be joined by god-knows-who for a live presentation of their The Adventures of Danny & Mike podcast at SLIMED! Presents a Nite of Nickelodeon Nostalgic Nonsense! Chris Cummins, of Den of Geek and Topless Robot fame, will host a Dr. Who Trivia and Costume Contest. A can’t miss event for Trekkies and Trekkers alike will be An Evening with the Cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation Moderated by William Shatner. Ralph “Not the Marvel Comics Editor” Macchio and his eternal nemesis William Zabka will be on hand for The Karate Kid 30th Anniversary Cast Conversation and Screening.
Part-y!
And then there are the parties, when it comes time to put your swag-bags down and just have a good time! Rock Comic Con will be one of the biggest post-con events this year, as usual. The big X Japan Concert is getting a lot of hype, too. If you’re looking for somewhere to wear your costume after the Floor closes Twitch presents New York Super Week Dota 2 After Party promises 10 lanes of free bowling, a huge dance room with live DJ, giveaways & prizes from Funko & Loot Crate, drink specials and much more, all hosted by Stella Chuu, and sponsored by Midtown Comics. With that many sponsors, it oughta be pretty good! My personal favorite event of Superweek has got to be Rave of Thrones. The DJ, Kristian Nairn is a seasoned musician who has been DJing and producing for two decades, and he also happens to play Hodor on a little show called Game of Thrones.
