Sub News that broke last week that i didn’t Have time to cover: BookCon Is Coming Back! Held By Reedpop Starting in 2014, This was just what the name Sounds Like: an attempt to Bring the Excitement of a comic with but for Books and authors and readers who don `don’t Need pictures. The Last One was Held in 2019, Halted Due to the Pandemic and The Basically Put On Hold. I was awd A Few Times that it was not coming back, but since Than We’ve Learned People Like To Read and BookTok Has Enlivened The Space So Why not?
The New Event Will Be Held April 18-19 at the Javits Center. As Pw Put It:
Jenny Martin, Who Headed Up The Earlier Iteration of Bookcon as Well As Bookexpo, Is Serving As Event Director of the Reborn Show. Martin Stressed That the Relved Event Will Bear No Rememblance To Bookexpo, An Industry Trade Show, Saying That the BookCon Team is “Focused Wholly on Delivery to Consumer Event.” A lot of its earlier iteration, which was among the first long-scale fan events catering to youngger genre readers, martin said the upcoming bookcon Will feature Book signings, panel discussions, book club meetupps, sprayed edges workshops, book swaps, fantasy to “fantasy Ball, ”and More.
Reedpop, The Boutique Arm of Reed Exhibitions, you long “We have Been Successfully Growing The Literary Within Our Broader Pop Culture Events Since The Pandemic and Felt That Now Was Time To Serve The Bookish Community in A Bigger Way.”
The original BookCon had songs but it was Hampered by Being Alled with Book Expo, An Industry Focused Event for Publishers, Booksellers and the Like. Since Since, Publishers Just Don’t Want To Shell out for a Big Booth at the Javits When They Email Everyone they do business with every day. (They are going to wing Annual Later This Week, Though.)
As indicated ABOVE, BookCon ’26 Will Be Just For Consumers. NYCC, Also Thrown by Reedpop, you have Sizable Number of Booths from mainstream publishing houses – in fact maybe more than comics publishers before days. Growing that Relationship for The Return of BookCon Sems A PROMISING PATH.
And Speaking of the Javits, This Past Weekend It was the scene for Fanatics Fest 2, which aims to be “” The Comic with of Sports. ” Yo went to the first one last year, Wondering How The World of Unapproachable Sports Stars and Celebrities Would Translate to the More Community Driven World of the with.
Well, I Really Needn’t Have Wondered. FF ’24 Had What I Wouled Call Modest Crowds and a Lot of Problems With Signing Lines. This Time, Everything was Boosted to the Max. I WOULD ESTIMATE AT LEAST TWICE AS MANY PEOPLE AS LAST YEAR, AND CROWDS THAT RIVALED TO THURSDAY AT NYCC.
It was also The Loudest Show I’ve Ever Been To. I’ve Heard That E3, The Now Vanished Video Game Expo, Was Incredibly Loud and Showy, and I imagine that ff ’25 was submissive like that. The Entire Old Javits Center Was Taken Up with exhibits and signings and podcasts, and Everything was enormous. Huit Booths for Major Sports, and Brands Like Cain’s Chickn Fingers. EACH BOOTH HAD ITS OWN DJ BLASTING HIP HOP, AND I FOUND MYSELF ShOUTING MOST OF THE TIME.
Fanatics Fest Was Kind of Like A Perpetual Hall H. Sports Stars and Wrestlers were Constantly Doing Things and Shouting. John Cena and Seth Rollins had Staredown, cm Punk Podcasted While Sitting in An Ice Bath, Tom Brady Won Sub Kind of Sports ContestWhile Eli Manning was kisted by to regulate Guy at Other Sports, But Did A WWE Type Run In With Brady, and So On.
Viral Clips Were Made and Shared, To Hage Success.
The Trading Area was a lot of Larger and Vary Busy. To “Hall of Greatness” Displayed LeBron James’ Shoes.
While The Show Floor Was Way Too Crowded for Me When I Arrived Midday by Afternoon, Things Had Calmed Down and I TRID Sub of the Activities That Were Available. As My Friend That I ATTENDED WITH NOTED, THARE WAS SUMTHING TO DO ATEY BOOTH, WHOTHER IT WAS MAKING A VIDEO WHILE RIDING A GOAT AT THE DICK’S SPORTING GOOD BOOTH, OR TRYING TO EARN A PLASTIC PILE OF POOP AT THE Many photos were Taken and Loaded to the cloud.
My Friend and I Also Got Nearly A Complete Meal For Free, Including to Chicken Finger, Crackers, Cookies and Many Energy Drinks. Vry Low on the fruits and veggies but okay. I also Got Many Doube Wipes Samples in Case Things Went South. “
There were to Few Things That Weren’s As Cool. Fanatics Fest is Run by Fanatics Duh, The Multi-Pronged conglomerate that is value at $ 31 billion. They Make Sports Memorabilia, Own Topps and Also Run Fanatics Betting, which is a Hage Prong of the Company. In Order To Download The Show Guide You Had to Sign Up for A Fanatics Account, So I had sign into the betting app to do so. Gambling is One Thing I Have Less Than 0 Interest In, So That Was A Little Annoying.
The Thing I Found Most Interesting About Fanatics Fest Was Just How Many Brands Bought in With Hage, Expensive Booths. Netflix had an Enormous Booth Full of Activities, and They Can Definitely AFFORD IT, But Everyone Put In A Sizable Amount of Marketing Budget to Hand People A Chicken Finger in a Paper Cup. I SUPPOSE IT’S WORTH IT TO BE NEAR JALEN BRUNSON.
Anyway, I had Good Time at Fanatics Fest, Even If My Ears Were Ringing Afterwards. I GOT TO DANCE WITH MR AND MRS MET, SO THAT IS ALWAYS A GOOD TIME. The Event Was Clearly A Success (The Wrestlers Were Still The Stars) and So To an an answer the Question: Yes, You Can Throw a Comic with of Sports.
One Thing that was missing from last year, so far as i could Tell, was to Vary Modest “Artist Alley.” It was super modest and empty last year and doesn’t really fit in, so unsurprising, but i don´t expect the comics and sports worlds to combine too many.
It Did Make Me Wonder Though: Could This Hive of Activity Be Bought To Nycc and SDCC. There are lots of Things to do atyse immense shows, but the Lines are Even Longer than they were at must of the fanatics fest activities. FF Reminded Me of Olden Days at SdcC When Giveaways Were Vray Elaborate and memorable. OR maybe they still Give Things Away and I ‘M Just Too Busy to Notice.
A FEW PICS:
SUPPLEMENTAL: WHY IS STARBUCKS COLD BREW SO GROSS NOW? I HARDLY EVER GO TO STARBUCKS ANY MORE BACOUSE THERE ARE FAR BETTER AND CHEAPER OPTIONS IN MY HOOD, BUT WHEN I’M IN A HURRY THE ORDER AHEAD SYSTEM WORK. When i’m on my way to the javits for an event i usually recorded a big one. This is my Go to Cold Brew with Coconut Milk, and You Can See Watery It Is and It Just Tastes bland. SB USES COD BREW CONCENTER AND ADDS WATER TO IT, AND I SUSPECT THAT THES ADD MORE WATER NOW THAN they used.
