The Arts in NYC Fall 2012

NY Comic Con was the only thought on my mind in early October. My friends and I counted down the days until it officially began. I was only able to go on Saturday, but it was still amazing. I even got a 4-day Pro Pass because of my friend’s connection. The greatest perk of this pass was that we were able to enter the Center earlier than people with regular passes. There were over 110,000 people that were crowded into the Javits Center. Some of them cosplayed (dressed up) as their favorite characters. Some of the most remarkable ones were Hulk, Bumblebee (from Transformers), Deadpool, Doc Oc (villain from Spider-man 2), and Spidey-Thor (Spider-man with Thor’s helmet and hammer).

I’ve always had a love for comics and cartoons. It’s difficult just to name my favorite because I love so many of them. But this hobby would probably not exist if it weren’t for Stanley Martin Lieber (a.k.a. Stan Lee). He is the creator of more than 300 characters. His most notable characters include Spider-man, Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk, X-Men, the Fantastic Four and Daredevil.

The highlight of this event was definitely seeing Stan Lee for the first time in person. I couldn’t get his autograph because the line was so long that the people at the end would probably not even get to see him. I didn’t even know that he was going to be there at that time. I was just walking by some booths and I saw a long line. When I looked over to the beginning of the line I just stood there, star-struck and amazed. I stood there for two minutes until the security guard yelled the dreaded words, “if you’re not going to buy something then disappear” to me and a couple others who were stunned as well. Even though I didn’t get to meet him it was still awesome to see him. Just knowing that the creator of a few of my favorite comics was so close was good enough for me.

Lee’s work has been very influential on the fictional world. Before the 60s comics were just a pastime for children. There were “perfect” characters like Superman, who was pretty much invincible to everything at the time, and Batman, whose alter-ego was a millionaire. When Lee was an up and coming artist he knew that those characters were unreal and that it was difficult for the public to feel connected to the heroes. So he created characters who were flawed in ways, but would always win against evil. The characters could relate to  many kids who read the comics. For example, the X-men were about “mutants” that lived in a society in which they were viewed as outcasts and are continually fighting for acceptance in the world around them. That was the main reason that the x-men became so popular. The Daredevil is another prime example. The blind hero shows that even disabilities can’t stop people from contributing to society. His art has been a major influence especially in the “Silver and Bronze Ages of Comic Books”.

-Nate