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First Posted: 10/22/2013 Over the course of its four days this year, I was only able to attend New York Comic Con on Saturday, Oct. 12, so I had to pack a lot into one day. Because there is so much going on, each person in attendance can have a completely different experience. Here is how I spent my nine hours other than browsing comics and just taking in the sheer magnitude of the Javits Center gathering, though if you&#8217;re looking for just straight coverage of the con, wait until next issue, where we&#8217;ll have a more comprehensive summary of the busy weekend.
10. Finding free stuff: Comic Con is like a giant scavenger hunt for free stuff, and among many cool items, I picked up a LEGO Iron Patriot from &#8220;Iron Man 3&#8221; and an Ice King &#8220;Adventure Time&#8221; medal.
9. Don&#8217;t touch Lola: One fan totally had this coming. On Marvel&#8217;s &#8220;Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,&#8221; Agent Phil Coulson is very protective of his (apparently female) flying car, so as a fan attempted to get a closer look at the vehicle, parked behind velvet ropes, a security guard warned, &#8220;Don&#8217;t touch Lola.&#8221;
8. Walt Simonson still rocks: Famous for his amazing run on &#8220;Thor,&#8221; the artist signed one of my old comics and I picked up one of his latest pieces, a cover to the intriguing &#8220;Watson and Holmes,&#8221; starring African American versions of the characters.
7. Grabbing a Cup O&#8217; Joe: Marvel&#8217;s Chief Creative Officer Joe Quesada held his annual Cup O&#8217; Joe Q&A, and it was fun as always, though the audience was really throwing some softballs this time. Bonus points for a George A. Romero appearance. Speaking of which&#8230;
6. Random George A. Romero signing: Unbeknownst to me until I walked by, the godfather of all flesh-eating zombies was signing for free at the Marvel booth during a time when I happened to have 15 minutes, so I scored an extra autograph I wasn&#8217;t expecting to get.
5. The trouble with selling Tribbles: While I was in line to meet Romero, I talked to a lovely young woman dressed as one of the &#8220;Sucker Punch&#8221; gals about Tribbles, which she was selling just a few booths away. It&#8217;s these unexpected conversations with fellow fans that make these cons so enjoyable.
4. Setting up Camp: I watched for about 20 minutes as &#8220;Ren & Stimpy&#8221; co-creator Bob Camp drew and inked a picture of Mr. Horse for one fan before getting my Powdered Toast Man comics signed. Yes, sir, I liked it.
3. Just enough time for &#8220;Adventure Time:&#8221; After a long, exhausting day, I just beat the line cutoff to get my &#8220;Adventure Time Encyclopaedia&#8221; (Encyclopedia) signed by Olivia Olson and her dad, author Martin Olson. They play daughter and father (Marceline and Hunson Abadeer) on the show as well, so it was mathematical seeing them together.
2. John DiMaggio shows reveals his dual personality: As the voice of both Bender on &#8220;Futurama&#8221; and Jake the Dog on &#8220;Adventure Time,&#8221; DiMaggio has many, many fans, but practically all of them collided when Jake made a brief &#8220;Futurama&#8221; appearance, making him essentially talk to himself. I asked him about the crossover and he repeated it in both voices:
Jake: &#8220;What time is it?&#8221;
Bender: &#8220;Time for you to shut up!&#8221;
1. Anthony Daniels curses Carrie Fisher: I&#8217;ve been working on getting an &#8220;Empire Strikes Back&#8221; poster signed by every &#8220;Star Wars&#8221; cast member I can track down, and the last one to sign it was Carrie Fisher. The princess tends to cover herself, and her fans, in glitter, so naturally a whole bunch of it ended up on my poster. I forgot just how much until I unrolled it for Daniels, and just like the prim and proper droid he plays, he freaked out about it covering his table. As the con employees helped brush it off, I apologized and he just smiled and jokingly replied, &#8220;It&#8217;s not your fault. I&#8217;m going to slap Carrie next time I see her!&#8221; The image of C-3PO smacking Leia was priceless.
Also, a side note: I watched as a father and his son got a poster signed by Anthony. It was clearly the father&#8217;s memorabilia, so Daniels asked the young boy why he wasn&#8217;t getting an autograph. He just shrugged, so Daniels took an 8x10 photo from his table and signed it for him for free. This is why generation after generation continues to love &#8220;Star Wars,&#8221; and why these actors will always be remembered fondly for bringing us to a galaxy far, far away.

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