New York Comic Con 2016 - Day minus 1 - 'The Countdown'.

New York Comic Con 2016 is the tenth year of the event and the tenth year that I have had a ticket. This is Mecca, The Batcave and The Avengers Mansion all rolled into one for us comics fans. It is nothing short of a pilgrimage and the high point of my year.

The event runs from Thursday to Sunday and I arrived at JFK a little jaded from a long working month but a real buzz on. A fun game is creator spotting on the plane and this year I nodded a hello at Rachael Smith artist on Star Trek/Planet of the Apes and Doctor Who at Titan Comics.

A quick and easy walk through the newly designed immigration lead to a very hot and sweatily congested cab ride. I have taken to staying at the New Yorker on visits. Not the most well kept hotel but one full of character and is fast becoming a meet up point for comics professionals and fans.

After a quick turnaround I headed down to the Javitts Centre and picked up my four day pass. Already a buzz of activity. Vendors unloading vans, union members moaning about work, cops chatting and people looking directly up at huge billboards. The scale of this event never fails to blow me away.

After another quick cab ride I headed to a famous diner for a late lunch with the mighty Bob Fingerman. We sat and chatted for hours about politics, comics and the comics business. Anyone who listens to the podcast I'm a co-host on knows that Bob has gone from a big influence and comics/art hero of mine to a pal. He is intensely intelligent and I always flex mental muscles when we chat. He told me about some new projects he has coming up and showed me some absolutely stunning new pages.

Myself and Mr F then had a walk round his neighbourhood and looked at the bizarre architecture of some local park statues and churches. 

If you've never read anything by Bob Fingerman I highly suggest you start. Minimum Wage has been a pleasure to read for pretty much twenty years and never fails to raise a smile.

Another cab ride and quick shower and toilet business had me meeting up with NYC pal Adrian Hashimi. THIS GUY! Along with his better half Amri they are my favourite people. Adrian is a comics creator, filmmaker, storyboard artist and painter. Pop over to his site www.adrianhashimi.com

We then met up with Marc Laming, Natasha Healey and Matt 'Peachstone' Harrower and headed off to tie one on. Day one of NYCC is always a marathon and we all managed to be up for a full 24 hours but it was still a night full of laughs. 

Roll on Thursday!