New York Comic Con is a place where fans of comic books, manga, anime, graphic novels, video games, TV, and films join together to celebrate their favorite characters and stories.  This year, the convention was held from Oct. 8 to Oct. 11 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in Manhattan.  A whopping 150,000 people attended, making it one of the biggest Comic Con events to ever occur.

Ten years ago, the Comic Con made its way into New York as just a small festival with very few celebrity appearances.  Today, the event hosts well-established directors, actors, and producers.

Actor Vin Diesel made an appearance to promote his new horror movie The Last Witch Hunter and answered many fans’ questions about the film.  X-Files actors David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson also promoted the return of their series.

This event now caters to more than just fans of Superman and Star Wars; it welcomes followers of popular TV shows such as The Walking Dead and Doctor Who.  However, the comics still reign as supreme over the regular TV and film.

“Comic Con may have been a place only for superhero and anime fans long ago, but now it is about pop culture in general.  It welcomes everyone,” said junior Injee Choi.

The convention consists of many booths and panels, where you can buy a variety of merchandise for your favorite fandom, including posters, clothes, accessories, action figures, and stuffed animals.  The panels are set up so that the fans can meet and talk to people from a variety of favorite shows.  Many comic books and TV shows held their own panels, but the most popular was undoubtedly the Walking Dead panel.

At the event, many people choose to dress up, or cosplay, as their favorite characters featured at the event.

“Although I did not cosplay, it’s the one day of the year that you can dress up as some character and be amongst other fans of the same character,” said junior Kaitlin Morris.

The costumes at Comic Con can range from being very simple to being intricate and time consuming.  The most popular cosplays from this year were Superman, Batman, Attack on Titan, and the Hulkbuster, a giant robot who resembles Iron Man.

The convention gives many people the chance to unite with others from the same fandom.  At Comic Con, people often stop to take pictures with complete strangers wearing amazing costumes.

“What links everyone together is that they are all unbelievably passionate and welcoming,” said junior Lauren Ambos.

For many years, the San Diego Comic Con and the New York Comic Con have been rivals.  Before 2014, San Diego held the biggest and most popular Comic Con.  However, New York Comic Con now exceeds it in popularity and attendance.  New York was originally the birthplace for American comics, so it makes sense that more fans reside in the New York area.

Comic Con is a celebration of fandom.  It is for all of the binge-watchers and re-cappers who theorize, obsess over, and critique every episode.  It is a place for all fans to join together, dress up, and have fun.