{"id":4605,"date":"2025-10-16T10:43:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T10:43:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/4605\/"},"modified":"2025-10-16T10:43:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T10:43:13","slug":"new-york-comic-con-takeaways-the-best-costumes-coolest-and-creepiest-things-we-saw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/4605\/","title":{"rendered":"New York Comic Con takeaways: The best costumes, coolest (and creepiest) things we saw"},"content":{"rendered":"

Attending New York Comic Con is a wild experience. It\u2019s a place where not being dressed as a superhero or an interplanetary destroyer of worlds will make you feel self-conscious. It\u2019s a place where an endless assortment of colorful passions all converge and instant bonds are formed as soon as you spot someone else decked out as the same video game character that only you thought you cared about.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In this regard, sports fans are a bit spoiled. Every game presents an opportunity to dress up in their own form of cosplay and commune with like-minded people in a variety of ways. For diehard fans of more solitary forms of pop culture, events like Comic Con present a rarer opportunity. So when those chances come around, they go all out \u2014 like, $35,000, 11-foot-tall Galactus costume all out (more on that in a bit). More than 250,000 people attended New York Comic Con this year over the course of the four-day event, according to organizers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here are The Athletic collectibles editors\u2019 takeaways from NYCC 2205.<\/p>\n

The best costumes we saw<\/p>\n

The Galactus costume was wild and completely stole the show. That said, it was in a category all its own given the price and expertise required to bring it to life.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Other standouts included Bob and Miss Argentina from Beetlejuice and Colossus.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\n Characters from Beetlejuice (left) and Colossus. (Photos: Brooks Peck)<\/p>\n

Kevin McCallister and his Talkboy were particularly inspired too.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There were a lot of excellent Spider-Man cosplays including a very creative multi-headed Venom with a lifesize Spider-Man in his grasp and a highly-detailed, guitar wielding Spider-Punk.<\/p>\n

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The creepiest thing we saw<\/p>\n

There was a life-size M3gan doll inside a glass case right in the middle of the convention. Apparently you could enter a contest to win it and take it home. We agreed we would rather enter a contest to keep it as far away from our homes as possible.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\n A terrifying M3gan doll. (Photo: Brooks Peck)<\/p>\n

The coolest things we saw<\/p>\n

One of the greatest comic book artists of all time and DC Comics CCO Jim Lee gave a drawing tutorial at the eBay booth that was so fun to witness. They handed out pencils and sketch books so attendees could follow along with Lee as he walked everyone through how to draw Wonder Woman and whipped up a Batman too. It was awesome to see a group of kids drawing away with just about the best comic art teacher you can have. This was what events like this should be all about. (See a replay of the eBay Live broadcast here<\/a> if you want to draw Wonder Woman too!).\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\n Jim Lee (center, wearing a black hat) leading a Wonder Woman drawing tutorial while attendees follow along. (Photos: eBay)<\/p>\n

Outside the Javits Center, there was a great recreation of the Ghostbusters\u2019 Ecto-1. It just felt right seeing that on the streets of New York.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\n The Ecto-1 arrives on the scene. (Photo: Brooks Peck)<\/p>\n

Fresh off the season finale of its second season, John Cena\u2019s Peacemaker costume was on display in a glass case at the DC Comics section of NYCC (complete with John Cena mannequin underneath it).\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\n John Cena\u2019s Peacemaker costume. (Photo: David Betancourt)<\/p>\n

The Boricuaverse cosplay get-together at NYCC featuring multiple cosplayers in the Boricua Suit Miles Morales Spider-Man that I (David Betancourt) co-created in a comic book I wrote for Marvel<\/a> was unbelievable to see in person. Boricua Spider-Man has appeared in video games and action figures<\/a> (one of which I brought along with me), but seeing it up close in live-action was an incredible sight.<\/p>\n

Parting thoughts\u2026
\nComics and action figures definitely took up more real estate on the show floor than trading cards. The Topps booth only had one Disney product available (nothing for Marvel) and Upper Deck didn\u2019t have a presence at all, even though they took on the DC license at the start of the year. Chinese cardmaker Kayou had a big presence to announce its arrival in the US with My Little Pony, Naruto and Tokidoki cards. There were some Pokemon cards around, but we\u2019ve seen far more of them at sports card shows this year. More and more seems like the dividing lines at these conventions aren\u2019t sports vs. non-sports, but cards vs. everything else. (Betancourt sidenote: There are some great superhero-inspired trading cards currently, but sets like the classic Marvel Universe cards<\/a> of the \u201890s need to make a comeback.)
\nAs with trading cards, mystery packages are taking over the comics world too. Massive stacks of comic book\/collectibles mystery boxes were all over the show floor. In a way, they make a bit more sense for comics than they do for cards \u2013 getting a random comic to read (within the genre\/topic you select) is more fun than getting a random card.
\nArtist Alley \u2014 a section where dozens of the best known comic writers and illustrators are all set up at long rows of tables \u2014 was one of the best parts of the event. Seeing so many talented creators all in one spot signing autographs and sometimes doing original sketches for people was a real highlight.
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Comic book creator Stephanie Williams talks with a fan in Artist Alley. (Photo: Roy Rochlin\/Getty Images for ReedPop)<\/p>\n

Giant top loaders for purchased artwork are lifesavers. Over 250,000 people attended this year\u2019s NYCC and you could feel it when trying to get\u2026anywhere. Comic collectors who have a natural inclination to bag and board their comics for protection know the feeling of walking around with a raw comic or artwork amongst a crowd. It can be a little nerve wracking. Or what about taking that artwork home on a plane or train? Giant top loaders take the stress out of carrying your prized purchases back to your hotel (especially during those windy New York fall days) and make sure you get it home crease free.
\nK-Pop Demon Hunters was a popular cosplay for attendees, but because the movie\u2019s success caught everyone off guard, there wasn\u2019t much representation of it in the booths. That will likely be very different next time around.
\nMr. Terrific costumes, which included quality face-painting if you wanted to get the look right, were also frequently on display thanks to the success of the newest \u201cSuperman\u201d movie.
\nIt\u2019s probably mostly driven by nostalgia given the generation that\u2019s in the prime age range for that sort of thing, but Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Ghostbusters were everywhere.
\nMarvel had the better merch compared to DC. You would think there would be no shortage of stuff from either brand at an event like this, but DC\u2019s offerings were lacking.
\nPost Malone was there to promote his comic book<\/a> about a big rig that falls from the sky during the Dark Ages in Europe and a former priest uses it as a weapon against demons. We are not making this up.
\nSeeing porn-y comic art mixed in with more family friendly fare around the show floor was jarring every time \u2014 that probably needs its own distinct area.
\nBaseball caps at NYCC are nothing new. It\u2019s New York. You\u2019re going to see Yankees and Mets caps everywhere. But it was surprising that a cap company like New Era didn\u2019t have a presence at NYCC given how many fitted and adjustable caps they\u2019ve produced with licenses from Marvel and DC. It felt like a missed opportunity.
\nThe best T-shirts (one of the best ways to use your body as a billboard for comic book fandom) were the ones worn by fans at NYCC and not necessarily the few that were on sale on the floor in limited selection. The cool T-shirts that were found for sale (like the mustard yellow Batman shirt that shows off DC\u2019s new Batman comics logo) were wildly overpriced compared to their own website. If Homage brought their Marvel and DC T-shirts here they could have done big business.
\nDC\u2019s Absolute Batman<\/a> might just be the most popular comic book out there right now. The new alternate universe Batman (that goes along with DC\u2019s other \u201cAbsolute\u201d titles such as Absolute Superman, Absolute Wonder Woman and Absolute Martian Manhunter) felt like the most hyped comic of NYCC with lines for fan-favorite Batman writer Scott Snyder (Court of Owls) snaking around Artist Alley. Artist Nick Dragotta\u2019s Hulk-sized Batman might be the most popular look going for the Dark Knight right now, even with the recent debut of Jorge Jimenez\u2019s gorgeous back-to-blue basics costume design in the newly relaunched flagship \u201cBatman\u201d comic book for DC. Absolute Batman is a top-seller and was well represented with some fantastic cosplay at New York Comic Con. The last time a Batman comic had this much buzz was in the \u201890s when he had a broken back.<\/p>\n

The Athletic maintains full editorial independence in all our coverage. When you click or make purchases through our links, we may earn a commission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Attending New York Comic Con is a wild experience. It\u2019s a place where not being dressed as a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4606,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[19,9,24,55,54,56],"class_list":["post-4605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-memorabilia-collectibles","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-ny"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4605\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}