New York Comic Con 2019 Recap

This year’s edition of New York Comic Con I believe is the most crowded it has ever been. Not to say that it is a bad thing at all, but it is something I have observed during my entire week at the show floor. But before I get to my recap, I would like to thank ReedPop for allowing me to cover the show once again. Here is my recap of this year’s New York Comic Con.

New York Comic Con has attendees that come from all over the world. It is always great to see a great mixture of diversity on the show floor whether if they are waiting on the lines to buy an exclusive, a rare comic, or even for a spot at a panel. Speaking of panels, this year’s big panels such as The Walking Dead, 1917, and much more had to be won by a lottery and that is a great change so that way, nobody does not have to form large lines outside of Madison Square Garden, and the Hammerstein Ballroom. Another great change that happened this year is the SyFy Wire main stage panels being broadcasted on the second level before where the press lounge is so that way, whoever could not get a good seat, can now watch their panels on the screens. One thing I need to address is the Funko booth. It has always been in the same location for the last 4 years and I believe that it is time to place it somewhere else. Other than the normal line to enter the booth, there was also a very long line just to enter that line. I hope by the time the new expansion of the Javits Center is finished, that booth can move there in a seperate area so the lines cannot be very congested. I did however, stood in one line and that was the Skybound booth and I meet Robert Kirkman and he signed three issues of The Walking Dead that I own too.

I was only able to go to the artist alley once during the entire weekend and that was Sunday. Even then, it was very crowded and congested but I ran into one of my friends and comic writer and publisher Erica Schultz and we talked about her upcoming work and about the show. She even left a message for me when she signed one of her posters.

Despite the fact that everything in every area was crowded, I had a great time on the main show floor. My press coverage this year has also been great and what I also hope gets changed is the press lounge. I ran into many journalists this year who had the same thoughts that I did and that is, limiting the space for the cosplayers was a bad idea. There were many times that I walked into that area to bump into cosplayers that had their props attached. Don’t get me wrong, the cosplayers looked great with the material they used for their costumes, but it was very congesting for four days. At the press rooms, I interviewed the cast of Emergence, Lincoln, Impulse, Daybreak, and Batmman Beyond. Everything turned out great and you can watch them below.

I also was invited to attend The Walking Dead Whiskey’s The Last Bar offsite and they sold their branded whiskey over there.

While I am on the topic of The Walking Dead, I the panel on that Saturday morning and I loved it. Of all of the panels over the years that involved The Walking Dead, this year was the most noteworthy year for the fans of the series and it felt like christmas for everyone. The final event I had to cover took place at a private Hasbro event that showcases the upcoming Star Wars merchndise line for the fall just in time for Rise of Skywalker to premiere in the movie theaters. These figures look awesome and I want to have my hands on a few of them.

I will return next year at New York Comic Con for more coverage. Also to note, I recorded an episode for my podcast during the weekend and it features Brandon Davis of Comicbook.com, Fred Richani of TSC News, and Naiger of Big Gold Belt. And check out the best cosplay pictures that I have taken.

TWC EPISODE 240-NYCC 2019 SUPER SHOW

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The Walking Dead Season 10, Episode 1 “Lines We Cross” Recap

Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon, Sydney Park as Cyndie; group – The Walking Dead _ Season 10, Episode 1 – Photo Credit: Jackson Lee Davis/AMC

The wait is over as the season 10 premiere of The Walking Dead is now here. Months after Alpha making it clear that she is not to be messed with, all of the communities gather together to train and to plan to fight back. Although they are ready for battle, they are still affected by the devistating loss of their own people. Here is my review for “Lines We Cross” which is also the same name of the comic book series Volume 29, and Issue #169 (But it does not follow the same story as those two, but only the name). Spoilers ahead so you have been warned.

The episode begins as we are shown a satellite in outer space. More on this later as it is trainning day at the beach of The Oceanside. Daryl is in charge of the milita as he, Ezekiel, and Michonne train all of the members of the group. There are also walkers inside the boat and Ezekiel and Jerry opened the door for the walkers to come out. That is when they have a formation (and also, badass looking shields) and start to kill the walkers first with arrows and then spears. Alden tossed one of his spears into one of the walkers and that looked cool. As some of the other walkers were pierced by the shields, Magna, Michonne, Judith, and Luke killed them with their own weapons. After the trainning, everyone eats lunch which is mostly seafood and Luke and Jules strike up a conversation and even get flirty too. Michonne and Daryl talked about the trainning in which he think went very well. Michonne also said that Tara would have been proud to see how they are doing. Jerry and his kids and Daryl’s dog arrive as well and then we see Judith and Rick Jr. After this, Judith finds a Whisperer mask. Aaron and Michonne are panicing about The Whisperers and Michonne decided to bring him, Magna, Yumiko, Alden, and Jules with her to investigate. They are riding horses and split up to three groups. Michonne and Aaron are near a bridge and Aaron thinks that the walkers are Whisperers and then killed the walkers on the bridge. He almost got killed until Michonne saved him. They both argue about the bridge and how it reminded her about Rick Grimes. Aaron also brought up Eric and Jesus in the same conversation. All six enter a campsite to further investigate and Magna and Luke showed everyone the human skin found which means that The Whisperers are back.

They all return to Oceanside and Michonne told Aaron that they are the good guys in this situation. Judith tells RJ the story about how Rick Grimes “died” to save his people on the bridge. Michonne was about to cry and she came to hug both of them. Moments later, an explosion from the sky happens as it was from the satellite in the opening of the episode. We then cut to Eugene helping Rosita with her baby and Rosita practice kickboxing Ronda Rousey style. Eugene and Siddiq talk about diaper changes and milk and Rosita lets Eugene know that her baby is not an experiment. Gabriel walks in and observes everyone. Lydia is in the school with the other residents and she is struggling on reading. While this happens, the counsel comes in and they all need the room. Negan, who is now growing a garden and has some privileges even though he is still a prisoner, talks with Lydia and she is the only one that wants to know more about Negan since he has been there for a very long time at this point. Negan tells her to watch her back around everyone and Brandon told Negan to stop talking and get back to work and for Lydia to not talk to him. The entire counsel of Gabriel, Rosita, Laura, and the rest leave the school and all ignored Negan after he tried to talk to them. After Siddiq puts the baby to sleep, he then has PTSD flashbacks of visions of Alpha murdering the pike victims. Dante (Who is a doctor on the television series) comes in and asks Siddiq if he is okay and makes a joke and asks about The Whisperers, As soon as he asked that question, more visions of Alpha are shown including one with her holding a bloody knife after she slain her victims.

Gabriel visits Negan in his cell and asks him for advice. Negan tells him to not outright lie to his community, but to basically cover his own self and give them a reason to be riled up. Negan also mentioned to him that he knows that The Whisperers are back. Gabriel then goes outside the cell and told everyone to lock the gates and then, the satellite explosion from the sky happens. Kelly and the rest are pulling fish from the ocean and Kelly almost fell into rocks. Connie thinks that his hearing is getting bad, but Kelly says that it is fine, but thinks that he hears different voices. Daryl with his dog come to check on Connie and Kelly. Later on, Ezekiel and Daryl are at the shore talking and waiting for someone to arrive. Connie with Daryl’s dog also arrive and when he tried to speak in sign language with her, she replied back saying that he has a southern accent in his sign language. They are still waiting for someone to arrive and that person is Carol. She arrived on a boat and she greeted Ezekiel and Daryl. She moved away so that she could not see The Whisperers ever again. Daryl and her take a ride on his motorcycle through the forest. Daryl and her talk about her wanting to come back. She even asks if the bracelet that he is making is for his dog and Daryl gives it to her. While they are hunting a deer, Carol wants to cross Alpha’s border to get it and Daryl told her that it is too late and the walkers begin to devour the deer. They both apologize to each other as they did not want to fight over anything. Then, the explosion from the satellite happens.

It is at this point where I realize that the satellite explosion from the sky is happening with everyone at the same exact time. The satellite (Which belonged to the USSR) crashed into the forest and caused a fire. All of the communities had no choice but to cross one of Alpha’s borders to put out the fire before it got worse. They all work together to put out the fire in different ways from using the water they had and dirt. As the fire was getting worse, walkers begin to appear. They all start trying their best at killing the walkers and putting out the fire at the same time based on Aaron and Michonne’s plan and direction. Even Carol put out a flaming walker with blood pouring from a walker that she just killed. There was even one cool scene where Daryl threw an axe into a burning tree for it to break and fall on the approaching burning walkers. The plan worked and it took them all night to clear the walkers. Eugene wants to bring back the satellite and Michonne was annoyed with the idea of bringing it back, but she asks some of the members of the group to help him bring it back quickly. Luke even calls Eugene “Eugenius” which I thought was funny. Daryl brings Carol to the location of the mega herd that Alpha showed Daryl and there were no walkers there. Daryl left for a moment and Carol looked down to see Alpha appear on the bottom as the episode ends.

This is a really great season premiere and I loved the comic scenes that were remixed on the television. This episode showcased that many members of the group are not ready to just move on like nothing happened to them months ago and that The Whisperers got under their skin far worse than The Saviors did. Daryl and Carol’s bond in this episode was beautiful and Judith telling the story about Rick Grimes made me sad at the moment. Also, a huge praise for Michonne stepping up more than ever to want to be a leader. Good that they did not waste any time to start building up the Carol and Alpha confrontation that everyone wanted to see when they first meet last season. I am looking forward to the next episode!

Follow me on Instagram and Twitter @julianexcalibur for more content. Contact me at julian@alternativemindz.com.