NYCC

We're not going to stay on San Diego too long, but if the surge of traffic that just swamped the site is any indication — people just got home and want to see what they missed. Darlene Horn has a fantastic write-up onthe food at the show, from Anthony Bourdain to the kids who recreated the Avengers at the Shawarma shop.

As comics' fiscal year ends, and we take a collective week off to recuperate, celebrate, and gossip, it's time to note two pieces of advice that will make your Comic-Con 2013 much easier.

The 2012 Convention is winding up and news about who will attend next year is starting to emerge.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, while everyone is loin girding for The Big One in a few weeks, New York Comic Con, the other Big One, is also gearing up, and like San Diego Comic-Con, they are beginning to tighten things up. Press registration has just opened, but it's a far more arduous process than before and NO on-site registration this year.

Looks like we'll be slogging over to the Javits Center for a while yet, as NY state Governor Andrew Cuomo's plan for a giant convention center in Queens has fallen apart for now. The reason? Negotiations didn't go so well with Genting, the Malaysian casino company that would have funded the plan in return for building a giant casino adjoining the facility:

A few notes about this fall's New York Comic Con. ReedPOP has made official what everyone took for granted: the New York Anime Festival will officially fold into NYCC. Launched as a separate event just before the manga/anime implosion began, the event was soon co-located with NYCC while keeping a separate identity. This year, the programming and guests list—which are pretty extensive and popular among the fan community—will stay the same but the event itself will be part of NYCC.

New York Comic Con is rapidly developing into a delirious East Coast roughhouse fan slam of a pop culture scrum -- so let's see how they handle ticket sales. For everyone serious about going to the gym AND getting a head start on their 2012, 4-day NYCC tickets go on-sale TODAY at noon EST. A four-day pass is $85 -- a price which holds until 10/8, when it goes up to $100. The PR release makes note of a couple of things -- there will be more programming on Thursday. Everyone noted that the "pro" panels were pretty thin that day so maybe those will be increased. The show floor is also opening earlier on Thursday -- 3 pm to 9 pm.

This article on the "Speed Dating" sessions at the recent New York Comic Con paint an interesting picture of the social dynamics of Nerd World, especially with the growing participation of women due to the anime and Vampire influences.

One week past, and most have recovered from the media spectacle that is New York Comic Con. A slight breather is in order as the convention season glides into hibernation, with just King Con III and the Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival remaining here in New York City. As soon as the Con ended and attendance was announced, comixologists began to ruminate upon what they had witnessed, what went right and wrong, and what to anticipate if the Con keeps growing at an annual rate of 14,400 people a year. What might next year's show look like?

Was it worth braving the crowds? Are comics the center of attention at NYCC? How good was a $5 hot dog taste? And what does I.M. Pei have to do with it anyway? This is it -- the one you've been waiting for!

It's going to take a while to get the images and sounds — and smells — of New York Comic Con out of our head, and images such as the above — a bevy of gender-swapped Doctor Whos composed of cosplay superstars — will show you why. There were SO many costumed people at the the show this year. The ratio of costumes to lookieloos was incredibly high. So yeah, if it was spectacle you wanted, you got it, including the topless woman with the fake mustache who was hanging outside the Javits on Sunday. "Yeah, they were talking about her all the way back to Macy's," a photographer told me. Since Macy's is five blocks crosstown from the Javits, this is the equivalent of light speed communication in New York terms.

Although it may have felt like more, as you were sandwiched between an Optimus Prime on one side and a Harley Quinn on the other, with Mister T coming up close behind, this weekend's New York Comic-Con drew 105,000, show runner Lance Fensterman reports. He also has a recap of some of the main complaints of the show: