Honestly, this shouldn’t be a surprise, but at the same time, it just adds to the rather disappointing year for Comic-Con enthusiasts in knowing that ReedPop, the company behind New York Comic-Con, had finally thrown in the towel and declared NYCC to be cancelled for 2020.
Despite the numbers being either lowered or stable in the Big Apple, it wasn’t enough to allow the convention to move forward, especially with the state restrictions in place that required visitors from out-of-state to quarantine for 14 days prior to exploring the city. Being from out-of-state myself, 14 days plus the additional days to attend the con would not have been something I, or many of us, would be able to do, especially if we weren’t being paid to attend.
Here’s the official statement:
Today, ReedPop – the world’s leading producer of pop culture events – announced that New York Comic Con’s physical event at Javits Center will not take place as intended in 2020, and that they are officially partnering with YouTube on an all-digital event that will bring the excitement, community, and incredible content expected from NYCC directly to fans around the world.
From October 8-11, the New York Comic Con YouTube channel will exclusively live stream panels from leading entertainment brands. Starz will bring the epic American Gods, CBS All Access will feature the legendary Star Trek Universe, DreamWorks Animation will showcase the best of television animation, and Hulu & FX will add to the slate of exciting programming for fans worldwide. More news will be made in the coming weeks about content including premieres, announcements, fan contests and more.
“We are thoroughly disappointed that we can’t gather together, in-person for the New York Comic Con we love to build and our fans love to revel in. We look forward to this weekend all year long, just like you, and with this being our 15th edition, we were particularly excited. I will miss walking up and down artist alley and seeing friends that I’ve made since we were in the basement at the Javits Center,” said Lance Fensterman, President of ReedPop. “While this year will definitely be a different experience, we are going to look to bring the best and most engaging event to our fans, exhibitors, and studios through our partnership with YouTube.”
In addition to the panels streaming live & on-demand exclusively via YouTube, fans will be able to participate in talent Q&A’s during panels, turn every panel into a watch party and geek out with other fans using YouTube’s Community and Live Chat features.
ReedPop will also give fans the opportunity for experiences that will get them up-close and personal with meet & greets, live Q&As, personalized autographs, videos, and professional workshops. And while fans won’t be able to stroll the Show Floor and Artist Alley aisles at Javits this year, ReedPop is creating a virtual marketplace for fans to explore where exhibitors and creators will share their newest items. There will be more information on these exciting fan developments unveiled in the coming weeks.
Leading up to New York Comic Con’s Metaverse in October, ReedPop will be hosting Metaverse August from August 13-16 and give fans the ability to assemble together for one-of-a-kind virtual experiences with celebrities and creators, discover new releases, explore a marketplace, and access exclusive merchandise.
New York Comic Con is the ultimate pop culture destination event in the United States. NYCC brings the best of comics, television, film, exhibitors, celebrities, cosplay, anime, and more to create memorable, uniquely exciting experiences for fans. These experiences transcend beyond the walls of the Javits Center and continue to live beyond the weekend of NYCC through the online world of ReedPOP digital content.
For a full list of New York Comic Con content and for more information, please visit NewYorkComicCon.com and NYCC’s social media pages (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram).
We know that virtual events is not really the same as being there in person, but we hope they can make it enjoyable. As for the merchandise, the only big issue is in regards to some of the bigger collectibles companies, such as Funko. Many collectors who didn’t have bots to do their beck and call came away from that fiasco of Funko’s releases merchandise-less and disgruntled. We can only hope they’ll have it figured out by the time NYCC online comes around, if they plan on continuing with the whole online release.
For those wishing to be part of something Comic-Con related in any way, even if it is virtual, there’s the newly established Metaverse, which will be a 4-day weekend event online, under ReedPop, that takes place this weekend from the 13th to the 16th.
Keep in mind, this is not in lieu of NYCC as ReedPop has already stated they will be working with YouTube to bring about online events the weekend that NYCC was to take place.
