NYCC 2024 Preview: A Transitional Year for the Con

New York Comic Con is coming back to the Javits Center Thursday-Sunday, October 17-20, and this year's event will be the biggest to date. Retailer Day, with programming aimed at comics retailers, has been added on Wednesday, October 16, on top of Thursday's annual ICv2 conference, presented by industry analyst Milton Griepp, and a full slate of library- and educator-focused programming.

The move inches NYCC closer to a full five-day show and makes it even more of a professional conference than it has been. Yet fewer traditional comics publishers plan to attend than usual, citing skyrocketing exhibiting costs. Of the top direct market publishers, only Marvel is attending. Notoriously high drayage fees at Javits, which make it one of the most expensive venues in the country, are a culprit, as are inflation in general and what some see as a diminished focus on comics publishing at the increasingly pop culture-focused show. That opens up the show floor to collectibles and video game companies, manga and book publishers, and comics startups looking make their mark by filling the empty spaces left by bigger companies.