Hi! Today I’d like to do a review of Garden State Comic Fest.

This was my 4th time going to the show. The first time I went, I was 7 and got a drawing from Ethan Van Sciver! The next year I interviewed him and Neal Adams right after I started my site. Last year, I went with my first-ever press pass and got to meet Kevin Eastman, Jim Steranko, Adam Kubert and a ton of others.

That’s one big thing I really like about the show. You can meet all these great comic book creators without waiting in crazy lines. This year I met and interviewed David Finch, John Wesley Shipp, Louise Simonson, Barry Kitson, Keith Giffen, Joe Staton, Bob Wiacek, Tom Palmer, Tom Mandrake, Jan Duursema, Kristen Gudsnuk, Diana Leto, Neil Vokes and Ken Bald. Walt Simonson was there, too, and so were Greg Hildebrandt and Adam Kubert- I’ve interviewed them already but it’s always cool to see them. And there were a ton more I could have interviewed, but I didn’t have time to research them all.

It doesn’t matter if you like DC, Marvel, independent comics or kids comics – there are creators there who do everything and you can meet them, talk to them, see what they do, buy art or sketches and even their comics. That’s all really cool.

This year they had three actors – John Wesley Shipp, Dean Cain and Loren Lester. John Wesley Shipp was my favorite – he’s on the Flash after all. He did a cool panel about his career and being in both Flash tv shows. He also gave me his only interview that weekend, so stay tuned for that!

They also have a ton of comics. I got some really neat old Adventure and Action Comics. My dad got Looney Tunes #5 – the very first super animal comic book! They have everything – from bargain comics that cost less than a dollar to art and comics that cost tens of thousands of dollars! Last year I got to hold an Action Comics #1 at the Metropolis Comics booth! This year, I got to look up close at David Finch’s original art for when *SPOILER ALERT!!* Batman asks Catwoman to marry him!
So there’s a lot of great comic dealers, artists, actors and of course there are plenty of toys, like my favorite table with the custom Lego minifigures. There are cool old toys and new ones, too. So you’re not only surrounded by comics.

The other part that’s really cool is all the cosplayers. They had this one guy in this huge costume of Reinhardt from Overwatch. One of my favorites is every year, this one guy dresses up like a different version of Beymax from Big Hero Six! Last year he was Bat-Max and this year he was “Flash Max” with a sign that said “I am not very fast.” He’s really funny.
But there are ton of other cosplayers that have cool costumes and a costume contest. The 501st Legion is there, so you’ll see some really great Star Wars costumes, too.

The only complaint I have about the show is that it can be a little cold – it’s in an ice skating rink. And also, there’s always somebody bidding against me at the charity auction! But seriously, bring a sweater to the show and you’ll be fine.

So you can see, you should go to Garden State Comic Fest. You’ll have a really great time and the people there are all really nice!