Staten Island’s Comic Convention, History In The Making – Collectors Confessions

The First Annual Staten Island Comic Fest

Brian VanNostrand

The first comic book convention held in the United States was the original New York Comic Con, which took place on July 27, 1964 in a small rented room in midtown Manhattan. According to records, around one hundred people attended (one of them was a young George R.R. Martin), the guest of honor was Steve Ditko (the original artist of Spider-Man) and there was a presentation by Tom Gill (longtime illustrator of Lone Ranger comic books) about how to draw for comic books. All of this was organized by two teenage fans – Bernie Bubnis and Ron Fradkin; two young fans who wanted to gather like-minded people and comic book professionals together and share ideas and interests and buy and sell back issues of their favorite series. 

Since then, conventions have taken on an important role in the fandom of comic books, and have become very big business indeed. The New York City Comic Con now boasts attendance of nearly 200,000 people over four days in October, bringing about 10 billion dollars of tourism money into New York City each year. This is an important event in the fandom of comic books, surpassed only by the San Diego Comic Con which, due to its proximity to Hollywood, has become the pop culture event of each year. 

Now, these big conventions are fine for what they are, but over the past decade or so, fans have started to notice that comic books have started to take a back seat to the movies and video games and cosplayers and celebrities, and this has led to an explosion of small, community based, independently organized comic book conventions. In fact, in the tri-state area, you could attend a small comic book convention every single weekend of the year. These small conventions are organized, just like the first New York Comic Con, by fans who just want to get like-minded people together to talk, trade, buy, and sell comic books. 

Recently, my partner Chad Farley and I (with a lot of outside help) organized and put on our very first comic book convention: The Staten Island Comic Fest. We held it at the Flagship Brewery on Minthorne Street and invited many of the vendors, stores, and local creators we have met and interviewed on our YouTube show. It could not have gone better as far as we are concerned. 

Our main goal was to create a fun event on Staten Island where people could come in and get comic books and collectibles, talk to creators like Olivia Cuartero-Briggs and Carmen Costa, have a drink, a snack, and a great time. Key to this goal was our idea to have admission to the convention free at the door. If people didn’t have to spend money at the door, that money would be spent on comic books, collectibles, and drinks. Also, parents who may not be fans wouldn’t have to worry about admission prices and would bring their children to buy comic books at the reduced prices you can find at a small convention, thereby creating new fans for an art form we love. 

I can say without doubt that we achieved our goal. We had more than 500 attendees and all the vendors and artists and writers had a great day. A particular highlight for me was the sudden realization that so many of my favorite people in the world were in the same room at the same time – and if that isn’t the basis for community, I don’t know what is. 

The first Staten Island Comic Fest was such a success, such a joy, and such a beautiful day, that we have decided it should be an annual event.  So look for us online and in the community communiques – Staten Island Comic Fest will return (even better) in June of 2027! 

I hope I see you all there. 

Advertisement

Banner Image: Staten Island Comic Convention.  Image Credit – Collectors Confessions