Contributed by collector and Overstreet Advisor Art Cloos
Photos by Alice Cloos

The first Garden State Comic Fest (GSCF) was held in January 2014 in Ledgewood, New Jersey, and since then it has evolved into one of the biggest premier comic events in New Jersey. The 2023 edition was held on June 24-25 at the Mennen Arena in Morristown, New Jersey.

GSCF really is a true comic and creator focused convention with a great selection of comics and original comic art. The dealers list included Mighty Comics and Collectibles Absolutely Gary Platt Comics, Undisputed Comics King, Moving Pictures Comics, Aardvark Toys & Comics, Comicwise, Djf Comics, Ed’s Comics, Elite Comic Sales, Groundbreaking Comics, Humble Comics, Isle Of Comics, Jack’s Comics, Jay’s Comics And Cards, Lopez Comics, Mabel’s Toys & Comics, Schwindinger Comics, Sentar Comics, and Tyger Comics. CGC was represented by Agents of Slabs, who are considered one of the top CGC facilitators in the world.

Creators at the show included Kalina Acosta, Bob Almond, Stef Wilson/Kerry Anne, Darren Auck, Rick Burchet, J.M. Desantis, Scott Hanna, Greg Hildebrandt, Emma Kubert, Louise Simonson, Walter Simonson, Billy Tucci, Ethan Van Sciver, Lee Weeks, Keith Williams, Graham Nolan, Ava Schrager, and many more. The artist alley part of the two dealer’s rooms was a busy place with fans checking out the offerings at their favorite artist’s booth.

There was a nice selection of media guests at this show as well like Dan Fogler, Dwight Gooden, Susan Eisneberg, Jimmy Hart, Toni Ann, Gisondi, Rosanne Sorrentino, Father Evil, and many more.

Hailey Skaza-Ggne and Bob Almone represented The Inkwells, an organization that gives awards for creative achievement in the field of inking in American comics. It was created to focus on and show more recognition toward the inking art form and its artists, a production skill exclusive to comic books that is often underappreciated. Inkers are, at times, not presently credited as they were traditionally.

Cosplay guests included Barbiechulanyc, Cosplay Katie, The Real Life Peter Griffin, Mystical Cosplay and Pin-up LLC, NYFantasticFour, @Unclasboot Cosplay DGLW, and the Cosplay & Photography and CJ Prop Studio. Allie noted that there was especially a lot of kids dressed in costume and all the cosplayers she talked to wanted their picture taken. Also, the famous 501st Legion was all over the show floor taking pictures with their fans. For the first time ever, GSCF’s Kids (and parents) had a chance to join a parade on Sunday afternoon through both the Heroes and Villains halls.

GSCF hosted free gaming, and Animei Gamer Zone hosted their first competition at their booth. It was designed as a 16-person knockout bracket-style tournament featuring four games: Demon Slayer, Kimetsu no Yaiba, The Hinokami Chronicles, and Street Fighter V. Prizes included a brand new PS5 and two badges to the 2024 Garden State Comic Fest for each first place winner.

A charity auction was held on Saturday to help raise money for the Heroes Initiative and Eleventh Hour Rescue with donations by Amanda Strassler, Greg Hildebrandt, Darren Auck, Tom Mandrake, Keith Williams, and others. As they do at every GSCF the local FM radio station NJ 105.5 WDHA was set up right at the entrance to the Heroes room.

We arrived very early on Sunday and saw a long line of people waiting to get in, and I was told the same was true on Saturday.

The Morristown PBA Local 43 and the Morristown Bureau of Police were at the doors helping with bag and cosplay checks. They also handed out free prints that were limited to 150 per day. Over the years the PBA prints have become popular with collectors. The 2023 print was The Incredible Hulk done by a local artist Len Danovich.

Nearly every comic dealer we spoke to was very pleased with their sales and there was a strong selection on hand. From the beginning, comics have always been at the core of GSCF and attendees often call it a real comic based show. But beyond the comics there was a nice variety of toys both vintage and modern to go through. Of course, there were Funko Pops and Legos too. Beyond the toys, there was apparel, magnets, jewelry, dinosaur egg reproductions, woodcraft items, prints, and more. There was even a medium set up at the show. Allie loved the handmade items some dealers had for sale and brought some home.

We saw Cosplay Couple Joseph and Sonja Garcia who wore Star Wars costumes and later Superman and Hawkgirl costumes. I was surprised to meet up with the big time art collector Keif Fromm at comic dealer Mike Williams table showing off a few really cool art pages from his collection.

GSCF is located about 40 minutes from New York City and 45 minutes from the Poconos in Pennsylvania. In terms of public transportation, the Mennen is located between two New Jersey Transit train stations and it is a little over a mile walk or a short cab ride to the Mennen. Also, Coach USA Bus Lines go through Morristown, and both travel every hour from Penn Station and the Port Authority in NYC. There are hotels close to the show, including The Sonesta Simply Suites of Morris Plains and the Sonesta ES Suites of Parsippany, both a short ride to the show. Beyond the food trucks there were at least ten places to have a sit down meal within a two-mile radius from the arena.

There were various ticket packages available including combo tickets for photo ops and kids 10 and under were given free admittance with a paying adult. The show dates for the 2024 GSCF have not been announced yet, but you can check their website at www.gardenstatecomicfest.com or their Facebook page for show dates and announcements email them at gscomicfest@gmail.com.

For more photos from Garden State Comic Fest, check out our In the Limelight coverage.