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 2024 edition was held on June 22-23 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 2-Land Comics, Aardvark Toys & Comics, Gary Platt’s Absolutely Awesome Collectibles, Agents of Slabs, AJ’s House of Comics, Bicycle Bell Comics, Black Box Comics, Blue Juice Comics, Boone Enterprises Authentic Autographs, Codakhrome Comic Shop, DJF Comics, Elite Comic Sales, Hot Flips, Howard Tauber, Humble Comics, Imperial Comics and Gifts, Isle of Comics, Jack’s Comics run by Mike Williams, Jay’s Comics and Cards, Killer Kollectibles, Mike Carbo Comics, Moving Pictures Comics and Collectibles, Pop Culture Comics & Toys, Ryan’s Vintage Comics, Stormwatch Comics, St. Marks Comics, The Collectible Conservancy, and Zapp Comics among others.

Creators in attendance were Absolute Art Studios, Anthony Pugh, Art of Greg Nowachek, Graham Nolan, J.M. DeSantis, Jim Calafiore, Kevin Altieri, J. David Spurlock, Howard Chaykin, Keith Williams, Joe Staton, Mark Morales, Ron Marz, Pat Broderick, Walter Simonson, Tom Mandrake, and many others.

There was a nice selection of media guests at this show. They included Cathy Moriarty, Alexis Knapp, Gregg Berger, Albert Thomas, Tim Bouchard, Tim Jacobus, Héctor Camacho Jr., and others. 

Hailey Skaza-Ggne 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.

There was a good turnout of cosplayers, including the invited cosplayers like Codename Citadel, Kale Cosplays, Cosplay Katie, The Finest: a G.I. Joe Costume Club, Rexa Cosplay, the Real Life Peter Griffin, and others. Allie noted that there was especially a lot of kids dressed in costume and all the cosplayers she talked to wanted their picture taken.

This year instead of the traditional contest at a certain time and date in a certain area, all of GSCF was turned into the proverbial stage. Five secret judges were selected, and they were on the lookout for awesome cosplays all weekend at the show. When a judge saw a cosplayer they loved, they asked for the cosplayer’s info and permission to take a photo to enter them into the GSCF 2024 cosplay contest. Once the weekend was over all the participants and the judges were to choose the top five to be featured on GSCF’s social media pages. Then the fans got to vote for the cosplay they think is “Best in Show.” Every finalist chosen would then receive one free two-day pass to the 2025 GSCF.

GSCF had panels including “The Life and Legacy of George Pérez” hosted by his main colorist Tom Smith and Walt Simonson and the panel “Do You Pooh” hosted by the brand’s Official Team. Cosplay Katie hosted a panel titled “Cosplay 101” where she revealed some of the tricks of the trade in cosplaying. There also was an interesting panel titled “Ancient Ones: Monsters from the Near East.”

The con offered free gaming for attendees in the Animei Gamer Zone, and they hosted their first competition at the booth. It was designed as a 16-person knockout bracket-style tournament featuring the games Demon Slayer, Kimetsu no Yaiba, The Hinokami Chronicles, and Street Fighter V. The Demon Slayer. Prizes included a new PS5 and two badges to the 2025 GSCF for each first place winner.

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of GSCF, a charity auction was held on Saturday with proceeds going to The Inkwells and 11th Hour Rescue.

In terms of exclusives, the Morristown PBA Local 43 community created an outreach print that was given out to the first 150 people that walked through the doors. This year’s print was done by Fernando Ruiz and featured Spider-Man. The PBA prints have become popular with collectors.

We arrived very early on Saturday to see the 1966 Batmobile outside of the con, and a long line of people waiting to get in to the show. The Morristown PBA Local 43 and the Morristown Bureau of Police were at the doors helping with bag and cosplay checks and handing out the free prints.

The show has two dealer’s rooms – one named the Heroes Room and the other called the Villains Room. From the beginning of the con, comics have always been at the core of GSCF. More than once I have heard attendees call it a real comic based show, and the feeling is shared by a lot of the dealers. Beyond the comics, there was a nice variety of toys both vintage and modern, plus Funko Pops and LEGOs. Beyond the toys there was clothing, magnets, jewelry, woodcraft items, prints, and more. Allie always loves the handmade items some dealers had for sale and brought some home. As we talked to the dealers, there was an overwhelming response that they love GSCF. Some went so far as to say it’s a perfect comic book show, and I agree.

We ran into many friends at the con. Ankur Jetley and I discussed the state of the comic art market, it was nice seeing artist Joe Staton, I had a long talk with Phantom Stranger fan Rich Baron, and we met a proud grandfather whose granddaughter was attending her first ever comic show as a dealer.

One of the most interesting events for me was meeting Héctor Machito Camacho Herrera Jr., a boxer and published writer. He started boxing professionally at the age of 18, and is the son of the late three-time world champion Héctor “Macho” Camacho Sr., and is a world champion himself. His book, Macho Dad, is a comic book that portrays his dad as a Puerto Rican flag-wearing superhero.

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.

Wild Bill’s Olde Fashioned Soda Pop offered giant-sized steel mugs of soda for a quick snack and this year they had a special GSCF 10-Year Anniversary Mug to celebrate the show’s milestone. In addition to the GG’S Food Court, which has a nice variety of food options, and there is a good selection of places to eat a short drive from the venue.

The show dates for the 2025 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, and they can be emailed at gscomicfest@gmail.com.

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