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

On Saturday, November 23, 2024, Mike Carbonaro hosted New York City’s last major comic convention of the year. He has a long history in fandom going back to the 1970 Phil Seuling Comic Book and Art Show. For over 28 years Carbonaro’s comic conventions have been a part of the comic and popular culture convention scene in New York City. Originally founded in 1995 he ended the 27th year of the show with his aptly titled “Big Apple Comic Con Christmas Show” in its home at the New Yorker Hotel on 8th Avenue in the heart of Manhattan.

Big Apple’s strong dealer lineup came from all over the East Coast and many of the show’s traditional sellers were there, along with some first timers. They included Heroes Aren’t Hard To Find, Gary Dolgoff Comics, Bob’s Comics, Harley Yee’s Rare Comics, Kryptonite Comics, Colonial Stamp & Coin Shoppe, Geek Inc., Jays Comics and Cards, Metropolis Comics, Red’s Comics, Urban Comics, Tomorrow’s Treasures, and more.

Original comic art was supplied by comic art dealers Nostalgic Investments and Anthony Snyder’s Comic Book Art. Snyder had his usual gigantic display of both comic book art and vintage comics. The comic pressing service Spineworks offered comic pressing, grading buying and selling consignment services. The auction house Landry Pop Auctions was in attendance as well offering their services and taking consignments.

There was a strong turnout of creators in the artist’s alley room including Alitha Evelyn Martinez, Billy Tucci, Dan Parent, Keith Williams, Bob Camp, Brian Kong, Howard Chaykin, Dean Haspiel, Mark Morales, Joe Staton, and others.

Media guests included Amanda Madison, Anthony Forrest, Bill Plympton, Charles Forsman, Heidi MacDonald, John O’Hurley, Lisa Rodriquez, Marc Thompson, Peter Kuper, Tony Daniels, Stefan Arngrim, and many more.

Cosplayers were back in force for this edition of the show, filling every aisle. Captain Zorikh hosted the Big Apple costume contest for kids and all ages. Gothic Renaissance NYC gave a $100 gift certificate for a contest prize and Midtown Comics contributed two $20 gift certificates as well.

As always the show offered some cool events. The Overpower Game Master Doug Simms ran a first ever at BACC Pokémon Tournament. There were first and second place prizes for the winners and every player received a gift just for playing. Fears Magazine presented trailers and Carbonaro presented a BACC Lifetime Achievement Award. There was a dedicated Pokémon event room for players and voice actors. For the first time, BACC presented the Independent Creators Alley (ICA) to give small and independent creators an opportunity to bring their work to a broad mainstream audience. The Martialist 2 documentary on the world of martial arts today, with many famous and significant martial artists, had its NYC premiere at the con. Carbonaro and Fati’s Rare Books gave out both deals and prizes for free all day in the Gramercy Room.

Panels included noted comic book collector Joseph Rainone’s “Gothic to Gotham The Storytelling Roots of Comic Culture,” Crash Media Partners presented “Al Kahn The Godfather of Pokémon Tells All,” Peter Kuper and Bill Plympton spoke about their unique artistry in their “Laughing In The Face of Disaster” panel, plus others.

The best way to describe Big Apple is to say it is a big time show in a small setting. As such you never know what you are going to encounter for sale there. From clothing to jewelry and much more there was something for everyone.

The first thing both Allie and I noticed when entering the show was that there were a lot of comic book dealers. They were squeezed into every corner of the venue. The second thing I noticed was that there were a lot more Golden Age books on the walls than there had been at a BACC in recent memory. They included such Golden Age keys as Action Comics #1, All-American Comics #16, Batman #1, Detective Comics #1, Whiz Comics #2, and others from that time. In terms of Silver and Bronze Age titles, Marvel was very much in the majority and on some dealer’s walls, they were virtually the only titles on display. As for DC, the dominant Silver Age titles were Batman comics and to a lesser extent Justice League of America books with some dealers telling me they did not even bring any of their Silver Age DC books to the show. Despite that, there were some DC keys for sale such as Showcase first appearances of the Silver Age Green Lantern and Atom. Fawcett’s Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel, and Captain Marvel Jr. titles were available. Beyond the superhero books, there were a lot of horror comics and some truly esoteric titles that do not show up very often. Beyond the comics, there was a huge t-shirt display, and an etched glasses display made by hand by the seller.

Allie was impressed with the Roving House booth’s pins, patches, and wearable art pieces and also the coffee that they sold. In Artist Alley, she meet up with longtime friend Mark Texeira and got to chat with him while he was doing sketches. He did a sketch for her on one of his Wonder Woman posters and she was just beaming when she showed it to me. We both got a kick out of Denny Daniel’s The Museum of Interesting things which is a traveling virtual or live interactive demonstration/exhibition of antiques and inventions. Daniel takes his exhibition to schools, libraries and events and he strives to inspire kids and adults to be curious.

We met up with friends at the con, such as comic book and art collector Ankur Jetley, Billy Kwack showed me some of the books that he found, Frank Giella, the son of artist Joe Giella, hung out with us at dinner after the show. I got to talk to dealer Oliver Hochran, a fixture at John Paul’s NJ shows, who was selling comics out of his boxes and that was cool. I also talked to dealer Gary Dolgoff who I have known since the days of the Phil Seuling NYC shows.

From the iconic Art Deco style to the amazing construction, the New Yorker has been a major component of the New York skyline since it was built in 1930. Created with a private power plant, an underground tunnel to Penn Station and even an ice rink, the landmarked Manhattan hotel was the most technologically advanced hotel of her day. At the height of the hotel’s popularity, it hosted influential politicians, celebrities, and sports figures, and entertained in The Terrace Room with the who’s who of the big band era. The hotel has three restaurants, including Trattoria Bianca, the famous Tick Tock Diner, and the upscale Butcher & Banker.

As we left the show, Allie and I were already thinking of 2025 and the next Big Apple con. The show hours were 10 AM to 7 PM Saturday and both VIP and early admission tickets were available. Kids under 14 had a reduced rate and kids under 10 got in for free. Big Apple will return in November 2025 for their annual holiday show at the New Yorker Hotel. Fans can stay up to date on the Big Apple Con website.

To see more photos from Big Apple Christmas Con, jump to our In the Limelight section.