New York Comic Con 2012! Stephen Amell! Arrow Cast! 666 Park Avenue Cast! Terry O’Quinn! The Walking Dead! Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Thor! And More!

Erica just sent it this great report from the New York Comic Con! I wish I could have gone but alas it just wasn’t meant to be. I need to travel more! That’s my new mission… when my life settles down, lol…

Check out Erica’s NYCC recap after the jump!!

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My final con of 2012! What better way to close out 2012 than with the second biggest con in the US? Yes, I’m back at New York Comic Con which is bigger and crazier than ever! The Javits Center was packed with people and with diverse programming which covered comics (duh!), books, toys, gaming, TV and movies.

My first day at the con, I stumbled into a little panel at the Legendary booth. Legendary has really stepped up their con presence. In past years they mostly brought in props from Inception, Batman and Clash of the Titans. Now they are hosting panels with some of the top creative minds – interesting things are on the way!

Exhibit A: this little panel had Guillermo del Toro, Grant Morrison, Travis Beacham and was hosted by Chris Hardwick (of Nerdist fame). We’ve previously posted information on the annoucements, but I did want to post some pictures from the chat. Grant was passionate about Annihilator while Guillermo speaks with all the enthusiasm of a fanboy and a twinkle in his eye.

Guillermo also revealed a new poster from Pacific Rim — in the style of the “Rosie the Riveter” posters from WWII. Loved the look of this poster! Can’t wait for the Pacific Rim next July!

As always, the Marvel booth was hopping with costume contests and giveaways.

In celebration of Spider-Man’s birthday, Marvel offered up giant birthday cards where you could wish him well.

“Thor” was on the floor – though he looked a little pale and waxy. One little girl posed with the figure and then wouldn’t let go of his hand until her mother dragged her away – we all know how she feels!

Some other characters roamed the floor – kudos go out to Chairface from the Tick!

Big Apple Elisa also made friends with some Spartans (wonder why…?)

There was also a HUGE artist alley which was filled with all kinds of interesting stuff – including Battlepug which is amusing

Just outside the main floor, Sega set up a booth for their Aliens: Colonial Marines game where you could strap yourself into a powerloader and face a Queen Alien. (Complete with alien shrieking noises, fog and flashing lights!) Awesome and creepy at the same time!

Lego was also out in force this year – with a preview of upcoming Hobbit, DC and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sets.

TMNT was also here in force – they took over a walkway and transformed it into sewer walkway – very creative use of space!

For some folks, I think the biggest name at the con was Jason David Frank – the original green Power Ranger. His line went for blocks so they were thrilled when he got on his table for a group “Morphin’ time!” yell.

Being in NY, there is a strong book presence that the Novel Strumpet would die for! I managed to attend a signing for Charlotte Markham and the House of Darkling. The author, Michael Boccacino is really pleasant and so disappointed to have missed Joss Whedon at the Firefly panel. He felt marginally better when I informed him that Joss wasn’t here in person. So much fun to geek out with random folks!

I also went to the signing for the House of Secrets with authors Ned Vizzini and Chris Columbus. Yes, THAT Chris Columbus who wrote the screenplay for Goonies and directed the first two Harry Potter films. Chris was friendly and seemed genuinely surprised and happy when I mentioned my love for Goonies.

For me, the big signing for the con was for The Walking Dead. This is one show that I really enjoy and I am (slowly!!!) working on my cast poster. Since this is probably the biggest draw of the con, I got my butt out of bed at 4 am (!!!!!!) to try for one of the signing tickets. I had a feeling I wouldn’t be early enough, and, sure enough, we arrive and are approximately number 250 in line. I think they are giving out only 50 tickets. Drat! I am disappointed, but the people who get in line the night before and stick it out in 30 degree weather deserve the tickets. Sigh!

However, I do get someone on my Walking Dead poster this trip! I was headed towards the exhibit hall with Big Apple Elisa when she says “there’s Robert Kirkman” casually. I jump into action, turning around, grabbing my poster and a Sharpie. I catch up with Robert who’s headed in the opposite direction (he’s a tall guy and moves quickly) and see that someone else has stopped him. Robert comes armed with his own Sharpie and obliges me with a quick signature. Yeah!

For the masses who missed The Walking Dead signing, AMC brought the RV from seasons 1 and 2 and surrounded it with a bunch of walkers who were really good at sidling up to you when you least expect it. Thankfully they didn’t try to make it smell like there were walkers around…

Other shows were in the house with the WB making a welcome appearance with several shows: Person of Interest, Arrow, 666 Park Avenue and The Following.

A sister company, DC hosted several signings for the shows including Arrow. I thought the pilot was one of the strongest of the season so I really wanted to get into this signing. With some early hours and mad dashing, I got one of the coveted green wristbands and into the signing. Woo hoo!

Stephen is a bit soft spoken, but very amiable and draws a little arrow under his signature (awwww!). Marc Guggenheim, the show runner, is as enthusiastic as ever.

Willa Holland and Katie Cassidy are smiley, but seem a little lost in the flood of fans and don’t say very much.

666 Park Avenue is also here and since they film in NY, they brought the whole cast. Seriously. Somehow, they manage to squeeze in 9 actors around the table! This cast is friendly and handles the signing like they do this every day in front of screaming crowds. Some girls are calling out to Vanessa Williams who smiles and waves. David Annabel spontaneously fist bumps a little boy (isn’t he a little young to watch this!?!) and even the youngest cast member, Samantha Logan, smiles and signs with ease.

Terry O’Quinn is the last one on the line and has his serene smile on his face as he poses for lots of pictures. The rest of the cast is flying through the signing, but (bless his heart!) Terry is signing every letter for all the posters so he is bottle-necking things a bit.

(If only DC got rid of the bad pens…sigh!)

And that’s a wrap on New York Comic Con 2012!

Lots of fun to be had even if you can’t make it into the panels – where I missed Nathan Fillion on the Firefly panel, Clarg Gregg who will join the S.H.I.E.L.D. TV show (told you he wasn’t dead!) and so much more. Hopefully Javits will finish their construction so NYCC can fully utilize the full building next year and I can actually get into the panels!