It’s early October, and you know what that means! One of my favorite times of the year is approaching! New York Comic Con (aka my Christmas) is this week (October 3-6), and thousands of geeks are set to touch down on Manhattan for four days full of superheroes, sci-fi, toys, comic books, and who knows, maybe they’ll even find love.
But here at ToughPigs, we don’t care about love (phooey!). We care about Muppets. So in continuing our annual tradition, we’re providing a valuable resource for everyone out there who might be going to NYCC and intends to seek out all the Muppet-related happenings, celebrities, and hullabaloos at the Con.
Unsurprisingly, there’s a big bummer attached. Y’see, our tradition may be to talk about Muppet stuff at NYCC, but it’s NYCC’s tradition to provide the bare minimum of Muppet content. In previous years, we’ve had a smattering of guests or products to keep us interested. If we’re lucky, there’s even a big panel. This year, there’s almost nothing.
But don’t fret! We have been surprised before! All you have to do is keep your eyes peeled, and you never know where Cookie Monster may show up! Or a new Fraggle Rock playset. Or an announcement about a new Muppet movie. Okay, these aren’t the most likely scenarios, but you get the gist.
Anyway! Let’s look at the Muppet stuff we know will be at New York Comic Con this year!
Panels!
This year, there will be various panels that have the potential for Muppet content, though nothing guaranteed. BOOM! Studios will have a few (“Creating Community Through Graphic Novels” on Thursday at 10:30am and “Discover Yours” on Friday at 4:15pm). Since BOOM! holds the Henson Company licenses, (including a Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance comic in stores now), there’s always a chance they’ll have a related announcement or two.
Diamond Select, which has made several fantastic Muppet toys in recent years, will have a presentation on Saturday at 4:00pm. And Funko, which has made figures of every Henson property and then some, will have a panel on Thursday at 7:45pm.
Disney, fresh off their own D23 convention, will have a few panels, including one focusing on theme parks (Thursday at 2:30pm) and one on TV animation (Saturday at 4:15pm) both have a chance of Muppet content. Or we can just use them as platforms to complain about the lack of Muppets at Disneyland and the strange use of Muppets to promote the cartoons Big City Greens and Amphibia.
On Sunday at 10:45am, a panel titled “We Wrote Your Childhood” will feature several children’s TV writers from shows like Blues Clues, Rugrats, Spongebob Squarepants, and Doug. One of those writers is Ken Scarborough, who happens to be Sesame Street‘s current head writer! So who knows? Maybe he’ll actually talk about Sesame Street! Or not!
Finally, D23 gold members will have an opportunity to watch The Muppets Take Manhattan, featuring an intro by Jim Henson Legacy President Craig Shemin and a special surprise giveaway. It’s not officially part of New York Comic Con, but it’s happening during the same weekend (on Friday, October 4th), so we’re gonna count it.
Merchandise!
Zen Monkey Studios, which has historically had a lot of different Henson-related merchandise, will debut its exclusive Super Grover pin, which is real pretty! Look at that thing! I wonder if it’s real gold!
Funko hasn’t officially announced this yet, so take it with a grain of salt. According to an eBay seller, Funko will be selling Pop figures of the Wanderer and the Heretic from Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. Don’t worry if you can’t get them at NYCC – the rumors also say that this two-pack will later be an exclusive at Target.
Aside from these exclusives, there are always tons of vendors at Comic Con selling vintage toys, artwork, and collectibles. So keep your eyes peeled for Muppet-related gems!
Artist’s Alley!
Artist’s Alley is one of the great joys of Comic Con. There’s always exquisite art for sale, and if you search long enough, you’re bound to find some unique Muppet artwork. It’s also a great place to meet the artists responsible for the various Muppet and Henson comic books. Try and collect them all!
Amy Mebberson (The Muppet Show Comic Book) – Table A-7
Art Baltazar (Fraggle Rock) – Table B-1
Chris Eliopoulos (“I Am Jim Henson”) – Table K-10
Cory Godbey (Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal) – Table C-8
David Petersen (Muppet and Dark Crystal comic covers) – Table C-10
James Silvani (“Muppet King Arthur” and “Muppet Snow White”) – Table A-8
Jay Fosgitt (Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, and more) – Table F-2
Katie Cook (Fraggle Rock) – Table A-1
Lar Desouza – Booth 1536
Ramon Perez (“Tale of Sand”) – Table J-24
Yehudi Mercado – Table C-3
Cosplay!
Of course, one of the most notable parts of any Con is the cosplay. People dress up in the most clever, most fun, or most deranged costumes. We always spot at least a few Muppet-related cosplayers in the bunch, and with The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance fresh on everyone’s minds, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a Hup or Deet or Ornamentalist Skeksis out on the convention floor.
Famous People!
There’s always a huge amount of celebrities at these shindigs. And as we say quite often, a celebrity isn’t a celebrity unless they’ve worked with the Muppets. (A celebrity is also not a people, as Lew Zealand tells us.) Here’s just a sampling of some of the famous folk who’ve spent time with the Muppets that you can expect to see on a panel or pay a decent amount of money for a meet-and-greet.
Adam Savage
Damon Lindelof
Daveed Diggs
Jeremy Irons
Laraine Newman
Paul Reubens
Paul Rudd
Seth Green
Hey, even without a ton of Muppet stuff at NYCC this year, there’s a heck of a lot to keep you busy! If you’re going to New York Comic Con, we hope you have a great time, and keep your eyes peeled for anything Muppet-related this weekend (and every day)!!
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by Joe Hennes – Joe@ToughPigs.com
