New York Comic-Con 2026 – Friday

09 Oct 2026 3 Comments

by Clare in Books, Comics, Cons Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Friday saw me again traveling into New York City for my second day of Comic-Con this year. It was noticeably busier today even as people queued to wait for the doors to open. Once inside, I went directly to the Penguin Random House table to pick up a ticket for the book giveaways and signings I wanted. I made it there in plenty of time and received tickets for two of the books that looked the most interesting to me. Then I scanned a QR code at Simon & Schuster to enter their drawing.

Promotional banner for 'The Apothecary Diaries' featuring a character with blue eyes and long hair, set against a colorful background with flames, displayed at an event.
There is a lot of anime here. This is the show my husband is currently watching.

From there I went to wait in line for my first panel – cozy fantasy!

Let’s Get Cozy Panel

This panel focused on cozy fantasy and the first question asked of the panelists was on how they defined this subgenre and what it meant to them. They all mentioned similar themes: hope and joy, what it means to be happy, healing from past trauma, and finding your people and community. They want to be able to go to sleep without being stressed out about tension from reading a book.

Panel of six female authors at a Comic Con event, seated behind a table with books displayed, discussing literature.
Left to right: Sarah Beth Durst, Autumn K. England, Rachel Griffin, Morgan Elizabeth, Meg Cabot, and Jess Lee (moderator).

Each author was asked to reflect on some books they have read that were cozy fantasy before this was thought of as a genre. They mentioned The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden, My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannet, The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A. McKillip (my review is here), and Anne McCaffrey’s Harper Hall trilogy (paid links). Sarah Beth Durst stated that her idea of cozy fantasy is when you start with The Lord of the Rings but don’t leave the Shire and just have second breakfast.

The authors were then asked about how they create their worlds. Autumn stated that they are a strict outliner and plan a lot overall… except for the worldbuilding. They make that part up as they write and then smooth it out in rewrites. Rachel starts by thinking about her main character and how she relates to the world around her. The two more contemporary authors (Morgan and Meg) joked that they didn’t want to do worldbuilding and they just threw magic into our world. Morgan tends to set her stories in New Jersey and loves things that are relatable for people.

In contrast to these authors, Sarah Beth Durst wanted to be a fantasy author for her whole life and plunges deeply into her worlds. She loves the process of worldbuilding and has a rule of awesome in which she keeps adding awesome things to her worlds.

A group of six women posing together in front of a New York Comic Con backdrop, smiling and wearing badges.
After the panel

I wished they had had a deeper discussion of how to create conflict and tension within a story when you’re writing cozy fantasy, but what I did take away was to intersperse tense scenes with more cozy ones.

I took a break for lunch after this and visited the food trucks outside. Then I made a random circuit through the show floor once more before moving on to another panel.

Three books displayed on a dark surface: 'Silvercloak' by L. A. Steven, 'The Magic We Made' by Meg Cabot, and 'Meet Cute Magic' by Morgan Elizabeth, all featuring signed editions.
Silvercloak was from a giveaway/signing, and the other two books were by authors in the cozy fantasy panel.

Terry Brooks In Conversation

This next panel was focused on Terry Brooks, the author best known for the Shannara series. Several other authors accompanied him in this panel and it turns out they were all writers who grew up reading and were mentored by Brooks.

As an aside, I’ve apparently been pronouncing Shannara wrong for decades. Sha-naaar-a is how it has always been in my head. But the author himself pronounces it with the accent on the first syllable and then the rest of the word is said pretty fast. During the panel they surveyed the room to find out that my version was prevalent, and Terry Brooks has resigned himself to how the majority of the fans pronounce it.

A panel discussion at a comic convention featuring five speakers seated at a table in front of a branded backdrop.
Left to right: Katherine Arden, Sarah Beth Durst, Delilah S. Dawson, Terry Brooks, and Peter V. Brett.

Each author related stories of how Terry Brooks influenced their own journey into writing fantasy. Peter Brett read The Wishsong of Shannara in his parents’ attempt to have him enjoy something beyond comic books. When he sold his first book he was able to choose between a few publishers and chose Del Rey because that was who published Terry Brooks.

Sarah Beth Durst met Brooks at a poorly attended book signing and was able to spend 45 minutes quizzing him on how to write fantasy. Katherine Arden picked up Brooks’ novelization of The Phantom Menace without knowing anything about Star Wars, prompting her father (a huge fan of Terry Brooks) to show her all of his other books.

An elderly man smiling while sitting at a table with a microphone, during an event at New York Comic Con.
Terry Brooks

When asked how he came up with the world of Shannara, Brooks’ initial response was to deadpan, “I don’t know.” He then elaborated on how his entire family read a lot, but a stint in debate club drew him into becoming a lawyer, professionally. He didn’t enjoy this practice and started to write fantasy on the side. After an initial acceptance at Del Rey and multiple rewrites, The Sword of Shannara was a best-seller. His editor, Lester Del Rey, wouldn’t let him quit his legal practice until he had two more books on the best-seller list, so he kept writing.

His early writing was heavily inspired by Tolkien, but as he worked on later books, he created more unique aspects to his world that strengthened his books. Brooks shared that one of the greatest criticisms he received about The Sword of Shannara was that it contained few women. He took this to heart and worked to ensure women featured equally as central characters.

Finally, Terry Brooks’ final advice during the panel was to read a lot – both in the genre and outside of it – for anyone who wants to be a writer. He also stressed how important it was to support new writers (as evidenced by those on the panel). He always tried to engage younger writers by asking about their books, then later reading them and letting them know that he enjoyed them, even providing blurbs for their first books.

Last Few Acquisitions

The afternoon was open for me to wander and peoplewatch. This cosplay of Monoco (Clair Obscur: Expedition 33) was amazing! I saw a ton of other great individuals and groups, but couldn’t get photos of most of them. I wandered for a while and had a passionfruit boba tea. Then I shopped a little more before finally sitting down to rest and type up some of this post.

A person in elaborate costume resembling a mystical creature, featuring a furry cape, a dark face with intricate designs, holding a bell and a staff, standing on a convention floor.
This Monoco cosplay from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was soooo good!

I went back to the show floor one more time to pick up a second book from a giveaway/signing. Somehow I ended up with four more books instead of one, but these things happen.

A stack of five books with visible titles and authors, arranged from top to bottom: 'Conform' by Ariel Sullivan, 'A Date with Death' by Kelly Creagh, 'Perilous Enchantment' by Sarah Clegg, 'The Sun and the Starmaker' by Rachel Griffin, and 'Beneath' by Ariel Sullivan.
Yes, there are five books. I forgot to put The Sun and the Starmaker in the earlier photo.
A close-up of a hand displaying two rings: one with a crescent moon and star design, embellished with blue stones, and another featuring small, clear diamond-like stones in a zigzag pattern.
A close-up of a gold chain necklace featuring a pendulum-shaped pendant with a dark gemstone, accented by two small purple stones at the base.
A few licensed items based on the books of Sarah J. Maas.

TORN and LotR Fan Club Party

After the events of the day, I went to a party and raffle sponsored by TheOneRing.net and the Lord of the Rings Fan Club. This was held at a nearby bar and had plenty of room for the group. I met a couple of other fans, bought raffle tickets, and examined the neat items in my gift bag.

I didn’t win anything in the raffle, but it was entertaining. I might have stayed to socialize longer but I was so tired that I needed to head home.

Various collectible items including 'The Lord of the Rings: The King's Gambit' Witch-King figure, an enamel pin, a Khazad-Dum National Park patch, and 'The Witcher: Wild Hunt' School of the Wolf keychain.
A man in a grotesque mask and a blue t-shirt holding a trophy stands beside a woman with long, wavy hair in a dark outfit and a cape, both posing for a photo at a costume event.
Some items from the gift bag. And awards acceptance required wearing the Lurtz mask. Sexy Gandalf was also involved.

After two long days I was exhausted so I’m almost glad I’m not going back for Saturday or Sunday. I’ll have to look forward to next year instead!

Were you at Comic-Con this year? Have you been in the past? Let me know in the comments.

New York Comic-Con 2026 – Thursday

09 Oct 2026 Leave a comment

by Clare in Books, Comics, Cons Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Thursday brought me into New York City for the first day of Comic-Con. I love Thursday at the con because it is the day with the fewest crowds and still has enought good content to be worthwhile.

Arrival and Priorities

I feel like either I arrived at the Javits Center earlier this year, or there were fewer people in attendance because I was closer to the front of the crowd than usual.

The opening queue on Thursday.

I thought that going to the show floor first would be a good idea, but it was actually quite crowded with the rush of people who wanted to get to specific booths for giveaways and demos. I had already researched the book giveaways, and the publishers have mostly changed their systems so that there is no need to wait in line ahead of time to get into the signings and giveaways you want. I scanned a QR code and put my email address in a form and made a note of whether I was interested in any specific signings otherwise. I missed the tickets for the T.J. Klune signing which is one I would have liked. Oh well!

Then I walked down to the family area to sign up for adult Jedi training. That was easy, with no line, and I bought some raffle tickets to support Make-A-Wish Foundation. I was happy that they let adults sign up for this sort of thing and not just the kids.

The gaming area was across the hall and I wandered in there to find that Dungeons and Dragons games were being held every 2 hours. I signed up for one at 7 p.m. The rest of the gaming area was rather deserted this early in the morning, although the Warhammer Experience was completely booked all weekend. They said that I could see if anyone failed to show up, so we’ll see if I feel like doing that at all.

I took advantage of the plentiful seating to have a pre-lunch snack and then wandered Artist’s Alley before a panel at 12:15 p.m.

Astarion / Baldur’s Gate 3 Panel with T. Kingfisher and Neil Newbon

I was excited to get into the panel for the new book by T. Kingfisher that is a prequel / backstory for the Baldur’s Gate 3 character, Astarion. In attendance were Kingfisher and Neil Newbon, the voice actor who gave life to Astarion in the game and was also brought on to narrate the audiobook.

The moderator had prepared questions (of course), and I’ll put the most interesting parts of the panelists’ answers below. One of the first things that they discussed was how the book came about and how they became involved in the project. Kingfisher was approached to write the book and took some time brainstorming the plot with the publisher and the Wizards of the Coast reps. She had to follow several ground rules and spent time digging into obscure D&D lore.

For Newbon, he wasn’t aware of the book until a few months ago. This was his first audiobook he has performed, but was the obvious choice for the narrator.

T. Kingfisher (left), Neil Newbon (right)

Kingfisher had to approach the character of Astarion differently than the one from the game. As a prequel set roughly 50 years prior to the events of the game, Astarion is not the same person that we meet there. She had to work to make Astarion less nice than she was naturally inclined to do, and she had to write his part as a more melodramatic character than her typical work.

Neal spent some time explaining his use of accents for the audiobook and how he was mentored by the great Roy Dotrice. He chose a more neutral accent for narration and then others for the secondary characters. He doesn’t choose favorites with his characters, but did say that Astarion meant a lot to him.                                 

Kingfisher talked about how she builds characters. She doesn’t write out character sheets but often first hears the characters in their dialogue. Her favorite character to write for this book was Rooftop Henry.

As anyone who has played the game knows, Astarion has suffered trauma before we meet him in-game. Kingfisher was not allowed to write a happy ending for the book because she had to make it work with how he starts the game. She did discover a lot of deep lore in regard to vampires and the undead in her research.

There was more, but I don’t think I can do justice to the banter and humor in the panel. I was entertained and time ran out before I knew it. I waited in line for the T. Kingfisher signing and then moved on to explore the show floor.

Wandering the Floor for Books

I browsed the tables at the main publishers that were in attendance, chatted with a friend, and then headed to pick up a giveaway that I had won.

By the end of the day I picked up only three books. Two were free ARCs and one was a book that has been highly recommended and was nominated for a Hugo for Best Novel.

The two ARC giveaways look like they are both variations on the romantasy genre. I’ll  have to squeeze them into by reading plans somehow.

These are the books I acquired on Day 1:

  • Soul Sworn by Kate Dylan (ARC)
  • The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson
  • Merciful Carnage by Sara Hashem (ARC)

On to Become a Jedi

It was then time to head over for my session of Jedi training. This was an intro to the style of stage combat the the Saber Guild does and was a small class of eight people.

We were paired up and did some drills to explore the attacks and parries. It was fun and I had a good partner and I feel like we could have done some more advanced moves. However time went by and I had to move on.

More Wandering and Shopping

I had more free time before the D&D game so I wandered back to the show floor and did some shopping.

I picked up a pair of Eye of Sauron earrings, a cat necklace and earrings from a Japanese artist that I like, and this cute little plant. Not shown are the elf ears that I plan to wear on Friday.

Dungeons and Dragons to End the Day

It was already a long day, but I wrapped it up with a short game of Dungeons & Dragons as my last event at Comic-Con for the day.

The DM definitely rushed some parts of the adventure to get us through it, but it was fun and all the players were creative.

We defeated the bandits and their mage then vanquished the shadow monster in the basement.

By that point it was 9 p.m. and time to head home. I’ll be back for Friday!

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