I was at New York Comic-Con last weekend. It was fairly well attended with many of the usual folks there, but I missed seeing some regulars like the Simonsons and Jose Garcia-Lopez who apparently didn't want to risk being there. Jacob Javits Center had a "masks required" policy. I'm guessing only 20% - 30% of the people actually wore masks though. I talked to a comic-con staffer and she said the masks were required "unless people had strong objections."
One of the people who has been a regular at the show was Kim Jung-Gi, the
South Korean illustrator known for doing huge, detailed murals in ink
without any reference materials or penciling. He was already a huge
name when I first saw him here at Blind Whino back in 2015 (photos below). While he
was there he worked for hours in front of an audience drawing a Star
Wars universe with samurai-inspired characters. Then he sat down
and signed books. He was constantly drawing and, at
least whenever I was near him, always being videoed doing so.
But
he wasn't there this year. He was in the Paris airport on October 3,
on his way to New York, when he complained of chest pains and he died of
a heart attack. His booth at the show was a memorial to him with
flowers and tributes. He was 47.
I don't think I ever heard him speak -- at Blind Whino, the only words I
remember him saying in English were "bathroom" and "quit." He always
had an entourage. When he did a panel at San Diego, someone in his crew
whispered what the panelists were supposed to draw and he just started
drawing. He was pretty unique.
Pictures of his table from the NYCC are at:
