Since 2006, the New York Comic Con (NYCC) has become an annual benchmark in both local and nationwide pop culture. For one Queens College student, Nyad Landivar, it was her first time attending the event. For the occasion, Landivar, a 28-year-old Design major, carefully planned her costume. It took her over a month to assemble her cosplay of Yor Forger, a character from the manga/anime titled “Spy x Family.” Landivar adores the character of the skilled assassin, and she especially wanted to get every detail of the “Thorn Princess” correct.
First came the dress. Landivar wanted to be Yor in her assassin outfit, and the dress itself took a month to find. At first she ordered the large, but it was too tight, so she exchanged it for an extra-large which was the correct fit. The dress came with the character’s accessories, such as the yellow flower headband, knee high black stockings, black gloves, and Yor’s yellow diamond shaped earring, which was a clip-on.
Next was the hair. Landivar needed a wig in order to accurately portray the Yor Forger character. In her research, she knew she had to find a wig that closely resembled Yor’s hairstyle. Landivar searched for a long black wig with long braids in the back. Like the dress, the wig took two attempts. The first wig was poorly made and broke after trying it on twice. After getting her money refunded, she was luckier with the second wig.
Finding thigh high black boots was next on the list, but Landivar wisely used her own comfortable footwear. Completing the look was the makeup. Landivar emulated Yor’s facial characteristics with a nude-colored makeup palette, along with light red eyeshadow, winged-tipped eyeliner and lip gloss in a light pink shade.
Like many other attendees at NYCC, Landivar arrived with her friend and her friend’s mother. The mom was well prepared, and since the Jacob Javits Center allowed outside food to be brought in during NYCC, the economically-minded mother packed sandwiches, chips, and water. Landivar’s friend also advised her to bring about $250 or more in cash. The benefits of cash were avoiding tax and bypassing the ATM machines, which nearly always runs out of money during NYCC.
Since NYCC takes over the entire venue, you can find anything from “Artist Alley,” panels, and celebrity autographs. By the time Friday rolls around, NYCC becomes extremely crowded on the main floor, but Landivar’s main plan was to have fun. As she and her crew walked around, she checked out the various booths from vendors. What caught her interest were the booths for “Tamagotchi,” “Studio Ghibli,” “One Piece,” “Good Burger,” and “Naruto.”
She and her friend loved the booth for The House of Korean Comics. While at the booth, they played a game, getting a free tote bag in the process. Landivar said, “We played tracing for like 10 minutes, and it was fun.” They chose to trace characters from “Marry My Husband,” a comic from WEBTOON.
Meanwhile, the writers and actors nationwide strike had a small impact on NYCC, but not by much. Fans and cosplayers carried on as usual. Usually the panels at NYCC are used to promote upcoming releases of comics, television and film. However, due to the strike, the actors were not allowed to mention projects they were involved in.
Various celebrities such as actor Chris Evans, film director John Carpenter, actor David Tennant, and many others were still allowed to sign autographs. However, in order to skip around the strike, ReedPop — the folks behind NYCC — supplied the photos to be signed instead of the film studios. Otherwise, Hollywood’s absence barely made a dent in NYCC. Comic cons, after all, were originally created to unite sequential fans together.
This had no bearing on Landivar, who was thoroughly enjoying NYCC. The Queens College senior plans to return in the years to come. In her own words, Landivar said, “I hope to make more memories.”
