New York Comic Con 2021 marked my third NYCC, and just like the previous two times, my favorite part of the experience was wandering the rows of Artist Alley, looking at all the unique, vibrant, and fantastical art exposed. Artist Alley this year was a little different from previous years due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as was the convention as a whole.

Many of the biggest names who would normally be there decided not to come, and those that did had shorter than usual lines for panels and signings. On the positive side, it has created an opportunity for many artists and writers to debut at the NYCC and show off their work. Due to the lack of conventions throughout 2020 and into 2021, I wondered how artists and writers, both those new to NYCC and veterans of NYCC, were being affected by the pandemic.

Minneapolis-based illustrator Erica Williams was hit hard at the start of the pandemic. She had four cons planned for 2020 that were all canceled, and she had to sit on her stock all summer while selling it through her online store. On the positive side, she received great support when she launched her Kickstarter for her art book. Ritual. “It was amazing how many people came together to support the artists,” she said. His Kickstarter ended up being fully funded, with all of his lofty goals easily achieved. “People are really sweet and want to spend money, but it’s not the same thing,” she said of her experience at NYCC compared to her experience with pre-pandemic conventions.

NYCC was Alyssa Tallent’s second scam in as many months. “People really wanted to come back to Salt Lake in 2021,” she said, referring to FanX Salt Lake City, a scam she’s been on since 2018. Tallent thought she was capable of getting into NYCC because so many people backed down or didn’t. wanted to come, but I think she was too humble. His sometimes vibrant, sometimes haunting artwork has been one of my favorite purchases.

Rachel Elese and Beverly LA are two other new members of the NYCC. They have been doing counters together for five years after having done them solo. “Honestly, it’s the best,” LA said of being able to go to a convention and share a table with a friend. NYCC was their fourth con since the pandemic began. They told me sales came in waves, with some downtime between customers, but during my time at their table, they served a steady stream of consumers hungry for their prints and stickers. Elese’s anime-inspired work was a hit, and LA the Lord of the Rings footprints flew from the table.

They were both happy that the convention was mindful of everyone’s health (a sentiment shared by this humble writer) as the NYCC required its attendees to be vaccinated against COVID and wear a mask at all times. LA told me that previous scams artists had gone to in California hadn’t done their due diligence to verify vaccination status, and it was more like an honor system. Around 150,000 vaccinated fans showed up over the four days, up from 260,000 in 2019. Wider paths between booths on the show floor and more distant tables in the artists’ aisle allowed attendees to disperse slightly more than previous years (relatively speaking).

Betsy Peterschmidt is an NYCC veteran, having been to the NYCC every year since 2011 except for 2018, which she called a “combo breaker.” NYCC ’21 was her first convention since the pandemic began, and she was thrilled when she found out she could go. “I’m really happy the show is happening because it’s the first show I can have my book flipping through,” she said, referring to her debut graphic novel. Amelia Erroway: Castaway Commanderwhich she sold on Friday afternoon.

Peterschmidt noted that his “biggest money makers” are commissions. His commission list already had ten people when I spoke to him. She took a commission while I was at her table which was a very fun experience. Her enthusiasm couldn’t be contained, even though she was exhausted from a loaded scam. Peterschmidt had an optimistic view of NYCC, saying, “Sales have been good and people are here, there’s just less of them.”

My last scam conversation was with industry veteran, David Mack. He told me the story of his first NYCC experience in 1993, when he left class in Kentucky to sit in a car full of wads of paper headed for New York. He was able to sit at the table of Caliber Comics, the company that would publish his Kabuki series in the 90s.

Mack frequently travels abroad, both for conventions and to teach art classes to children. “It’s great to show up in cities around the world and know that there are already people out there who love your work and tell you it’s awesome,” he said of the conventions. He traveled all over Italy in February 2020 before the pandemic forced several Italian cities into quarantine and we in the states really realized how bad the COVID-19 pandemic was going to be . He had planned to travel around the world several times in 2020, but they were all, of course, canceled.

He was certainly happy to be back at NYCC this year and said the best thing for him was to “focus on the convention and interacting with the people who come” to his table. He said every year NYCC got better for him, with his viewership growing steadily, and 21 was no different. Mack sold all the books he brought to the NYCC, sold a few original watercolors, and added many names to his order list.

Some creators, like Williams and Tallent, hoped the downsides would see some sort of normalcy by 2023. Tallent commented that the delta variant “ruined everything again” when it leaped, evoking the element of the unknown at the future. However, even with limited capacity, other creators like Peterschmidt and Mack had similar convention experiences to years past, before COVID-19 upended society.

No one can predict the outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic, but with rising vaccination rates in the United States, most of us are hoping that NYCC 2022 will be more like NYCC 2019 than last weekend. As Peterschmidt told me, “people are always people who are going to buy stuff”, and those people are certainly eager to get their downsides back to normal.