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Some news that broke last week that I didn’t have time to cover: BookCon is coming back! Held by ReedPOP starting in 2014, this was just what the name sounds like: an attempt to bring the excitement of a comic con but for books and authors and readers who don’t need pictures. The last one was held in 2019, halted due to the pandemic and then basically put on hold. I was told a few times that it was not coming back, but since then we’ve learned people like to read and BookTok has enlivened the space so why not?
The new event will be held April 18-19 at the Javits Center. As PW put it:
Jenny Martin, who headed up the earlier iteration of BookCon as well as BookExpo, is serving as event director of the reborn show. Martin stressed that the revived event will bear no resemblance to BookExpo, an industry trade show, saying that the BookCon team is “focused wholly on delivering a consumer event.” Much like its earlier iteration, which was among the first large-scale fan events catering to younger genre readers, Martin said the upcoming BookCon will feature book signings, panel discussions, book club meetups, sprayed edges workshops, book swaps, a “fantasy ball,” and more.
ReedPop, the boutique arm of Reed Exhibitions, has long “had it in the back of our minds to revive it when the time was right,” said Martin. “We have been successfully growing the literary track within our broader pop culture events since the pandemic and felt that now it was time to serve the bookish community in a bigger way.”
The original BookCon had its moments but it was hampered by being aligned with Book Expo, an industry focused event for publishers, booksellers and the like. Since then, publishers just don’t want to shell out for a big booth at the Javits when they email everyone they do business with every day. (They are going to ALA Annual later this week, though.)
As indicated above, BookCon ‘26 will be just for consumers. NYCC, also thrown by ReedPOP, has a sizable number of booths from mainstream publishing houses – in fact maybe more than comics publishers these days. Growing that relationship for the return of BookCon seems a promising path.
And speaking of the Javits, this past weekend it was the scene for Fanatics Fest 2, which aims to be “”the comic con of sports.” I went to the first one last year, wondering how the world of unapproachable sports stars and celebrities would translate to the more community driven world of the con.
Well, I really needn’t have wondered. FF ‘24 had what I would call modest crowds and a lot of problems with signing lines. This time, everything was boosted to the max. I would estimate at least twice as many people as last year, and crowds that rivaled a Thursday at NYCC.
It was also the loudest show I’ve ever been to. I’ve heard that E3, the now vanished video game expo, was incredibly loud and showy, and I imagine that FF ‘25 was something like that. The entire old Javits center was taken up with exhibits and signings and podcasts, and everything was ENORMOUS. Huge booths for major sports, and brands like Cain’s Chicken Fingers. Each booth had its own DJ blasting hip hop, and I found myself shouting most of the time.
Fanatics Fest was kind of like a perpetual Hall H. Sports stars and wrestlers were constantly doing things and shouting. John Cena and Seth Rollins had a staredown, CM Punk podcasted while sitting in an ice bath, Tom Brady won some kind of sports contest, while Eli Manning was bested by a regular guy at other sports, but did a WWE type run in with Brady, and so on.
Viral clips were made and shared, to huge success.
The trading card area was much larger and very busy. A “Hall of Greatness” displayed Lebron James’ shoes.
While the show floor was way too crowded for me when I arrived midday by afternoon, things had calmed down and I tried some of the activities that were available. As my friend that I attended with noted, there was something to do at every booth, whether it was making a video while riding a goat at the Dick’s Sporting Good booth, or trying to earn a plastic pile of poop at the Dude Wipes booth. Many photos were taken and loaded to the cloud.
My friend and I also got nearly a complete meal for free, including a chicken finger, crackers, cookies and many energy drinks. Very low on the fruits and veggies but okay. I also got many Dude Wipes samples in case things went south. (It still surprises me that men can be marketed to by telling them they don’t know how to clean their ass, but better they use those Dude Wipes than not.)
There were a few things that weren’t as cool. Fanatics Fest is run by Fanatics duh, the multi-pronged conglomerate that is valued at $31 billion. They make sports memorabilia, own Topps and also run Fanatics Betting, which is a huge prong of the company. In order to download the show guide you had to sign up for a Fanatics account, so I had to sign into the betting app to do so. Gambling is one thing I have less than 0 interest in, so that was a little annoying.
The thing I found most interesting about Fanatics Fest was just how many brands bought in with huge, expensive booths. Netflix had an enormous booth full of activities, and they can definitely afford it, but everyone put in a sizable amount of marketing budget to hand people a chicken finger in a paper cup. I suppose it’s worth it to be near Jalen Brunson.
Anyway, I had a good time at Fanatics Fest, even if my ears were ringing afterwards. I got to dance with Mr and Mrs Met, so that is always a good time. The event was clearly a success (the wrestlers were still the stars) and so to answer the question: yes, you can throw a Comic Con of Sports.
One thing that was missing from last year, as far as I could tell, was a very modest “artist alley.” It was super modest and empty last year and doesn’t really fit in, so unsurprising, but I don’t expect the comics and sports worlds to combine too much.
It did make me wonder though: could this hive of activity be brought to NYCC and SDCC. There are lots of things to do at those immense shows, but the lines are even longer than they were at most of the Fanatics Fest activities. FF reminded me of olden days at SDCC when giveaways were very elaborate and memorable. Or maybe they still give things away and I ‘m just too busy to notice.
A few pics:
A meal, Fanatics Fest style
A meal, Fanatics Fest style
Supplemental: why is Starbucks cold brew so gross now? I hardly ever go to Starbucks any more because there are far better and cheaper options in my hood now, but when I’m in a hurry the order ahead system work. When I’m on my way to the Javits for an event I usually grab a grande. This is my go to cold brew with coconut milk, and you can see how watery it is and it just tastes bland. SB uses cod brew concentrate and adds water to it, and I suspect that they add more water now than they used to.
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