OK, here we go ...
We (
Esad, Zeljka,
Talaja, Vlatka and me) rented an apartment in Hell's Kitchen for a week.
Esad found a perfect location; 5 minutes of walk to the convention center and 15 to our publisher's offices. Cosy place, cheaper then any hotel on same location.
That window on the second floor, on the left - that was my room.
Manhattan is amazing! None of the pics can really describe how tall these buildings are.
But honestly I can't imagine people actually living and working in there. Of course it's not all just skyscrapers. One of my favourite is
Dakota building where "Rosemary's baby" is taking place and where John Lennon lived and was shot in front of.
Dakota is right next to Central Park. Big and beautiful!
You could almost forget you're in the middle of one of the biggest cities in the world ...
Yeah, almost ...
Around the town there are smaller parks, like Bryant Park here. Perfect places for a coffee and cigarette breaks.
I was surprised to hear from the local people same rant that's going on probably in every bigger (or smaller) city in the world - how it all changed and it's not like it's used to be. That Times Square looks like Las Vegas now, for instance. To me, it always seemed that way.
What I find ironic, if not cynical, is that at the tourist epicenter of Big Apple there's a recruiting center. I wondered can a tourist come in and get drafted?
Not that I'd want to do it myself, of course. >: )
We met Spiderman there. At first we got along just fine, but then ...
... he found out I'm working for DC Comics! : P
So,
Talaja had to jump in and explain there's a new boss in town!
Speaking of DC Comics, their building on Broadway is far from being one of the largest, but being all black, it stands out as rather unique.
At the corner of it, there's a coffee bar/restaurant with chairs and tables outside where you can smoke. So I had my meetings down there, instead up in the offices.
Corridors and offices are decorated in a way that you have no doubt comics are being produced here. This is Metropolis. On the lower floors there's Gotham, too.
That statue is rather lame. I liked the old one better.
This is not some teenager's room. It's a typical room of a DC employee. : )
New York is famous for its restaurants, too. There's probably not a nation in the world that wouldn't have its cuisine here. We visited quite a few. Man's gotta eat, right? This is a Japanese one, with bizarre shop above it.
From left, clockwise:
Davide Gianfelice and Danielle,
Esad Ribic and Zeljka, Vlatka and
Dalibor Talajic.
Evening after that at Chinese restaurant a historic moment -
"Scalped" crew meeting in person all together for the first time. So much love there;
Will Dennis,
R.M. Guera,
Jason Aaron and
Giulia Brusco!
And, since I'm at name-dropping ... : ) A Spanish dinner with Vertigo people. From left, clockwise:
Jason Aaron,
Rafael Albuquerque and his wife,
Mark Doyle,
Will Dennis,
Cliff Chiang,
Brian Azzarello, me and
R.M. Guerra.
And that would be all for now. Next part will be all about the con.
Iztok Sitar
Jerome, Olivier and Anne Claire Jouvray
Stan Sakai
Štef Bartolić
Aleksa Gajić
And, the one and only - Howard Chaykin, who blew our minds and was in large part responsible for making this year's festival one of my all-time favourite!
