The highly-anticipated New York Comic Con begins tomorrow – but if you don’t already have tickets, you’ll need some Bruce Wayne-type bank to get in.
For the first time in it’s seven-year history, the four-day event – a pop culture cornucopia that brings together figures from the comic book, movie, music and TV worlds – is completely sold out in advance of its opening.
Over 115,000 people are expected to attend the Javits Center spectacular.
“It’s the fastest we’ve ever sold out. There’s not a ticket to be found,” said convention head Lance Fensterman.
That’s sent desperate geeks scrambling to the internet to try to track down ducats.
The demand is so high that online ticket reseller StubHub was hawking tickets for the first time, and for big bucks.
Tickets for Saturday, which have a face value of $50, were selling for over $350. They were going so fast they were marked up to $450 by the end of the day.
Three day passes were selling for close to $500, while tickets for Sunday, which had a face value of $35, were selling for almost ten times that amount.
“It’s crazy. It used to be the type of show where you could just stroll in,” said Thor Parker of Midtown Comics, “It just keeps getting bigger and bigger. It’s huge.”
Midtown also sells tickets for the event – but they were all gone as of last week.
“All the passes went way quicker this year,” Parker said. “Word of mouth has really pushed it over the edge.”
Among the events scheduled for the weekend are a “Walking Dead” panel featuring stars of the hit TV show, a preview of the “Carrrie” remake with Julianne Moore and Chloe Moretz, a 50th birthday party celebration for Marvel Comics’ mainstay Spider-Man, and a performance by Ben Folds Five.
Fensterman said the show should be even bigger – and more accessible – next year, once expansion work on the Javits Center is completed. “Next year we’ll pick up more space,” he said.