If you're like me, you are (a) follicly challenged, and (b) once a week you go to your local comic shop to purchase the latest adventures of Spider-Man, Batman, Superman and the rest of the long underwear-types. Today - right now, as I type this - I am at the New York Comic Con, which is happening all this weekend at the Javits Center in Manhattan. This is basically Geek Heaven, with thousands of comic books and comic book-related products on display. There are also artists signing merchandise, video game companies hawking the latest and greatest, and even advocacy groups dealing with issues ranging from aging comic book workers who don't have pensions to video gamers who think that parents need to stop buying Mature-rated titles for their kids.

I spent the day at the Con on Friday, interviewing people, playing games and taking pictures of people in extremely detailed Star Wars costumes. Over the next couple of days I'll post my interviews, photos and commentary on this tremendously fun (if a bit nerdy) event. Some of the things I'll be posting are: an interview with comic book legend Neal Adams, a review of the new Shakespeare Manga from Wiley and Sons, along with an interview with Romeo and Juliet illustrator Yali Lin, audio of a Stan Lee press conference, and someone showing me how to play the card game Chaotic.

If you are in the New York area and have kids who love them some Spidey (or Disney, or Manga), Sunday, April 20 is Kids Day at New York Comic Con. Children under 12 get in free with a paying adult. There are cartooning classes, special meet and greets with favorite characters such as PBS Kids' Wordgirl, and even LIGHT SABER TRAINING (for a select few). Check out nycomiccon.com for details, and check back here for my reports.