Candace Green and Lizette Serrano of the Scholastic conventions team with Fly Guy.

At OOM we love graphic novels. This summer we blogged about Comic Con in San Diego and let our OOM readers know about some fantastic graphic novels available from Scholastic. Last weekend, Halloween came a bit early to New York and fans from around the country busted out their finest superhero capes and character masks to descend on The Javits Convention Center for New York Comic Con. The Scholastic conventions team was on the scene and they even did a little bit of dressing up on their own.

Candace Greene, from our conventions and author events team, was on hand for Fly Guy’s first appearance at NYCC.

How do you stand out in a room, convention center, full of zombies, ninjas, Darth Vaders, Wonder Women, and the occasional “What in the world is that?” type costumes?

Answer: It’s not easy. The New York Comic Con frenzy draws an incredible number of people each year. This year’s attendance was up 105,000 from last year’s 96,000!

Scholastic’s solution to this: Fly Guy! Yes, Fly Guy made his first appearance on Sunday during Comic Con’s Kid’s Day. Fly Guy, famous from his self-titled book series Fly Guy by Tedd Arnold, arrived at the convention center patiently waiting for his Scholastic escorts to make his debut. Safely avoiding flyswatters and several old ladies, Fly Guy was well received by kids who instantly recognized him, running up eagerly for pictures, and some a bit shy who weren’t quite sure what to make of the oversized fly. Fly Guy bookmarks, posters, stickers, and free books, including his latest, Fly Guy vs. the Flyswatter, were handed to the young, old, new, and familiar fans of Fly Guy.

The only thing missing? His Fly Girl.

Emily Heddleson, also from the trade conventions team, was also at NY Comic Con, celebrating the 20^th anniversary of BONE.

The BONE Panel: Cassandra Pelham, David Saylor, Tom Sniegoski, Dr. Katie Monnin, and Jeff Smith

Elsewhere on the floor, BONE fans were in for a real treat. Scholastic hosted a panel during New York Comic Con titled: “The Past, Present, and Future of BONE.” The stellar lineup included Jeff Smith, author and creator of BONE; Tom Sniegoski, author of the illustrated novel BONE: QUEST FOR THE SPARK; and the Graphix imprint editorial team David Saylor and Cassandra Pelham. Dr. Katie Monnin, a professor at the University of North Florida led the lively conversation about how the BONE series started in the underground comic book scene and how it has since broken out to become the highly acclaimed internationally bestselling series it is now.

Much of the audience was comprised of what Jeff called his “Boneheads,” die-hard BONE fans who were eager to hear any bit of new information about the history and future of the series. The panelists gave a sneak peak with what’s next for BONE— the next illustrated novel coming in February, BONE: QUEST FOR THE SPARK, PART 2.  Don’t forget to check out Scholastic’s wonderful discussion guide on how to bring graphic novels into the classroom.

Did you attend New York Comic Con? Tell us your highlights in the comments!