The great on-going game for New York Comic Con 2009 was—not surprisingly—playing ’spot the effects of the recession.’ There plenty of theories on the manner, of course—some swore that the floor size had shrunk from past years. Others noted, thoughtfully, the seemingly increased influence of the so-called “recession-proof” video game industry. I heard a few people point to an observed lack of presence on the part of the roaming bands of storm troopers who have traditionally stalked the floor in hopes of confronting solo Jedis. Surely tough times have fallen on the empire.

From the looks of it, however, such rushed assessments were hardly indicative of an overall trends—faced with the greatest economic crisis since the great depression, the virtual implosion of the publishing industry, and even—god help us—increased admission prices, the prospect of having Whilce Portacio sign their mint condition variant of Wetworks #1 ultimately proved far too appealing for droves of attendees to resist.

[Check out our full Flickr set here.]
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Anyone who’s ever stepped foot in midtown Manhattan’s Javits Center knows what nightmare big conventions can be. The insanity proves exponential when, once a year, the Center opens its doors to the New York Comic Con, a pulsating gauntlet of stray light sabers, marked-up die-cast memorabilia, and bit players from largely forgotten 70s science-fiction series. Those attending the show in hopes of catching a fair amount of alternative comics action, we’ve sadly found, often don’t end up returning for a second year.

It’s unfortunate, to be sure, but let’s face it—having attending the show for the past few years, we can sympathize. The focus of shows like NYCC and its larger west coast counterpart is squarely focused on the big name players in the industry. They are, after all, the ones who largely tend to bring bodies through the door. While the showing from smaller publishers is smaller (Fantagraphics, for one, let us know that it won’t be in attendence, as it’s since decided that there’s little to be gained from a show like NYCC), they’re there if you know where to look.

We put the message out to indie artists and publishers, asking where we might find them at this year’s show. The responses largely came back in one of two forms:

1. Those who swore on their life that they’d never again risk setting foot in the convention, and wished us luck on our seemingly self-destructive pursuit.
2. Those who were, in fact, planning on attending the show, and were therefore more than happy help their indie brethren direct traffic.

After the jump, check out the list of exhibitors that just may keep you alive (and relatively sane) this weekend, and if you don’t see your name below, drop us a line at: dailycrosshatch@gmail.com

–BH
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