Humans of New York Comic Con

All 151,000 tickets to New York Comic Con sold out within hours. If you're a fan, the allure of the event is easy to understand.

Dressed up as Kiki, a character from a Hayao Miyazaki film

(Steven Leung/flickr)

"I've always loved the idea of being able to dress up and go to a place where everyone has the same interest as you," one high school junior told me. She was dressed up as Connie, a tennis racquet-carrying character from Steven Universe. Her friend, who was a character from Assassins Creed, said: "It's like Halloween early, only it's somebody's passion to do it, and they really put time and effort into it." She said she was drawn to her character because of its moral ambiguity. "I just like the whole concept of it, being kind of an antihero. You would think an assassin is a bad person, but he's really trying to save the world." In between the two of them is a Kyoshi warrior, who does battle with fans.

Connie, a character from Steven Universe; a Kyoshi warrior, and an assassin from Assassin's Creed

(Kate Hinds /WNYC)

Laura, who was from Sayreville, New Jersey, was dressed up as Harlequin, a character from Batman. "She's a very interesting character. She has a love/hate relationship with Joker. It's a tragic love story, basically. He turned her from a psychiatrist who was good, into this evil person who does crime. She's very interesting."

Harlequin, a character from Batman, who has a ....Harlequin phone cover.

(Kate Hinds/WNYC)

Dr. Horrible trying to get some Wonderflonium through security at New York Comic Con

(Kate Hinds/WNYC)

Outside the Javits Center at New York Comic Con

(Kate Hinds/WNYC)

Mario and Luigi, photographed at New York Comic Con

(Steven Leung/flickr)

What Up My Nerd -- button worn by New York Comic Con attendee

(Kate Hinds/WNYC)

Outside the Javits Center at New York Comic Con

(Kate Hinds/WNYC)

A New York Comic Con staffer directing pedestrian traffic on 34th Street

(Kate Hinds/WNYC)

Queen Merla, a character from the series "Voltron"

(Kate Hinds/WNYC)

Red Skull and Thanos

(Steven Leung/flickr)

"I've been a fan of comics since I was probably 11 years old," said one attendee. "And this brings all the characters to life and you get to meet up with other people that really like it too."