By Nick Kurczewski, The New York Times - Last weekend, Chevrolet wagered that the Boba Fetts wandering New York Comic-Con would need a new set of wheels, if only for those times when the jet packs of the "Star Wars" bounty hunters were in the shop.
The automaker made its second official appearance at the annual convention for comic art and pop culture, which welcomed tens of thousands to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center from Thursday to Sunday.
The Chevrolet stand, in the middle of the main show floor, included a Transformers Edition Camaro painted bright yellow with black racing stripes. Lest attendees miss the eye-searing paint job, adjacent to the Camaro was a gentleman dressed as Bumblebee, the Transformers character who assumed the shape of the Camaro in his automotive form.
"It's less of a Camaro and more of a prop from a movie," Bill Fleck, Chevrolet's regional marketing manager for the Northeast, said of the vehicle. He said New York Comic-Con allowed Chevrolet to "insert itself into something cool and relevant" and showcase vehicles that many attendees could actually buy.
As it did at the Maker Faire in Queens two weeks earlier, Chevrolet opted to train eyeballs on the Spark minicar rather than more "aspirational vehicles", according to Mr. Bleck, like the Camaro and Corvette -- however more suited that twosome may be to the rippling physiques of the comic realm. The tiny Spark, the smallest vehicle ever marketed by Chevrolet in the United States, could be construed as Clark Kent to the Camaro's Superman, powered by an 84-horsepower in-line-4 engine instead of a supercharged V-8.
On Saturday and Sunday, the automaker offered ride-alongs in the Spark.
Chevrolet invited the I.D.W., Dark Horse, Image and Boom! Studios comic imprints to design vinyl wraps for the four Sparks on display. Aside from distributing free T-shirts, Chevrolet also provided Comic-Con attendees with plastic swipe cards, which could be validated in front of the four Sparks to qualify for a grand prize drawing, in which the winner would go home in one of the Sparks.
"I'm never against free things," said Christian Siems, a student in Long Island, after swiping his card.
Stephen Martin, a spokesman for General Motors, wrote in an e-mail that the eventual winner initially wanted the Spark wrapped by Boom! Studios, featuring characters from the comic series "Adventure Time" and "Bravest Warriors" by Pendleton Ward, but after he learned it had a manual transmission he said he may elect an unwrapped one instead.
A flat-white Spark could also be found parked in the middle of Artist Alley, a section of Comic-Con devoted to artists displaying and selling original work. In the middle of North Hall, the four-wheel blank canvas had a rolling rotation of comic artists drawing directly onto predetermined sections of the car.
Matthew Clark, an artist in Portland, Oregon, who has rendered characters like Marvel's Ghost Rider, was assigned the rear lift gate. "It's a zombie horror motif," said Mr. Clark, who admitted his original plan had been built around an idea for the driver's side door, in which "someone would be driving over a zombie". The late change required a modification to the design, though Mr. Clark said the rear taillight allowed him to use the red reflective lens for his drawing of "half a skull with an eyeball popping out."
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