We're big believers in competition. It's the American way. And there's no place more cutthroat than New York.

That fact likely explains why some enlightened geeks prefer the New York Comic-Con (starting today) to the bloated San Diego institution. With recent mutterings about mainstream Hollywood culture co-opting the nerdfest for its own commercial uses, more loyalists are sure to defect to the East Coast.

Read on to see why New York Comic-Con is our new favorite convention in this completely biased, unfair comparison.