As I said, I'm a bit of a geek. And this past weekend I cemented my geekness by attending my first comic book convention, the Mid-Ohio Con. It is one of the closest cons to Lexington (Adventure Con in Knoxville is probably a little closer) but it has always been on Thanksgiving weekend prior to this year. Thus, I was never able to go. But earlier this year, the owners decided to sell it and the new owners decided to change the date. And because of that, I was able to go.
A few months ago I mentioned it to my nephew, PM, and invited him along. Over the past few years I have gotten him interested in comics. He reads some superhero stuff (Ultimate Spider-man), but really likes zombie books, especially Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead. I, on the other hand, love almost anything Batman. I don't know why, he's just my favorite superhero. I think a lot of it is that he has no super powers, so he's a little more grounded in reality. I mean, Superman is an alien... what's that about??? But beyond Batman, I do like a few others like Daredevil and Spider-man.
However, I do read a lot outside of the superhero genre. My favorite series of all-time is (was) Strangers in Paradise, which ended over a year ago after a very long run. I found out about late but when I did finally start reading it, I devoured it. Then when the end came, I decided not to read it as each issue came out. I wanted to wait so I could read the final story arc in one sitting. I still haven't done that. But I really need to...
Others I like include Blankets by Craig Thompson, Box Office Poison by Alex Robinson, Ghost World by Daniel Clowes, Breakfast After Noon by Andi Watson, Hepcats by Martin Wagner, Local and Demo by Brian Wood, Preacher by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon, Stray Bullets by David Lapham, Sandman by Neil Gaiman, Y the Last Man by Brian K. Vaughn, and V for Vendetta by Alan Moore and David Lloyd.
So, anyway, PM and I were really looking forward to the show. I had told him that he needed to bring along his copy of Marvel Zombies to have signed because the guy who drew all the covers was going to be there. He was doubly excited about that. For the weeks leading up to the show, the Mid-Ohio Con Web site continued updating with the latest news on those from the biz who would be attending the show. In addition to Arthur Suydam (cover artist of Marvel Zombies), David Mack (writer/artist of Kabuki and a run on Daredevil), Lou Ferrigno (TV's Incredible Hulk), Doug Jones (Abe Sapien from Hellboy, the Silver Surfer from Fantastic Four 2, and a couple of characters from Pan's Labyrinth) and Jason Mewes of Jay and Silent Bob fame (Clerks, Mallrats, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back). In addition, the 1960s Batmobile was scheduled to be in attendance, as well.
The show ran on Saturday, Oct 4 and Sunday, Oct. 5. PM and I had passes for the whole weekend, but to save a little money we decided to drive up on Saturday morning so we only paid for one night at the hotel. On our drive up, I asked PM if he remembered his Marvel Zombies book. He didn't. Then I got to thinking... it didn't occur to me to bring anything for Jason Mewes or David Mack to sign. What a numbskull I am. Finally, I decided it wasn't worth it to worry about, what was done was done. So we arrived shortly after the doors opened at 10 a.m.
What a glorious sea of discount comics, half-price hardcover collections, action figures and artists/writers it was. Granted there are significantly bigger shows around the country, but since this was my first, I was duly impressed. PM and I decided to just start with the first aisle on the right and make our way through. At some point we got separated so I can't speak to all of his experiences but here is how the rest of day one went.
The first vendor I came to had a large number of action figures. I had a few in mind I was looking for and he had the most elusive one, the Movie Masters version of the Joker from The Dark Knight. The key thing about this particular figure is that it is the only one that actually looked like Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker. The Joker is my favorite villain and I felt that I must have him in my collection. It was originally sold in stores like Wal-Mart, but I could never find it and I refuse to shop in Wal-Mart anymore (click here for that story). So the only place to get it was on the collector's market. On ebay it was averaging $20 a figure, a price I wasn't willing to pay on ebay because with the shipping those yahoos were charging, I'd be paying $30-$35 for it. It wasn't worth that much to me. However, $20 at a comic convention was worth it. So, I got it.
I was already forgetting about my lapse in preparation of not having anything for Jason Mewes to sign.
I continued down the first aisle, and since I had scored the most elusive item on my shopping list, I was just looking around pricing things, trying to find the best deal. I got to the end of the aisle and was looking through a bin of $1 comics when I came across one that I knew my nephew wanted, but since we were separated I had to call him to make sure he hadn't found it yet. Well, he didn't answer his phone. I decided to go ahead and get it and hoped he hadn't found it as well. It was for a comic called Bump, and it was issue #1 of 4. But my best find at that table was a comic version of Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol. As a kid I loved that TV special and because I collect copies of the book by Charles Dickens (I have nearly 40 copies) I had to have it.
From there I made my way up and down a couple more aisles, was reminded that I didn't bring my Daredevil book for David Mack to sign, found a couple of 50% off hardcover and trade paperback bins and searched for more figures. Next to Batman my favorite crime fighter is Batgirl (big stretch, huh?). However, I prefer the Cassandra Cain BG to the Barbara Gordon version, but there are very few action figures made of the Cassandra Cain version. As such, I'm left to get the better versions of the Barbara Gordon BG, and I found two of the ones I was looking for at a very reasonable rate.
Later that day, I came across three of the characters from the comic Preacher: Cassidy, Tulip and The Saint of Killers. Luckily, the next day I found the main character, Jesse Custer.
I also found some books. Looking through a 50% off bin, I picked up a Spider-man hardcover, a couple of Batman hardcovers and I found a hardcover of the third Marvel Zombies story that PM didn't have. Which was very good, because now he has something for Arthur Suydam to autograph.
Eventually I found PM and we walked to the hotel room to drop off our goodies (I had purchased significantly more than he did and those action figures are bulky!). Then, we headed out to lunch. After re-energizing, it was back to the convention floor. Again, we split up.
This time I made an effort to scope out the artist booths and see if there was anything that interested me. There was a large number of folks I hadn't heard of or whose work I wasn't interested in, but I did take a few moments out of my day to stop and talk to Kenn Minter, a Lexington writer/artist who self-publishes a comic called the Experts. I already had all the copies available of that so I purchased his book of semi-autobiographical comics. We chatted for awhile about the show, comics and the odd guy dressed as Nightcrawler, and then I was off again.
I came across an artist who had a number of prints for sale of sketches he had drawn. But only one caught my eye. As I said I love Batman comics and the Joker is my favorite villain. Therefore, one of my favorite stories is The Killing Joke. The premise is very good and it sets up Barbara Gordon's future as Oracle.
Here is the cover to that book:
I really enjoyed The Dark Knight this summer and thought Heath Ledger's take on the Joker was genius. So, when I saw this print,
I knew I had to have it.
I ended up meeting PM in the next to last aisle. The line was short for Arthur Suydam, so we decided to go ahead and get in line to get his book autographed. While there I noticed he had a number of prints of his artwork for sale. I found this great print of Mary Jane Watson (Peter Parker/Spider-man's love) and decided to pick it up and have it autographed.
I don't read Marvel Zombies, but this print was cool. There was a guy two people in front of us who have a bunch of trading cards, I'd say 30, that he asked Arthur to sign. And he did. Everyone one of them. Which I thought was nice, but come on, 30? You know he was going to put those on ebay or something. So, PM got his book signed, I got a book signed for my friend Kim, and I got a print signed.
Then we moved over to the last aisle where the movie/tv folks were. That is where Lou Ferigno was charging $30 for a polaroid photo (are you kidding me????) and for $20 you could have your picture taken in the 1960s Batmobile. That car is very cool, but I certainly didn't need to sit in it. Also, we ran into Josh and his girlfriend Mel near the Jason Mewes booth. Mewes was mingling with the crowd around his table and Josh and Mel were getting their photos taken with him. He returned to his seat signing items, and I related to Josh that I was upset that it never occurred to me to bring something for him to sign. What a numbskull I was. About that time, someone in line came up to us and said that he was giving the 8x10 photos he had on his table away. At that point, we decided to get in line. I was redeemed!
Now, I must say this... I am not starstruck. I don't fall over myself to get near celebrities and I don't cry at the mere sight of someone whose work I like. But these photos were friend, dude. How could I pass that up? Mel went first and she asked him to personalize it and write "With love." I went next and asked him to personalize mine, as well. Here is what I got:
He was really cool and down to earth, and has this weird eyebrow thing he does when you take his photo.
I then snapped a photo of the Batmobile, and we all moved on.
PM and I were tuckered out from our 5 hours at the show, so we headed back to the hotel to drop our stuff off and take a breather. Now, PM is a shopper. When he has money, it burns a hole in pocket. And his favorite store is Hot Topic. I mean, you know kids today. So we head to a mall a few miles away. Luckily it's good for both of us because I got to go to the Apple Store and drool a little bit. But Hot Topic was where we both actually found something. He got a hoodie and t-shirt, and I found this gem:
Halloween is my favorite movie, so I had to get an action figure of my favorite boogey man, right?
After another hour or so of looking around, PM and I picked Josh and Mel up near the convention center and we all went out to dinner. Good times, good times.
After dropping them back off, PM and I headed back out to search out one of the three Half Price Books locations in the Columbus area. I love, LOVE Half Price Books. If you've never been, you must go sometime. As expected I found a book, one I had been looking for for some time.
And finally, we headed back to the hotel so this old guy could rest his weary, aching back.
On Day 2, we got started by checking out of the hotel and loading up the car. Once that task was accomplished we were off to the convention once again to take one last look around before heading out. We again split up to maximize our efforts. As I made my way around, I passed David Mack's table again and since no one was in line, I decided to just stop and tell him how much I enjoyed his run on Daredevil. As I mentioned before, he also writes/draws Kabuki, a title I had been tempted to pick in the past, but just hadn't ever done it. Since he had the trade paperback of Volume 1 for sale, I decided to go ahead and give Kabuki a try. I also asked him to sketch the character for me.
As we were talking he told me that the new series of Kabuki was a different writing style and a little different art-wise. He had a number of the issues on his table so he gave those to me as well, along with a couple of sketch books. And to top it off, he signed them all. I wish I had know then what I found out later: he is from the Cincy area and lives in Bromley, Kentucky, and he graduated from Northern Kentucky University. So, that made my day.
I wandered around a little more before tracking PM down. We talked about what we saw and did, and turns out he spoke to David Mack, too, and he gave PM a couple of signed comics. Just an amazingly cordial, nice guy.
By that time, we were pooped. We left the con for the last time, headed to the car and went searching for some lunch and the other two Half Price Books stores.
It was a great time, and honestly, I can't wait to do it again.
And like I said, if you had no idea how big a geek I am, you should know now.
No comments:
Post a Comment