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 Monday, August 13, 2007
I Spoke of the "Final Three Booths"
Posted by maggie
I just realized I never specified the third of the last three booths I bought from on Sunday at the show. It was the booth of Kindly Steve Thompson (no relation), from whom I bought the Brenda Starr tumbler of the several Chicago Tribune-licensed water glasses released a few decades ago. That leaves me with the Gasoline Alley and the Broom Hilda glasses to go. But, if so, it means the Tribune released seven designs; that would be odd in more ways than one. Nevertheless, Steve and I have never seen another design than the three I've mentioned plus Little Orphan Annie, Terry and the Pirates, and, um, two others. Um ... Well ... Smokey Stover? Barney Google? Guess who left her notes at home today.
8/13/2007 1:45:55 PM (Central Daylight Time, UTC-05:00) 
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More Comics! I Must Have More!
Posted by maggie
Following my purchases from Comic City, I stumbled across Wes Hagen's
booth. We'd talked earlier in the show, he carries his comics to many
conventions, and it was a treat to visit a table packed with "$3 each!"
boxes. This is precisely the sort of thing I look for at shows: no
checking labels and computing discounts, just a basic price and rummage
through the boxes looking for weird stuff. (The price that seems to
work is $3; in that range, among the Silver Age and later items, I find
occasional oddball earlier items.) Air War Stories #7 (May 66, Dell) Black Fury #51 (Feb 65, Charlton) Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery #26 (Gold Key, Jun 69) Bugs Bunny #73 (Jun-Jul 60, Dell) Combat Kelly #8 (Aug 73, Marvel) Ensign O'Toole #1 (Aug-Oct 63, Dell) The Fightin' 5 Vol 2 #40 (Nov 66, Charlton) Ghost Stories #11 (Jul-Sep 65, Dell) Grimm's Ghost Stories #11 (Aug 73, Gold Key) The Horizontal Lieutenant 01-348-210 (1962, Dell) Jimmy Olsen (DC) #112 (Jul 68); #143 (Nov 71) Lassie (Dell) #4 (Jul-Sep 51); #10 (Jan-Mar 53); #13 (Oct-Dec
53); #14 (Jan-Feb 54); #15 (Mar-Apr 54); #16 (May-Jun 54); #17 (Jul-Aug
54); #20 (Jan-Feb 55); #22 (May-Jun 55); #24 (Sep-Oct 55); #27 (Mar-Apr
56); #32 (Jan-Feb 57); #39 (Mar-Apr 58); #41 (Jul-Aug 58); #44 (Jan-Mar
59); #47 (Oct-Dec 59) Lidsville #2 (Gold Key, 1972) Looney Tunes #193 (Dell, Nov 57) McKeever and the Colonel #3 (Aug-Oct 63, Dell) M.A.R.S. Patrol Total War (Gold Key) #4 (1967; #5 (May 68) The New Krofft Supershow #3 (Jun 78, Gold Key) Porky Pig #22 (Feb 69, Gold Key) Ripley's Believe It or Not! (Gold Key) #8 (Feb 68); #10 (Aug 68) Scamp #9 (Nov 72, Gold Key) Space Adventures #13 (Mar 79, Charlton) Space: 1999 #1 (Nov 75, Charlton) Strange Suspense Stories #70 (May 64) Sugar and Spike #76 (Apr-May 68) Tomahawk #96 (Jan-Feb 65, DC) Tom and Jerry Comics (Dell) #87 (Oct 51); #88 (Nov 51); #95 (Jun 52); #100 (Nov 52); #116 (Mar 54); #135 (Oct 55) Total War #1 (Gold Key, 1965) Treasure Chest Vol 20 #16 (Apr 8 65, George Pflaum) Underdog #19 (Jun 78, Gold Key) Unearthly Spectaculars #3 (Mar 67, Harvey) Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea #10 (Nov 67, Gold Key) Walt Disney's Comics and Stories (Dell) #110 (Vol 10 #2, Nov 49); #112 (Vol 10 #4, Jan 50); #117 (Vol 10 #9, Jun 50); #152 (Vol 13 #8, May 53) The World around Us #34 (Jun 61, Classics)
Just to elaborate slightly: I didn't bother to check my own list for duplicates; I think I probably have the M.A.R.S. Patrol issues, for example. But I was in a hurry and just pulled what looked interesting -- and I just handed Brent the Total War, since he didn't have a copy, I know I do, and the Wally Wood art is great. In some cases ( Combat Kelly, Jimmy Olsen), I know we had the issues at one point, but I think we sold them to make room for other items. So grab it and go at $3 each.
And I bought some for other purposes. I'm mentor to a grade-schooler
with Asperger's Syndrome (Get me started on the topic of Asperger's
some time, but what the heck? What it means is that a bright child with
a comics obsession gets support in the field.) who loves Tom and Jerry.
So I grabbed the Tom and Jerry issues as gifts. And I've got three grandchildren, so why not Bugs Bunny? The Walt Disney's Comics and Stories are beat-up, but great Barks for $3 each? Hey, grandkids!
Oddball fun. What did you find at the summer's shows?
8/13/2007 11:31:07 AM (Central Daylight Time, UTC-05:00)
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Another Chicago Con Has Come and Gone
Posted by maggie
And, as is the case with so many others, I'm staggering from fatigue. It was odd, but, for the first time, I began to feel ill on the last day of the show. (It hit John Jackson Miller in a previous year.) Miller and I opted to head back before the end of the event, since it's a several-hour drive to Iola from Chicago, and it really hit me after an hour or so on the road. We'd pulled into a fast-food spot (food in which, I assure you, I had no interest), and several minutes of sitting at a table with air-conditioned air pouring down my back revived me considerably. A later stop brought saltines to even further rescue, and I'm only slightly shaky this morning. But it wasn't the flu, it wasn't food poisoning, and heaven knows I'm used to con adrenaline and pacing myself. So maybe just San Diego followed by Los Angeles trip, back on Monday, in the office Tuesday through Thursday, and then the lengthy drive to Chicago, outdoor heat, and indoor crowds? No doubt about it: I've got to toughen up. Which doesn't mean I didn't have a great time at the show. Even by the end, when I was feeling slightly staggering, I did well in hitting the final three booths for purchasing wrap-ups. First, there was the booth for www.comiccitytn.com. He had a board behind him and a hand-written sign announcing that each of the comics on the display would be $10 each -- and he added that buyers could get seven for $50. So I went for it, without even bothering to examine the items closely. (That's my current buying pattern: old, oddball reading copies that won't bother me, if they're in crummy condition.) So for a little over $7 apiece, I bought: Boy Comics #115 (Sep 55, Gleason) actually on my want list!Buster Brown Comic Book #35 (1946) actually on my want list!Complete Mystery #4 (Feb 49, Prime) Crime Detective Comics Vol 2 #6 (Jan-Feb 51, Hillman) Dick Cole #9 (Accepted Publications) Feature Films Magazine #2 (May-Jun 50, DC, adaptation of Riding High) Hit Comics #41 (Jul 46, Comic Magazines) Jet Powers #2 (A-1 #32, 1951, ME) Journey into Fear #19 (May 54, Superior, Canadian) New Heroic Comics #72 (May 52, Famous Funnies) Strange Worlds #9 (Jun 53, Avon) Tastee-Free Comics #6 (1957, Dick Tracy, produced by Harvey Comics) Young King Cole Vol 3 #10 (?, Premium, Canadian) Your United States (1946, Fred W. Danner, produced by Lloyd Jacquet Studios) By the way, don't be misled by the "actually on my want list!" note. It doesn't mean that I actually have all issues of New Heroic or Young King Cole, etc. It means I don't look for those titles, because I don't care enough about them to maintain a want list for them. And these are almost without exception in rough, rough condition: exactly the sort of shape of the comics I used to trade when I was a kid. Takes me right back ...
8/13/2007 9:15:41 AM (Central Daylight Time, UTC-05:00)
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Sunday, August 12, 2007
Nazi Gorillas
Posted by maggie
Well, of course the topic came up at last night's CGC Forum dinner. The Centaur collector sitting next to me brought out a magnificent copy of Amazing-Man #22 (May 41), with a view of, not one, but two Nazi gorillas. (They had swastikas on their hats, in case you were wondring.) So do you know any other comics with Nazi gorillas on the cover? One other one was cited last night. Any ideas, folks?
8/12/2007 8:00:44 AM (Central Daylight Time, UTC-05:00)
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So I'm Sitting down to Breakfast and ...
Posted by maggie
NOOOOOoooooo! This will NOT descend to that level of bloggery! No breakfast menu blog! I talked with several people who asked if I'm going to the Baltimore show this year and, frankly, the summer has been so frantic, I hadn't thought about it. But the chance to combine a fun con with another view if Steve Geppi's museum? Man, that'd be fun. Are you going?
8/12/2007 7:50:34 AM (Central Daylight Time, UTC-05:00)
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Saturday, August 11, 2007
An Exuberant End to Saturday's Chicago Con
Posted by maggie
Exuberant? Well, the people I saw were clearly having a good time. Many were sharing the excitement of the Dark Knight panel and trailer: both deemed worth all the fooferaw attendees had to endure prior to the event. And at the CGC Forum Dinner ... Well, it's not every day that collector Kenny Sanderson volunteers to eat an entire bowl of sour cream, if everyone in the room will kick in $5 to The Hero Initiative to have him do it. HI is now $270 better funded, and I have video of the eating challenge. Stay tuned.
8/11/2007 11:14:03 PM (Central Daylight Time, UTC-05:00)
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Wizard World Chicago Seems to Be Morphing
Posted by maggie
If San Diego seems to be filled with media fans looking for freebies from movies and tv, Chicago's exhibit floor seems to be packed with comics collectors (yes, and toy collectors) looking to fill collection holes and booths featuring big discounts on boxes and boces of comics. Point is: What used to have a Big Exhibit tone is developing into a great comics-collecting venue. Me? I found a Better Little Book for Harlan Ellison, some military magazines for my son-in-law, and a battered collection of Foxy Grandpa for me. Back to the fray; it's hard getting through thr aisles, though they're wide.
8/11/2007 4:36:29 PM (Central Daylight Time, UTC-05:00)
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Comics, Comics, Comics in Chicago
Posted by maggie
Wrestling with my phone (which has traumas on the exhibit floor) causes a delay in posting. Sorry! In any case, a fascinating series of discussions with long-time collector Jack Mallette, who pulled out Comic Book Magazine from 1941: a weekkly newspaper supplement from The Chicago Tribune. (When did it begin? How long did it last? We want to know. My bet is that World War II paper shortages brought it to an end.) Also, Fast Willie #6. (How's that for a title? Fitzgerald Periodicals 1977.) Anyway, the dealer floor seems packed with bargains, with many (most?) trade paperbacks at 50% off.
8/11/2007 4:28:08 PM (Central Daylight Time, UTC-05:00)
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Back to the Show
Posted by maggie
In the quick gallop around the floor last night, I found many exhibitors expressing fatigue regarding this year's short time between the San Diego and Chicago shows. "Too close, too close!" said one.
8/11/2007 10:11:28 AM (Central Daylight Time, UTC-05:00)
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Uh Oh, No Cameras! Now What?
Posted by maggie
As I was still getting breakfast, the intrepid Ray called to say he was 600th in line for the Dark Knight panel and had just been told he wasn't allowed to bring his camera in. Could I come get his camera? Well, no. What would help would be Press Sign-In information including such restrictions for any venues in which they'll be in force. My suggestion: Tell the folks in line that you'll be back, go to the Press Sign-In Booth, ask them to take care of the camera, and get back in line. I'll keep you posted. Geez.
8/11/2007 10:00:51 AM (Central Daylight Time, UTC-05:00)
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Friday, August 10, 2007
End of Day Friday at Wizard World Chicago
Posted by maggie
Most of the day was spent in the drive from Iola, as Dark Horse Star Wars writer John Jackson Miller and I talked about countless topics, comics-related and otherwise. Once at the show, I rushed to catch Mr. Silver Age's quiz panel, coming in halfway through but enjoying (and videotaping) what I saw. (I also took photos of the panel, which pitted a fan team against -- another fan team.) Major topic of discussion was next year's show dates: in June! Friday-evening tradition continued, with Mark and Stephanie Heike (Stephanie appears below with her 21st Centurions comic book), Andrew Pepoy, and me going out to dinner followed by a silent movie. This year was the best yet: Harold Lloyd in Welcome Danger.
8/10/2007 11:33:23 PM (Central Daylight Time, UTC-05:00)
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Thursday, August 09, 2007
Will I See You in Chicago?
Posted by maggie
As schedules turned out, I won't be heading for Wizard World Chicago until tomorrow morning -- and it'll take about five hours or more to drive there. So at the moment, it's back to packing and trying to remember what to take along. As was the case last year, Comics Buyer's Guide will be (as we say) walking the floor, rather than staking out a booth -- so I can't guarantee where I'll be when (though I'm hoping to contribute somehow to Mr. Silver Age's Friday panel at 3:30 p.m. in the Marshall Rogers Room). And Friday night I'm heading to a silent movie (thanks to the ongoing enthusiasms of Andrew Pepoy, who makes the arrangements in advance). And and and. You can see what I look like, if you check this blog's header, above. Say hi! You'll also spot me from the cameras I'll be toting. I don't know whether I'll ever be able to post it, but I've got video from the February Javits Center show and the San Diego show. Let's see what I can get in Chicago!
8/9/2007 2:44:21 PM (Central Daylight Time, UTC-05:00)
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