Chew the Fat: A 'Con' for the Year Without a Comic Convention

Redartz:  2020 has been a remarkable year, in many ways. Remarkable, challenging, memorable, inconvenient, historic, odd, you name it. We all will remember this year for many reasons, both societal and personal. 

One personal aspect of this strange year for me: it's the first year since 2006 in which I'll not be attending a comic book convention. Considering all that's going on, that's not really a big deal; obviously. Nonetheless, missing out on all the great aspects of a convention is a disappointment. There have been online 'virtual conventions', a couple of which I've checked out. They have been interesting, but it certainly isn't the same as attending a show in person. 

Therefore, for me and for any of you who also miss the Con experience this year, we are having our own 'BiTBA Con' today. How, you may ask, is this to work?  Read on, friends, and see.

There are four basic activities I love about attending a comic convention. Meeting creators, seeing displays of artwork, getting to know other comics fans, and (of course) hitting the dealer's room. Incidentally, I also like seeing the cosplayers, but that's out of my capabilities for now. 

Anyway, we will sort of simulate these four activities as our topic this week. To wit:

1. Meeting Creators- leads to our question . At our 'virtual convention', we can offer the chance to meet any of our favorite Silver/Bronze age comics pros. So, given the chance, what one creator (alive or not is immaterial) will you choose to meet, and what will you ask them about?

2. Seeing Artwork- I hereby present a limited, but (I hope) enjoyable selection of original art pages for your perusal. 

3. Getting to know other comics fans- okay, here we will share a little about ourselves, for the benefit of those who may not know or are newer to our group. Just pretend we're standing in line at the snack bar and decide to chat a bit.

4. Hitting the Dealer's Room- this means one more question for you. As times are tough financially for many this year, our funds are limited. However, each of us has somehow found 100 dollars (or the UK equivalent in Pounds) to spend as we like. What will you select?

To get the show going, I'll start off...

1. My creator: Will Eisner. I've admired his work since first seeing it in those great Warren magazines in the 70's. Later I learned just how huge a shadow he casts in the history of the comics medium. I would ask him what he thinks of comics today as published, digitally vs. print, and what he thinks is a realistic future for the medium.

3. A bit about myself: I've been reading comics for 53 years now, amazingly. I just love the medium and all it's genres; humor, horror, heroes, the whole works. And there are always new (and undiscovered old) comics to be found and appreciated. Spidey is my top favorite character, but I also love Archie, Sugar and Spike, the Spirit, Batman and the Avengers. Oh, and Neil the Horse. And my wife is great, totally understanding and supportive of my hobby. She always helps search at those flea markets we frequent...

4. With my 100 dollars, I'll try to pick up a sketch from one of the artists. They all are here, so I'll pick a Spidey sketch from John Romita. And expect to pay about 50 dollars for it. With my remaining fifty, I'll try to hunt down a couple issues missing from my "Sugar and Spike" run, and finish off with a few Marvel and DC horror anthologies (my latest craze, "Tower of Shadows", "House of Mystery", and so on). 

Okay, that about covers my 'day at the convention'. I'll stand here and eat my overpriced hot dog while you all share your convention experience! 

Adventures in Comics: Sensory Overload- Your First Comic Convention!

Redartz:  Greetings and salutations to all! The other day I was researching topics for a post, and happened to discover a reference I missed. Awhile back (actually, over a year ago) we had a post discussing our first visit to a comic book shop. In that post I mentioned my first comic convention, and added that it would be the subject of some future post. Lo and behold, that later post never occurred. That is, until today. You now will be regaled with the story of my first comic con (and as your reward for sticking with me this long, you get to follow up with your experiences). And now, to the story...

It was about six months after I first started collecting (and obsessing over) comics. It was 8th. Grade; it was my best comics friend and me, it was a big weekend. And the big weekend actually started on Friday night- our school had scheduled a sock hop; and it was my first dance as well (a whole weekend of firsts). And at that dance, I actually danced with a girl for the first time (to "Express", by B. T. Express, in case you were wondering). Although my dancing left much to be desired, I was having fun. And the fun continued after the dance, when I went over to my pal's house for the night to prepare for the next day's event (his Mom was kind enough to drive us).  That evening was filled with enthusiastic talk about comics, girls, school, dancing, girls, comics, and girls. 

Come Saturday morning, it was off to the comic convention. It was the first ever for our modest sized town, and was sponsored by  our local comic book shop. When I walked into that convention room, it was like the experience upon first encountering a comic shop: I was dumbstruck. Dozens of dealers, displaying literally thousands of comics of all types and eras. And the prices! It must have been the effect of competition among the dealers, but the books were priced lower than I'd expected. 

There were actual Golden Age comics, Superman from the 1940's! There were EC comics, Western comics, early Marvels from before the 'Marvel age' even began. There were even some examples of original art- I was amazed to look upon the actual drawn page from which a comic was reproduced. There were toys and comic-oriented memorabilia. Who would have thought so much cool stuff could be derived from the pages of four color newsprint?

 

It took a great deal of self-control not to simply run to the first table and start grabbing books. I forced myself to look the whole place over, and select some tables to revisit. I noted several books I wanted, and methodically went back and picked most of them up. The biggest treasure I bought that day was Amazing Spider-Man 19; the first Ditko issue I'd purchased to that time. And it was acquired for the total of 5 dollars; a great deal in my eyes- and it was in such beautiful condition. Like new...

After several hours of looking, buying, admiring and gawking, we went home with stacks of books and hours of reading to look forward to. In fact, most of the next day was spent doing just that. Looking back now, I realize it was a pretty humble show; a couple dozen dealers and no pro guests. It was only later, at a bigger convention in the sprawling city of Indianapolis, that I first got to meet some of the artists and writers responsible for all those great comics. And a few years after that, the mammoth Chicago Comic Con raised the stakes even higher. Nevertheless, that first small town convention will always remain a treasured First, safely bagged and boarded in my memory. 

Okay, as you've been kind enough to sit patiently while I reminisced, I'll give you the same courtesy. Tell us the stories of your first Con; and if you've never been to one, describe what you'd like to see and do at one...

Short Cuts: Cosplay, or "Who Would I Be...?"

Redartz:  Okay, time for a little fun flight of fantasy today. For anyone who has attended a comic convention (or watched the news around Comic Con time), a big part of the appeal is the amazing assemblage of costumed fans. Cosplay, as it is known, has become a big enterprise. Conventions have costume contests, seminars on performance, panels about costume creation. and much much more. There are dealers selling weapons, accessories, and costume parts. And it's a very democratic activity: you'll see kids, teens, young adults, older adults, whole families dressed up. And having a blast all the while.
Sooo, today it's your turn. No matter your size, shape, fitness or lack of same, there is a costume perfect for you. You get to satisfy your inner actor, your personal performance artist. What character will you choose? No limits here. You could be someone from comics, from film, television, or literature. All necessary accessories are provided. My choice is Dr. Strange (a fact known to some; I may yet take the leap and give it a try). What's yours?

Our own David_b sent some photos of his cosplay experience. And here they  are; very well done, David!

And here are some other folks indulging their imaginations...