:
: : Yesterday I went to the MCBA Fallcon, the largest convention in the state of Minnesota. Despite not being able to meet some of the celebrity guests (the line was too long),

: Too bad. I've never gotten to meet creators at con because I've just been too timid to go over to the guest area really.

The two guests I didn't get to meet were John Romita Jr. and Neil Gaiman. I was also kind of interested in meeting Adam Hughes and Karl Story, but they were both engaged in conversations by the time I got over to their booths, and I didn't get a chance to talk to either of them. However, I didn't do too poorly... I met Brent Anderson, Howard Porter, Dan Jurgens, Mike Carlin, Christopher Jones, and Matt Feazell. And I even got Brent to do a free sketch for me! (It was a sketch of Marathon from Strikeforce: Morituri, by the way... I was the only person that entire day who asked him for a Morituri sketch!)

: : I had a great time, and wound up spending almost 50 bucks and buying about 80 comics.

: Which averages out to 62 cents per comic. Pretty awesome. Don't let Jam8 find out about this, or he might just start buying back issues himself!

Hey, there he is now... quick, hide your back issues! (Jam8 passes by, and notices that Tim has just hidden a large pile of something or other underneath a nearby table. He wonders briefly what it is before going on his way.)

Sorry, got a little carried away there...

: (Sure, some people could say that they are "supporting the industry" by having spent that $50 on 2 or 3 weeks' worth of #1,000,000 tie-ins. Me, I'd rather wait till they hit the discount bins.

Unfortunately, I don't know of any nearby discount bins that would have the comics I particularly want. It's a shame, because I'm probably going to end up spending about 40 bucks on this month's new comics.

: : Partly because of Rimes's influence, I ended up buying most of my comics in the 25- and 50-cent boxes, and spent less money at the main back issue boxes than I usually do. I'm sure you're all waiting with bated breath to find out what I bought, so, being the polite young gentleman I am, I'll tell you. Thanks to Rimes for inventing the format of these con reports.

: I don't know if I invented it....but I'll take the credit!

You're welcome. :)

: : MARVEL:

Oh, just a side note: According to Overstreet, Amazing Spider-Man #43 is worth 90 bucks in mint condition. I got a fair to poor copy of that book for a quarter!

: : Captain America #175 ($2.50), #234, #237, #280 (50 cents each)
: : (That's right, I finally got #175! This is the conclusion to the classic Secret Empire saga, which ends with the president committing suicide. I was really shocked to find it at such a low price, considering that it also guest-stars the X-Men. I bought #234 and #237 based on Rimes's recommendation.)

: Yeah, those are all good issues. #237 is one of my all-time favorite Cap issues.

In fact, I bought that issue on your recommendation, and found it to be excellent.

: : Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #1-#2 (25 cents each)
: : (I found a table that was selling recent comics for a quarter each, and I'd missed both of these when they came out, so I picked them up. #2 has a beautiful Joe Simon cover.)

: What a bargain buy! Wish I could have checked out that table.

Unfortunately, those (and a couple issues of Ka-Zar and Starman) were about the only comics at that table that I actually wanted. But I did get a great deal!

: : Classic X-Men #2, #4, #28, #37, #45-#46, #102 (25-50 cents each)
: : (Rimes and Max Zero have both told me great things about the backup stories in Classic X-Men, but none of the ones I've seen have been all that great. Until now, that is. The Storm/Marvel Girl backup in #2 and the Wolverine/Nightcrawler story in #4 were both beautiful.)

: I think that Wolvie/Nightcrawler story might be the one we had been talking about, where Nightcrawler finally decided to stop using his image machine thingie. Some of these Claremont-Bolton back-ups were reprinted in a series called X-Men Lost Tales. John Bolton is a great British artist.

It was indeed the story we talked about. In fact, I bought that issue specifically for that story. And you're right, Bolton is a great artist... I never appreciated his art until I read those backups.

: : Incredible Hulk #312 (50 cents, I think)
: : (This one was recommended to me some months ago on the Marvel board.)

: Was that the one that told the life story of Bruce Banner? If so, good issue.

Yeah, I think so. I haven't read it yet.

: : Marvel's Greatest Comics #66 (50 cents) (Reprinting Fantastic Four #85 or thereabouts.)

: : Marvel Super Action #1 (25 cents) (Reprinting Captain America #100 by Lee and Kirby.)

: : Marvel Triple Action #20 (25 cents) (Reprinting Avengers #26.)

: Getting the classics the inexpensive way. Some of those are edited so that they are missing a few pages (to squeeze into the decreased 17 or 18-page format), but a reasonable alternative to the originals. (Cap #100 is pretty expensive these days in original form.) Not sure if that Marvel Triple Action #20 is edited down, though...they might not have started cutting down the pages on MTA until around #24 I think? If MTA #20 has 20 pages, then it isn't missing story pages that the original had, in other words, I believe.

Oy vey. I'd better check those comics out to see if they have the correct number of pages. Thanks for alerting me!

: : DC

: : Green Lantern ('70s) #95, #188
: : (#95 is a GL/GA teamup featuring Mike Grell… until I bought this comic and Action
: : #452, I had been deprived of Grell artwork! #188 features a very interesting backup story
: : which introduces Mogo, the planetary GL. This story is by none other than Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.)

: How much did all these cost? You didn't say. Sounds cool. Grell is a good artist, and his 1990s Shaman's Tears series can often be found in cheap boxes.

I thought I did say how much I paid. I composed this post offline and pasted it in... maybe something was lost along the way! Anyway, I spent either 50 cents or a quarter on each of those.

: : Saga of the Swamp Thing #21 (5 bucks), #52 (about 2 bucks)
: : (I KNEW it. I knew that I was going to find #21 at this con. This comic is one of my personal Holy Grails, and I had decided before the convention that if I saw it there, I would be willing to pay a lot more than my usual limit of 3 bucks per comic. In fact, the book was priced at seven bucks, but I managed to bargain it down.
: : Almost every time I go to a convention, I get a great deal on some really important comic that I've been looking for for a while. Two years ago it was Daredevil #181; last year it was X-Men #137; and this year it's Saga of the Swamp Thing #21. As I said, I had a feeling I was going to get this comic, and I was right. Next year, maybe it'll be Miracleman #15…)

: So, #21 is Moore's "Anatomy Lesson," right? I'd thought he'd also written the issue before that, though, but it was a bit of a false start. Is that true? I'm amazed at how good Swamp-Thing was before Moore joined. Bissette was drawing it a bit before Moore joined, and they have the same bizarre look as the Moore issues.

#21 is "The Anatomy Lesson," which I can honestly say is one of the scariest comics I've ever read. I think many would agree. Moore also wrote #20, but you're right, it does seem to have been something of a false start... everyone seems to consider #21 the real start of Moore's classic run.

I've never read any pre-Moore Swamp Thing issues, except for the original Wein/Wrightson run. Nor am I interested in reading them. Tom Yeates seems like a good artist, though, from the cover of #21.

: : Star Trek #10-#12 (50 cents each)
: : (This is a storyline called "The Trial of James T. Kirk," by PAD. I had gotten copies of this out of the library years ago, and I really enjoyed it, but I was interested in owning it. I'm glad to have my own copies of this storyline, which is probably the best Star Trek comic story ever.)

: Hmmm, I've never read a Star Trek comic before. Maybe I ought to try one sometime.

This story is a good place to start, although it requires some familiarity with the classic Trek series.

: : Superman vol. 2 #121 (25 or 50 cents)
: : (After buying this, I happened to pass by Dan Jurgens's table and got him to sign it. The guy must have been feeling pretty lonely, since the line for John Romita Jr., who was sitting next to him, stretched into the next room.)

: Are you sure that the line wasn't for both of them (they both do THOR) and you just cut in front of everyone else in line? :) Well, you did meet a creator at least... did you say anything to him, or vice versa?

Damn! I never thought of that. :( But Jurgens arrived at the con before JR Jr., and the line only formed when JR arrived, so I don't think I cut in front of anyone. I did interrupt JR to ask him how much he charged for a sketch, though... and on top of that, I didn't buy one. :(

I sure did get to talk to some creators, though! (See my comment on this above.) In particular, I complained to Mike Carlin that I didn't approve of his marketing decisions. (His response to that was "I don't approve of your shirt.") I also told Brent Anderson that I thought Morituri was one of the most underrated series in Marvel history (which it is!). I also had brief conversations with Howard Porter, Chris Jones and Matt Feazell, the latter of whom is a really funny guy.

On an unrelated note, at one point I saw a gentleman walking around the convention center, carrying another guy on his back, and yelling "Alan Moore knows the score!" (Actually, I think "gentleman" is too strong a word...) I later discovered that the second guy, the one on the first guy's back, was Gene Ha, and that he was giving this person a free sketch in exchange for doing this.

Well, I suppose if I went to Chicago or San Diego I'd see a lot worse.

: : Tales of the Green Lantern Corps Annual #3 (25 cents)
: : (I bought this thinking it was the Em