Kevin Marshall's America
See what I did there? All C-words. But not THAT c-word.
Sorry.
Hey everyone! Kevin Marshall here reporting the day after the 5th Albany Comic Con, which was held yesterday at the Holiday Inn at Wolf Road.
My friend Eric (EricNewsom.com), his wife & I had lunch at the Macaroni Grill during the Con, and he drew this on the table. Show-off.
I may not have mentioned it on the blog before, but growing up I was a huge comic book dork. Most of the stuff I picked up was from Marvel, and in particular I had an affinity for Spider-Man, the X-Men books, and a lot of other stuff that I look at now and am embarrassed by. Not because they’re comics, per se, but because the majority of them are really bad comics. I’m talking “huge guys with tiny heads and guns and eyes that shine and cargo pants with so many pockets that you wonder why they need them” bad.
Anyway, I stopped reading when I hit puberty because I was like, hey, this form is crap. Except it wasn’t, it was just what I was reading. There was good stuff out there, much of which I’ve been able to read and appreciate many, many years after the fact. I flirted briefly with reading the modern mainstream stuff from Marvel and DC, but it’s way too expensive. Not to mention confusing, with too many characters and books with all these convoluted storylines that don’t really make sense unless you to have knowledge of past events that the writers and editors can’t even keep straight.
Sorry, I’m ranting. See? Deep down, still a comic book dork.
Anyway, yesterday provided a great opportunity to scour through tons of great comics, trades, collectibles, and much more. It was refreshing to see a Comics Convention that was still – get this – about comics! Sure, there were other offerings and no shortage of people in costumes based on sci-fi and fantasy properties, but it’s plain where the focus was.
There was no shortage of name talent, either, with Fred Hembeck, Keith Dallas, and the legendary (and local!) Ron Marz. Ron was the one guy I chatted up because he was the most recognizable name (to me anyway – I always paid more attention to the writers of a book than the artists) and because of his local connections. He’s also one of the nicest guys you could meet.
I also had the pleasure of running into fellow TU blogger Roger Green, who’s always a delight.
The Albany Comic Con is an apt metaphor for this area – it doesn’t have huge celebrities roaming the halls, but it is every bit as fun and without all the headaches of overwhelming and stifling crowds.
It’ll be back in the Spring, most likely at the same location.
Pictures are after the jump.
First thing we saw when we got there: a guy in an awesome Bobba Fett outfit. Hell yes.
Ran into my friend Jenn as "Magadelene" from the "Witchblade" series.
We went to Macaroni Grill for lunch, and got to draw on the table with crayons. While Eric was doing something cool, this is the best I could come up with (two dudes I made up). An artist I ain't.
One of the great things about the Silver Age is how wonderfully strange some of the concepts were. In this issue, Lex Luthor gets everyone to LAUGH at Superboy and make him feel like an idiot. Luthor himself mocks him so, and notes that Superman is so pathetic he's not even worth showing up in person to humiliate. What a JERK that Lex Luthor was!
Another great Silver Age comic book cover - the MURDER of Santa Claus!
This was the kicker. I nearly died when I saw it, and debated actually buying it. I was going to haggle, but couldn't justify spending more than 10 bucks on it. But wow, look at that. That's freaking great.
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13 Responses to Comics, Creators & Costumes Converge at the Albany Comic Con
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STALK ME
WHAAAA – No Archie?
Good point. I saw a lot of stuff but actually didn’t come across any Archie at all.
Thing is, all that stuff is pretty easy to find, particularly since they reprint everything in digest form. I don’t think that line really moves well at Cons.
Hey I know that Boba Fett! He’s a good friend in the 501st Legion. We show up at all the local events together. I was the shorter of the two biker scouts present. We’ll be there again in the spring.
Also – what, no love for Hembeck? :D I adore his work, though I may have creeped him out telling him that. Then again, I was in costume.
Bob – My bad! I honestly thought I had mentioned Hembeck (he was the second name for me personally under Ron Marz). I didn’t get a chance to talk to him, unfortunately. They were all great, though.
And Bob, good to know! Saw your costumes, those were pretty sick. Flag me down in the Spring!
Good to know it will be back in the spring. I forgot it was even going on yesterday.
Kudos to John Belskis of Excellent Adventures from Ballston Spa who runs this show every year. It keeps getting bigger (2 rooms this year) and better (more artists and more vendors). Can’t wait until the next show!!!
If you want to see some more great old covers go HERE. There are several cool collections of covers but the main ones are all about superman being a D**k. The other ones are def pretty funny as well.
Anyone know a good place to buy high quality prints of classic comic covers. I have a few artists from the 40s that I would love to own some of their work but unfortunately I dont want to spend $500 minimum on a golden age batman comic only to frame it and hang it on my wall.
Fantastic Boba Fett costume!! Awesome!!
Matt — if they’re still living, I’d try contacting the artists themselves. Many have prints available at cons or through websites. Jerry Robinson’s still around, and has some crazy Joker prints for sale.
Impressive alliteration (even if you didn’t use that c-word.)
No mention of the legendary Joe Sinnott? For shame, Kevin..
:)
Good show as always.
John always puts on a great show and this one was the best.
Make it bigger, John!
See you in April.
Hi Kevin, thank you for posting this blog. I was the Boba Fett ( not Bobba, but hey, you knew who I was ! : ) ) there that day. I’m part of the 501st Legion, an international group that does charity work and fundraising for various groups, mainly related to childhood illnesses. We dress as only the “bad guy” characters from Star Wars. We’re there every spring and fall. Sometimes we have R2 and other droids as well.