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| Earl Shaw of Earl Shaw Comics in Watkinsville, GA showing off 2 rare items the Leader has never seen before: oversize coloring books with Captain America and the Hulk circa 1978. I've done a little business with Earl over the years at Dave Hinson's comic show in Rockhill, SC and Roger Mannon's comic show in Salem, VA. Us Georgia boys have to stick together you know. |
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| Earl Shaw with an original painting by Steve Fabian for a Conan the Barbarian poster from 1976. |
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| John Haines of John Haines Rare Comics talking with a customer. 2 years ago at the Baltimore Con John had a comic with a great Steve Ditko electric chair cover, Strange Suspense Stories #19. John lowered the price to reflect a water stain on the back cover but I can't live with comic books with water stains so I had to pass on it. I hope one day we can get together on another deal. |
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| John Haines with 2 of the Leader's favorite comics, The Avengers #8 featuring the debut of Kang the Conqueror and The Incredible Hulk #6 with cover and story by Steve Ditko. |
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| Shelton Drum of Heroes Aren't Hard To Find in Charlotte NC is one of the largest comic book dealers in the South. He also promotes the long running Heroes Con in Charlotte every year. The Leader has done a little business with him over the years and frequently sees him at the quarterly Virginia Comic Con in Richmond, VA. Shelton tells us that this Nick Fury Agent Of S.H.I.E.L.D #4 with cover art by Jim Steranko is his favorite issue from the Steranko issues. He drew his own version of it at age 14 back in 1968 which helped consolidate his life long interst in comic books. |
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| Shelton Drum with 2 very cool Atlas science fiction comics. I've seen this Marvel Tales #134 with the seductive flying saucer cover several times but have never been able to find a high enough grade copy to suit me and it looks like I'll die of old age waiting for Marvel to reprint it in it's hardcover Masterworks Atlas line. I'll keep looking. I've never seen this Marvel Tales #135 but it has an interesting cover story "Mr. Dugan's Dragon." I'll have to buy this also someday. |
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| Dave Hinson of Dave's Comics in Fort Mill, SC is another veteran Southern comic book dealer that I've done business with over the years. He is one of the very few rivals to Gene Carpenter's status as the Leader's favorite comic book dealer. Dave doesn't know this but one of the reasons he has a special place in my heart is because he helped me get back into collecting comics. My collecting passions had been on the wane my last few years in the Air Force back in the early 1990s and impossible to pursue for over a year while stationed in South Korea in 1992. When I returned to the States and was stationed in Virginia Beach, VA I hadn't bought any comics in a long time. Then, I met Dave Hinson at one of Larry Webster's mall comic shows and bought a Amazing Spider-Man #38 and Tales Of Suspense #18 from Dave. That rekindled the old juices and helped get me back into collecting. I bought more comics from Dave at later mall shows, was his assistant at Dragon Con in Atlanta one time and set up as a dealer at his Rock Hill, SC show. He's a true Southern gentlemen and we'll have to do some more business together. |
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| Dave Hinson with Tales To Astonish #50. I've always liked TTA #50 and #51 with Giant-Man battling the Human Top. I bought these back in the 1960s from mail order dealers and enjoyed the Jack Kirby art in both issues which was a little unusual. Don Heck or Dick Ayers did most of the Giant-Man stories and seeing Kirby a 2 part story was a treat. |
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| Gene Carpenter of All American Comics holding forth to a group of collectors on the finer points of determining if a comic book has had its original cover replaced. Even experienced collectors like these gentlemen call on Gene Carpenter when complex questions arise. |
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| The Leader's favorite comic book dealer Gene Carpenter with one of the Leader's favorite comic books, Strange Worlds #1 from 1958. After the Atlas Implosion of 1957 most of Marvel's science fiction / fantasy comics were cancelled or suspended. In September 1958 Marvel revamped its sci-fi line with Strange Worlds #1, Tales Of Suspense #1, Tales To Astonish #1 and World Of Fantasy #15. Journey Into Mystery #50 and Strange Tales #67 followed in October 1958. Of those books, only Strange Worlds #1 and Tales To Astonish #1 featured for the first time in Marvel history its two main Silver Age artists, Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, in the same book. |
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| John Verzyl of Comic Heaven in Big Sandy, Texas. I've saved the best memory for last, the dealer that I bought most of my high grade Marvel comics from. When I was stationed at Norton AFB in San Bernardino, CA in the 1980s I made several trips to John Verzyl's Comic Heaven comic book store in Alhambra, CA. John had a knack for finding Silver Age Marvels in high grade and he fixed me up with more of them than any dealer I had bought from before or since. The crown jewel in my Marvel collection is a Near Mint Incredible Hulk #6 that John pulled out of his magic cornucopia one day. John also had access to 1950s comics from the legendary pedigree Mile High collection and he regaled me with many of them including some I was able to buy. The most expensive Mile High I got from John was a Captain Science #1. John also gave me a dealer's badge to get me in for free at the San Diego Con one year. I lost touch with him for several years and then about 1993 I saw him again at the big comic convention Comicfest in Philadelphia. He offered me a Captain America #3 from 1941 in extremely high grade for #1,800, a few hundred dollars below book value. I passed on it but I'm sure it would have been a good investment. Flash forward 19 more years to Baltimore Con 2012 and there he was on a buying trip. We only had a few minutes to chat but I was delighted to see my old friend again. |
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| Like last year, Stan Lee was a guest at the show. Here's some of the hundreds of photos he posed for with the fans. At $45.00 per photo Stan is doing ok for himself. |
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| Desert Wind Stan Lee promo poster |
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| Stan Lee is a cottage industry at the Baltimore Con with various companies selling Stan merchandise or using him for endorsements. Here's a gimmick I haven't seen before. I didn't know Stan collected autographs. |
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| Denis Kitchen is a famous underground comic book cartoonist, book publisher and agent for the sale of original art by Robert Crumb, Will Eisner, Harvey Kurtzman and other iconic artists. |
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| I've never been an underground comic fan and after glancing at the weird, subversive nature of the art and stories in those comics, I had a stereotypical image of underground artists as wild beatniks or hippies. Mr. Kitchen certainly doesn't fit that stereotype. I found him to be an articulate, scholarly gentleman. |
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| Famous DC comics and Warren magazine artist Bernie Wrightson is perhaps best known for his 1970s DC comic book Swamp Thing and for his intricately detailed Frankenstein portfolio illustrations. He frequently attends the Baltimore Con and never lacks for fans wanting to get books and prints signed. |
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| Bernie Wrightson with his newly published hardcover book from Dark Horse Publishing Co. covering his 1970s stories from Warren Publishing magazines Creepy and Eerie. I hinted that I wanted Mr. Wrightson to do a painting for me of the Ray Bradbury story The Jar later adapted into a 1960s Alfred Hitchcock Presents TV episode. But, he confirmed what it says on his website, that he to busy with his own projects to do commissions for fans anymore. |
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| Legendary DC comics artist Neal Adams signing stuff for his fans. He charges a very reasonable $5.00 for autographs. Mr. Adams attended Baltimore Con 2010, had to cancel at the last minute in 2011 but made it back in 2012. |
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| Neal Adams entertaining a young comic fan. |
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| Several years ago at Dave Hinson's Rockhill, SC comic show I got Marvel writer Roy Thomas to sign a softcover book edition of his famous epic The Kree-Skrull War. DC artist Neal Adams was the artist for some of the stories in that book and so I've waited patiently to get Mr. Adams to sign this same book also. Mission accomplished. I complimented him on his status of being the most famous comic book artist on the planet in the 1970s and he basically agreed that in those days he was ''the Beatles of comic book artists." |
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| Comic Con Cuties is a modeling agency with "over 25 professional, courteous and reliable models to choose from" to help promote products and services at comic book conventions. The only possible flaw in that business model might be that the potential customers are to busy admiring the delectable advertising to notice the product. |
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| Cara Nicole as AZ Powergirl |
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| Speaking of delectable advertising, here's buxom model Cara Nicole. The Leader agrees with the general proposition that Cara has the best developed mammary glands of any comic con booth babe on planet Earth. |
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