You are on Page 1 of the Leader's Report on The Fayetteville Comic Con 21-22 April 2023

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Click here for the Main Introduction Page to see the Leader's Report on the Virginia Comic Con, the Tidewater Comic Con and the Columbus Moving Picture Show, and the Heroes Convention

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Dealer Setup Day Friday 21 April 2023

Crown Complex Loading Door On Friday the giant yawning maw of the Crown Complex's cavernous exhibition room was open to allow the dozens of dealers to bring in and set up their merchandise. Let's take a look inside the belly of the beast before the general public arrives tomorrow.	Keith Gibbs Show promoter Keith Gibbs manning the dealer check-in desk just inside the loading door.	Gerald Hogan, Chad Gray Gerald Hogan is the long time owner of Trilogy Comics in my town of Virginia Beach, VA. He always sets up at this show with his massive display of toys, figurines, books and comic books. Here he is with one of his assistants Chay Gray (in the background) in the back of their space just starting to set up.

Gerald Hogan, Chad Gray Gerald and Chad later in front of their space arranging stuff.	Jimmy Shirah Jimmy Shirah aka "Mr. Weekend" also attends this show every time. He has a large inventory of movie related and poplar culture posters for sale. That's a pretty cool Creature From the Black Lagoon shirt Jimmy is wearing.	Bob Cunningham Veteran dealer Bob Cunningham of Cunningham's Comics aka "The Old Man of Comics" has a large selection of bargain priced comics. The two dealers in the background lost no time looking through Bob's inventory. I used to see Bob at the comic book shows over 23 years ago when I used to set up as a dealer and he's still going strong.

Bob Cunningham Bob resting for a minute before setting up his display wall behind him.	Wes Flanary I first met Wes Flanary at this show last October in 2022. Wes is a talented artist who paints in oil instead of the more commonly used watercolors or acrylics used by other artists. As any artist knows, oil painting have an extra rich luster other paints don't have. I like Wes's choice of subjects. He paints lots of Universal Studios 1930s classic monsters like the Frankenstein Monster, Dracula, the Wolfman and so on. He also paints actors from the Star Wars and Star Trek franchises. That's Princess Leia from Star Wars in the foreground.	Bryan Barros Bronze and Silver Age comic book dealer Bryan Barros is another dealer I always see at this show.

Banks Robinson Banks Robinson from Columbia, South Carolina is one of my favorite dealers because of his deep inventory of Silver Age comics including lots of 1950s Atlas science fiction and horror comics (many from the Tom Lammers collection). At left is Daniel Murphy who usually assists dealers David Hinson or Rick Fortenberry at the shows. This is the first time I've seen Daniel helping out Banks at a show. At right is Banks's new protege Mac Barnes. Mac is an affable young man intent on learning the comic book business and helping out a veteran like Banks Robinson is one of the best ways to do that.

Banks Robinson Banks with his back to the camera. In front of him from left to right is Mac Barnes, Joe Martinez and Daniel Murphy. Joe has a large selection of action figures and toys and some comics. He usually sets up next to the Leader's favorite comic book dealer Gene Carpenter. But this time Gene was at a show in Illinois so Joe expanded his tables to take over Gene's usual space. Tomorrow we'll see what cool comic books these dealers brought to this April editon of the Fayetteville Comic Con!

Click here for Page 2 of the Leader's Report on Fayetteville Comic Con 21-22 April 2023

Click here for the Main Introduction Page to see the Leader's Report on the Virginia Comic Con, the Tidewater Comic Con and the Columbus Moving Picture Show and the Heroes Convention

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