You are on Page 2 of the Leader's Report on HeroesCon 16-17 June 2023

Click here for Page 1 of the Leader's Report on HeroesCon 16-17 June 2023

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

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Saturday 17 June 2023

Norman L. Hood Norman Hood owner of Chimera Publishing with a 1970s re-release insert poster of the Ray Harryhausen movie The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, 1958 and a print of Doc Savage drawn by James Bama who drew all those eye-catching Bantam paperback book covers of Doc in the 1960s.	Norman L. Hood Norm pointing out a rare Incredible Hulk poster. This poster is part of a series named "The Origins Of Marvel Heroes" produced for the Coca-Cola company in the early 1980s. The posters were drawn by the artists who were drawing the comic books at the time. This Hulk poster was drawn by Sal Buscema and Joe Sinnott. Here's a closer look at it.	Frank Brevard I last took a photo of veteran dealer Frank Brevard of Frank's Cool Stuff at the Williamsburg Nostalgia Fest last November 2022 and saw him again at the November Virginia Comic Con but didn't take his picture there since he had no merchandise I liked. But I do like science fiction Silver Age comics so here's Frank with the DC comics House Of Mystery #141, 1964 and My Greatest Adventure #47, 1960 with a cover by artist Bernard Bailey. DC has shown little interest in reprinting its 1950s and 1960s science fiction comics like these. Only a few black & white softcover books have been released in the last several years. I'm pretty sure properly done hardcover books in color will never be done.

Bill Thade Bill Thade is a comic book dealer who I've seen at the Pulpfest convention in Pittsburgh, PA the last few years. He told me at this show that he had recently picked up a collection of EC comics as seen here on his display walls. I look forward seeing him at Pulpfest this coming August.	Bill Thade Bill with a rare Dell mapback paperback book It Ain't Hay featuring a marijhuana story and the EC comic Weird Science #10, 1951 with an ornate cover drawn by EC's top artist Wally Wood. My copy of the big coffee table book The Art of the Simon and Kirby Studio is still in the shrinkwrap and Bill's wasn't so I was glad to take a peak inside and see what I've been missing.	Randy Taylor I'm always glad to see Randy Taylor with his Salvador Dali moustache. Here's Randy with two Atlas romance comics Venus #2, 1948 and #8, 1950. All the stories in #8 were drawn by Werner Roth who worked at Marvel in the 1960s.

Mike Carbonaro Mike Carbanero is a verteran dealer I've been seeing at the shows for the last 20 years. He promotes the Big Apple Comic Con in New York City and usually has interesting merchandise for sale at the shows. Here's Mike pointing out the fine points of the Fiction House comic Rangers Comics from the 1940s to a customer.	Mike Carbonaro Mike with one of the rarest comics at the show, the DC comic Action #4, 1938. This seminal comic book introduced Superman to the world. Superman appeared on the cover of #1 and not again until #7 and it was still a few months before he became popular enough to appear every month on the cover. The photo behind Mike shows him with Marvel editor Stan Lee and DC artist Jerry Robinson.	Shelton Drum Shelton Drum is the Godfather of Southern comic book dealers who promotes the Heroes Convention which is the biggest comic convention in the Southeast portion of the United States. I last saw him at the Virginia Comic Con in Richmond last May. Shelton is pointing to three big books published by Taschen publishers in Germany. These Spider-Man, Avengers and Fantastic Four volumes were all photographed from Shelton's personal high grade copies. They are extremely well produced with slick pages and faithful colors. Here's another look at these wonderful books. The only drawback is they are expensive at $200 each. The EC book in the foreground is also by Taschen but Shelton wasn't involved in that book.

Mario Russo I last saw Mario Russo from Atlanta, GA at the Tidewater Comic Con in my town of Virginia Beach, VA last May. After that show we mounted a successful craps shooting gambling expedition to the recently opened Rivers Casino in nearby Portsmouth. After next year's Tidewater show I'm sure we'll do the same thing.	Mario Russo Mario with two DC comics featuring some of the women in Batman's life: Batman #71, 1959 with Vicki Vale and Detective Comics #249, 1957 with Batwoman Kathy Kane.	William Stout William Stout is well fantasy artist who is especially talented at drawing Dinosaurs. I took his picture at DragonCon in Atlanta, GA several years ago and was glad to do so again at this show.

Michael Steenbergen Here's Michael Steenbergen of Bedrock City with two Atlas comics: Strange Tales #10, 1952 with a Bill Everett cover and a story by EC artist Bernie Krigstein and Strange Tales #1, 1951. I did get to read the stories in the comics since Strange Tales was part of Marvel's "Atlas Era" line of hardcover reprint books before that line was cancelled several years ago.	David Hinson Verteran dealer David Hinson of Rock Hill, SC will always have a special place in my heart. I first met Dave circa 1993 at one of Larry Webster's mall shows in Virginia Beach, VA. I had just arrived in Virginia Beach after I had been serving a tour in South Korea while I was in the Air Force. There aren't many Silver Age comics in South Korea and buying some of Dave's 1960s Marvel comics helped me to get the old collecting juices flowing again. Sadly, I don't get to see Dave as often as in the past as he is doing fewer shows these days and our paths don't cross very often.	David Hinson Dave with the Pre-Marvel comic Journey Into Mystery #51, 1959. This is one of my favorite Pre-Marvel comics. What's not to like with a flamboyant robot cover by DC artist Russ Heath, the cover story by Steve Ditko, two stories by Jack Kirby (one of them inked by EC artist Wally Wood) and one story by top Atlas artist Joe Maneely? Through a mail order dealer in the 1960s I picked up a midgrade copy of this comic that I still have and have never seen a high grade copy I could afford.

Banks Robinson I enjoyed seeing Banks Robinson of Columbia, SC at the Fayetteville Comic Con just last April and was glad to see him again so soon. Here's Banks with four early 1960s Tales Of Suspense comics. #35, 1962 is a Pre-Marvel that has only science fiction / fantasy stories before the superhero Iron Man was introduced in #39. Some dealers trying to get a little more money for this comic claim that the cover character Zarkorr is a prototype for the popular Watcher character. Speaking of speculating on prototypes, the #41, cover dated May 1963 has a villain only used once in the Marvel Universe named Doctor Strange who has no connection to the the much better known "Master of the Mystic Arts" Doctor Strange introduced in Strange Tales #110, cover dated July 1963.	Rick Fortenberry I hadn't see one of my favorite dealers, Rick Fortenberry of Charlotte, NC since the Virginia Comic Con in Richmond last November 2022. Rick is looking cheerful here and with good reason. He had just recently concluded at this show a sell of a comic for a substantial profit that he had only a modest investment in. Let's take a look at that comic in the next photo at right.	Rick Fortenberry Here's the comic that brought home the bacon: the MLJ MagazinesTop Notch #22, cover dated December 1941. This comic has an ad featuring Archie Andrews (with black hair instead of his customary red hair) that slightly predates Archie's first appearance in Pep Comics #22, cover dated December 1941. If both comics have the same December 1941 date how does anybody know which came first? Here's what the Grand Comics Database (GCD) says in its listing for Pep Comics #22: "Archie and his parents first appeared as a promotional advertisement cameo in Top Notch Comics (Archie, 1940 series) #22 released 5 days prior per Catalog of Copyright Entries." This same note isn't mentioned in the GCD listing for Top Notch #22. Rick told me neither he or the seller of the Top Notch #22 knew about its ad for Archie when they did their deal sometime earlier.

Click here for Page 1 of the Leader's Report on HeroesCon 16-17 June 2023

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