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| Your narrator, the Leader |
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The Leader attended the Virginia Comic Con in Richmond 9 December 2017. He held a faint twinge of melancholy at going without his usual traveling partner Jim Frost for the first time in memory. The Leader’s melancholy was compounded when he got the show and discovered that three dealers he had anticipated seeing there - Guy Rose, Shelton Drum and Al Stoltz had cancelled their trips there mostly due to the sudden snow that had fallen overnight. Nevertheless less the Leader persevered and did the best he could with the dealers he had to work with at the show. He looks forward to seeing Guy and Shelton at Brett Carreras’s Old School Comic Con in Richmond in January, if it isn’t snowing again. |
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| I first me Marlin Cohen at the VA Comic Con last September. Marlin is associated with Brett Carreras who promotes this show and Marlin has been helping Brett sell the comics you see here that Brett acquired from his old now deceased partner David Luebke. David had been the owner of Dave’s Comics in Richmond for many years. |
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| Here’s Marlin with at left Journey Into Mystery #124, 1966 that features the second appearance of Hercules in the Marvel Universe. His first appearance in a Marvel comic had been in the Journey Into Mystery Annual #1, 1965. Before coming to work for Marvel, Hercules at spent the previous 2,500 years or so as a figure in ancient Greek mythology and starring in Italian “sword & sandal” movies in the 1960s. The comic at right #126 continues the famous battle between Thor and Hercules that had started in Journey Into Mystery #125. This comic numbered #126 is actually the first issue that the name was changed officially to The Mighty Thor but the old Journey Into Mystery numbering sequence was continued. Marvel was always doing weird stuff like that to confuse everybody. |
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| Michael Lantz, Donald Jones, Julio Crespo |
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| This is actually Guy Rose’s booth but Guy couldn’t make it because of the snow. But his usual partners Donald Jones and Julio Crespo were manning his booth with another dealer Michael Lantz that I’ve only seen in the past helping to man Robert Griffin’s booth. Michael is holding The Avengers #9.1964 with the first appearance of Simon Williams aka Wonder Man. This character has a long and complex history at Marvel: He battled the Avengers as a member of the Masters of Evil. He spent a lot of time in a comatose state. His brain patterns were used to help created the popular Avengers’ member the Vision. He later became an Avenger. Donald is holding 80 Page Giant #1 or Superman Annual #1, 1964, take your pick; DC was always weird stiff like that to confuse everybody. Julio’s Strange Tales #151, 1966 which has the first artwork by Jim Steranko at Marvel. Tales Of Suspense #65, 1965 is has the reintroduction into the Marvel Silver Age of the Golden Age villain the Red Skull. |
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| Timothy Kupin of Koop’s Comics doesn’t normally set up at this show but he had some interesting Silver Age comics and I hope to see more of him. |
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| Timothy with Avon comic Space Detective #3, 1952 with cover art by the famous Everett Raymond Kinstler for $325. The Space Detective #8, 1958 with Wally Wood cover art is really a reprint by IW Publications of Avon's Space Detective #1 from 1950. I.W. Publications was a short lived bootleg publishing company that specialized in illegal reprints of other companies’ comics. They are held in lesser regard by collectors and so this example only cost $100. |
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| Brett Carreras with a C.B.C.S. graded copy of DC comic Our Army At War #163, 1966 which I had never seen before. It is the second part of a continued story from #162 where the Viking Prince teamed up with Sgt. Rock of Easy Company to fight the Germans in World War II. The Viking Prince normally appeared in the DC comic The Brave And The Bold and first appeared in #1, 1955 of that comic book. He was featured there until 1959 with with other historical characters the Silent Knight and the Golden Gladiator. Brett is the promoter of the Virginia Comic Con and has his fingers in lots of other comic book pies as well. In this photo he is actually in Eric Hurd’s booth but Brett co-owns all the comics in the booth with Eric and stopped by for awhile to help Eric sell some of them. |
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| Zakary Moore, Mike Fonseca |
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| I first met Mike Fonseca at the Expo Collectibles & Toy Show in Chesterfield, VA two weeks ago where he had some nice Star Trek books and toys. At this show he had lots of Silver Age DC and Marvel comics. |
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| Mike with a graded 9.0 Tales To Astonish #42, 1963. This isn’t a key book but it is a bit harder to find comics from the early 1960s graded 9.0 or better. Price is $730. |
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| Mike with three DC comics, Showcase #s 46, 41, 44 all featuring the science fiction character Tommy Tomorrow. I like science fiction comics but I can’ usually afford the originals so maybe one day DC will reprint these Tommy Tomorrow stories in some hardcover edition for my convenience, but I doubt it. |
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| Tommy Donovan of Richmond Comix is another dealer I often see at this show. Comix International #1, 1974 was put out by Warren Publishing and has all Richard Corben drawn stories all in color. I don’t remember if the stories were reprints or originals. I bought this magazine new in 1974 but sold it in the late 1990s at one of Bob Cook’s comic shows in York, Pennsylvania. I’ve regretted it ever since and haven’t been able to replace it. There were only four issues of this magazine. The Creepy #1, 1964 is the first Warren Publishing magazine featuring black & white horror stories, many drawn by the same artists who worked for EC comics in the 1950s. A similar Warren magazine, Eerie soon followed and later Vampirella. |
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| Rudy Mitchell works with the owner of Black Dog Collectables owned by Mark Overby who frequently sets up at this show. Mark had already gone home when I came by and so Rudy posed with these two comics. The Charlton comic Strange Suspense Stories #35, 1957 has a Steve Ditko cover and three stories. Unlike Marvel comics which only had one Ditko science fiction or fantasy story, the many Charlton comics that featured Ditko art frequently had two or more Ditko stories. The pre-Marvel comic Journey Into Mystery #51, 1959 is a much better than average pre-Marvel science fiction comic. The cover is by Russ Heath who usually worked at DC. The comic has two Jack Kirby stories instead of the usual one and also a Steve Ditko story. I have a mid-grade copy if this I bought through mail order in the 1970s and I hope to one day buy a higher grade copy of this book. |
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| Gene Carpenter is one comic book dealer who doesn’t let a little snow stop him from making his scheduled appearances at a comic book show. Here’s Gene with his always great selection of Golden and Silver Age comics. I saw him last at the Expo Collectibles & Toy Show in Chesterfield, VA two weeks ago and I will see him again in a few weeks at the Old School Comic show in Richmond in January 2018. |
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| Gene Carpenter can always be counted on to have a supply of one of my favorite types of comics, the pre-Marvels. I go back a long way with Tales Of Suspense #6, 1959 ($250) I still have a Very Good copy I picked up probably through mail-order back in the late 1960s and I managed to upgrade to a Very Fine copy bought from Mark Nathan in 2009. I have a Very Good copy of Tales To Astonish #25, 1961 ($200), again picked up through mailorder in the 1960s but I’ve never been able to upgrade it. The “Creature From Krogarr” story is a better than average story. I always liked stories where Earth people could view or visit other dimensions or distant outer space through a TV set. Tales Of Suspense #23, 1961 ($275) I only have a high grade copy of I bought from Ron Pussell of Redbeard’s Book Den for $30 in 1982. The Jack Kirby cover is inked by Steve Ditko. |
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| It’s late Saturday afternoon and the show is over. Setting up before and tearing down after the show is a tiresome grind for the dealers but old troopers like Gene are used to it after doing it for over 30 years. I’ll be watching Gene doing this again at the Old School Comics show in Richmond this coming January. |
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