Click here for Page 1 of the Leader's Report on the Fayetteville Comic Con April 2024

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Saturday 27 April 2024

Crown Complex Exposition Center Main Entrance	Andrew Gentile Andrew with boxes for action figures of the stars of two classic Universal Studios horror movies: Bela Lugosi from Dracula, 1931 and Claude Rains from The Invisible Man, 1933. At left on the Invisible Man box holding a test tube is the actor Henry Travers, best known as Jimmy Stewart's guardian angel 'Clarence' from the the 1946 famous movie It's A Wonderful Life.	Joe Martinez Gene Carpenter understudy Joe Martinez holding the Marvel comic Iron Man And Sub-Mariner #1, 1968. Now what kid in 1968 with 12 cents in his pocket wouldn't want to to buy a comic with a cover blurb that says "Special Once-In-A Lifetime Issue!!"? Iron Man had been the lead feature in Tales Of Suspense and Sub-Mariner had been the same for Tales To Astonish for the past few years. Unknown to Marvel fans in the 1960s, Marvel's main competitor DC Comics had been distributing Marvel's comics under a contract that restricted Marvel to about eight comics a month. When that contract expired in 1968 Marvel expanded its comic book line by giving all of its characters who had been sharing a comic their own separate comic; Iron Man and Sub-Mariner each got their own book starting with #1 but before that this special issue came out as a “bridge” which continued their stories from Tales of Suspense #99 and Tales To Astonish #101 respectively. So this book predates by one month both Iron Man and Sub-Mariner #1. Pretty cool, huh? Tales To Astonish #49, 1963 marks the debut of bio-chemist Henry Pym transitioning from Ant Man to Giant Man. This story was drawn by Jack Kirby who also drew the Giant Man stories in issue #50 and #51. The more dynamic Kirby art in these three issues were a refreshing change of pace from the routine art by Don Heck in the previous Ant Man stories. After #51 Kirby left and the tradition of Tales To Astonish having routine art for Ant Man/Giant Man was continued, this time by Dick Ayers. The X-Men #10, 1964 is the first appearance of the Tarzan wannabe Ka-Zar (real name Kevin Plunder) in Marvel's Silver Age. Ka-Zar is the oldest character name in the Marvel Universe. David Rand a.k.a Ka-Zar the Great, was the star of the pulp magazine Ka-Zar in 1936 three years before Sub-Mariner's debut in Motion Picture Funnies Weekly in 1939. David Rand also appeared in the first Marvel comic book Marvel Comics #1 in 1939.

Peter Terracciano Peter Terracciano owner of the Goblin Hoard is a dealer I had never met before. Strange Tales #101, 1962 is the start of a Human Torch lead story in this title. The Torch had been appearing as a member of the Fantastic Four in the comic of the same name but apparently he was thought to be popular enough to be spun off into another title. No other Marvel character was ever featured consistently in two different titles in the 1960s. Strange Tales #97, 1962 features the usual Jack Kirby cover, Kirby story, Steve Ditko story and two stories by lesser artists. What makes this comic a bit more unusual and expensive is the Ditko story "Goodbye To Linda Brown" which is a prototype for Peter Parker's relatives Aunt May and Uncle Ben. The old couple in the story are actually named Aunt May and Uncle Ben.	Peter Terracciano Here's Peter with his namesake mascot Goblin at right. Daredevil #13, 1966 with a nice Jack Kirby cover is continued from issue #12 and features Daredevil visiting the sub-arctic prehistoric Savage Land ruled by the jungle lord Ka-Zar. I distinctly remember seeing this #13 issue new on the comic book spinner rack at Fordham's Super Market in my hometown of Savannah, GA. I don't remember for sure but I think I did buy it.	Ray Lawson Here' Ray of the Scale Modelers Club holding a Terminator model from one of the Terminator movies starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Rat Fink model in the foreground is a recent version of the Rat Fink cartoon character invented by Ed "Big Daddy" Roth in the 1960s. Roth was a hipster artist and auto mechanic living in Southern California who designed custom hot rod automobiles. His Rat Fink character first appeared in an advertisement in the hot rod car magazine Car Craft in July 1963 and the Revell toy model company issued a plastic model that same year. This Rat Fink fad was popular enough to reach across the country and touch even my little backwater hometown of Savannah, GA. I remember about 1964 at White Bluff Elementary School the kids collected little plastic Rat Fink figures with a hole in their butt so they could be mounted on a ring. I bought a few of them myself, probably out of a bubble gum machine at Mr. Wu's 7-11 store where I later bought most of my Marvel comic books. The most common colors of these Rat Fink figures at White Bluff anyway were orange and green. The rarer colors were purple and black. These 1964 bubble gum machine Rat Finks must be rare because I don't see any on ebay.

Pat Burns I first met Pat Burns at the October 2023 Fayetteville Con where he went to dinner at the Mash House with myself, Banks Robinson and other comic book dealer luminaries. Here's Pat with two Silver Age Marvel comics, The Amazing Spider-Man #69, 1968 with cover and story art by John Romita and #36, 1966 with cover and story art by Steve Ditko.	Mike Zollo Mike is holding an oversized comic book of some historical importance. This Superman Vs. Spider-Man from 1976 is the first time characters from Marvel and DC "crossed-over" into the same story. The cover art is by Carmine Infantino and Ross Andru with the Superman figure drawn by Neal Adams. Marvel and DC had co-operated on their first joint publication with the oversize comic book MGM's Marvelous Wizard Of Oz in 1975. Superman and Spider-Man didn't meet each other again until Marvel Treasury Edition #28 in 1981. I didn't usually buy these oversize Treasury Edition style comics since most of them were all reprints and their extra size made them more difficult to store easily; you would have to buy oversize bags and boxes. I did however buy this Superman Vs. Spider-Man. I remember nothing about it today except it had an introduction where Marvel and DC executives Stan Lee and Carmine Infantino made complimentary comments about their companies' respective main characters, Superman and Spider-Man. In the foreground at left is the first issue of The Mighty Thor. Before this issue #126, 1966 Thor had been appearing in Journey Into Mystery since #83 of that title in 1962. This #126 issue as foreshadowed on the cover features a big battle between Thor of Asgard and Hercules of Mount Olympus. The woman they are fighting over is Thor's girlfriend Jane Foster seen in the background. Thor and Hercules first met and fought briefly in Journey Into Mystery Annual #1, 1965. The Avengers #16, 1965 with the dynamic Jack Kirby cover marks the first of many times that the Avengers changed their active membership by adding new members and sending some old members on rest leave.	Mike Zollo Mike with Daredevil #27, 1967 that features Spider-Man's third cross-over into Daredevil's comic book. The first time Spidey appeared in Daredevil was #16 and #17 of that title. The Avengers #91, is part of the famous Kree-Skrull War that ran in this title from #89 - #97. The Kree-Skrull War is one of the most spectacular and famous multipart stories in all of Marvel’s history. It’s certainly the most complex and imaginative. It tells the story about a war between the ancient alien races of the Kree and the Skrulls, with the Avengers and other Marvel heroes caught in the middle. It is the showpiece of writer Roy Thomas’s long run on The Avengers and highlights his talent for convoluted but engrossing plots. Many of the issues contain artwork by the legendary Neal Adams which adds considerable luster to the entire saga. The Kree-Skrull War is such a famous part of Marvel history that it was reprinted in two special edition comics in 1983 and again as a deluxe trade paperback in 2000 and in a hardcover edition in 2023.

Bryan Barros Bryan Barros of Boom Pop Comics looking through a box of his comic book inventory. Bryan always brings interesting Silver And Bronze comics to this show.	Bryan Barros Fantastic Four Annual #1, 1965 is the first Marvel annual I bought; it's hard to resist a dazzling Jack Kirby cover like this with Marvel heroes and villains cavorting all over it. I bought it new off the comic rack in 1965 at at a drug or gorcery store while on my usual summer vacation staying at my grandmother's house in Birmingham, AL. I had to ask my Aunt Betty June for the money. The comic costs 25 cents instead of the usual 12 cents so she balked a little at first. I was insistent so she forked over the needed quarter. I had just started collecting Marvel comics in 1965 so some of the characters in this overcrowded annual were knew to me. The Avengers #2, 1963 is a comic I probably bought from my main mail order dealer, Robert Bell, in the late 1960s in Bell's usually reliable solid Very Good condition. It's still salted away with the rest of my childhood Marvel comic collection. About 20 years ago Wayne Ehrman owner of Zeno's Books in Chesapeake, VA (where I still buy my comic related books) acquired a much higher condition copy from a mutual friend in the area, Rick Krippendorf. I bought that copy from Wayne substantially below the Overstreet Guide price. I'm glad I'm happy with it since I certainly can't afford today's astronomical high grade prices for this type of comic.	Gerald Hogan Gerald is the owner of Trilogy Comics in Virginia Beach, VA and always brings his huge display of Manga comics and toys to this show. Here's Gerald manning the checkout table and talking with a potential customer about a comic the customer is asking about.

Gerald Hogan Gerald with two GGC graded low grade but still really expensive comics: Detective Comics #66, 1942 which is extra expensive since it has the first appearance of popular Batman villain Two-Face. This Incredible Hulk #1, 1962 came from Gerald's assistant at the show, Chad Gray. Chad explained to me that he had recently acquired a higher grade Incredible Hulk #1 and defrayed the cost by passing on his previous copy to Gerald to sell for him.	Larry Hama, Jim Shooter At left is Larry Hama. At right is Jim Shooter talking with a fan. Let's take a closer look at these big comic book celebrities in the next two photos.	Larry Hama Larry Hama has been a Marvel Comics writer and artist most of his long career. He is best known for writing and sometimes drawing G.I. Joe, A Real American Hero #1 - #155 from 1982-1994. His experience in the Vietnam War lent some gravitas to his many war related comic books for Marvel.

Jim Shooter Jim Shooter has been a big time comic book operator for many years. His first comic work was for DC Comics in the mid 1960s at age 14 where he wrote and drew the Legion of Superheroes for Adventure Comics. He may be best remembered as Marvel Comics's editor-and-chief from 1978-1987. During that time he tapped Larry Hama to write G.I. Joe, A Real American Hero. While editor-and-chief of Marvel he brought some stability to Marvel's management of its comic book production. Prior to 1978 Marvel had been playing erratic musical chairs with its editors since Stan Lee had left in the early 1970s to be a wannabe Hollywood movie mogul. I asked Mr. Shooter how tall he was and he answered 6'7". I told him being tall myself (6'3") I mildly resented all my life having to explain to people I didn't like to play basketball. Mr. Shooter said he had played basketball some as a kid and did pretty good against guys were only 5'9" but he wasn't good enough to turn pro. I told him it wasn't important since his destiny was to be a comic book impressario and he agreed.	Wes Flanary Wes Flanary talking to a potential customer about his original oil paintings and prints made from them.	Wes Flanary Wes holding a print of Cassandra Peterson in her show business guise as Elvira Mistress of the Dark. Cassandra Peterson was a Las Vegas showgirl (in 1967 at age 16, the youngest in history (according to The Guinness Book of World Records) with the same long legs and big boobs as many other showgirls. But Cassandra had more self-promotional talent and imagination. In the late 1970s she got a job on a Los Angeles TV station as Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, a TV hostess to reruns of old horror movies. She used her witty depreciating comments about the stupid movies she was hosting and flashed enough of her boobs to develop a large cult following. She went on to appear in several movies and TV shows. In the foreground are prints of two other pop culture cult icons,1950s pinup model Bettie Page and Elsa Lanchester from the 1935 movie The Bride of Frankenstein.

Wes Flanary In Wes's left hand is another print of Elsa Lanchester. In his right hand is a print of Maila Nurmi as Vampira. Maila Nurmi is best known as the sexy but reserved Vampira who hosted schlock horror movies on Channel 7 in Hollywood in 1954. She thus became the prototype for later hostesses like Cassandra Peterson, aka Elvira. In the 1970s when Cassandra Peterson was becoming famous as Elvira, Maila unsuccessfully sued Cassandra for copying her gimmick. Maila also appeared as Vampira in the Edward D. Wood, Jr. camp movie classic Plan 9 From Outer Space. She has 13 Internet Movie Data Base credits as an actress 1947 - 1998. She died in 2008.	Wes Flanary Here's a closer look at Wes's prints from various 1930s Universal Studios Frankenstein and Dracula movies starring Boris Karloff, Ernest Thesiger, Colin Clive, Elsa Lanchester, Bela Lugosi. Also Vincent Price, Cassandra Peterson and from the 1975 movie Jaws Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss.	Mario Russo Veteran comic book dealer Mario Russo from Atlanta, GA posing serenely amidst his bountiful inventory of Silver and Bronze Age comic books.

Mario Russo Here's Mario with three Silver Age issues of The Amazing Spider-Man all of which I have a long history with: Mario's holding #32, 1966 which is the second issue in the famous Master Planner Trilogy. I had been sporadically buying a few issues of various Marvel comics for the past few years which was slowly turning me into a devoted Marvel fan. It was the dramatic power of these Trilogy issues which crystalized my positive feelings for Marvel and from that day forward I was hooked for life. At left is issue #27, 1965. At age 11 I was walking through a train or bus station in either Atlanta, GA or Birmingham, AL and took a few minutes to peruse a comic book spinner rack. I was intrigued by the eye-catching cover of this #27. I never heard of the Green Goblin but I knew who Spidey was having already bought issues #19, #21 and #23, but inexplicably I didn't buy this #27. Later, I probably bought this issue from my main mail order dealer Robert Bell or another mail order dealer. I didn't know until a few years later that this #27 finished a story that started in #26. Both of these issues remain today one of my favorite Spider-Man story lines. I first saw issue #28, 1965 on a comic book spinner rack in a store in my hometown of Savannah, GA. Whatever store it was it wasn't Mr. Woo's 7-11 convenience store where I bought most of new Marvel comics. Here was another seductive cover, mostly black with part of Spidey etched in red and the rest of him blending into the black cover. It was unusual for comics in the 1960s to have black covers. But I had a tough choice on my hands; I had also sometimes been buying the DC comic Our Army At War and this #155 issue was on the same spinner rack and I couldn't afford them both. I finally settled on the Spidey #28.

Click here for Page 1 of the Leader's Report on the Fayetteville Comic Con April 2024

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