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Your narrator, the Leader
The Leader attended HeroesCon in Charlotte, North Carolina 14 and 15 June 2019. He had not been to this show in close to 20 years and thought a return visit was long overdue. He was pleased to see his dealer friends Rick Fortenberry, Banks Robinson, Josh Almond, Chris Rigo, Mario Russo and Robert Griffin all of whom he frequently crosses paths with on the comic show circuit. He was especially pleased to see dealer Dave Hinson who the Leader doesn’t get to see to often anymore since Dave has cut back on the number of shows he attends.

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Friday 14 June 2019
Thomas Hogan
Thomas Hogan with Trilogy Comics huge display of statues, toys and comic books. I last saw Thomas Hogan at the Tidewater Comicon May in my town of Virginia Beach, VA. Thomas is the son of Gerald Hogan who is the long time owner of the Trilogy Comics store in Norfolk, VA. That’s Gerald in the green shirt lurking in the background.
Thomas Hogan
Thomas with the Pre-Marvel comic Journey Into Mystery #62,1960 with the first appearance of the alien monster Xemnu the Living Hulk. He returned in Journey Into Mystery #66 and much later in the Bronze Age and newer comics when Marvel would resurrect some of their old 1960s monsters. Because Xemnu had the word “Hulk” in his name he is considered to be a prototype of Marvel’s super-hero green Hulk. That means some comic dealers try to get more money for comics that have prototype characters.
Mike DeCarlin, Al Stoltz, Cliff Kierce
Mike DeCarlin is an old time comic dealer that I used to see in the late 1990s setting up at shows in the DC and Baltimore area but I’ve only seen him a few times since then. Mike is helping out in Al Stoltz’s booth. Al is the owner of Basement Comics. I don’t see him much anymore because he quit going to my most frequented comic show, the VA Comicon in Richmond, VA. The customer at far right is collector Cliff Kierce who I used to see when I was a dealer in the late 1990s at the monthly Tyson’s Corner comic show in DC. I didn’t recognize him but he remembered me when he saw me at Banks Robinson’s booth. We didn’t have time to chat.
Mike DeCarlin
Mike DeCarlin with a Bill Ward original illustration. I had some of these Ward originals in the late 1990s and I sold them at shows for $300 to $500. I didn’t ask Mike what the price was. If you have to ask, you can’t afford it as the old saying goes. Bill Ward was the primary cartoonist for the Humorama line of girlie digest magazines operated by Abe Goodman who was related to Martin Goodman who was the owner of Marvel Comics and Men’s Adventure type magazines.
Robert Griffin
Robert Griffin with Headline Comics #25, 1947 with a Jack Kirby cover. I haven’t seen this comic since I had a midgrade copy of it I had obtained through mail-order in the early 1970s. The Marvel comic Patsy Walker #26, 1950 has an unusual painted rather the normal line art cover. Patsy was one of Marvel’s romance characters and Patsy later became a super-heroine named Hellcat in the mid 1970s. Robert has the neatest labels on his comics and he is also the best dressed comic dealer on the show circuit. On this first day of this show he was going casual sans his usual sports coat and tie. I’m sure I’ll see him again before the year is out.
Bo Carlson
Bo Carlson of Nikelspot Comics chatting with the customers. Bo is the partner of Nik Franks who bought David Hinson’s comic book store in Rock Hill, SC a few years ago. I wanted to take Nik’s picture but he was never in his booth when I came by.
Invaders of HeroesCon
Guy Rose, Donald Jones, Mike Fonseca, Brett Carreras
I was surprised to see my friends from the VA Comicon in Richmond at this show since they don’t normally set up as dealers here. They set up as dealers at their own show. Brett Carreras owns and promotes the quarterly VA Comicon and co-owner Guy Rose and his partners Donald Jones and Michael Lantz set up with him as dealers. Mike Fonseca sets up separately at that show. I’ll next see all these great folks at the VA Comicon July 13.
Mike Fonseca, Michael Lantz, Brett Carreras, Guy Rose
Michael Lantz is related to the cartoon animator Walter Lantz who invented Woody Woodpecker.
Brett Carreras
Brett with two a CGC graded Fantastic Four #73, 1968 and a CBCS graded The Amazing Spider-Man #19, 1964 which is the first Spider-Man comic I bought new way back when in my hometown of Savannah, GA.
Tony Hines
I first met dealer Tony Hines at the Fayetteville Comic Con in North Carolina in October 2018 where he had several Pre-Marvel “monster” comics that I like so much. He had some more this year. Tales To Astonish #25, 1961 is a comic I’ve had a copy of since the early 1970s that I bought through mail-order. I’ve always liked science fiction stories about viewing other worlds through a television set. Tales Of Suspense #37, 1963 is another comic I have a long history with, as reported here. This comic is unusual in that the lead story shown on the cover is drawn by Steve Ditko instead of Jack Kirby. Strange Tales Annual #1, 1962 is the first Marvel comic to reprint some of the science fiction and fantasy stories that Marvel specialized in 1958-1962. This annual and Millie The Model Annual #1, 1962 are Marvel’s oldest annual, predating Fantastic Four Annual #1 by about two years.
David Burns
I see dealer David Burns at the South Carolina Comicon in Greenville each March. He always has interesting magazines instead of just comics. I am partial to Gary Carter’s venerable fanzine Comic Book Marketplace since I used to write articles for it back in the late 1990s. I have a nearly complete collection of this fanzine but I never could get nail down the first issue.
Mario Russo, Robert Russo
Mario Russo of Mario’s Comics lives in Atlanta, GA and I see him frequently at shows during the year. I had never met his son Robert before since Mario usually travels alone. Robert struck me as a bright young man. Not many people his age have read The Count Of Monte Cristo. I never even read the Classics Illustrated comic book version.
Robert Russo
Robert with one of his dad’s Silver Age DC comics, Detective Comics #292, 1961.
Aaron White
This is the first time I’ve seen Heritage Auctions set up at a comic book show. Heritage Auctions sells more vintage comic books than any other auction company in the world and they put out high quality catalogs on many of their auctions. I can’t afford to bid in their auctions but I do collect some of their comic book auction catalogs. I complained to Mr. White about the difficulty of finding nice condition Heritage catalogs on ebay in nice condition since the catalogs are mailed to bidders with no cardboard or other protection and they are frequently damaged in the mail. Mr. White was nice enough to give me the “Egyptian Queen” by Frank Frazetta catalog shown here and another catalog. Mr. White told me the “Egyptian Queen” painting recently sold for 5.4 million dollars which is the record for a Frazetta painting. I imagine that record may be broken if any of Frazetta’s better Conan the Barbarian paintings for the 1960s Lancer paperback book covers ever come to market.
Steve Stryke, Robert Griffin
The only comic show besides this one that I’ve seen Steve Stryke is the Baltimore Comic Con. Steve had some interesting and rare Golden Age and Silver Age comics as shown here on his display walls. Robert Griffin dropped over to check out Steve’s inventory. Steve told me he doesn’t like too well organized or neat booths and I admitted to him his booth did have a disheveled type of charm.
Steve Stryke
Steve with the rare Avon science fiction comic Space Detective #3, 1952.
Richie Munchin
Richie Munchin owner of Tomorrow’s Treasures is a veteran comic dealer I’ve known since I used to set up as a dealer at the Tyson’s Corner comic shown in the Washington, D.C. area in the late 1990s. I usually only see him at the Baltimore Comic Con. He doesn’t like to pose for photos but he says it’s ok to take candid photos of him working. Here he is debating a point about what constitutes a “key” comic book to ComicLink’s Jon Signorelli. If I eavesdropped on Richie accurately then any comic book is a “key” if you are willing drive at least 50 miles any day of the week to buy it. Rick Fortenberry’s partner Danny is perusing an issue of DC’s Adventure Comics.
Beshcara Maalouf
I first met Beschara Maalouf of Nostalgic Investments at a big comic show at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York City about 1994. I bought a Tales To Astonish #2, 1959 which I still have of course. A few years ago I met him at a Richmond, VA comic show where I bought from him a Hulk page of original art from Tales To Astonish #73 which I have proudly framed up on my wall at home. Beschara had the most expensive Silver Age original art at this show. Check out the 1960s The Avengers splash pages and Wasp pin-up page on the display wall behind him.
Anthony Snyder
I’ve never seen Anthony Snyder owner of Anthony’s Comic Book Art other than at the Baltimore Comic Con but he told me he had been setting up at HeroesCon for several years. I’m sure he always has the largest selection of Silver Age and Bronze Age original comic book art at any show he goes to.
Niki Rodriguez
Anthony’s able and charming assistant Niki Rodriguez with an original painting of the Fantastic Four by Bob Larkin.
Roger Mannon
Roger Mannon is another veteran Southern comic book dealer. He promotes the long running Virginia Vintage Comics And Collectibles Show in Salem, Virginia. I set up as a magazine dealer there a few times in the late 1990s. I last saw Roger several years ago where he was set up at the famous Labor Day Flea Market and Gun Show in Hillsville, Virginia. I used to like to go to that show since I found some comic books and science fiction pulps I could sell but my last few trips produced poor results so I quit going for now. Here’s Roger with a copy of Wildest Westerns of Filmland #1, 1960 with a Richard Boone as Paladin cover. This magazine was intended to be a companion magazine of sorts to publisher James Warren’s better known magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland. Wildest Westerns folded after only six issues.
Dave Hinson
As usual, I’ve saved the best for last. Dave Hinson of Rock Hill, SC promotes the Charlotte Comicon in Concord, NC . He sold his comic book store in Rock Hill a few years but he still does a few comic shows a year. I’ve always had a special affection for Dave because he helped me get back into collecting comics. In 1993 after leaving South Korea the Air Force sent me to Virginia Beach, VA . That same year I met Dave who was set up as a dealer at one of promoter Larry Webster’s comic shows in the malls in Virginia Beach. I hadn’t bought many comics before leaving California for South Korea and they don’t have comic shows in South Korea. When I saw some of the Silver Age Marvels on Dave’s display wall I felt the old comic juices starting to percolate again and I was back in the collecting saddle. I went to two of Dave’s shows around Rock Hill in the late 1990s and I’ve seen him sporadically on the show circuit every since. Sadly for me, he quit going to the South Carolina Comic Con in Greenville and I don’t think he will ever return to the Tidewater Comicon in my town of Virginia Beach so I can’t say when I will see him again.
Dave Hinson
Dave with two nice DC Silver Age comics: Showcase #40, 1962 with a Joe Kubert cover and #31, 1960 with the first appearance of Cave Carson.
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