Click here for Page 1 of the Leader's Report on the HeroesCon 2024

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

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Saturday 15 June 2024

Dealers' Room HeroesCon is a huge place so this photo shows only about half the dealers' room. On the front row nearest the camera you can see dealers Mark Nathan who promotes the Baltimore Comic Con and also Mark Scott standing behind their tables.	Dustin Ruff I first met Dustin Ruff at the Tidewater Comic Con in 2023 where he was setup next to Bobby Whitworth. Now two years later at HeroesCon Dustin and Bobby were setup next to each other again. They must travel together. Dustin is posing here with The Amazing Spider-Man #14, 1964 but this isn't just another low grade copy of this popular comic; it's the "Angry Girlfriend Variant." Dustin had this comic at the Tidewater Comic Con two years ago in a CBCS slab. At HeroesCon this year he had the CGC graders at the show take it out of the CBCS slab and regraded and put into a CGC slab. Dustin said they did it for free to keep this famous comic out of the hands of their CBCS competition. Dustin told me he had recently turned down an offer of $50,000 on an Instagram comics selling platform. For more information on this comic click here to read what I said about it in my Leader's Report on the Tidewater Comic Con 2023.	Dustin Ruff Closeup of the CGC label for Dustin's Amazing Spider-Man #14. Unlike the previous CBCS label, the new CGC label annotates "Angry Girlfriend Edition" so that makes it official.

Frank Brevard Frank Brevard of Frank's Cool Stuff in Salem VA. I sometimes see Frank at the Virginia Comic Con in Richmond and I used to see him at the Williamsburg Nostalgia Fest in Virginia until that show expired last year.	Frank Brevard Frank has lots of movie and TV tie-in paperback books. Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea was derived from the 1961 movie of the same name starring Walter Pidgeon and Barbara Eden. The movie also spun off a TV series of the same name in the mid 1960s. The Superman paperback was part of the flood of merchandise associated with the blockbuster movie Superman The Movie 1978 which spawned three sequels. I like Charlton Heston and science fiction movies so of course I saw Soylent Green in the theater at the Oglethorpe Mall in Savannah, GA when it was first released in 1973. I also saw all five of the original Planet of the Apes movies in the theater as a kid in Savannah.	Frank Brevard Frank with a Frank Frazetta fanzine and the first issue of the Warren Publishing magazine Spacemen 1961. Forrest J. Ackerman who edited Jim Warren's Famous Monsters of Filmland also edited Spacemen. The title only lasted eight issues but while it lasted it did a good job covering the vintage science fiction movies, serials and TV shows that Forrest Ackerman loved so much. Check out the Spacemen 1965 Yearbook with an excellent cover drawn by Wally Wood.

Josh Almond, Chris Rigo Josh and Chris hobnobbing with their customers. Josh Almond of Buzz Comics and Chris Rigo of Beardy Weirdys Comics and Toys used to setup at shows together until Josh moved to New Hampshire a few years ago and broke up the act. So it's always nice to see them together again for HeroesCon. Josh told me at this show he may be moving back to North Carolina and I hope he makes it.	Josh Almond Josh with a Detective Comics #299, 1962 from the late 1950s - early 1960s time period some Batman fans call "the goofy Batman" where Batman frequently encountered all kinds of weird aliens and monsters. I like those type of science fiction related stories and look forward to reading them in the Batman Silver Age Omnibus books that are now starting to appear. The Marvel comic A Date With Millie #1, 1959 is the first of seven issues. An earlier A Date With Millie from 1956 also lasted seven issues. These comics are typical Marvel teen humor / romance comics written for teenage girls. I read some of these type of stories in the four recent Marvel hardcover books that reprint all the Marvel comics from a given month in the years 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964. I couldn't develop much of an appetite for them since I'm not a teenage girl living the 1950s.	Chris Rigo Chris with Journey Into Mystery #99, 1963 with the first appearance of Mr. Hyde. Mr. Hyde later teamed up with another Thor villain, the Cobra, to battle Thor together and later Daredevil. The DC comic Miss Beverly Hills of Hollywood #1, 1949 looks interesting with a black cover with Hollywood technicians etched in white and story about Miss Hills meeting movie star Alan Ladd. This title lasted nine issues and many of the covers had photos of movie stars on the cover and stories about Miss Hills meeting them. I collect old movie memorabilia and I would buy a reprint book of this title but DC has never been interested in reprinting anything outside of their superhero titles. Maybe someday Fantagraphics, IDW, PS Artbooks or another small publisher will give us a book about Miss Beverly Hills's adventures in Hollywood but I'm not holding my breath waiting.

Wayne Brown Here's Wayne with his wife Brandy. I first met Wayne Brown of Smasher's Comics at the Savannah Mega Con in 2019. Along with Josh Almond and Chris Rigo, Wayne is the Leader's Favorite Comic Book Dealer Under Age 40.	Wayne Brown Wayne with The Amazing Spider-Man King-Size Special #3, 1966 with an exciting cover by John Romita showing Spidey with the Hulk and the Avengers. In the story Spidey applies to join the Avengers and they give him the task of capturing their former member the Hulk to prove he is worthy. I've never had a high grade copy of this comic. Marvel's annuals came out in the summer and I spent most of my summers at my grandmother's house in the little town of Tarrant City near Birmingham, Al. There weren't many places to buy comic books there. When I got back home to Savannah in the late summer I would scour Mr. Woo's 7-ll, the drugstore at Oglethorpe Mall and a few other places to try and buy the Marvel comics I missed while in Tarrant City. I wasn't always successful and this Spidey annual #3 is one of the comics that slipped through the cracks. I got a beat up used copy somewhere much later and was never able to upgrade it. Wayne also has this low grade CBCS graded copy of the most expensive Spider-Man comic in the world, Amazing Fantasy #15, 1962 he is trying to sell on consignment. I can't afford to buy this comic today even in low grade. So, I'm grateful I still have my rough condition but unrestored copy I bought from my primary mail order dealer Robert Bell circa 1970 for about $25.	Wayne Brown Wayne with Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #92, 1969. Superman's girl Lois Lane and his pal Jimmy Olsen in their own comics frequently became some sort of monster or freak. This time Lois is a centaur from Greek mythology. I've always been mostly a Marvel fan but I do enjoy reading the Batman and Superman stories in the Golden and Silver Age omnibus hardcover reprint books. But I don't think my appetite for Batman and Superman stories will ever extend to me reading the Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen titles. Superman #199, 1967 hasn't been reprinted yet in the omnibus books I buy so I'll have to wait to see who wins the big race.

Greg Ketter Greg Ketter is another book dealer I like who has interesting hardcover and paperback books not seen at the usual comic book shows. I usually see him at Pulpfest in Pittsburg, PA each August but Greg told me he won't be there this year. All In Color For A Dime is a paperback book I bought new in 1970. It is one of the first books with articles about old comic books. I read it but all the articles were about esoteric characters outside of Marvel comics that I wasn't familiar with so I didn't really enjoy it. In 2008 I bought a large collection of high grade popular culture hardcover books from Mason City, Iowa and this book was included so that completes the circle. I've never been much of a Harlan Ellison fan and never hung out with juvenile delinquents so I can live without The Juvies. I first saw the Avon paperback Into Plutonian Depths 1950 at a pulp and paperback show circa 1998 in Tampa, Fl promoted by veteran dealer David Alexander of DTA Collectibles. I knew David in California before he moved to Florida. The seller wanted $18 which wasn't way to high but it was more than I was used to paying for old paperback books. However in later years I developed more of a taste for vintage science fiction paperbacks and especially for those published by Avon because they had some of the most outlandish and eye catching covers. So, a few years ago I did buy for about $40 from ebay a high grade copy of Into Plutonian Depths. On Greg's right are some of the volumes from publisher Russ Cochran's "The Complete EC Library" which reprinted all the EC comic books in hardcover volumes in slipcases. I bought them all back in the day except for the satire titles Mad and Panic. In later years Gemstone Publishing and now Darkhorse Publishing began reprinting all these comics again in hardcover with no slipcase but in color and I bought all those. I'm waiting patiently for Darkhorse to publish the last few remaining volumes.	Maggie Hein Veteran comic book dealer Earl Shaw from Georgia wasn't in his booth when I stopped by so his lovely young assitant Maggie Hein posed with these two Marvel comic books Girl Comics #7 and #6 both from 1951 and to early to have the Atlas Globe on the cover. The Atlas Globe didn't appear on Marvel comics until November 1951. Girl Comics lasted 12 issues and these two issues have artists familiar to Marvel fans of the 1960s: Carl Burgos, Chic Stone, John Targalione, George Klein.	Mark Scott Mark Scott with two Marvel teen humor comics: Showgirls #2, 1957 and Sherry The Showgirl #7, 1956. Both have the Atlas Globe on the cover. Showgirls #2 has the cover and all stories drawn by famous artist Dan DeCarlo with all the stories written by Marvel's editor and top writer Stan Lee. Dan DeCarlo is remembered mostly as an Archie comics artist but he drew lots of teen humor comics for Marvel. He also drew girlie cartoons for Marvel's line of Humorama adult digest magazines with sexier and more suggestive females than he could depict in the comic books.

Mark Scott Mark with Marvel Tales #93, 1949. The first 92 issues of this title was named Marvel Mystery Comics which was Marvel's first comic book and flagship title all through the 1940s. It featured many of Marvel's superheroes including two of the most important, the Sub-Mariner and the Human Torch. When superheroes fell out of favor the title switched its name to Marvel Tales #93 and started running horror and science fiction stories that were coming into fashion at that time. I've lamented often that when Marvel cancelled its Atlas Era line of hardcover reprint books several years ago I would never get to read most of these wonderful Atomic Age stories. But now the publisher Fantagraphics has come to the rescue with its Atlas Comics Library line of hardcover reprints. I hope there are enough old timer collectors like me who love these type of stories to keep Fantagraphics publishing the Atlas comics for many years to come.	Tom Raupp I hadn't seen Tom Raupp of Pop Culture Playground since the Savannah Comic Con last July 2023 and was glad to catch up with him at this HeroesCon show. Tom has comic books as good as anybody else but he also carries magazines and fanzines and other nice pop culture stuff that many dealers don't have. Here's Tom with an oversize DC comic magazine from 1976 Superman Salutes the Bicentennial. For a few years in the 1970s both Marvel and DC published lots of these oversize magazines. I didn't buy many as most of them were reprints and you had to buy extra large boxes and bags to store them properly. The Harvey horror comic Chamber Of Chills #19, 1953 has an iconic cover that has been reprinted many times on T shirts, bedspreads and the like. I liked Tom's two early 1970s Marvelmania fanzines featuring Jack Kirby art but $400 is a bit too much for me to pay right now. Maybe someday.	Tom Raupp Here's a look inside Tom's 1970 Jack Kirby Portfolio to sustain me until I can raise $400.

Mario Russo I've been seeing a lot of Atlanta, GA dealer Mario Russo. I saw him in April at the Fayetteville Comic Con, in May at the Tidewater Comic Con and now HeroesCon. I suppose you can never get enough of a good thing. Here's Mario busy as usual schmoozing with his customers. On his right is his son Robert.	Mario Russo Mario with two Silver Age Marvel comics and something a bit more unusual, The Journal Of Frankenstein #1, 1959 published by Calvin Beck. That's famous TV horror movie host John Zacherle and Lon Chaney Sr. on the cover. This first issue is the only issue of this title published by Beck. Beck returned in 1962 with a new monster magazine The Castle Of Frankenstein which published 25 issues on an irregular schedule up to 1975. Castle Of Frankenstein was an excellent film magazine aimed more at adults rather than the teenagers targeted by better known similar magazines like Famous Monsters Of Filmland. I eagerly bought Castle Of Frankentstein #11, 1967 from my regular comic book supplier Mr. Woo's 7-11 store when it jumped out at me from his magazine rack. The bright green cover with Star Trek's Mr. Spock and the article on Marvel Comics sucked me right in. I bought a few more issues new in the 1970s but I've never been able to put together a complet run of all 25 issues. I plan to do that someday.	Banks Robinson Banks Robinson is a big time comic book dealer from Columbia, SC that I met several years ago at the Tidewater Comic Con in Virginia Beach when he was there along with his friend Rick Fortenberry. He and Rick frequently setup at the same shows next to each other. I usually see Banks at least twice a year at the Fayetteville Comic Con in April and October but he missed the April show so I was glad to see him at HeroesCon. Here's Banks striking a philosophical pose while talking with Gerald Hogan of Trilogy Comics. Next to Banks is his wife Polly.

Banks Robinson Prior to show opening to the public Banks bought a small box of Humorama digest cartoon magazines from dealer Mark Scott. Some samples are shown here. The Comedy has a photo of Bettie Page on the cover. The others have Bill Ward covers featuring Ward's typical impossibly proportioned females. Technically, the Eye digest with a color photo of Miss Sweden 1950 Anita Ekberg on the cover isn't a Humorama but it was still part of Martin Goodman's publishing empire which contained the Humoramas. Many magazine publishers produced girlie / pinup style digest and regular size magazines from the 1930s - 1970s and Humorama digest size magazines are among the best of these type of cartoon magazines. Humorama magazines were filled with cheesecake and nude photos of well known female models and politically incorrect cartoons by noted cartoonist like Bill Ward, Bill Wenzel Dan DeCarlo, Jack Cole and many others. Humorama was a division of the Martin Goodman pulp, magazines and comic book publishing empire. Goodman is best known as the publisher of the Timely/ Atlas comic books in the 1940s and 1950s. In the 1960s and 1970s he published the legendary Marvel comic books. He also published most of the Men's Adventure magazines like Stag, For Men Only, Male. A brother of his, Abe Goodman, ran the Humorama division. I heard on the collectibles show circuit over 20 years ago that Abe Goodman sold lots of Humorama cartoon original art to pay for a divorce settlement. Consequently, you can find some of it floating around at shows and on the internet today. Being a Marvel comic book and girlie magazine collector I've long been drawn to Humorama magazines and I've had some luck finding them over the years. To better see what's in these magazines check the following links: Over 20 years ago I bought a substantial warehouse type find with multiple copies of each magazine from Dave Weaver of Benders Books in Phoebus, VA. In 2000 I bought a small but extremely high grade collection as part of the fabled Napa Valley collection. In 2010 I bought another small but high grade collection from the Washington D.C. II collection	Rick Fortenberry, David Shankle, Earl Shaw I hadn't seen my friend Rick Fortenberry since the Virginia Comic Con in Richmond in November 2022. Here's Rick chewing the fat with two of his veteran dealer friends David Shankle and Earl Shaw next to Earl's booth. In the back at right in Rick's booth is Daniel Murphy who frequently assists Rick at the shows.	Rick Fortenberry Here's Rick with a nearly complete collection of the EC comic book Mad before it became a magazine. At right the red hardcover books in the slipcase are the Mad reprinted comic books in Russ Cochran's "Complete EC Library." The note says the set if signed by Marie Severin who was EC's colorist in the 1950s and who worked as an artist for Marvel in the 1960s.

Chad Russel, Greg Braca I last saw Chad and Greg aka Buzzard Brothers Comics at the Baltimore Comic Con last September 2023. Chad is holdidng War Against Crime #10, 1949 an EC Pre-Trend comic. The EC editors never used the term Pre-Trend but they did use the term New Trend to describe EC's new emphasis on horror and science fiction comics. So in later years EC fans invented the term Pre-Trend to describe EC's line of comics before the New Trend started in 1950. Like many comic publishers in the 1940s and 1950s Suspense Comics featured lurid covers with a male hero trying to rescue a "damsel in distress" from a gang of menacing evildoers such as seen on this cover of Suspense Comics #1, 1943. For the most famous of what the Overstreet Price Guide calls these "Hooded Menace" covers check out Suspense Comics #3. In my over 40 years of attending comic book conventions I've never seen a copy of that comic. Maybe Chad and Greg turn up with that issue someday. Greg is holding the Timely/Marvel comic Namora #1, 1948 featuring the Sub-Mariner's female cousin Namora in her own comic book. She only lasted three issues in her own comic but she continued to make appearances in other Timely comics that featured the Sub-Mariner.	Richie Munchin I first me veteran dealer Richie Munchin of Tomorrow's Treasures in Florida circa 1997 at the first comic book show I setup at as a dealer - the Tyson's Corner show in the Washington D.C. area. Richie was there as always and bought a few old comics from me that helped me pay my table fee before the doors opened to the public.	Hiram Duarte I liked Richie's copy of Reform School Girl 1951. It's a one-shot comic from Avon Publications noted for its single issue comic books and paperback books with outlandish covers. Richie won't pose for photos so I asked this customer of his named Hiram to pose with the comic for me.

Robert Griffin Robert missed the Fayetteville Comic Con last April where I see him so it was nice to see him again at HeroesCon. Here's Robert enjoying a moment of levity with some customers. Robert has lots of rare, esoteric comics like the ones in the foreground: Crimes By Women #7, 1949 and Women In Love #1, 1949.

Dave Hinson Veteran dealer Dave Hinson along with his partner Rick Fortenberry promote the Charlotte Comic Con in Concord, NC. I'm always sentimental about Dave because he helped me get back to collecting comics; I met Dave at one of promoter Larry Webster's mall shows in my town of Virginia Beach, VA in 1997. I had spent the previous year while still in the Air Force in South Korea which isn't known for its abundance of Silver Age comic books. I bought a few comics from Dave at this show which got the old comic collecting juices flowing again. Soon afterward I spent one night at his house so as to attend one of his Rock Hill, SC shows and also helped him out at Dragon Con in Atlanta once. I don't see Dave much anymore as he doesn't do any shows anymore in my state of Virginia except for Roger Mannon's Vintage Virginia Comic Book and Collectibles Show in Salem, VA. I've never been to that show and I might just go someday partly to see Dave more often.

Click here for Page 1 of the Leader's Report on the HeroesCon 2024

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