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Your narrator, the Leader
The Leader attended the Virginia Comicon in Richmond with his traveling companion Jim Frost and Jim’s consort Judy on 29 and 30 October 2016. This was the annual two day show of the year and also the 30th anniversay of the Virginia Comicon. The Leader was pleased to see his usual friends that attend this show: Kristopher Krieg, Harry Hopkins, Donald Gehl, Derek Woywood, Al Stoltz, Guy Rose, Donald Jones and of course his favorite comic book dealer, Gene Carpenter.

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Saturday, 29 October 2016
Donald Gehl
I first met Donald Gehl of Duckys Comics at this show last June and was pleased to see him again. Marvel’s Doctor Strange movie is coming out soon but it’s not too late to speculate on the usual hyperbole and mania that go with new Marvel movie releases. This CGC graded 9.0 The Fantastic Four #27, 1964 is the first time Doctor Strange’s full body appears on a comic book cover. In the comic he was normally featured in, Strange Tales, Doctor Strange wasn’t shown on the cover or only his head was for the first several issues. Also, this issue of The Fantastic Four is the first Doctor Strange cross-over into another Marvel comic book.
John Tischler
John Tischler of Past & Present Comics in Florida attended the Virginia Comicon for the first time. I’m always attracted to Atlas and pre-Marvel comics and so these two comics of John’s caught my eye: the Atlas comic Mystery Tales #3, 1952 ($300) and the pre-Marvel Journey Into Mystery #80, 1962 ($80) with a Jack Kirby cover.
Mike DeCarl
I’ve seen Mike DeCarl at shows over the years in the Washington D.C. and Baltimore area dating back to the late 1990s but I didn’t know his name. This was the first time I’ve seen him at the Virginia Comicon and I enjoyed talking with him. He told me he had liked setting up as a dealer at Larry Webster’s Pembroke Mall comic show in Virginia Beach, Virginia in the early 1990s. I live in Virginia Beach and also attended those shows but I couldn’t remember seeing Mike there.
One of my favorite story lines in Marvel comics is the Hulk / Leader stories from Tales To Astonish and Mike had these two examples. The #73 at right has the first part of the climatic story where the Leader teleports the Hulk to the Watcher’s home planet to steal the Watcher’s Ultimate Machine. If Mike’s copy had been in better shape, I might have bought it. It’s one of my favorite Marvel comics and I never get tired of buying it in high grade.
Craig Davis
Craig Davis lives in the Tidewater area of Virginia as I do. I’ve known him since the late 1990s. He is a friend of Wayne Ehrmann of Zeno’s Books in Chesapeake, Virginia and frequently goes with Wayne to this show and others. I’m not a big DC comics fan but I thought this issue of Adventure Comics #343, 1966 ($20) with Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes had a nice cover.
Michael Lantz, Robert Griffin
I first met Robert Griffin (at right) at the Baltimore Comic Con last September and this is the first time I’ve seen him at the Virginia Comicon so this should be his first time attending this show. I spoke with his associate Michael Lantz briefly who back in the 1960s was a Marvel Zombie like me. We both agreed that the Silver Age Marvel comics are still far superior to anything Marvel has done since. Since Mike agrees with the Leader, it’s obvious that he is a man of sound judgement and superior intellect.
Robert Griffin
Robert was doing his share to stimulate Doctor Strange movie speculation and so here is with Doctor Strange #169, 1968 which is the first issue of Doc in his own comic which he had all to himself. It’s numbered #169 instead of #1 because Marvel just continued the numbering from the previous Strange Tales comic where Doc had shared the comic with the Human Torch and later Nick Fury Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Robert also is holding a copy of Strange Tales #110, 1963 with the first appearance of Doctor Strange who wasn’t even important enough in those days to appear on the cover!
Al Stoltz, Lisa Stoneham
Al Stoltz of Basement Comics is a veteran comic dealer that I’ve known since I used to set up at shows in the Washington D.C. and Baltimore areas in the late 1990s. I last saw him at the Baltimore Comic Con last September. He usually only attends the Virginia Comicon for its two day show at the end of the year, like this one.
Al Stoltz, Lisa Stoneham
Al’s assistant Lisa Stoneham with a CGC graded 9.2 copy of Detective Comics #112, 1946 ($2,600).
Harry Hopkins
Veteran dealer Harry Hopkins of Fandata always sets up at this show and lots more on the East Coast. He recently acquired from an auction house in the Baltimore area a huge collection of comics stretching back from current days to the Golden Age. Harry said there were 400 long boxes and there were lots of Silver and Bronze Age comics. Harry was selling these cheap at the show, $10.00 each.
Bill Smith, Harry Hopkins, Mariane Hopkins
Here’s a rare photo of long time misanthropic comic and pulp collector Bill Smith from the Hampton Roads area of Virginia where I live going through Harry Hopkins’s $10 Silver and Bronze Age boxes. I’ve known him since the early 1990s. Bill is friends with Wayne Ehrmann of Zeno’s Books in Chesapeake, Virginia where I buy my current comic related hardcover books. Wayne bought lots of Harry’s comics from the new collection of 400 boxes and tipped off Bill about the great bargains to be found. Bill rarely goes to comic shows but he made an exception in this case. He spent a lot of time plundering and pillaging though Harry’s boxes; being able to buy Silver Age comics at more than 50% off the Guide price is more temptation than anybody can resist.
Craig Davis, Bill Smith Mariane Hopkins, Harry Hopkins
The man standing behind Bill Smith at Harry’s tables is Craig Davis who was with Wayne Ehrmann of Zeno’s Books at this show. He also succumbed to the affordable allure of Harry’s boxes.
Jim Frost, Gene Carpenter, Derek Woywood
As usual, the Leader’s traveling companion Jim Frost did lots of trading business with the leader’s favorite comic book dealer, Gene Carpenter. I like the regal poses Gene and Derek are striking here. The man in the “Dawn of Justice” shirt is Derek Woywood who was helping out Gene at the show. Derek promotes the Philadelphia Comic Con which is a week after this show. Derek told me his show is the longest running comic show on the East Coast still under the original management. I last saw Gene and Derek last September at the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Con in Hunt Valley, Maryland. I don’t know who the fat guy in the purple hat is.
Jim Frost, Gene Carpenter
Jim with a fat stack of comics. You’ll be seeing some of them on the CGC Silver Age for sale threads very soon.
Gene Carpenter, Jim Frost
Here’s Gene teasing Jim with an extremely rare item: a 1960s promotional brochure for the newspaper Sunday comic strip “Ben Casey” with art by Neal Adams. The beige colored pamphlet laying on the box in front of Gene is an even more rare and expensive item. It’s a comic book related publication “Good Triumphs Over Evil” from 1943 by Max C. Gaines, the father of EC Comics publisher William Gaines. Jim did acquire this item from Gene and you will see it soon the CGC board threads. For more information about these unusual treasures, click here for the Leader’s Report on the Baltimore Comic Con last September.
Gene Carpenter, Jim Frost
Gene and Jim looking at the color pages in the Neal Adams “Ben Casey” brochure.
Wayne Ehrmann, Jim Frost, Judy, Bill Smith
At closing time on Saturday Jim Frost took some time to look over a box of Argosy, Blue Book, Amazing Stories pulps that Bill Smith had been keeping at Wayne Ehrmann’s booth. Bill didn’t have time to sell his pulps at the show because he had been too busy at Harry Hopkins’s booth. Many of these pulps had stories by one of Bill’s favorite authors, Edgar Rice Burroughs. Jim was intrigued by the lurid and exciting pulp cover art. And so after the show outside on the sidewalk with the dark of night closing in on us, Jim and Bill went through Bill’s pulp boxes and Jim bought two Amazing Stories with Burroughs stories.
Bill Smith
Bill showing off one of his pulps, Fantastic Adventures Quarterly. These quarterly issues were extra thick reprint issues. Fantastic Adventures was a companion publication of the better known and older Amazing Stories.
Click here for Page 2 of the Leader's Report on the Virginia Comicon October 2016.