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Saturday 18 May 2024

Dr. Chopper Here's Dr. Chopper of Codakhrome Comic Shop. I last him at HeroesCon in Charlotte, NC in 2023. This is the first time he has been a vendor at this Tidewater show. Dr. Chopper makes imaginative and lovely framed collages by cutting up and arranging pages from comic books.	Dr. Chopper Dr. Chopper showing his collage of the female version (Carol Danvers) of Captain Marvel to a cos-player costumed as that character. Captain Marvel first appeared in the Marvel Universe in the comic book Marvel Super Heroes #12 and #13, 1967. He was Captain Mar-Vell in the space fleet of the Kree Empire. To spy on planet Earth he assumed the guise of Dr. Walter Lawson and worked at Cape Canaveral. He quickly got his own comic book Captain Marvel #1, 1968 which ran until 62, 1979. He died of cancer in the graphic novel The Death Of Captain Marvel, 1982 written and drawn by Jim Starlin. While on Earth his female love interest had been Carol Danvers who later assumed some of his powers and became the new Captain Marvel.	Dr. Chopper Dr. Chopper's collage of Spider-Man shows the alternate cover to Amazing Fantasy#15, 1962 drawn by Steve Ditko that wasn't used. The cover to that comic that was used was drawn by Jack Kirby and is shown at bottom right. At top left is the splash page to The Amazing Spider-Man #1, 1963.

Adam Mitchell Adam Mitchell with a poster of the famous Alfred Hitchcock movie The Birds with a PSA authenticated signature by the movie's female star Tippi Hedren. I doubt Tippi Hedren's autograph is worth Adam's asking price of $250 since she signed a magazine for me at the Chiller Convention about 15 years ago for $20. So, I guess the poster itself is expensive. Adam also has a framed photo of Tippi with a bird.	Jamie Bramble Local Virginia Beach area vendor Jamie Bramble watching potential customers look through his boxes of Silver and Bronze Age comics.	Jamie Bramble Jamie with a the Pre-Marvel comic Journey Into Mystery #60, 1960. The Pre-Marvels are one of my favorite comic book genres as they contain delightful science fiction and fantasy stories written mostly mostly by Stan Lee and his brother Larry Leiber illustrated by Marvel's top artists, Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko with Don Heck thrown in for good measure. The Avengers King-Size Special #1, 1967 notes in a cover blurb that the story is 49 pages. A quarter bought a lot of comic book in 1967! 49 pages was the longest story to appear in any Marvel comic book up to that time. I did a search on the internet to see if I could find another Marvel comic book (leaving out graphic novels) with a longer story and found nothing. So maybe this Avengers annual still holds the record.

Derryck Sargent Sr. Local Viginia Beach vendor, Derryck Sargent, of Sargent Digital Designs is another 3d printing expert but he goes a step further and paints the 3d printed statues and busts that he makes. Here's Derryck surrounded by some of his painted characters mostly from Marvel comics.	Derryck Sargent Sr.'s Psylocke Here's a close up view of Derryck's 3d printed Marvel comic book character Psylocke who was a member of the X-Men. She's not wearing her usual costume. Derryck made her as a Japanese geisha girl.

Steve Edmonson Here's the other important 3d printer at the show, Steve Edmonson. In the foreground are 3d printed busts of Mr. Spock and Captain Picard from the Star Trek TV shows and movies. Also, a statue of King Kong. In the far background is Steve's partner Larry Fredrickson.	Larry Fredrickson Larry Fredrickson talking with a green skin cos-player. In the foreground is a bust of the Soviet Communist version of Superman from the 2020 animated movie and the 2003 DC comic book miniseries Superman: Red Son. Next to the ersatz Commie Superman are two busts of the authentic American version of Superman.	Karl Rickert Another local Virginia Beach dealer, Karl Rickert, with the Bronze Age Marvel comics Machine Man #10, 1979 and #3, 1978. Machine Man was a character of no special significance in the Marvel Universe but at least he was blessed with good artists. The first nine issues of Machine Man were written and drawn by Jack Kirby. The #10 is the first issue drawn by Steve Ditko. Ditko drew all the stories and most of the covers for the rest of this title which lasted until #19. One of Marvel's better writers, Marv Wolfman, wrote most of the Ditko stories which I'm sure must have been a refreshing change of pace from the earlier stories written by Jack Kirby. By the early 1970s I was becoming less enthusiastic about Marvel comics as by then their top writer, Stan Lee, had left to become a wannabe movie and TV mogul and all the artists I liked in the 1960s - Steve Ditko, John Romita, Jim Steranko, Gene Colan - had also moved on. Jack Kirby returned from DC in the late 1970s but as I noted earlier he wrote most of the stories he drew with his usual adolescent style which left me cold. But old habits die hard and I continued on as a Marvel Zombie until 1977 when I joined the U.S. Air Force. Then I quit collecting all Marvel titles except for a bit longer Conan The Barbarian, mostly because it was still being written by my favorite Marvel writer after Stan Lee, Roy Thomas. So yes, like a good Marvel Zombie, I did slavishly buy the entire 19 issue run of Machine Man. But like many Marvel comics I bought in the late 1970s I didn't read them. So when I sold my run of Machine Man on ebay circa 2006 starting with this #1 issue, they were all in really nice condition.

Gerald Hogan Gerald Hogan of Trilogy Comics was busy most of the day but near the end of the show he found time to pose with this copy of The Avengers #5, 1964 with the usual dynamic Jack Kirby cover and interior art. The cover however is deceptive since it shows the Hulk fighting alongside his former Avengers teammates. In the story he doesn't do that. The Lava Men first appeared in Journey Into Mystery #97, 1963.	Mario Russo, Zach Dunlop I was glad to see veteran comic book dealer Mario Russo from Atlanta, GA at this show since when I last saw him at the Fayetteville Comic Con in late April he wasn't sure if he would make this Tidewater show. On Mario's left is his assistant Zach Dunlop who I first met then he and Mario were at this show in 2023.	Mario Russo Mario with Tales To Astonish #59, 1964 guest starring the Hulk and Tales Of Suspense #58, 1964 guest starring Captain America. Both of these characters became the second feature in these respective titles with the next issue. So, I've always considered Tales To Astonish #59 and Tales Of Suspense #58 to be preview or teaser books to wet the reader's appetite for seeing the Hulk and Captain America in their own upcoming feature. Marvel pulled a similar stunt with a phony Captain America (he was really the Human Torch villain, the Acrobat) appearing in Strange Tales #114, 1963 before the real Captain America rejoined the Marvel Universe in The Avengers #4, 1964.

Zach Dunlop Here's Mario's assistant Zach Dunlop with two examples of what I call the Pre-Marvels. These type of comics were a bridge between the time in the 1950s when Marvel was known as Atlas and the Marvel Age of Comics that started in the early 1960s with the introduction of Marvel's new line of superheroes. The Pre-Marvels had no superheroes; they were anthology comic books with short science fiction and fantasy stories, many drawn by Marvel's top Silver Age artists Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko. Some of the Pre-Marvels served as the home of the new superheroes who had the lead story with the science fiction/fantasy stories making up the rest of the comic. For instance, Tales Of Suspense featured Iron Man starting with #39 and Strange Tales featured the Human Torch starting with #101. One of my favorite Pre-Marvel's is Strange Tales #88, 1961 that Zach is holding here since I read it new as a seven year old kid. I lost it of course since seven year old kids aren't smart enough to retain things and it was several years later before I was able to buy it back.	Harry Hopkins My old Air Force friend Harry Hopkins is the longtime owner of Fandata Bargain Comics and Harry also moderates the The Overstreet Price Guide fan page on Facebook. That's Harry's wife Mariane sitting in the far back while a potential customer looks over Harry's wall comic books. As always Harry is busy sorting and arranging his comics. Fantastic Four #37, 1965 with a partly black Jack Kirby cover is an interesting comic. The Fantastic Four travel to the home planet of the Skrull Empire to avenge the death of Fantastic Four member Sue Storm's father at the hands of the Skrulls a few issues earlier.	Harry Hopkins Harry was to busy during the show to stop and pose for photos but near the close of the show I got him to slow down long enough to pose for this photo. Harry always wears this Make Mine Marvel button to all the shows he attends and has rebuffed all my attempts to buy it from him. I think he continues to wear it just to irritate me. Fantastic Four #100, 1970 is the 100th anniversary issue of this classic title that inaugurated the Marvel Age of Comics in 1961. The artist for these first 100 issues was Jack Kirby who was soon to quit Marvel and movie to DC. #100 would have been the perfect place to stop after this brilliant 10 year performance, but with an anti-climatic flourish Kirby drew #101 before leaving for DC. Fantastic Four #112, 1971 with the John Buscema cover offers a rematch between the Thing and the Hulk. They had first fought each other in Fantastic Four #12 and Fantastic Four #25 and #26. Several years ago I sold most of post 1969 Marvel comics on ebay and had forgotten that I culled out my copy of Fantastic Four #112 to be CGC graded and sold through Heritage Auctions.

So ends the Leader's Report for the Tidewater Comicon 2024.

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

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