I feel like I had a pretty decent show at Richmond. It was unbelievably, my first show of the year and even though I was sick as a dog, it was good to get out of the house and around some comics again. You go back about 2-3 months and my comic mentality was at an all-time low. I was burnt and pissed off about comics. I needed to step back a bit and remember what I like about comics. Going to Richmond made me feel like I liked comics again.
It was a trippy show. We walked in and paid and you had to walk past a small artist alley type hallway to get to the main area where the books were along with more artist. The funny thing is walking through that hallway was an amazing amount of funk that was indescribable. It was like a 30 second walk and by time we walked into the main area, my nostrils were burning. Amazingly, the funk kind of wore off the long we were there. Maybe I was getting used to it. I don't know. It didn't seem bad once we were in the main area.
Normally the rudeness of others is bad too but other than a couple of brief seconds, the crowd which was pretty damn big, was quite polite. There was a good mood going on. I sensed it.
The place had a $500 costume contest and this packed in tons of geeks wearing their normal geek outfits and outcasted dirty slut-girls dressing as proactively as they possibly could. It's amazing what someone can get away with in the name of a costume. I mean there was a lot of dirty, slutty looking wenches with their tits and asses all sticking out looking like they were in desperate need of either another load of jizz on their already soiled body parts and/or a good washing with a scrub brush. All this while walking past scores of children of all ages and their parents looking oblivious that little Johnny could see his 1st pussy if he looked to the right. You could honestly get arrested in some parts, but certainly not at a comic convention.
I wanted to be interested in the artists. I seen some good work but the area didn't present well to talking with these guys. Herb Trimpe was a major disappoint with nary a piece of art in front of him leaning backwards in his chair away from the table and talking mostly to the 2 people sitting next to him. He almost look unapproachable. Oh I'm sure he was. He seemed like a friendly enough guy. But he didn't seem too interested to me in talking with the fans. So I passed on looking through the little bit of stuff he did have.
On a whole there was only 2 or 3 dealers worth looking through but they were certainly the ones worth the trip. I found decent deals with reasonable prices and shopped exclusively with these guys and totally ignored the rest. In the end I left happy. Here are some of my scores...
I could have had all the TPB's I wanted at $3 a piece or 2 for $5. I searched high and low for another book but none seemed worthy of an addition $2. At least for me. So I left with this. I'm happy to pay $3 for this. I enjoyed this a lot the 1st time I read it and I wanted to have a copy of my own. Maybe I'll read it again.
I already had two of these but none looking as good as this one and for $3, I felt the price was right to upgrade.
I've had this book numerous times in my life but not for a long time now. I pulled the trigger on this one for a low price.
Perhaps my favorite title from the Charlton Library of comics, the Ditko Blue Beetles are some of my absolute favorites. I now only need #2 to complete the collection. I saw a ratty copy of #1 for $90 and I have really solid copy of #1 I picked up at Charlotte a few years ago for $1!!! Still the highlight of that show for me. This #5 is a very nice copy for a Charlton. I was really happy with it. And Ditko's work in this series is just really some kick ass work. He was perfect for the Blue Beetle.
Sure, its a low grade copy but solid nonetheless with plenty of eye appeal. Yes, its Casper the Friendly Ghost #1!!! When I seen how reasonable the price was to get it and being this is a book I don't see all the time, I couldn't pass it up. I'll take stuff like this all day.
I got #3 a few years ago and man, what a nice book that is. I've never owned a #4 and even though this is only a middle of the road copy, the price was quite right and I wanted to cross it off my list of books I needed to get one day. I've always wanted one of these. Although I love the cover and the interior art is still outstanding, I have to say I find #3 to be the superior book. Buscema and company just put together an awesome piece of work for the times back then. Now the only key left for me to get is a #1 and if I ever get that, I might go hard after the rest to complete my collection of them.