OHIO COMIC CON

Several weeks ago I attended Wizard World Ohio Comic Con in Columbus, Ohio.  This is the show that was once Mid-Ohio Con, which I've attended since 1997.  This show has had a tumultuous history in the past decade, reaching its nadir in 2006/2007 before being sold and becoming a must-attend show, before being sold to Wizard and becoming an entirely different animal.  This was also a different experience for me, as I took my two year old.  He was having a good time, then took an uncharacteristic two-hour nap, before waking and still enjoying himself.

My son, who's not too big on getting his picture taken, asked me take his picture with these stormtroopers.

A stormtrooper busy with paperwork at his desk job.

Gleefully meeting a Tie Fighter pilot.  By the way, he's never seen "Star Wars" and has only a tangential idea of who these people are.

A vintage 1959 Miller-Meteor Combo refurbished and outfitted as a replica of the Ghostbusters vehicle.  This car is so massive I could never get an angle that showed me the entire car.

My son meets the guy from his shirt!

I didn't meet too many of the guests they had at the show, but I did get an autograph from Neal Adams in my copy of "Marvel Visonaries: Stan Lee."  He's signature joins Gene Colan, Dick Ayers, George Perez and Stan himself.  Now if I just get Ditko's I'll be all set.

There were lots of discount dealers to be found.  I particulary enjoyed one 'Everything $1' booth that was high on the esoteric.  These vintage photos are from a 1978 issue of US magazine, pre-release of the "Superman" movie.

One of the odder finds was an issue of Comics Journal 63, an oversized issue that included a Pacific Comics Catalog.  It includes, among its voluminous pages, a fiction story by Harlan Ellison with spot illos by Gil Kane.

Ok, so maybe this item below, a railroad coloring book by Cliff Merritt, was the oddest thing.

My favorite find was some old Cracked Magazines from different eras.  John Severin drew for the mag for decades, and looking back I'm bummed that I neglected the book sometime after the early 1980s (he  likely had something in every issue from the late '50s to late '90s).

The Ghostbusters meet Magnum P.I.

The A-Team visits the Love Boat.  Where else could you get mash-ups like this with dead on likenesses?

Kilowog and I had a great time.  See you next year!!