I thought I'd fallen through a time warp. These shows haven't changed at all in the twenty-plus years since I stopped collecting. The guys behind the counters looked the same. They could just as easily been playing D&D back there, and would have fit in just as well. At least one was selling D&D-type merchandise. T-shirts, jeans, many overweight, some bearded. One difference was the addition of body jewelry. Small room, packed with the dealers, narrow aisles, room overflowing to outside the entrance door. Stacks and stacks and boxes upon boxes of comics, now in Mylar bags with backing boards instead of polypropylene, most boxes offering discounts ("50% off everything in this box", "3 for $10"), the real stuff, i.e., old and valuable, on display racks behind the tables.
Two significant differences from when I last attended one of these things. One, there were several artists and writers in attendance, including one relatively famous one who has done numerous recent and not-so-recent books. I stopped collecting before the big flap about who owned the artwork and characters. Artists and writers seldom showed up, especially not to these small local shows. Two, there's a lot less clothing on many of the well-endowed comic book heroines, especially from the independent publishers.
I found the protectors I wanted very quickly. Chatted with several of the dealers, both to ask about the shipping method and to talk comics in general. Also had a long discussion with one of the writers and his SO who have just started up an independent series, Sky Pirates, from www.freelunchcomics.com. Turned out one of his inspirations was Mike Grell, the artist whose work I'm selling. When I told them what I was doing there (selling to pay for the wedding), they both applauded me.
They gave me the information on shipping I needed. You basically just put the art between two big pieces of cardboard and tape them together. They said some of the proofs for their comic came between former Del Monte banana boxes. I also got some idea of what some of my comics are worth, or at least what dealers are trying to sell them for.
The trip was well worth the admission price, both for the shipping information and the trip down memory lane. I discovered that I only miss it a little. I'm interested in all the changes in the characters and the DC Universe in general, I really don't have the inclination, or time and money, to get back into collecting. I'll stick with watching from the sidelines.
