Thursday, March 22, 2012

Wonder Con Swag Report Part I: The Comic Book Haul!

You can't go to a comic book convention without walking out of there with an armload of comics. I mean, let's not forget that before all of the cosplay hotties, the steampunk gear booths, the massive t-shirt stands and the over-priced pizza slices, comic conventions were all about one thing; finding killer old comic books.

I did my best to not go crazy. I had limited funds for this con, and had to keep in mind that I had to fly all of my spoils home, and besides, I'm going to another comic convention next week. But that didn't stop me from raiding some of the cheap boxes at Wondercon. In fact, none of the following comics seen below (with the exception of the vintage Batman) cost more that 50¢. So take a look at the haul below and then think about the fact that I scored all of this for under $20.


I love comic book conventions.

First up, I has super-stoked to score a copy of Super Powers #1. But I was double-stoked to see who was featured on the cover...






Yeah, baby! Mister Miracle! Speaking of Scott Free, How gorgeous is this issue of Mister Miracle #2. Just look at that stunning Kirby artwork...



And of course, I took the opportunity to fill in some gaps in my Mister Miracle collection...

 


Another score came in the form of these four issues of the Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade movie adaptation. Which officially complete my Indy movie adaptation collection. This score was cool, because I bought issues 2 and 4 from one dealer, only to find issues 1 and 3 from a dealer two booths down. It was meant to be!



 I really let my wallet loose when I forked over a whopping $3 for this issue of 80 Page Giant Batman, from 1966, that is just packed with killer vintage artwork by the likes of Dick Sprang.




And, of course, I never go to a comic con without buying some Conan issues. That collection has to be close to being complete. I need to check.



 And when comics are that cheap, you can find yourself grabbing issues you would have normally have grabbed, such as these few issues of Sectaurs from Marvel, based on the vintage toy line. It's insect-men against arachnid-men!



 And here's the rest; a technicolor hodge-podge of  comic book goodness. There are some real gems in here. Well, gems when they're 50¢. Note the issue of Black Diamond #1 (an eye-opening comic when I was 12), yet another Spider-Ham issue and a couple of issues of a comic called Stalker, which looks like just the sort of thing I would have devoured as a young lad, unfortunately I just now discovered it last weekend.


 
 
 


Ahhhhh, just smell that aging wood pulp and decades old printer's ink... And if I'm not mistaken, I do detect the faintest whiff of high adventure...

More swag reports to come! (I bought some toys, too!)