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caffeinatedTopic: Comic Books - New
TODAY'S FEATURE - Blog #3201: Those that have been reading this blog for the last two weeks will know that I was very enthusiastic about the 41st Comic-Con International: San Diego that ended on Sunday, July 25th! Because I have done nothing but blog about what to expect there, what panels / programs to see, and what I picked up there to read! Today will be no different! That's because we picked up a lot of back issues from TwoMorrow Publishing at this Comic-Con! I always see John Morrow at least at the Annual Jack Kirby Tribute that Mark Evanier moderates, if not also at his Exhibit Floor Booth. This year was no different! I was introduced to John's "Jack Kirby Collector" years ago and at one time had a subscription to that fine magazine. It was only after he increased the size of the mag to oversized that I stopped subscribing...Only due to the USPS not properly placing it in my PO Box, and opted to buy the issues direct at the San Diego Comic Con each year at the TwoMorrows booth! Besides 'The Jack Kirby Collector', John also publishes other magazines under the TwoMorrows banner. One that I enjoy a lot is Roy Thomas' Comics Fanzine, Alter Ego! This blog will review the latest issue that we picked up at the Comic-Con. This particular issue and back issues of this magazine can be found for sale in our online store, ComicBooksCircus.com! So what's this issue about? Here's the promo blurb about this issue:
July 2010 - 84 pages Now featuring a 16-page FULL-COLOR section each issue! In ALTER EGO #95 (84 pages, $7.95): Who says a comic book has to be good? NOT BRAND ECHH, from 1967-69! Behind a fabulous cover by MARIE SEVERIN, we feature a look at Marvel’s madcap parody mag, with rare art and artifacts by ROSS ANDRU, GENE COLAN, JOHN BUSCEMA, STAN DRAKE, BILL EVERETT, GARY FRIEDRICH, JACK KIRBY, STAN LEE, the SEVERIN siblings, FRANK SPRINGER, TOM SUTTON, ROY THOMAS, HERB TRIMPE, and more! Plus the conclusion of our cataclysmic GEORGE KASHDAN interview—FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America) with C.C. BECK and MARC SWAYZE, and spotlighting Mary Marvel on TV—MICHAEL T. GILBERT and MR. MONSTER’s COMIC CRYPT, and more! Edited by Roy Thomas.
I found her to be very charming, witty and a lot of fun to talk with. I appreciated meeting her, especially as I enjoyed her superhero work when I was younger, and yes, especially her work in NOT Brand Echh! So this section on NOT Brand Echh! was a familar read to me. The first article was "Echh" Marks The Spot! by Roy Thomas. Excellent review of the 13 issues of this series. Basically because Roy Thomas would know the history of this series very well, because as he stated, it was he "Who Was There!". For those of YOU that have a fondness for this series, this article is an excellent read. Plus there are photos of the covers, and of the comics people who contributed so much to this short lived series. Plus Roy adds on a few pages on "Beyond Not Brand Echh", including Crazy the comic, Crazy the Magazine, and Arrgh! which were published in similar veins of this Not Brand Echh comic book. Then there is the interview with Marie Severin conducted and transcribed by Bernie Hogya back in 1977. A really good interview, and well illustrated in the four pages allocated to this feature. I really enjoyed both articles that made up the cover feature. The next article was "The DC Editors Got Into Arguments, Part III". Which was on George Kashdan On Editing and Writing Comics In the Golden Age. Conducted by Jim Amash, and transcribed by Brian K Morris. Even though it was Part III, and I not yet read Parts I & II, the interview was one I picked up on right away. George Kashdan spoke up right away, and spoke freely, and frankly. Matter of fact, more frankly than most comics people when being interviewed. Almost reminded me of Gil Kane who when I saw him on panels at comic cons, who would speak his mind clearly and frankly. This article would be of interest to those interested in those DC days that George Kashdan was on the scene. Mr. Monster's Comic Crypt section was next. This is by Michael T Gilbert. This section is always illustrated profusely and ties in very well with the text. This issue's feature was no different. A good read once again. The next article was on 'Crudzine: Steve Gerber's Fanzine That Couldn't Shoot Straight'. I had not known about this one shot publication from years ago. The article was 'An Appreciation of Sorts by Roy Thomas', presented by CFA Editor Bill Schelly. Interesting reading. 'Shel Dorf (1933-2009) "The Supreme Fan of Comics" by Mark Evanier' was the next article, (one page). I read this after reading Mark's earlier mentions of Shel's passing in his on POV column online. Another one page In Memoriam article was printed next. Jim Harmon (1933-2010) "Mr. Radio" by Don Glut. I've read articles by Don before, but did not know of Jim Harmon. P.C. Hamerlinck's FCA section was the last section in this issue. FCA stands for 'Fawcett Collectors of America". This section is considered to be "Issue #154" of FCA. Which is printed as a type of 'insert' in the Alter Ego now. You know...I never was a big Captain Marvel Fan (Fawcett's original Captain Marvel - Not Marvel Comics' Captain Marvel), but I usually find some good reading in this section. Whew! That's a lot of reading in 84 pages! Of course there are some ads, and also in-house ads, but the vast majority of this issue's pages are of historical content. Once again a Good Read! My comic book grade for this issue #95 of Alter Ego is a NEAR MINT (NM) 9.4 grade out of a 10.0 grading scale. Once again worth the time reading and money invested in buying this title. BTW, We have a baker's dozen of this title's back issues for sale as this blog 'goes to print', and will be listing a couple hundred more in the days to follow. You can find those issues of 'Alter Ego' listed here. --------------------------- Again, my thanks to John Morrow of TwoMorrows Publishing for publishing his line of magazines. Plus it was great to see you at the San Diego Comic-Con again this year! PLUS...My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now at the 3,200 total posts in number! I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog! ~ Michael D Hamersky @ ComicBookCollectorsBlog.com
http://www.comicbookscircus.com/
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Quite honestly I've got to tell you that I have met Marie Severin a few times before at this Comic-Con in San Diego. I haven't seen her there in a few years, so the photo here and at the top left is from 2001, which happens to be the same time period of the self caricature she illustrated that was used for this issue's cover.
Note: Our online comic book shop carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items at the link seen below. 
My thanks to those of YOU that have read today's blog post! I do appreciate that! 
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Talking about comics: if YOU are a comics creator, (writer, penciler, inker, colorist, letterer, etc.), OR even a Comics / Magazine Publisher, feel free to contact me regarding YOUR works for a possible mention / review!
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• 60th Anniversary of Beetle Bailey
The 'DC Comics 75th Anniversary' pages and articles were well written and presented that even a newbie to the Comic Con would find interest in this pages allocated to this topic. Besides, there are a lot of comics fans that are interested in the 'Big 3' as well as other DC Characters. Well written articles, and Fan & Pro art used in this section!
60th Anniversary of Peanuts - A good feature on the latest Milestone that the Peanuts gang has hit this year. Those that enjoy 'Peanuts' will like this section of several articles.
My thanks to those of YOU that have read today's blog post! I do appreciate that! 
Talking about comics: if YOU are a comics creator, (writer, penciler, inker, colorist, letterer, etc.), OR even a Comics / Magazine Publisher, feel free to contact me regarding YOUR works for a possible mention / review!
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These are my thoughts about the San Diego Comic Con International 2010.
I think this place has become too famous for its own good. My dad tells me stories of the Comic Con in 1973 [Well, the same story over and over ;) ] and it is somewhat hard to believe that this was at one point, very small with very few attendees. It is also hard to believe that it used to be mostly a convention about comics. Now-a-days, it is crowded, but it is about comics and pop culture, which brings in way more audience. More attendees means more money to spend on programs, but I think the numbers are way more than what's needed to host great entertainment.
The previous cons' freebie table was full of great stuff that was valuable, but this year it didn't have much. In the previous years, they would give out magazines and other valuable things, but this year, the table was covered in advertisements. Nothing really of value was found, so we didn't spend much time there.
And last, but certainly not least, for crowd control, they should sell less tickets than they do now. I am surprised there hasn't been any accidents of people getting run over and injured because they tripped and people ran over them trying to go through the door to the exhibit floor (or at least any accidents like that, that I haven't heard of yet).
My thanks to those of YOU that have read today's blog post! I do appreciate that! 
Talking about comics: if YOU are a comics creator, (writer, penciler, inker, colorist, letterer, etc.), OR even a Comics / Magazine Publisher, feel free to contact me regarding YOUR works for a possible mention / review!
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Autographs - There are separate parts to this - Under the Sails & at the Exhibitor Booths & Off-Site.
Freebies Table (Under the Sails) - You gotta be kidding! This was the 'worst selection' of items I have seen in my many years of attending this con. I found three (3), count 'em...3 items of any value during the whole 5 days & 4 evenings. And I went by that table a lot going back and forth between program halls! What were they? The Animation Magazine with Tron on the cover, The Prometheus Project Book 1: Trapped by Douglas E Richards, and the Uncle Jam Quarterly (magazine) published by Phillip Dana Yeh. I no longer pick up posters as they are too hard to handle, (even with a tube that we brought for this). 
Security - Contrary to what I've read since coming back from the Comic-Con...I found the Security this year to be the best yet in many years! 
Fullfillment Room - To go from the above topic to One of the Worst, IF Not THE Worst thing that happened to us at Comic-Con is because after feeling good about how Security controlled themselves and the crowds this year, our early morning on Sunday fell really flat. 
The 2010 Events Guide - Yesterday I mentioned how we enjoyed seeing the schedule posted online. The schedules were both published timely and for an app to use with your smart phone. However I found that using our new Droids that way added to the problem of our Droids' batteries running down. 
2010 Souvenir Program Book - Would you believe that it is two and a half days after the Comic-Con and I STILL haven't been able to read this in its entirety? 
On-site Newsletters - This publication is a really good idea. Unfortunately the few areas it is distributed at are far and few between. 
Small Press Section - I will be covering this area in more detail in the weeks to come. That's because once again I found several Indy Publishers that I had not come across before at this Con or other comic cons. However, and there's that 'however' again...This section is so far removed from the 'Artists Alley' that there seems to be a very wide gulf between these two sections. This is probably on purpose, but it makes it very hard to see both sections on a timely manner, or refer people to either. 
Off-Site Parties / Events / Etc. - This is one "area" that this year I consciously made the decision to invite my youngest child to attend the Comic-Con with us, knowing full well that we wouldn't be able to attend as many Off-Site Parties / Events.
My thanks to those of YOU that have read today's blog post! I do appreciate that! 
Talking about comics: if YOU are a comics creator, (writer, penciler, inker, colorist, letterer, etc.), OR even a Comics / Magazine Publisher, feel free to contact me regarding YOUR works for a possible mention / review!
WEB PAGE NOTE: This blog post is written for the IE Browser standards. Chrome, Safarai, Netscape, Firefox and the others serve the page up differently, sorry about that!
Memberships for 2010 - We bought our 4 days plus Preview Night memberships at the 2009 Comic-Con on the last day. Same procedure as usual in obtaining the memeberships...EXCEPT for the Price for 2010 JUMPED from $65 to $100! NOT GOOD! But I knew it was still worth it for us, as this is a major con going event for our business. I still remember the 'STICKER SHOCK' when con goers last year heard what the new rate would be. AND the thing of its is...This is the ONLY place where I will run into people I haven't seen for years, i.e. Roger & Val Kevan. Roger's 1st SDCC was in 1973, the 2nd Year I set up as a Comic Book Dealer at this Con! Grade: FINE (F) 6.0 (Out of a 10.0 grading scale).
Memberships for 2011 - There was a VERY LONG Line on this year's Preview Night for Memberships for 2011! With NO Overhead announcement that I heard about it. Plus the line snaked around the 'Freebies Table', causing many to ask those in line what they were standing in line for as there was nothing on the Freebies Table itself! Not Good! For 'self-preservation' I stood in line, after being flagged down by a 'line buddy' from last year who informed me on what was going on. After seeing that line had almost doubled in size while I was talking with him, I decided to stay with him and purchase the 4 days + Preview Night for 2011 then and there! This with approx 15 minutes before the Under the Sails lineup was about to be let in to the Exhibit Hall. Grade: GOOD (G) 2.0 (Please Note: 'Good' is NOT Really 'Good'. It is one of the lowest grades in comics grading. Sort of a misnomer for those that don't know comics grading).
Parking - Prepaid parking was initiated for this year approximately on June 5th. With my network of almost 5,000 Facebook Friends, I found out about it quickly. I read the pre-paid parking spiel... Realized it could mean trouble by either buying them or not buying them, and opted to buy the prepaid parking under the San Diego Convention Center that very hour. Cha-Ching!! Each day's worth of parking was sold separately, meaning that a $2 service charge was assessed on each day's permit. An extra $10 in service charges was paid when doing it this way.
Posting of the Schedule For Attendees Prior to Preview Night - WoW! Excellent work of having the Schedule posted way ahead of the actual opening on Preview Night! PLUS an app where you could pick what you wanted to see, and print out, plus have loaded to your smart phone! The only thing missing for me was a full grid line page of each day's events like what is printed in the 2010 Events Guide. Other than that...EXCELLENT execution! We used the actual printed copy of the 2010 Events Guide to fall back on. Grade: NEAR MINT (NM) 9.4.
Art Show - As usual, with a policy of no cameras and no bags, (where do you easily check them for a quick impromptu walk-through?), I didn't view this section once again...Heck I haven't seen this section for a few years! It's not fair to ask one person in your party to stay outside watching the bags and cameras while you are taking a look inside the area. Plus I kind of feel guilty leaving someone else 'holding the bags', quite literally! Please Note: The Grading is NOT for the items inside the section, but for the section itself. Grade: POOR (P) 0.5.
Anime Schedule - I used to stop in late nights or between other programs schedules. 
Artists Alley - The last few years I've developed more of an understanding and expanded interest of this section. At least until this year. The section was moved closer to the doors opening to the Lobby. However the section itself seemed to be 'cut' into two sub-sections. One with the majority of the tables, and the other section up against the final wall with less tables. Almost like when Interstate 5 came through San Diego decades ago, separating Little Italy into two sections. The one section to the East of I-5 died out, while the area West of I-5 had some troubles until recent years when 'Little Italy' was re-developed into what it is today. This year's Artists Alley seemed a little 'dis-jointed' in layout. Plus the main wayfare went right the two sections with attendees not even wanting to stop in this section plowing right through to the back where this section used to be.
My thanks to those of YOU that have read today's blog post! I do appreciate that! 
Talking about comics: if YOU are a comics creator, (writer, penciler, inker, colorist, letterer, etc.), OR even a Comics / Magazine Publisher, feel free to contact me regarding YOUR works for a possible mention / review!
WEB PAGE NOTE: This blog post is written for the IE Browser standards. Chrome, Safarai, Netscape, Firefox and the others serve the page up differently, sorry about that!