oldmilwaukee6er

Anyways, I wanted to start a blog for some time and a collector friend (BrotherJ) asked for a con report from this schweet up-and-coming local con- Mighty Con. So, please forgive the combination of the two at the beginning (and also look for my con report from Wizard World Chicago). Mighty Con Milwaukee Con pics before the crowds- https://www.facebook.com/MightyCon?fref=ts I should probably preface this by saying that this con is quickly becoming my favorite local con, and that I have a little bias there. Mighty Con Milwaukee is run by a trio of collector-dealers out of Chicago (namely Geek, Inc. Comics) and it has always attracted an eclectic assortment of local comic dealers- Jim (Bula?), John Hauser Comics, Comic Verse, and Tango Comics Unlimited, plus the core trio of dealer/hosts- Geek Inc Comics, Pulp Culture Comics And Collectibles (autographed comics], and Sutdog Comics. All of these dealers band together 2-3 per table at Wizard World Chicago too. Besides comics, there are also artist alley types, print makers, and others (horror genre)- Check out their website for more information: http://geekinccomics.com/ The other shows in Milwaukee, e.g. the 30+ year old Burnham Bowl or one of Alan’s dingy no-tell-motel show, are dollar book shows. Or books for fractions of a dollar (2 for 1 up to 5 for 1). Thus, Milwaukee has been fed a staple of old store stock, surfaced collections, and reader copies for longer than my tenure here (c. 2008). No order. Sometimes no bags and boards. Often fresh meat. At times, I have picked them all and I have learned to have no agenda and be open to the moment, typically, I just work comics and namely ask after “adult or underground comics.” At Burnham Bowl, I routinely spend $12-40 and have been known to strike out completely, opting for the old bowling alley cheeseburger instead. I think my best day there was hitting the ATM to buy about 180 Atari 2600 and 22 Intellivision games for $80. One time I set up at Burnham to deal and bought the most beat up copy of TOS 39 you can imagine for $100 and flipping it the same day for $200. The most I personally made there as a dealer was $250 (I sell underground comix and weird hippie stuff). Anyways, hopefully you understand my point- Milwaukee grinds comics. Some dealers have emerged from the mire to dare a wall display, alphabetizing, $5 boxes, and a wee comic chat, e.g. ‘Mark the Lawyer’, ‘Bob Parbs’, Bula, Hauser, & many more from other parts Wisconsin, Illinois, and Minneapolis. It changes sometimes and there really are nice people. It is just that Milwaukee cons are Kevin Smith dirt cons, complete with **insert** n fart jokes. Mighty Con takes place at the American Serb Hall, on Oklahoma Ave in Milwaukee. It is not too far away from one of the best comic book stores in Milwaukee- Lost World of Wonders. They advertise a show that “welcomes the whole family with low prices, free parking, and tons of great deals for people of all ages... thousands of comic books, toys, statues, posters, t-shirts, video games, artists, and collectibles of all shapes and sizes.” Each Mighty Con has gotten bigger and this one was the largest yet, with a sold out dealer space and simultaneous Wisconsin Blood Center drive (donate and get a free T-shirt, plus entered into a drawing for $100 gift card at Lost World of Wonders). If you order your pass online and pay via Paypal, you can get in at 10AM, otherwise the show opens at 10:30AM. We rolled in about 11:10AM to a full parking lot! I parked in the back, damn near by the grease trap. And wow was it hopping! My wife almost immediately split off to donate blood. We both donate regularly, usually at her work and she was feeling up for it (and wanted the T-shirt). I was being selfish, this was Mighty Con after all, and so I went straight in to soak up the sights. It was great- one classic convention room with four rows and booths all around the perimeter, as well as another ‘bar’ room, with a non-functioning bar in the middle and booths around the perimeter. I overheard they may eventually take over another room. OK, let us all pause for a moment and recognize that we are in a comic / geek culture zeitgeist boom! As a ‘maturing collector’ that has already survived one comic book crash, I become more hesitant in a boom. Therefore, lately I have adopted the Buffett-esque motto of “when others are greedy, be fearful.” I personally think now is a good time to be selling some comic books. Do not get me wrong, I am not fearful for the near-term of comics, but there is lots of fresh blood in the water in terms of speculators, new collectors, and a diversifying fan demographic. Right now, I am focusing on my goals, enjoy the benefits of a boom (merchandise, movies, etc), buying2-3 new books per week, and otherwise trying not to spec too much as I did back in the early 1990s. So, I was running lean for this show… with $46 after the $3 admission to eat, drink, and pick. The lady had $47. I have been consistently pulling Usagi YoJimbos and Spawns out of the bargain boxes, and so I figured if I could pull some of those books, I would be a happy camper. Recently, I made a list of Drizzt DoUrden / Forgotten Realms adaptations from Devil’s Due Publishing c. 2005-2008. I stopped by Jim’s booth first, as he was right by the door and his booth cleared up right as I was passing. HE commented on my Deadpool shirt and we chatted about ‘Alan’s show last weekend’ and comics in general. He mentioned that he did quite well there and I spoke of budgets and trying to save for Wizard World Chicago (FRI only, as is my custom). We made a tentative plan to have a drink at Gibson’s around 730pm at WWCHI. I bought a nice little Usagi book from him for $3 (marked 7). Nice deal from a nice guy that always chats me up. Critters #14 (1987). A great early Usagi Yojimbo cover and the last pre-UY #1 appearance, this also features the 2nd appearance of Gen (Gennosuke the Rhino bounty hunter) and wraps-up the “Bounty Hunter” storyline from Critters #1.

Bought the first copy of Cosmic Toast (1996) I have seen in about 10yrs collecting Jim Mahfood (very excited!)

I have this spinner that is large enough to hold slabs. Each individual rack spins in turn, giving it a kinda heliocentric spinning action. I also have just the top rack of a more modern spinner (background in image below). My buddy is going to fabricate a top for my main spinner, now that he has a plasma cutter and some digital capabilities in his home welding studio. I may mimic the classic Richie-Spidey-Archie-Supes tin litho top, but make it more underground comix-themed. It will be a fun project.

I am in! Got this at WW St Louis last year... I am a lucky man in that the wife loves this book as much as me.

Porky's for Atari 2600. 8-bit boob, get it.

This is the same one I have. 5 rows, 5 columns. Same Supes. Mine is also missing the base & the bottom rack, which is also 5 x 5 I believe. Mine does have part of the center pole assembly. Great for desktop display at home or a tabletop display at shows!

Today in Cedarburg/Maxwell Street Days I picked Atari 2600 paddles (2 for $5) and the following games for 2600- Raiders of the Lost Arc, Asteroids, & Centipede. Also... I found Kid Icarus for NES; in the wild, my friends said it couldn't be done! My wife has been looking for that one. She picked up a few PS2 games- Devil May Cry, Star Wars Battlefront 2, & a PS1 game- Dark Summit. The we went to the longstanding Burnham Bowl comic show, but mostly were shut out.

Hit a bunch of antique stores on Sunday and mostly got skunked. But I did pick up a Sega Genesis with a mega 6-button arcade controller that works great with my Atari 2600. Level up!

I picked a High Times vol 1 no 1 1.50cvr for $5 and sold it for $25 in the same day two weekends ago. Lately I have been buying old explosives crates, Hercules & Atlas. Crates with some sort of graphics.

nice Funnybook 9.0! tough book to find in decent shape.

holy sheeeeite muslim! my name is on the CGC label. how strange that!?

My consolation prize (NSFW) for not going out to San Diego? I can't wait. I have bought stuff from this seller before.

thanks to paperheart as well for the quick payment and communications. enjoy those Clock Makers... cheers, Justin

There are often several ways. . . Cover price... higher cover price can indicate later printings. Many underground comix or early alternative comics can be identified by cover price alone. Printing stated in the indicia (E.g. "First printing Oct. 1944" or "Second printing" or "Printing No. 54321"=1st, "5432"=2nd, "543"=3rd, etc.). The indicia is usually in the inside front cover or early in the comic where the printing/publishing information is given... sometimes called the "frontispiece." More subtle differences in printing techniques such as differences in cover stock, or cover colors, interior ads, or more recently... cover art.

Bijou Funnies #4 (2nd print) http://www.ugcomix.info/guide/tells/0269tell.html DOUBLE COVER (Crumb) This book circulated on eBay twice... once at about $90 and once at $60. Bought it offline from the seller after the two unsuccessful attempts for $35, which I felt was a pretty good deal, given that it is the first double cover Underground that I have personally seen...