Mercury Man

His new uniform is pretty bad arse.....

Keeping in mind through all of this, a comic convention went from hotel conference rooms for 1 or 2 days, to a cities biggest Convention Center for 3-4 days. This was to accommodate the larger crowds. As a result, Dealer table costs, hotel stays, and incidentals, go up. But the increased attendance isn't because of comic book buyers, it is because of cos-players and autograph hounds. So do they spend enough on books, or are they there for the other reasons mentioned, thus causing less dealer satisfaction making them less likely to show up next time. $$$$$

Crisis On Infinite Earths 1-12. Multiple Universes, Multiple Heroes, Multiple Deaths....ugghhh my head hurts thinking about it. But I was mostly a Marvel zombie in the 1970's/80's/90's.

I was just disappointed this was only a 5 issue series. This was one of the few Marvel titles worth reading.

Ahhh..but the counterpoint is, the chicken or the egg- Comic book Conventions were basically guys rummaging through boxes, buying and selling comics, with an occasional guest artist or two. They came first. I am sure somewhere in the history of Comic Conventions, a few guys dressed up in a Spidey or Superman costume. But this newer Cosplay phenomon (what 15-20 years now), has overtaken the Con, and now the dealers are dwindling. If there was a Cospaly Convention, and then the annoying Comic book guys showed up, I am sure they would complain on their boards, and rightly so. (I use Irish Spring btw, both soap and deodorant, sometimes 2x a day. I know I am weird).

I mean the New York City Comic Con is $50, and that is in Manhattan prices, and they have a couple hundred artists, actors, writers etc. show up. How can this Wyoming show even justify those admission charges?

$75 ?!?!?!?! In Wyoming of all places?

I didn't go, due to the admission fee being rather high, while being held in a hotel conference room.

And they clog the aisles...

But isn't that the problem. As a comic buyer going to what you think is a comic book show- you are getting shut out because of the extra thousands of Cosplayers and Hollywood Autograph hounds. Not saying it's good or bad. But it seems like the main reason the cons started to exist: COMIC BOOKS, has now lost 'market share' to toys, t-shirts, koozies, mini samurai swords, aromatherapy, the latest Walking Dead victim, and Cos-players. If a dealer is not getting someone like you who spends $6K on comics through the door, that directly affects their bottom line and willingness to come back.

So the questions: Are we seeing less Comic vendors at Cons? Are we seeing less comic vendors due to the venues getting bigger, their tables getting more expensive and their bottom line suffers, so they are less apt to set up at these shows? And do we attribute bigger venues to the Hollywood and Cosplayer attendees, forcing a need for more space? Or is the above just nonsense, vendors are still showing up, it just seems like less because of the venue size? (I don't think this is it imho)

Liefeld and Masterpiece never get to be used in the same sentence.

The fact is, the big one's are now Pop-Culture Con's. The comic print medium has just become a smaller percentage of it, even though it is 100% of the reason the 'Insert Con Name Here' exist. SDCC, MEGA, WIZARD etc. So as a comic buyer, who doesn't play dress up, if I am expected to pay $35-$40 for one day admission, I WANT to see a lot of comic book dealers. If the dealers get fed up and don't buy tables, and I pay and don't see the tables, then I get to drop out as well. The big Con's are starting to resemble flea markets with trinkets and trash tables. Perhaps Elite Con is on the right track, but who knows. Interesting times these are.

NM 98. Mr. Anatomy strikes again.

They get their ego's stroked. Seems like the circus atmosphere that the Convention's have turned into is getting on the nerves of people who just want to buy some comics and meet some comic book artists/writers. I did have a problem with Elite Con's admission price. $25 for a hotel show with no artist...meh.

The Superior Octopus in ASM #25 Amazingly....I don't hate this.

That's because Nick Spencers Captain America is one big 'WHAT IF' story, that seemingly has no end. I hate it, and want it erased from Marvel Mythos (as it will be, once the Cosmic Cube reboots the mess the current Marvel toads made).

For every one person trumpeting the greatness of their $2K variant, you have 10 people that couldn't give a care. Most of us would rather spend that $2K on a Gold/Silver/Bronze book.

Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed the Marshal Law stuff.

I miss the old days when you used to go to a Beef Jerky Convention for just some beef jerky. Now there are all sorts of comic book vendors, artists, and vintage toy dealers with tables there. Sad.

MARSHAL LAW TAKES MANHATTAN (one shot). Doesn't get much drekier than that.

That was a good month.....

Mister Mxyzptlk - I have been saying Mister MxYZptlk

This could be good! http://ew.com/books/2017/03/03/legion-regrettable-supervillains-explores-comic-book-bad-guys/

Once the flippers run out of dance partners, they will bail out. This will mostly be the Modern speculators. It happened in the 1990's and it will happen again. No crystal ball, no magic date, but for every boom there is (not going to say bust, but definitely) a soft market. People are paying hundreds of dollars for a book printed a few years ago that has some sort of 'variant', and 'limited print run' attached to it. Whoooopie. 90% of collectors don't care. At the last MegaCon I went to a dealer was extolling the greatness of his Ri Ri Iron Man Variant #1 9.8 he had. I see a few on ebay right now for a fraction of what he was trying to get for his, and that was only about 6 months ago. There are far more 'opportunists' than we need in the hobby right now. Gold/Silver books will continue to do well.