Rhino's better late than never Chicago Report

[Sharkey]

As many of you know, I had a house fire a month and a half ago, so I've been a little preoccupied. See my post in the OA forum for details. But I made it through most of WW Chicago and had a grand ol' time, although due to time constraints and competing interests (ie, Mrs. Rhino) I did bail out of the Forum Dinner after a drinkie pooh or two. However, Thurs night sushi with Greg and Angelo and my buddy Matt was a blast as was the Greektown dinner -- destined to be a classic (nice work Angelo!). Thanks to all who wished their kindest thoughts for me and my wife and our rebuilding project, and for all those people who I forgot your names, I blame the alcohol and lack of sleep. :grin:

 

Cliff's notes version:

We came, we set up, we saw comics, we ogled original art, we went to the Ram we drank, we went to Japonais, we ate sushi, we drank, we saw more comics on Friday, we ate Greek food, we drank more, we saw more comics Saturday, we missed the dinner where people ate potatoes as big as their head, but we drank still more, we laughed, we gushed over Win's books (stuck around long enough for that), we drank still even more, we slept (but not much), we looked at more funny books Sundey, we razzed our hungover compatriates, we tore down, we left. The end.

 

And of course, we took pictures of all the wacky folks that make Wizard World an even to remember.

 

My buddy Matt's booth. He sold a *&$#load of toys and busts. Comics did not seem super hot. Note the gorgeous pre-hero books on the back rack! Where'd those come from??

 

 

The lines to get in on Saturday morning, and they snaked around outside to the street at 10:30 am, 90 minutes after the show opened. This is why it's a good idea to buy advance tickets or mooch off a dealer!

 

 

A sweet Star Wars pinball machine. I was giving it some consideration, but by the time I went back to look at it, it was SOLD!

 

 

The Fighting American cover by Simon and Kirby that TheWatcher could have had for 20k if he was only a little more willing to drop cash.

 

 

Superman vs Spider-Man OA cover art and a nice FF cover. Pretty, ain't it?

 

 

Angelo (TheWatcher) and Aardvark at the Greektown Dinner!

 

 

Roy and ThirdGreenham at Greektown. Roy and Louise can drink, my friends. My liver bows in exuberant worship!

 

 

Albert Moy, master of the OA universe

 

 

Steven Payne, OA fan extraordinaire

 

 

Ok, TIME FOR THE FREAKS, GEEKS, and COSTUMED CHEEKS!

 

Thor, after eating the Midgard serpent

 

 

Spider-Woman and two big, um .... thumbs up from me! (thumbs u (thumbs u

 

 

Our booth was by a major anime video seller. Good place to be to see costumes.

 

Gal pals

 

Young geeks in love!

 

Fanboy fave

 

Little Nancy Callahan grew up!

 

Predator vs ... hey, is that Detroit Mike in the background?? Look out bud!

 

Everybody was Kung-Fu fighting.....

 

Twins!!

 

 

And finally, big hats off to all the forumites who did the dinner. I could only stay for a drink and had to bomb out, but I always enjoy meeting lots of folks I'd never met like Ciorac, SkyPinkBlue, Robysue, Matt Nelson, and many more. Plus, seeing all the cool books on the table and mantle is worth the price of admission. This time, Win's Action 7 Larsen copy stole the show!

 

BUT, here are a couple beauties for the good girl fans.

 

Big shout out to my buddy Matt (Razor), Greggy, Angelo, Brad (Klozd) and Erica, October, Moondog, Pedigree Man, Donut, comix4fun, Doc Watson, transplant, MK, arex, Roy & Louise, thirdgreenham and Ricki, cgcworld and his wife, Doug, Aardvark88 and friend, joeypost, mcmiles, ciorac, Josh, Superworld Ted, Win, Sharon, Robyn, silverandbronze, KingOfRulers, Detroit MIke and Cari (sp?), AND EVERYBODY ELSE!!! It was good to see old friends, meet new ones, and enjoy another year at WW Chicago.

 

Yo FFB and Liz, next year you have to make it.....

 

Rhino out.

 

 

 

 

[cd4ever]

Spider-Woman and two big, um .... thumbs up from me! (thumbs u (thumbs u

 

[thirdgreenham]

Awesome! Great to meet you, Steve and I enjoyed your "better late than never" report. (thumbs u

 

Andy

[TheWatcher]

The Fighting American cover by Simon and Kirby that TheWatcher could have had for 20k if he was only a little more willing to drop cash.

 

 

[TheWatcher]

Great con report, Steve. I had a great time on Thursday & Friday with you and the rest of the gang. Already looking forward to next year

[VintageComics]

Spider-Woman and two big, um .... thumbs up from me! (thumbs u (thumbs u

 

 

Is that the girl in the Spider-woman costume that was posing with Greg Horn (can't see hosted pics)...she was WOWZERS!!! curvy.

 

[adamstrange]

Note the gorgeous pre-hero books on the back rack!

 

It was the first thing that I saw

[Sharkey]

Awesome! Great to meet you, Steve and I enjoyed your "better late than never" report. (thumbs u

 

Andy

 

Thanks Andy, nice you meet you and your wife, and congrats on the upcoming addition to your family!

 

By the way, I later ran into Jim who was looking at that Kirby FF page -- sorry I completely confused you.

 

Hey, at least I had it narrowed down to a Canadian!

 

 

[pennynike1]

My buddy Matt's booth. He sold a *&$#load of toys and busts. Comics did not seem super hot. Note the gorgeous pre-hero books on the back rack! Where'd those come from??

 

 

I purchased a hero book from your friend Matt. He was a really cool guy, who was gracious enough to put up with my haggling. My most enjoyable purchase at the con!

[Sharkey]

Great con report, Steve. I had a great time on Thursday & Friday with you and the rest of the gang. Already looking forward to next year

 

Mr. Zito!!!

 

 

It was great fun, fo sho! (thumbs u

 

I wish I'd taken pictures of the sushi feast! Not to mention the scenery that was there.

 

Dude, Greektown will likely become an annual pilgrimage. Seriously, that was just a great dinner: fantastic food, great service, excellent company, and a Greggy spillage! What more can you ask for?

[Sharkey]

Note the gorgeous pre-hero books on the back rack!

 

It was the first thing that I saw

 

you need to come to Chicago next year!

[FlyingDonut]

BTW, 35K on that FF cover.

[Drummy]

I was wondering about that FF #171 OA price! Thanks, Donut. Good to know it's tripled or quadrupled in "value" in a year and a half. (Especially with replacement stats, etc.)

 

Steve, great report! Always glad to hear about Chicago even though it's been a few years since I've been able to get down there. Maybe next year...

 

Thanks,

 

Dan

[Sharkey]

I was wondering about that FF #171 OA price! Thanks, Donut. Good to know it's tripled or quadrupled in "value" in a year and a half. (Especially with replacement stats, etc.)

 

Steve, great report! Always glad to hear about Chicago even though it's been a few years since I've been able to get down there. Maybe next year...

 

Thanks,

 

Dan

 

Yeah, prices are getting CRAZY for art that I consider good but not great. Come on, $35k for that FF cover? And $35k for the Fighting American cover? I'm not dissing Albert, he's a great guy and has phenomenal art, but honestly I'm just burned out by some of the asking prices in general by all the dealers, not just any particular one. I don't see myself buying anything on a whim or making many impulse buys for things that catch my fancy. They now require a major outlay of money, trade, and more negotiations than a Middle East peace treaty.

 

There were a few sweet pages that were shared with me that weren't part of the normal contingent of dealer art, including some Perez art, and a very cool Gil Kane cover rough (well, 2 cover roughs on the front and back of one piece of paper -- how do you decide which one to display?? )

 

Ted from Superworld had some nice art, including some Sal Buscema Hulk vs Abomination battle pages. Ted knows what's hot and he brought the right stuff. His art was also reasonably priced, in my opinion.

 

Bechara had tons of amazing art, including two consecutive battle pages from FF 26 that blew me away. But so did the price -- those are killer pages but are WAY out of my price range.

 

Josh Nathanson shared pics of his X-Men 1 art and I was COMPLETELY blown away. You can see them on his CAF gallery. Somehow I missed it when the posted them, and they are 6 truly amazing pages. Yowza!!

 

Needless to say, I did not buy any art at Wizard World. Probably because I spent all my money on sushi, Greek food, and booze!!

 

Dan, hope you can make it next year. We need reappearances from some of the old-schoolers.

 

Also, a nod to Michelle Nolan who had her newly published book on the Romance genre on display at the forum dinner. Had a nice conversation about Romance comics and also got some great tips on books about the historical significance of comics. Again, things like the Forum Dinner are worth it just because you get to talk to people who are experts in areas of comics that you may not be familiar with. Always good fer learnin' sumthin!

[adamstrange]

Note the gorgeous pre-hero books on the back rack!

 

It was the first thing that I saw

 

you need to come to Chicago next year!

 

Was hoping to make it this year but family responsibilities interfered.

[TheWatcher]

I was wondering about that FF #171 OA price! Thanks, Donut. Good to know it's tripled or quadrupled in "value" in a year and a half. (Especially with replacement stats, etc.)

 

Steve, great report! Always glad to hear about Chicago even though it's been a few years since I've been able to get down there. Maybe next year...

 

Thanks,

 

Dan

 

Yeah, prices are getting CRAZY for art that I consider good but not great. Come on, $35k for that FF cover? And $35k for the Fighting American cover? I'm not dissing Albert, he's a great guy and has phenomenal art, but honestly I'm just burned out by some of the asking prices in general by all the dealers, not just any particular one. I don't see myself buying anything on a whim or making many impulse buys for things that catch my fancy. They now require a major outlay of money, trade, and more negotiations than a Middle East peace treaty.

 

There were a few sweet pages that were shared with me that weren't part of the normal contingent of dealer art, including some Perez art, and a very cool Gil Kane cover rough (well, 2 cover roughs on the front and back of one piece of paper -- how do you decide which one to display?? )

 

Ted from Superworld had some nice art, including some Sal Buscema Hulk vs Abomination battle pages. Ted knows what's hot and he brought the right stuff. His art was also reasonably priced, in my opinion.

 

Bechara had tons of amazing art, including two consecutive battle pages from FF 26 that blew me away. But so did the price -- those are killer pages but are WAY out of my price range.

 

Josh Nathanson shared pics of his X-Men 1 art and I was COMPLETELY blown away. You can see them on his CAF gallery. Somehow I missed it when the posted them, and they are 6 truly amazing pages. Yowza!!

 

Needless to say, I did not buy any art at Wizard World. Probably because I spent all my money on sushi, Greek food, and booze!!

 

Dan, hope you can make it next year. We need reappearances from some of the old-schoolers.

 

Also, a nod to Michelle Nolan who had her newly published book on the Romance genre on display at the forum dinner. Had a nice conversation about Romance comics and also got some great tips on books about the historical significance of comics. Again, things like the Forum Dinner are worth it just because you get to talk to people who are experts in areas of comics that you may not be familiar with. Always good fer learnin' sumthin!

 

Not only that, but for those of us that are looking to delve into OA collecting it's becoming a rich man's game. Granted the stuff I'm interested in wasn't going to be cheap, but it's getting to point where the only art I can afford is the lesser known stuff. Which is fine because I enjoy it, but I'd love to have a Kane cover or some Eisner Spirit OA to drool over.

[143ksk]

Nice report

 

It was great seeing you again, Steve (thumbs u

[adamstrange]

OA collecting it's become becoming a rich man's game

 

Fixed it for you

[TheWatcher]

OA collecting it's become becoming a rich man's game

 

Fixed it for you

 

No joke

[HermanMontana-migration]

The Fighting American cover by Simon and Kirby that TheWatcher could have had for 20k if he was only a little more willing to drop cash.

 

 

Whats the back story?

 

How much is that?

 

#1?