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[vaillant]

@David: These photos look totally unreal to my italian eyes.

I mean the 1970s ones, since the recent ones are similar to what you could see in Italy now as well.

 

We did a similar thread in our italian "Vintage Comics" forum, where we started to collect photos of the earliest conventions (1965 marked the beginning, with Bordighera which became the Lucca salon later on).

But culturally speaking, each country’s attitude to comics, and thus conventions, were really very, very different. Now it’s all way more homogeneous, it seems to me.

 

All I could do would be to contribute with a few photos of John Buscema, Jim Steranko, John Romita, Joe Orlando, Stan Lee, and others which attended some italian conventions in the early 1990s.

In fact, Steranko and Buscema had been quite a pair in Prato in 1992…

Edited May 22, 2012 by vaillant

[herbdolph]

I found this site by accident, looking for Texas comic cons from the Seventies. Then I found me in the pic from WinterCon back in the Good Olde Days. My name in the caption is Dolf, but should be Dolph. For the archives and such like.

 

Sorry to hear about Manny. I remember seeing his collection at his house centuries ago. His pride and joy then was a set of early Master Comics which looked like they were just printed. Beautiful books.

[ciorac]

I found this site by accident, looking for Texas comic cons from the Seventies. Then I found me in the pic from WinterCon back in the Good Olde Days. My name in the caption is Dolf, but should be Dolph. For the archives and such like.

 

Sorry to hear about Manny. I remember seeing his collection at his house centuries ago. His pride and joy then was a set of early Master Comics which looked like they were just printed. Beautiful books.

 

welcome to the boards Herb! Glad to have you here. Do you still collect comics?

[Cat-Man_America]

I found this site by accident, looking for Texas comic cons from the Seventies. Then I found me in the pic from WinterCon back in the Good Olde Days. My name in the caption is Dolf, but should be Dolph. For the archives and such like.

 

Sorry to hear about Manny. I remember seeing his collection at his house centuries ago. His pride and joy then was a set of early Master Comics which looked like they were just printed. Beautiful books.

 

WTTB, Herb!

 

Background: I was an active Oklahoma based OAF member back then (everyone knows me as Cat, hence the David Merryweather moniker), although I reside in Ft. Worth, Texas now, ...well not exactly at this moment because I'm currently in Barcelona, but that's another story.

 

Ciorac is an emancepator of slabbed books, a globe trotting raw comic collector who used to own a comic shop way back when (PM him, he's a super nice guy). Also, if you PM me I'll try to get you up to speed on anything you want to know about the boards and the great folks who post messages and book scans here.

[rockman2008]

Thanks for posting this thread; found it by accident. This looks to be my buddy Rory Root, retailer/former owner of the Comics Relief, who passed away in 2008. Good memories.

 

 

Another fan or dealer whose name eludes me (maybe one of the Harper brothers?).

 

Any help establishing the identities of folks is greatly appreciated!

 

 

[gbj-migration]

No, it's me, Gordon Bailey, as I pointed out a while back. I'm not quite dead, though I don't look too much like that anymore (thank God)! This is mid-70s.

 

I had forgotten I'd saved this site until just now as I was doing some cleaning up on my computer. Again, this is a very interesting page and I'm glad there are people who are keeping the memories alive.

 

I really loved that period and I used to love the conventions... used to live for them really. Lots of great memories of old friends, some still here and some gone.

[Cat-Man_America]

No, it's me, Gordon Bailey, as I pointed out a while back. I'm not quite dead, though I don't look too much like that anymore (thank God)! This is mid-70s.

 

I had forgotten I'd saved this site until just now as I was doing some cleaning up on my computer. Again, this is a very interesting page and I'm glad there are people who are keeping the memories alive.

 

I really loved that period and I used to love the conventions... used to live for them really. Lots of great memories of old friends, some still here and some gone.

 

That was a true Mark Twain moment, Gordon! Keep hangin' in there, we love hearing from you live without resorting to mediums and seances. BTW, if it makes you feel any better, folks are always confusing me with someone else, probably because I'm still stuck in the mid-70's.

 

Just to add some recent fandom images to the mix, here are a couple of pics from SDCC this summer (Comic conventions are still loads of fun and the memories just keep on keepin' on)...

 

Cosplay and comics go hand in hand these days...

 

 

John Verzyl's booth...

 

 

 

And a couple of recent David Merryweather (Cat) sightings:

 

 

I believe this was taken early in May in the UK (O'Reilly's Pub in Oxford, if memory serves)...

 

 

My spousal unit took this shot while I hammed it up with a recent acquisition. We were en route home from the train station in Ft. Worth after SDCC. Stretched limos aren't our typical mode of transportation, but she uses this service on book tours so we decided to take advantage of the opportunity:

 

 

 

I'm glad to see this thread bumped back up!

 

Cat

 

 

Edited July 31, 2012 by DavidMerryweather

[gbj-migration]

Thanks, David. And I love the pics. Last night after I posted, I was going back and looking at a lot of them. Saw a fairly recent one of Robert Brown and Bruce Shultz (sp?). Have not seen those guys in probably 20-25 years.

 

My brother Joe and I have talked about making a convention trip but darn it, it just never seems to happen. Oh well, one of these days, for sure.

[MrBedrock]

The mention of Robert Brown reminded me...

We are having a golden age mini-con, swap meet type get together on Saturday September 29th here in Houston. I put a notice in the Events section. Robert Brown is going to be there. The man has some amazing stuff.

[gbj-migration]

I'll relate a little story about me and Robert. At one of the Houstoncons back in the 70s, he had a lobby card from the 1932 Marx Bros. movie, 'Horse Feathers.' I was collecting Marx Bros. material at the time and I really wanted it... he was asking I think $40 for it. I know it sounds crazy now, but back then, that wasn't cheap. I tried to get him down, and finally he said, "I'll tell you what. I have a set of 'Love Happy' lobbies. (This was the last Marx film, from 1949, not nearly as desirable.) I'll sell you the 'Horse Feathers' lobby for $35 if you buy the set of 'Love Happy' cards for $5 apiece."

 

I probably don't need to point out that all of this material is worth a small fortune today. I agreed to his terms, but no, before you ask, I don't still have them. I sold them years later and turned a nice profit, though like a million other collecters have done, before and since, I can't help but wonder what I could get for them now, especially the Horse Feathers card. I haven't kept up with prices, but I'm thinking it's worth north of $1000. Probably WAY north.

[MrBedrock]

There was so much cool movie paper at those old Houston Cons. I didn't collect it much back then. But neat stuff was everywhere. We kind of took it for granted. Fortunately some of those posters find their way into the shop from time to time. Glenn Kessler just sold me his Terry Toons collection. Some great Mighty Mouse one-sheets, and two different complete lobby card sets, which apparently are very tough to come by.

[Cat-Man_America]

There was so much cool movie paper at those old Houston Cons. I didn't collect it much back then. But neat stuff was everywhere. We kind of took it for granted. Fortunately some of those posters find their way into the shop from time to time. Glenn Kessler just sold me his Terry Toons collection. Some great Mighty Mouse one-sheets, and two different complete lobby card sets, which apparently are very tough to come by.

 

Glenn Kessler was an integral part of Houston Con. As I recall he handled most of the film procurement (inc. 35mm) and oversaw projection for a number of the 70's cons. Also, it was Glenn and Roy (or Earl) who flawlessly pulled off the famous Captain America stunt fight at one of the early Dallas Cons, complete with smashing a breakaway chair, timed punches and acrobatics. Everyone in the audience was slack-jawed, me especially. I couldn't believe anyone would be able to recreate a serial fight scene live, but they did it!

 

Here is a link to pics from the Finnerty Files (lots of Houston Con shots from the early 70's). Back then I actively avoided having my picture taken for reasons that would become clear if you saw any vintage Cat pics, but I know they exist. I expect extortion letters will arrive in the mail any day now.

 

http://netdevelopment.net/conventions/pic/more.htm

 

BTW, when you venture northward remind me to pull out the rare Henry Brandon signed lobby card from the Drums of Fu Manchu serial I acquired from Earl a few years back, if you'd like to see it. (thumbs u

Edited August 1, 2012 by DavidMerryweather

[thehumantorch]

What a great thread, not sure how I missed it out of the gate but glad I found it. I may have a few pics from early 80s Sci Fi and comics shows in western Canada. We dig through my photos tonight.

[gbj-migration]

I haven't kept up with things in a while regarding collecting/conventions/prices etc... but it seems to me there came a point, maybe in the late 80s or early 90s, when prices just went out of reach for the average fan. Well, there was a recent article about Action #1 being sold at some auction for what, $1.5 mil or something like that? Back when I started collecting, the top price for ANY piece of memorabilia, whether comic book or movie poster or whatever, was $500, and THAT was considered exorbitant. For one thing, the people collecting back then weren't very wealthy, and the rich people hadn't yet discovered the hobby. But when they did, that kind of killed it for me and a lot of other people. I remember a convention in Baton Rouge I went to, and a couple of well-known comic book dealers who were relatively well-off showed up with impressive table displays of golden age comics, and during a conversation with them, one of them asked the other, "What if someone wanted to buy everything on your table?" The other thought about it for a minute and said, "I don't think I'd do it. I make more money than that in a week. I just like showing off my collection." That was kind of a defining moment for me, between the old fandom that I'd known and whatever it was morphing into.

The other big change was when videos of old movies started becoming widely available. Like a lot of others, I used to collect 16mm films and we'd show them at the conventions. Suddenly, there didn't seem to be any point. Nobody was too excited anymore to see 'King Kong' at a con when you could buy or rent a VHS copy for a few bucks.

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

I haven't kept up with things in a while regarding collecting/conventions/prices etc... but it seems to me there came a point, maybe in the late 80s or early 90s, when prices just went out of reach for the average fan. Well, there was a recent article about Action #1 being sold at some auction for what, $1.5 mil or something like that? Back when I started collecting, the top price for ANY piece of memorabilia, whether comic book or movie poster or whatever, was $500, and THAT was considered exorbitant. For one thing, the people collecting back then weren't very wealthy, and the rich people hadn't yet discovered the hobby. But when they did, that kind of killed it for me and a lot of other people. I remember a convention in Baton Rouge I went to, and a couple of well-known comic book dealers who were relatively well-off showed up with impressive table displays of golden age comics, and during a conversation with them, one of them asked the other, "What if someone wanted to buy everything on your table?" The other thought about it for a minute and said, "I don't think I'd do it. I make more money than that in a week. I just like showing off my collection." That was kind of a defining moment for me, between the old fandom that I'd known and whatever it was morphing into.

The other big change was when videos of old movies started becoming widely available. Like a lot of others, I used to collect 16mm films and we'd show them at the conventions. Suddenly, there didn't seem to be any point. Nobody was too excited anymore to see 'King Kong' at a con when you could buy or rent a VHS copy for a few bucks.

 

Yes, times change. As a 12-14 year old kid back east in New York I used to go to the various Seuling conventions. This will sound hard to believe but at one of those shows Gil Kane came up to me and said he was a comics professional and wanted to talk. Honestly, I was a shy kid and was more interested in back issues and I literally blew him off. Years later I would watch him on the podium at San Diego and think about that moment.

 

Another great experience was meeting Jerry Iger of the Eisner/Iger studios. I got his autograph because I had read Steranko's History of Comics and thought this must be an important man! Never heard much from him again although Eisner became a must visit at all the San Diego Shows

 

Finally, things were so informal and off the cuff that I walked by Jim Warren's table at one of the Seuling July 4th show and he had no help so he asked me to help fold a sheet that had been covering his table. I did so and he autographed my program book with recognition for my sheet folding skills!

 

These were great days in retrospect. Looking around San Diego it is hard to believe where it has all gone and how far it has come. No one reads comics much though!

[Primetime]

Some more "fandom" favorites

 

Not comic fandom but TV fandom...I did not snap this picture

 

sculpted by an obvious fan in 1974

 

I thought this was a pretty cool shot of Joe Shuster

 

author David Gerrold (wrote Trouble With Tribbles)

 

Two friends...you guess who

 

Cool photo I found somewhere

 

1971 or so

 

Some things never change

 

 

 

 

Nice pics buddy!

[bronzejunkie]

Thehumantorch-- I for one would love to see any and all pictures you may have from western canadian cons, when I was a very young lad my first con was I think in early '89 in Calgary in the basement of some hotel along Macleod Trail. I remember being amazed to meet 'Ken Steacy' back in the day. (an actual comic book artist)

 

This was in the insane run up to the Tim Burton 'Batman' film so anything Batman cost a fortune and anything else you could get for a decent deal. I picked up a fair copy of Batman 105 for pocket change though and I was the happiest kid in the world. Good memories for me.

[gbj-migration]

Another story from way back when- I corresponded with George Evans, the great EC artist, for a while and actually bought a seven-page story of original EC art from him. For those who are unaware, this was considered almost impossible as it was generally believed that William Gaines owned all of the EC original art. So I took the art to the next Dallas convention (73? 74?) and guess who was a guest. William Gaines, publisher of MAD and formerly EC Comics. There was a bit of a stink over the whole matter... I tried to put the artwork up for auction but the people running the con didn't want to offend Gaines so they took it down. I ended up having a conversation with Gaines at the back of one of the meeting rooms and he was very friendly and unperturbed about the whole matter. I put the artwork up again at the next day's auction and sold it, but I think it was rigged so that Gaines was sure to get it back.

[Cat-Man_America]

Wow! That's a great story. I attended that con, but was totally unaware that this incident occurred behind the scenes.

 

 

[BB-Gun]

Some more "fandom" favorites

 

Not comic fandom but TV fandom...I did not snap this picture

 

 

Nice pics buddy!

 

Nice group shot. Hermann and Lily Munster, Catwoman, Winnie the Pooh, Ed Begley, Mr. Banks and ...