Brenmark's Long SDCC Report....2011

[Brenmark]

 

What an unbelievable week!! If you had told me that I would be standing ten inches from this painting,

 

 

Or this one

 

 

Or this one

 

 

I would have said, “That’s nuts. It’s not going to happen.” Well, I would be wrong, and one of high points of the convention came true for me when I saw 12 paintings by the master of fantasy art, Frank Frazetta. But, I’m getting ahead of myself so let’s start from the beginning.

 

 

Monday, Brenda and I headed down from the moderate heat (for Fresno) to the cooler climes of San Diego. We were in very good spirits about the convention. I wasn’t sure if I would run into Carmageddon in LA so we took the 210 through Pasadena, saw some beautiful scenery, did a little antique shopping , and later arrived at our hotel in La Jolla in the afternoon. I wasn’t too crazy about the 20 dollars a night parking fee at the Embassy Suites so I was determined to eat all the free breakfasts and free drinks (in the afternoon) that I could handle to make up for it.

 

Tuesday afternoon I picked up my badge and began to help my friend Sal set up the booth for what was to be probably my 35th appearance at this convention. Once we got the booth fundamentals set up I went to see Anthony of Anthony’s Comic Book Art. I saw this page on his web site the week before and had written him to ask him to bring it to San Diego so I could get a better look. Murphy Anderson has been on my list for some time, and this page was the one. Murphy inking Murphy with Hawkman and Adam Strange. This was my first purchase and the week had barely begun. If I didn’t get anything else I would be happy.

 

 

Detail

 

 

 

 

Wednesday morning I head over to meet Gator and Mr. Bedrock at their booth. I wanted to ask their opinion of the grade on my Action #20. Bedrock wasn't there so I asked Gator’s opinion about the grade. It was a pleasure meeting him for the first time and talking about the effect the splits on the top and bottom of the spine would have on the grade. He thought it presented itself very well, but the splits would probably keep it in the 4.0- 4.5 range. He told me it was just the kind of book he likes to buy because it presents so well. His comic wall is covered with multiple copies of awesome books, and I really liked his Superman #14.

 

 

Picture of Mr. Bedrock and Gator taken later in the week:

 

 

A few of Gator's books:

 

 

 

Wednesday was preview night and the predictable chaos began. The major art dealers were split into opposite sides of the room. I think I must have walked at least 40 miles this week, and it didn’t help that I was parked at the Hilton up passed the H section of the convention, and my friends were down at the B section. Anthony, Mitch, and Bechara were down around the 800 row, and All-Star, Romitaman, and Albert were up around the 4600 row with artist alley being 5000. It was 15 minutes just to get back and forth, and the crowds were so thick around the movie booths that I often had to walk outside the hall, down the hallway, and back inside at the spot I wanted to go.

 

At the All Star booth it was good to see Joe and Nadia who always bring the most amazing material. In fact, everyone had amazing material, but you can’t beat the Frazettas, Fosters, and Raymonds that they bring, and they are two of the nicest people and shared many stories. I really enjoyed listening to Joe talk about Frazetta’s technique as he is pointing to an amazing painting of a Tarzan like figure and crocodile.

 

Then Nadia brought out a cut tier of a Wayne Boring Superman Sunday. It was a little over two feet long, and I immediately liked it. Some people like Joe Shuster. Some people like Swan or Byrne’s take on Superman. I started collecting comics in the late 50s. Wayne Boring's take on Superman is the Superman for me. I made my second purchase of the convention and headed back to the hotel. Because of its length I had to scan it in sections.

 

 

 

 

Art at the Mannarino booth

 

 

 

Thursday the convention was in full swing with thousands of people and lots of costumes. The air conditioning was so cold, the dealers were starting to wear jackets and scarves. Coming from Fresno, I liked the cold. Later, I met up with fellow board members that belong to the Big Five War group, and we finalized plans for dinner at Little Italy that night.

 

In artist alley I saw one of my favorite artists, Tom Yeates, who recently did a cover for a book called “The Big Lie” and Felipe Echevarria who is also working on a book called “Death from Above.” Tom’s book “The Outlaw Prince,” published by Dark Horse, has been out for several months and was a great success, and I’m glad to own this double page spread from it.

 

 

 

Then I went over to see Alex Nino, and he had the first 30 pages of a story called “Dead Ahead’ which was published in 2008. I had never seen this story, but the art was great zombie art, and I bought a page where this poor zombie gets blown away as usual. Then I asked Alex if he would sign some of the 1994 pages I own that I brought since I missed him at WonderCon. He had amazing work all over his table.

 

 

 

 

 

1994 artwork

 

These Kaluta paintings were absolutely stunning in their beauty.

 

 

 

Thursday night was the Big Five War dinner, and great fun and fellowship was had by all. There were 22 people there, and at least eight of them were board members. I apologize for not remembering all the names but Mr. Bedrock, Dr. Watson, Dale, Mick, Peter, Adam Strange and Paratrooper were there. What do Big Five War people do when they’re together? Why they talk comics and art of course. Brenda and I had a great time, and we got to meet Peter’s wife and several other board members for the first time. A special thanks and shout out to Mick who organized this gathering of comic enthusiasts.

 

 

Photos taken at the Big 5 War Dinner

 

 

 

 

End of Part I

[Brenmark]

Part II

 

Friday morning I had breakfast with Gary, Mee Yun, and their little son Logan Montalbano. This year was special as I welcomed the newest addition to their family who was just five weeks old and about as cute as a baby girl could be. We have been meeting for breakfast like this for several years, and it’s good to get caught up with all the news from the past year. Gary has a table where he sells prints of his amazing artwork, and you can see some of the huge originals that he has hanging behind the table.

 

Crowds outside

 

 

More crowds

 

 

 

 

 

Then I saw Billy Tucci who has several projects in the works. “A Child is Born” is a faithfully adapted Christmas story directly from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, and it will be out in November. I passed by the House of Illustration booth and admired ink drawings by Krenkel, some Joseph Clement Coll ( who has been on my list for a long time), a Foster Tarzan, and a Maxfield Parrish preliminary of his type of houses which I was tempted to purchase as I am a big admirer of his work.

 

 

Billy Tucci

 

Image from Illustration House

 

Detail of nice Arthur S painting from Illustration House

 

Most of you know of the fire that destroyed a major collection several months back and that the owner had passed as well. Somewhere on the boards there is a list of EC and other art that had burned up. I was saddened not only for the passing of the collector but the lost of major EC stories and covers and other art that he had collected over the years. But while I was at Romitaman’s booth, he showed me pages that he had just gotten that were saved by being in a metal box. Included were two Jack Davis stories, the house ad from EC, a Panic #3 cover,, and my personal favorite the Weird Fantasy #20 cover with the ‘I Rocket’ story.

 

 

 

 

Detail from Davis story:

 

 

 

 

 

Later I walked by the Eldolon Gallery, and there within were some of the most beautiful artwork I had seen at the convention so far. I probably would have missed this booth as so many booths are tucked away between jewelry, games, toys and clothing. Then I realized that Michael Zulli was sitting at the table drawing, and it was his work and the works of other artists that graced the walls. There was a cover from Fables and some pages that portrayed the three blind mice. But it was Michael’s work that caught my eye, especially this portrait of a woman with such beautiful red hair. I bought it, and while not intending to make a purchase of one piece of artwork a day a habit, it appeared to be happening that way.

 

 

 

My camera can not pick up the subtle beauty of the hair on this woman.

 

 

 

Saturday was insane. I took dozens of pictures until my camera battery went dead. Later in the afternoon Henry came up to me and asked if I heard of the Frazetta paintings in a mini-museum across the street. It was 4:15, and it was to close at 5:00. We rushed over, and there was a line of about 20 people. Ten minutes later we were inside, and my mind was simply blown away. I never expected to see some of my favorites out of the twelve that were there, and I could have very easily have missed it. I knew the museum was closed but was happy to learn that it is being relocated to Austin, Texas. Well, that’s a little closer to where I live. What can I say about Frazetta that hasn’t already been said a million times over. His work is spectacular.

 

 

 

After seeing Frazetta's work we went and had some beers across the street.

 

 

Saturday afternoon Brian of Neat Stuff Collectibles came over and asked me if I was interested in some Virgil Finlays. I said yes, and got together with another collector later that day. To make a long story short I walked away with this piece that was published in the first Finlay book by Gerry de la Ree. It’s from a 1942 issue of Argosy, and I couldn’t have been happier. I don’t have the adjectives to describe the detail in this work, Another shout out and special thanks to Brian who helped make this possible. I’ve known Brian for several years, and his booth always has interesting artwork. This year he had this beautiful Wrightson that I had never seen before. That’s one of the nice things about SDCC if you collect art. It’s like walking around a museum.

 

Brian's booth

 

Wrightson at Brian's booth

 

Virgil Finlay

 

Saturday afternoon I also took Brenda to La Jolla Cove. What a great beach and just thousands of people walking, swimming, surfing, and cooking on the beach. It was like a miniature comic con. It seemed like every foot of the beach was covered with people, and we had a great time just basking in the sun.

 

 

Sea gull checking out the garbage can.

 

Sunday and it’s the last day of the con. I was thinking of an Ingels EC piece, but I just couldn’t put the trigger so I bought some comics instead. About the only exciting thing that happened was the appearance of the Glee actors up by the All-Star booth. You would have thought the end of the world was coming for all the screaming, pushing, and noise coming from the hundreds of people in front of this booth in the aisle . Security guards were threatening to shut it down. I thought I was at a Beatles concert as it was quite insane. My camera battery died so I couldn’t get a picture, but it was a prime example of what happens around the movie and tv booths.

 

 

Just a few comics....

 

According to Overstreet the 1st issue of The Gumps

 

Two page Toth story:

 

Jesse Marsh John Carter

 

Cover I've never seen before with Bob Powell story

 

If only I had the originals to these, but I don't have over 100k to spend.

 

Nice Everett story

 

I wish I could go to this, but everytime I say Chicago to my wife, she says Paris.

 

 

Well, I’ve rambled on long enough as I tend to do. All in all Brenda and I had a wonderful but exhausting week. It was fun seeing old friends and making new ones. Brenda got to shop, we got to eat at some fabulous restaurants, and I got some art to add to my collection. My list is getting smaller and smaller which is a good thing since the prices are getting higher and higher. I will finish this report off with as many pictures as I can load, and I hope you enjoy them as much as I did taking them. I heard a rumor that WonderCon will be at Anaheim in the spring so I will see you there if you go.

 

End of Part II

[aardvark88]

Great SDCC art report so far.

This was the 1st time I met Alex Nino in person, as I usually only see his wife or son helping to sell his OA or prints from his table. Seemed like Nino was doing 11 x 17 inch commission sketches on bristol for btwn $100 to $175 depending on complexity. I commissioned him to draw a semi-nude ballerina, and he worked on it over night.

[Mephisto]

I need a Wrightson!

[Brenmark]

Part III

 

Miscellaneous pictures of artists, crowds, and booths.

 

Neal Adams

 

 

I believe this is Metro's booth.

 

 

Pan Am booth....This will be a new tv series.

 

 

This car was to be raffled off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lou Fine artwork at Bechara's booth

UPDATE 7/27: Board member Weird Paper suggests that this might be

Bill Everett. After looking at it again, I think he's right.

 

Steranko

 

Kookie's Booth

 

 

Jerry Vanderstelt

 

Two of Jerry's paintings

 

 

Heritage Booth

 

Frazetta at Heritage Booth

 

 

 

 

 

Back to the Future

 

Gingerdead Man

 

 

 

This shark in the air was very cool.

 

 

Gorgeous hand colored print by Barry Windsor Smith

 

Century's Pottery

 

 

 

 

Bechara's Wall

 

Batmans at the Mannarino booth

 

 

Star Wars Car

 

Albert's Wall

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See you next year...

Mark

[innocuous]

Great report. Thanks so much for sharing.

[Claudio]

Very nice!

[thehumantorch]

Really enjoyed your report, thanks.

[Eric Seffinga]

My fave report on this year's SDCC yet.

[delekkerste]

My fave report on this year's SDCC yet.

 

My favorite 2011 SDCC report too, and one of the best Con reports ever, especially covering OA. Thanks very much for all the great photos!

 

Gene

[Weird Paper]

My fave report on this year's SDCC yet.

 

My favorite 2011 SDCC report too, and one of the best Con reports ever, especially covering OA. Thanks very much for all the great photos!

 

Gene

I'm with them -- best report I've seen. Thank you.

 

(One minor thing -- that Subby page would not have been Lou Fine. Everett maybe?)

[BrianHoward]

Another Awesome report Mark!

 

It was great hanging out with you again. You picked up some lovely pieces....

 

I would have loved to see those Kaluta paintings Henry brought along, they look gorgeous!

[bocaratondefense]

Thank you for posting this. Fantastic report and photos!

 

 

[steve9999]

BEST--REPORT--PERIOD! Thanks so much for showing all the OA? Remember the price on that Smith?

[mamatsch]

Fantastic report - thanks!

[HouseofComics.Com]

Lovely report and great pickups Mark!

 

Is the Wondercon rumor only courtesy of the Mile High newsletter? Haven't heard it anywhere else yet. However, they often announce Wondercon dates during SD and that didn't happen. (Didn't happen last year either if I recall correctly.)

[aardvark88]

mark,

I think I was standing on your left hand side with my camera while you were taking pics of the smoke damaged EC OA covers and splashes at Burkey's table. Great timing.

[Ant-Man]

Jon Favreau mentioned the Frazetta exhibit while being interviewed on G4. That would have been worth the trip on its own. Thanks for sharing.

[Brian Peck]

If WonderCon goes to Anaheim it will never come back to the Bay Area (where it has been for 25 years). It will also suck, I would rather they skip a year than move out of the Bay Area.

[Brenmark]

My fave report on this year's SDCC yet.

 

My favorite 2011 SDCC report too, and one of the best Con reports ever, especially covering OA. Thanks very much for all the great photos!

 

Gene

I'm with them -- best report I've seen. Thank you.

 

(One minor thing -- that Subby page would not have been Lou Fine. Everett maybe?)

 

Thanks for all the kind words guys. Weird Paper, I think you're right about the Lou Fine page being Everett. After 5 days of looking at hundreds of pages, I think my brain is a little fried.