Project: Comicon

I attended Project: Comicon at the Westport Plaza on Saturday- my first comicon ever! A lot of great talent in the world of comics has come out of St. Louis over the years, including the distinguished gentleman pictured next to me above, Denny O'Neill.   Writer and editor for Marvel and DC Comics in the 1960s, 70s, 80s, and 90s, O'Neil was remembered best from my childhood as Group Editor for the Batman family of books, which he worked on until his retirement. We also share a birthday  :)

I also met St. Louis native Rick Burchett, artist on the The Batman and Robin Adventures, Batman: The Gotham Adventures, and The All-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold- all done in that Bruce Timm animated style I love! Rick has also pencilled on Marvel Comics' She-Hulk, as well as titles for DC such as on Blackhawk, followed by titles like Batman, The Flash, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Justice League, and Green Lantern. Rick was great to talk to, looking up from his illustration of Robin & Huntress to answer my questions.

Below are a pencilled page from Rick's work on The All-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold, and a sweet colored version of the Classic Avengers!

Joe Dodd has worked for Marvel & DC Comics. He currently works for HASBRO INC. as a concept artist and illustrator! The packaging for all those zillions of Spider-Man toys you see everywhere?? Joe did all that! As a toy blogger, this was really interesting to me, and Joe was a real gentleman. Seeing some of the work on paper, out of context with the packaging, made me really appreciate the great talent that went into it.



Cullen Bunn was also in attendance- another St. Louisan, who has written for DC's "Batman/Superman", Marvel's recent "Hawkeye & Captain America", as well as his own books like The Sixth Gun and The Tooth. I run into Cullen occasionally, and he is always down to Earth for such an up and coming writer of great recent success.

One of my favorite comics retailers, the Fantasy Shop, was also on hand doing multiple raffles...

There were toys at the show, though I wasn't really blown away by what was there. It was all nice, but I have so many toys that taking another one home seemed pointless, LOL! That said, I did see this great Starro the Conqueror set that lit up and made sounds! This was an SDCC 10 exclusive of Mattel's Infinite Heroes scale figures battling a giant Starro in a package that tells the whole story in the voice of Kevin Conroy! While $90.00 may have been a great deal for this highly coveted collectible, I only allowed myself $100.00 for use at the 'Con. Check out Toysof OurYouth.Com!

I'd never heard of artist/writer Chris Giarusso, but his Mini Marvel's book caught my eye with its fun styling. He signed the book for me, which I already read and loved!  Chris has his own book, G-Man, illustrated in his unique and fun style. Printed in 6 x 9" like the Mini Marvels book, these little graphic novels tell the adventures of a boy and his magic cape- I'll be on the look out for that! Chris had a few knock-out posters at his table, spoofs of classic comic covers done in his style. I picked up one fashioned after The of Brave and the Bold #28 cover from 1960, which Chris graciously signed for me...

There were a TON of comics at all different price ranges at Project: Comicon! From 50 cents up to classic issues costing hundreds of dollars, there was more than I could take in during one visit! Paradise!

I filled my bag with the trade paperbacks I found at vendors taking 50% or more off. Though I've done some heavy duty comics shopping while on vacation this past two weeks, I knew there would be some good deals on stuff I hadn't seen at my usual haunts. Along with Giarusso's Mini Marvels: Secret Invasion, I picked up War of Kings, Heroes Reborn: Captain America & Heroes Reborn: The Avengers, Marvel Team-up: Freedom Ring, and Secret Invasion. Yeah, all Marvel- I know. Just turned out that way. I had a great time at this small, yet personal, local Comicon- a great first-time for me, and great way to end my vacation.

 More Later- Make It FUN!

Hey Mr. Postman! ...AND A CONTEST!

Imagine my surprise when told I won the Action Figure Blues monthly comment contest... again!  :D  I won a DCUC Starman last autumn, and swear I wasn't even trying either times, which makes it even more fun. Since then I have become a member on the Action Figure Blues Forum, as some of you readers have as well, and Action Figure Blues mastermind, Scott, is throwing another BIG contest over there- more on that later, first let's see what was in the box...

... a Marvel Universe Dr. Strange! I love this! He's the translucent variant which looks absolutely killer up close! I have been really getting into Marvel's 4" figures lately, and have picked up some really cool stuff in the last couple weeks that I haven't posted on yet, so Strange is a most welcome addition to the Super-DuperToyBox  :)  Thanks a million to Scott and also Mike from Mike' Comics N' Stuff who set the prize to me- you guys have been good to me and I really do appreciate it  :)

 Now like I said, Scott is having another contest over at Action Figure Blues and it's a BIG one:

This year he's offering the biggest prize AFB ever had - the Ghostbusters Stay Puft Marshmallow Man! Stay Puft comes in at a whopping 20 inches tall, and the winner of this competition will receive him in his carry case which converts to a diorama for display. It’s a great prize!!

Some effort will be required to win in the “Sing a Song for Stay Puft” contest. Action Figure Blues is  looking for the person who can explain why they want to win Stay Puft in most creative and entertaining way.

Your “song” for Stay Puft doesn’t have to be musical-  you could present your entry as:

Whatever it is, it needs to communicate exactly why you want Stay Puft and why you should be the winner. It also needs to be kept moderately safe for work - AFB aims to be a family friendly site, so keep it clean  :)

-a comic/comic strip

-a video

-an animation

-something else entirely different

The winner will be judged by the Admins of the AFB Forum. There *may* also be some smaller prizes on offer for honourable mentions if the standard is good enough! The prize or prizes will be sent to the winner from Australia. If the prize is going overseas, it will be sent by first class international mail. The winner may choose to add their own funds for express shipping and or insurance if desired.

Entries will be submitted via the AFB Forum - new members are very welcome to register and enter, but we do ask that you have a minimum post count of 10 by the time the competition closes.

 The competition will be open for three weeks and will close at 11:59PM GMT+10 on Sunday 4th September 2011.

*You can discuss the competition in the Sing a Song for Stay Puft discussion thread at the AFB Forum. *You can submit your entries at the Sing a Song for Stay Puft Official Entry Thread at the AFB Forum. *The winning entries will be announced and featured at the Action Figure Blues blog.

 Good Luck to One & All!

Free Comic Book Day Haul!

It was a beautiful Mother's Day weekend here in Missouri, and before I headed out to the country to visit the folks, I hit up The Fantasy Shop for their 30th Anniversary back issue sale on Free Comic Book Day! The place was jammed!

I loved seeing young kids at the comic shop-they are our future!  Manager Scott Samson was there advising them on all the great stuff The Fantasy Shop had to offer, and what each of the large selection of free comics had to offer...

Sammie rings up my pile of comics at the register- don'tcha love babes that are into comics? Look at that cute smile, such a nice kid  :)

She was ringing up over forty Brightest Day Justice League Generation Lost and Brightest Day Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps, & Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors, along with a few GL one shots I found and a couple Green Lantern buttons (gotta show your flair, Sammie would!). For my three freebies I chose a Green Lantern Spec. Ed. (which had a Flashpoint preview), a Captain America/Thor Mighty Fighting Avengers team up, and a Young Justice/Batman: The Brave & The Bold sampler that I loved!At thirty cents each for back issues, this heap of good reading only set me back about sixteen bucks...

And while I was at K-Mart picking out some roses to plant for Mum after church on Sunday, I found a few more of those cute little Imaginext toys- Mr. Freeze, Penguin, and Joker! Love!

*Check out Samson's podcast, ComicDorksCast!

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY & 30th Anniv. Sale at The Fantasy Shop!

Here in St. Louis, MO  Free Comic Book Day is Scott Samson's (manager of The Fantasy Shop) favorite day! All four locations of The Fantasy Shop will be participating in this worldwide event, traditionally celebrated on the first Saturday in May: "We will also be having the first of our 30th Anniversary Back Issue Sales that weekend! At each store starting on Friday May 6th and going through Sunday May 8th the regular back issues will be 30 cents each." Samson informed me.  "Additionally, our Saint Charles location will be having the warehouse stock on sale at 30 cents each on Friday and Saturday (they will open at 11am on Friday and be open until midnight on Saturday), and on Sunday the warehouse books will be 10 cents each (they will open at 9am and close when they feel it's time to close)." So it's a BIG weekend for comic book lovers in St. Louis!

Great Scott! That's hardcore! Hope you get Monday off, Dude   :)

For more info call any of The Fantasy Shop  locations:

The Saint Charles Store - (636) 947-8330

The South County Store - (314) 842-8228
The Florissant Store - (314) 831-5211

The Maplewood Store - (314) 644-3070

*Check out ComicShopLocator.Com for a participating FREE COMIC BOOK DAY shop in your neck of the woods!

Cullen Bunn Signing at The Fantasy Shop!

It was a pleasant crowd down at The Fantasy Shop last night for Cullen Bunn's book signing, celebrating his new work in the Batman/Superman title, "Sorcerer Kings" (#81-84). Cullen has done work for Marvel before, and graciously answered my questions about what it was like to work for a big machine like DC Comics, a gig he landed through publisher of his work on The Sixth Gun and The Damned, Oni Press. Working for DC went pretty smoothly the first time, Cullen said, and he even pitched them some other ideas for the Batman/Superman title in the future. The humble, young author is so optimistic about the way things are going, as well he should be, that he recently announced the resignation of his day job in order to focus full-time on his writing career. I'm rooting for you Mr. Bunn!

Cullen with Fantasy Shop manager Scott Samson...

Mr. Bunn signing comics for the fans...

I had to break my 28 Day Challenge vows of buying no toys or comics for the month of February to pick up a copy of Cullen's first job at DC Comics, folks- it was official Super-DuperToyBox business, and I hope you'll give me a "pass" on this indiscretion. I was not going to go to the signing and (laughs) not buy a copy of the man's hard-earned accomplishment! Without choice, I also paid ahead for the guys at Fantasy to pull a copy of the other three continuing issues of "Sorcerer Kings"- don't look at me like that, I need to read the whole story! 

I was genuinely intrigued the opening to Cullen's mystery, and the artwork was great too. The Batman/Superman title is fun , Cullen explained, because of the stand alone stories that only span a few issues, allowing a fan to step in without having to know any of the past past issues' continuities. There are a host of other DC characters involved with Batman & Superman costarring the title as well, making it a fun romp through the DC Universe. Visit DC Comics page on issue #81 of Batman/Superman...  I highly reccomend you pick this up! I will surely be grabbing some more of Cullen's work in the near future.

My autographed copy of Superman/Batman #81...

The Fantasy Shop 

10560 Baptist Church Rd

Saint Louis, MO 63128 

Cullen Bunn Signing at The Fantasy Shop, Wednesday, February 16th

Author Cullen Bunn will have a signing at The Fantasy Shop in South St. Louis County next Wednesday, February 16th from 5-9PM, to celebrate the release of his first issue of his Superman/Batman arc! I am unsure how many St. Louis readers I have here at the Super-DuperToyBox, but I hope you can make it out to my favorite local comic shop for this event to help give Mr. Bunn warm salutations  :)   Read my post about The Fantasy Shop!  See you there :)

The Fantasy Shop 

10560 Baptist Church Rd

Saint Louis, MO 63128