Mid-Ohio

[jkcarrier]

Drove up to Mid-Ohio Con yesterday with my pals John and Karen. It's always nice to see the midwest "Cornwhacker" contingent: Pam Bliss, Matt Feazell, Paul Sizer, Bob Corby, Mike Carroll, Max Ink, Michealangelo Cicerone, et. al. On the other hand, the con itself kinda... well, sucked. Karen was disappointed by the complete lack of manga (she ended up running across the street to Barnes & Noble to grab a few volumes). And I was put off by the lack of alternative books (Top Shelf had a small table, and there were some local self-publishers, but overall it was pretty slim pickings). But if you wanted mainstream back issues or bootleg DVDs, you were in hog heaven (John scored some cheap 1970s Marvels, and found a copy of D'arc Tangent in the dollar bins). A lot of the guests -- Adam Hughes, Terry Austin, David Mack, wrestler Mick Foley -- ended up cancelling at the last minute, mainly due to travel/weather problems. I did end up picking up some books, but for the most part it wasn't anything I couldn't have gotten at my local shop. And I got to meet Steve Englehart, who's a big idol of mine, so that was cool.

It was a nice enough day trip, an excuse to hang out with some friends. But the con itself felt very conservative and bland. They're moving to a new venue next year... maybe they'll be able to expand the Artist Alley and attract some more publishers.

The swag (reviews to come later):

SMALL FEATHER BAT by Pam Bliss
CONVERSATION #2 by Jeffrey Brown & James Kochalka
BLINK: UP LEAVES FALL DOWN by Max Ink
SUPER F*CKERS #273 by James Kochalka
BIGG TIME by Ty Templeton
ADAM STRANGE ARCHIVES VOL. 1 by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowksky, & Carmine Infantino
THE AVENGERS: CELESTIAL MADONNA by Steve Englehart & Various
SHOWCASE PRESENTS: SUPERMAN VOL. 1 by Various
COMIC BOOK ARTIST VOL.2 #6 by Jon Cooke & Various