Pontoon's Boston Comic Con Report 2014

[Dick Pontoon]

So yeah, back to the booth and the great, costumed masses.

 

 

 

Dr. Doom skulking about:

 

 

 

 

By my standards, the booth was insanely busy but I had a fine time. It also allowed me to get some cosplay photos that I otherwise wouldn’t have. I’m not a fan of photo shoots clogging the aisles and not that interested in walking about asking if I can grab a snapshot.

 

Woo-hoo! Somebody I know! It’s the tall, thin Black Cat. With Peter Parker?

 

 

[Dick Pontoon]

There were maybe 3 or so cosplayers I regret not getting photos of, including Ms. Ivy DoomKitty. Maybe I’ll be able to locate my favorites elsewhere online and link to them. I’m getting so ancient that everyone under 30 looks like adolescents to me. They’d probably look like toddlers to The_Black_Hand. Haw, haw, haw!

 

Here’s some more shots from Ground Zero. These girls at least I could tell were girls:

 

 

 

 

A mostly obscured Black Widow:

 

 

 

 

These guys were really nice:

 

 

 

I didn’t see any Groots until the last few hours when I caught sight of a fellow with twigs and branches tied to his arms, legs and torso, carrying a sign that read “I am Groot.” No photo, but I though it was an inventive, low-budget approach.

 

[universal soldier]

Moar?

[Dick Pontoon]

I didn’t get out on the floor as much as I did last year, so my perceptions could be skewed, but in terms of SA keys I saw several Hulk #1s (last year zero IIRC), a few Strange Tales #110, several X-Men #1s, zero TTA #27, zero TTA #35, at least one JIM #83, zero TOS #39, several DD #1, several MSH #18. Harley was not there, Blazing Bob/High Grade Comics was not there.

 

Marc Nathan was there with extensive inventory. I hipped him to the Grand Comics Database; he was filled with a burning desire to see and rage against snowmen, and couldn’t find an image of Strange Adventures #79 online since he wasn’t sure of the issue number.

 

It looks like this BTW:

 

 

 

 

Despite the absence of some of the heavy hitters, I walked away with a nice stack of books. Initially I was hoping to come away with something big or a tough PCH, but it wasn’t in the cards and that had as much to do with limited time as selection.

 

[Dick Pontoon]

And here are some wall shots:

 

 

 

 

[Dick Pontoon]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Dick Pontoon]

[Dick Pontoon]

I’m not sure I’m cut out for the big con experience; I’d need a boatload of valium to handle san Diego. I don’t enjoy aisles that are so packed that movement crawls to a snails pace. While I realize that the multi-media pop culture extravaganza is here to stay and necessary to keep cons alive and successful, I miss the good old-fashioned shows that were about comic books. The vast majority of attendees seem mostly interested in just s-l-o-w-l-y milling about gawking at the sights.

 

The idea of comics being a valuable collectible to perhaps 25-50% of the people I spoke to was eye-popping and alien. Or maybe it was just the aggressive pricing. Seriously, many people there were quite surprised. One would think that most attending a con would have a sense that comics were an established collectible like coins. Or maybe that’s just an indication as to how the Pop Culture Experience/Show has overshadowed the Comic Book Show.

 

Howzabout some more pictures:

 

 

 

 

Fellow on the left was using his mask to carry stuff so it was off for the photo.

 

 

[Dick Pontoon]

 

 

 

[chrisco37]

 

 

That is a kick-arse Awesome-O!

[Dick Pontoon]

 

 

 

[Dick Pontoon]

Some knucklehead spoiled this one:

 

[Dick Pontoon]

The rest of Saturday was crazy busy, I never even finished the meager lunch I brought. Our own Mike Howlett stopped by on a run to 7-11 to see if we needed anything; he returned moments later after walking outside to find a queue snaking around the block.

 

Can’t remember if I picked these up in the afternoon or on Sunday, a bunch of second string bronze:

 

 

 

[Dick Pontoon]

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Dick Pontoon]

 

 

 

 

 

[toro]

Some knucklehead spoiled this one:

 

 

 

[DrWatson]

Is that still Christine?

 

Yes indeed, that’s the car some people refer to as Christine. 208,000+ miles and still running strong. It just seems to have problems with comic events.

She tried to kill Chromium and GACollectibles.

[Dick Pontoon]

I didn’t stop by a single artist's table this year. There wasn’t anybody I was interested in who I hadn’t seen before. I would have liked to have seen some more old-timers, especially Stan Goldberg and Flo Steinberg, but I guess the more recent creators are the ones who draw the big numbers.

 

I know of lot of people don’t consider Boston a major convention, but it feels like one in terms of crowds. It’s hard to believe how large it’s grown in just 8 years or so.

 

Did I mention it was crazy busy for me? I remained personable throughout, despite having to tell a dozens of folks “No, we don’t sell single poly bags.” I was so friendly in fact that you’d never guess I'm really an anti-social, loutish misanthrope.

 

I got the green light to leave before the end of the show Saturday to eat dinner with and spend some time with my family and son, but discovered his afternoon playdate was still over, and continued to be over until almost 9:00 p.m. Working back at the booth would have been more relaxing.

 

In typical Boston Con style, there wasn’t any dinner. Last year I went out with a few boardies for a low-key meal. Last year I also had a lot less pressure, since the wife and child visited friends in RI overnight. I love my family but that was one of the best days I had last year; it’s rare I get to hang loose and relax like that.

 

 

 

[GACollectibles]

Is that still Christine?

 

Yes indeed, that’s the car some people refer to as Christine. 208,000+ miles and still running strong. It just seems to have problems with comic events.

She tried to kill Chromium and GACollectibles.

 

She had it out worse for the Belgian, Christine just ate my car keys.

[GACollectibles]

Some knucklehead spoiled this one:

 

 

Your streak continues!