This weekend, I geeked out big time at the Big Apple Con with some friends. I haven’t really been into comics since I was in high school but it’s nice to go back to something I was once so into. I remember, way back in the day, when I would haunt my comic book store on a weekly basis, waiting for the newest issue of X-Men or Kabuki (my favorite at the time), or just buying whatever caught my eye. It’s been over 10 years since I’ve really collected. I’ve never stopped reading comics but my tastes have changed and I mostly pick up collected volumes since I don’t have time (or patience) to go issue by issue. But my inner fangirl never really went away and I still get sort of giddy about comics even now.
We drove to New York first thing Saturday morning and hopped over to Penn Plaza Pavillian where a small crowd of like-minded nerds were already in line. Once inside, we made a bee-line for the comic artists. C was looking for art for his office and T and I were mostly milling about, making friends with some artists and scoping out the gazillion vendors. I was really amused by the “celebrity guest” line-up so I popped over to their “area” and spied on them. I was within spitting distance of Tony Atlas, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, “Bud Bundy” from Married with Children, and a bunch of Playmates who I would definitely term “well past their prime.” I also passed by a guy from the movie, The Warriors, who wanted me to stop to talk to him but I was a little shy to. I’m embarrassed to admit I never finished watching the thing and I didn’t know what to say to him. All I knew was that he was the black dude in the pseudo-Native American get-up in a cult version of what was essentially West Side Story on crack.
I also met some very nice comic book artists. C was already acquainted with a few of them but T and I wandered from table to table, chatting with random artists and admiring their work. One artist who was a total sweetheart was Mark Sparacio. He was very nice to us, talking with us about comics and his work. His work, by the way, is spectacular. I bought a Wonder Woman print from him that should be framed. It’s beautiful! The original painting is hanging in some guy’s house and I’m totally jealous. At least, I have a limited print. He’s doing a Wonder Woman painting for C and I cannot wait to see it. T and I drooled over a watercolor Mitchell Breitweiser was doing of a bad-ass superheroine, and I bought a cool Spiderman print from Rags Morales, and I got a Wonder Woman sketch from a very sweet Dennis Calero who will be drawing Legion of Super Heroes starting next month.
We bought what felt like 200 pounds of comic books. Whatever the weight, it was backbreaking. We were kind of giggling at people who had rolling bags at the beginning of the Con, but by then end, we really wish we'd brought one, too. With the first issue of Spider Woman clutched firmly in my hands and one last look back at the endless sea of comic book bins, we bid the Big Apple Con adieu and left, exhausted, happy, and contentedly geeked out.
