Yes, I Am Insane

So I went down to the Big Apple Comic Show at the Pennsylvania Hotel. Yes, in the middle of a blizzard. Screw it, Carmine Infantino and Joe Simon were going to be there.

Except Carmine ended up not coming because of the weather, and Joe was only scheduled for Sunday. Nonetheless, I was there, and determined to have fun.

First came a boon of $1 books and Star Trek: TNG tapes. I got three books (Asimov's Magic, and King's Firestarter and Desperation) and four tapes (including the episodes "The Best of Both Worlds, Parts 1 & 2," "Unification, Parts 1 & 2," "The Offspring," and "The Measure of a Man," which for my money is one of the top 5 Trek episodes ever).

Then I jabbed with some pros. I took a look at some orignal art from MK SPidey (including the awesome splash page from #10) at Terry Dodson's table, then talked scripting and Great Lakes Avengers with Dan Slott. He's a cool guy.

After that, I chatted up Jim Salicrup about the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew comics he's editing right now and Kool-Aid-Man. Right next door was Danny Fingeroth, editor of Write Now! Magazine and creator of various stuff I've liked. We also talked.

I hot-footed it downstairs at 1 for a Will Eisner retrospective panel which ended with a 10-minute documentary on his life that will hopefully debut at Comic-Con International. If it does, and you're there, I highly recommend seeing it.

After lunch at Lindy's, where I was charged an exorbitant amount of money for a burger and fries, I headed back upstairs to scope out the dealer's room one more time. There I happened upon a truly glorious find: Five genuine Lee/Kirby Fantastic Fours, loose and in crappy enough condition to be affordable. Included among them (which I bought for $45) was issue 51, the classic tale "This Man, This Monster." My comic-fu is strong, motherfucker.

The show continues tomorrow, and has been extended to Monday, when the doors will be open free of charge. IF you feel like skipping work and/or school, take a ride down.