Comments on: A Friday spent reminiscing about Comic-Con International

By: Aaron Kashtan

Aaron Kashtan — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 02:13:40 +0000

I missed seeing you, Greg, and I was sorry to hear about the medical issues.

Arnold Drake told the “clown ghosts” story again this year, at the Golden/Silver Age Batman panel, and it brought the house down again.

By: Greg Hatcher

Greg Hatcher — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 15:21:23 +0000

Boogie said:“It sure would be nice if Steranko HAD reprinted that book or, dare I say it? If he was making comics again.”

For years I thought the damn reprint DID exist and I just couldn’t find it; it was listed both at Amazon and at Dark Horse’s website, but always as being ‘unavailable.’ Only recently did I discover it never happened at all.

It’s not critical for me, I still have my original. But it’s looking a little beat up, and the new material, what I saw of it, looked great. It would have been a nice book. I have no idea how the project went off the rails… maybe it’s something Cronin and his Urban Legends squad can look into. God knows the Dark Horse edition is apparently an urban legend.

You can still find the original, one of the very first trade-dress paperback graphic novels (maybe THE first) on eBay or at conventions; eBay tends to be more reasonable in pricing since most people selling it there aren’t aware of the book’s historical value. Con vendors usually want upwards of $25 for it, and it’s not THAT good. Though it’s certainly a very fine piece of work and a fun hard-boiled mystery.

By: toothpick

toothpick — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 02:08:53 +0000

that was a great read, thank you.

By: boogie

boogie — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 00:24:44 +0000

It sure would be nice if Steranko HAD reprinted that book or, dare I say it? If he was making comics again.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Sat, 22 Jul 2006 09:57:34 +0000

Thanks so much for this article. While I’ve only been to one Comic-Con (in which I met David Mack and got a signed trade of Kabuki) I really enjoyed the anecdotes you wrote.

By: Jason

Jason — Sat, 22 Jul 2006 06:16:35 +0000

Nothing like the first time, right? I remember going back in 2000…I got off the plane, dropped my luggage off in the Little Italy hotel, and took the trolley to the convention center. I got to meet some of the folks I had been chatting with for years (including taping a panel for Greg Schmitz), started filling my first sketchbook, and had a pretty good time. And I stayed two extra days to visit SeaWorld, the San Diego Zoo, and Qualcomm Stadium (Padres beat the Giants…got to experience “Trevor Time” for the first time).

I don’t care if CCI has gotten too big. As a New Yorker, I’m hard-pressed to find a kick-ass con, especially after the NYCC fiasco. It just sucks that the best con around is 3,000 miles away, and I’d have to make due with Wizard World Philladelphia and “The National.” Doesn’t seem fair, does it?