Chicago Comic-Con 2009
I am back from Chicago Comic-Con 2009 folks! I had a blast! Saw some old friends, made some new ones and bought a ton of romance comics -- about sixty! Like I mentioned in my previous post, Chicago is a great convention for picking up romance books. There were a ton of dealers, and with the show's new image and branding campaign there seemed to be more dealers with back-issues than ever.
I liked the feel of the show overall. It had such a warm, intimate feel to it, but perhaps that is just because San Diego (the exact opposite of intimate) was just the other week and was still fresh on my mind. Things were really hopping in Artist Alley, with lots of friendly people coming by to say hello at the Urban Sequence table, where I was helping to promote Super Human Resources. We sold out of books by early Sunday morning, leaving Justin and I free to walk around the convention. While I was looking for books, Justin was in the market for original art. He found a piece from our favorite artist...
Justin scored this beautiful Winslow Mortimer page from Young Romance #198 (March/April 1974)
He sure found a great piece, and it was at a really decent price. Funny thing though was that the dealer had it marked as an Estrada piece, but it is definitely a Mortimer inked by Mortimer. The same dealer, Anthony's Collectibles had an entire portfolio of original art from romance books, which was great fun to flip through. Justin is going to have it framed and hang it up on the wall in our reading room, so luckily I will get to enjoy it too!
I did something at this show that I have never done before. I bought romance comics from the 1950s! I thought it would be a good idea to have a few, if only for comparison's sake. They are pretty beat up, but should be fun to read anyway.
Overall, it was a really nice con. It almost felt like it did years ago before it was a Wizard show, just on the larger side. Anyone else go to Chicago? What did you think of the rebranding of the convention? Did you buy any romance comics?!
By the way... be sure to vote in the new poll!