Unbridled Capitalism: Charlotte Comicon 2011

I headed up to the Queen City yesterday with my pals Joe and Adama to hit the Charlotte Comicon, described as the "best one day family friendly comic show in the country."  The "family friendly" aspect is very common in the Charlotte shows, as that is Heroescon's calling card.  Anyway, fun was had by all, especially in the capitalism department.

Iron Man -- At this point I am looking for "onesie-twosies" issues of Iron Man as I slowly whittle down the holes in my collection.  I picked up issues 69, 73-74, 76, 79, 84, 106, and 110.  So looking at my punchlist, I now am missing exactly 3 issues of Iron Man.  Of course, this is including my Essential volumes, but for now that's good with me.

Finding such a good score of the comics I needed at pretty good prices got me ruminating about how I got to this point.  I started my Iron Man collection in earnest at Free Comic Book Day 2004 when we hit the Book Exchanges and Blast From the Past in Augusta.  Oh, I had my run of Iron Man from high school when I started reading the book, but this was when I started buying back issues.  And with the 30 or so issues I picked up that day as a start, I have spent the past seven years filling up boxes with Iron Man comics.  And now that I am just about done, it's strange to reflect on that.

I suppose after I get the whole run I can start replacing the issues in really poor shape, and maybe picking up the ones I have reprinted in the Essential volumes.  That should keep me busy for another 7 years.

Hawkman -- No luck on finding the few missing issues of Volume 4, but I did just about finish Hawkworld.  I picked up issues 22, 30, and Annual 3.  One issue left and Hawkworld is done!

Also, my biggest purchase of the day was the DC Direct Hawkman and Hawkgirl boxed set!  Pretty sweet, but I am so far behind on opening my Hawk toys I don't know when I will get to them!

An odd sign: I saw three copies of Hawkman v.1:no.5 in three different bins.  I didn't pick it up, but it seems like the comic gods want me to buy it...

Flash -- A single Flash comic, initially grabbed to round out a 50 cent bin pull to an even number (of course, it turned out that the bin was now a quarter bin, but there you go), v.2:no.105, featuring a classic encounter with the Mirror Master.

Outsiders -- I am guessing the second volume of Outsiders just had crummy print runs because it's bizarrely hard to find,  Still, I added a few more issues, picking up v.2:no.5, 15, 19, 21-22.

Phonebooks -- From one of the most dangerous tables in the show ($5 apiece or 5 items for $20), I grabbed a pair of phonebooks to add the ever-growing pile of these in my bonus room.  The first was Showcase Presents: Haunted Tank, because I will buy any of the War phonebooks.  The second was Essential Godzilla, wooo!  So stay on the lookout for this over at Earth Destruction Directive!

For a small show, there were a lot of good dealers and, oddly, a lot of cosplay.  Besides the full 5 member team of the Gaoranger (aka Power Rangers Wild Force), there were also a mini Deadpool, and a little kid dressed as a Stormtrooper, which of course demanded the recital of the line "Aren't you a little short for a Stormtrooper?"  All in all, a fun trip.  I mean what's better than hanging out with friends and buying and talking about comics?