Comicpalooza 2019 - The Haul

One of the best things about attending Houston's Comicpalooza over two days is the ability to make a list.

On Friday, I like to scour the rows and rows of vendors, just seeing what they have. Some have dollar bins of unbagged comics while others have all the vintage things collectors love. Unless I see something I just gotta have and buy it on the spot, I start a list. I write down the item, the row, and the price. In that way, I can mull it over when compared to all the other things I see and ask myself do I really want that thing. I get to sleep on it and make a decision.

And yes, if the item has been sold, well, then I guess I really didn't need it.

Yesterday, I went back around and bought most of the things on my list. What I didn't find were any of the black-and-white Essentials (Marvel) or DC's Showcase that package something like 500 pages of comics into a single $20 book. Love those, and I have almost a shelf full of them. I wonder if the price point is off nowadays or if the Epic Collection (which is in color) now trumps the B&W ones.

These two titles I've heard about for a long time but never cracked. These are both volume 1s. I found Howard the Duck Volume 2, but I figured I should read the first to verify it's something I'd like.  The Shang-Chi stories (you'll see another one down below) is another title that evidently got better over time. Looking forward to reading it.

I've seen this blog and book for a few years and figured now was the time to try it out. I suspect the title says it all, but I'll y'all know when I've read it.

There's a vendor who is one of those small one-man shops. He always has an assortment of things, and this book, battered though it is, caught my fancy. For $3, why not?

One of best things about a con like Comicpalooza is the number of vendors with dollar books. Even better? The ones for $0.50! The Deadly Hands was a dollar, but the rest were half that. You might notice the Young Romance and ask why? Well, I've just started listening to the audiobook version of MARVEL COMICS: THE UNTOLD STORY by Sean Howe and he mentions Joe Simon and Jack Kirby's days writing and drawing romance comics. Talk about serendipity? I basically followed my observation from Friday.

I think I'm most looking forward to this. It is volume 1 of the collected newspaper comic strips. I'm really curious to read these stories, especially as they start in 1979, a year before the big Vader reveal, to see how Russ Manning approached the Star Wars universe. Truth be told, I've also got a hankering to re-read some of the old Marvel comics as well.

That's it for Comicpalooza 2019. Let know what you got in the comments.