THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF COMICS

When I was a kid, my favorite time of the week would be when Walt Disney's "Wonderful World of Color" would come on TV. The whole family would rush to the sofa, just like the Simpsons do, to enjoy an hour of delight. I thought about this, because I just got back from the WonderCon, which moved to Anaheim this year. It was held in the convention center, right across the street from Disneyland. The original name for WonderCon was "The Wonderful World of Comics", but they shortened the name over the years. I just realized the connection.

I took a couple of years off doing major conventions, and quite a few people stopped by to remind me that I swore them off. The reason I got back, is that my stock of vintage comics has grown tremendously. I work on back issues pretty much full time, and I have a full time staff member, Nik Houser, assisting me with them. Richard Garcia is constantly pricing back issues for me, and the rest of the staff is busy packaging them up between sales. I've got about 10x the stock since I last did conventions. I've mostly been selling the back issues on my ebay store, but I wanted to see how they would do at a big show.

I'm keeping my return to conventions lean and mean. I did the WonderCon, and will be doing the San Diego con out of 1 booth, rather than the 2 I used to take up. My only staff member is my son. The idea is to keep the booth simple, and keep expenses down. We had 3 different items categories that we were displaying. We brought the "Wall Comics". Those are all the back issues with a value of $20 or over. We brought the Pure Hero shirts. We brought about 20 boxes full of $2 vintage comics bargains.

Despite the weather, It was an easy, pleasant ride both to and from the convention. The weather was very cooperative. It wasn't raining there or back. Set up was easy. We drove up behind the convention center and unloaded the van. Everything fit on 1 palette, which was quickly forklifted in. We spent the day getting the displays and merchandise set up just right. I think we got just the right mixture of display. We also had enough room to move around the booth comfortably, which is a feature that is often overlooked in booth planning.

The $2 vintage comics were popular, and we sold around 3 boxes full. That probably paid for the booth. We sold a few shirts, probably enough to pay for the gas we used getting to and from the show. Most of the volume came from the Wall books. Sales on them were good, but most of the sales did go to dealers. A notable sale was an Avengers #1 CGC 4.0 (very good), which sold for $1,100 to a dealer who was set up right across from me.

I thought the show was pretty good, and enjoyable. What I heard from the dealers I talked to is that they felt that they would have done better in San Francisco. I was right next to the huge T-Shirt tower, and I didn't see nearly the number of people swarming around it as usual. The vibe I get is that most people did slightly better than break even. I think that the convention folks should work on getting this show back to the Bay Area where is is better established. Since they did okay in Anaheim, they might want to add a show there to take care of the San Diego overflow.

Anyway, it feels great to be back home.



Lee IV and Me at the Booth. Photo by my pal Oscar Benjamin.


Here's a beach towel I bought at a nearby gift store. Comics culture is now mainstream culture.


Here's a detail from a tower of posters at the convention. A fan favorite Neal Adams cover. These posters are from large poster companies. Comics culture is now mainstream culture.


I've got to admit, the posters from Before Watchmen look mighty cool.


The WonderCon had a very large artist's alley.


There is always a little sadness when the glittering weekend world you knew is heaving it's last sigh.

WONDERCON INTERVIEW

Here is an interview with me at the WonderCon.
It's taken in front of my booth at the 2011 WonderCon.
You can see my son Lee4 in the background.



Big thanks to master retailer James Coville who uploaded it to You Tube!

SUPERCON

I didn't set up at this year's WonderCon in San Jose, but I traveled there with my friend Mark Arnold to hand out Lee's Comics coupons. Actually I didn't have to travel far, since I live in San Jose.


There was a nice, long line of advanced ticket holders. I walked the line, and gave out my coupons. I saw several of my regular customers in line.


Here's the view from the inside.


Here's Michael V. Bennett, who I call "Wild Kirby Guy." He paints incredible day glow originals in the Jack Kirby style, which he sells for a very modest price. Right now, he has a show at the Super7 Store in San Francisco. Check it out!


Here's one of the all-time greats, Howard Chaykin, creator of American Flagg. Howard is a fascinating, animated, and personable fellow. He talked to me about his admiration for Harvey Kurtzman. Howard is kindly holding up the Lee's Comics coupon.


Here's Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Gos with my friend Bill Morrison of Simpsons Comics fame. Jane did a great interview on the Ronn Owens program on Friday at 11:00 am to Noon. It was a very entertaining interview, and she plugged the SuperCon a bunch of times. If you hurry, you can listen to the interview, or download it.


Here is K.D. Boze with his book, the Virgin Project. This is a very compelling book about various people's first time. You can buy it at Lee's Comics, or online. There's going to be a 2nd volume, so you'll have a chance to submit your story. I'll post details about that later, when I find out.


Here's the great cartoonist Sergio Aragones of Mad Magazine and Groo fame, along with your humble retailer. Forget about the guy in the beer commercials, Sergio is the most interesting man in the world!

Mark and I cut out after about 4 hours, but we had a great time. The SuperCon continues today (Sunday). Hopefully the air conditioning will hold out, as temperatures are expected to reach triple digits today.

SOME KIND OF WONDER CON

Well, I'm finally rested up, and have enough time to do a 2009 Wonder Con report. Setting up a booth at a large, multi-day convention is an exhausting endeavor, even if you are fit and active like I try to be.

It was well worth the effort, though. Friday and Saturday were like having two extra shipment days. Some time ago (as explained in greater detail in past postings) I decided to diversify our convention stock as to appeal to the greatest number of attendees as possible. That strategy paid off handsomely this time. Everything sold great! We had this week's new comics, bargain books and toys, 'Toon Tumblers, Pure Hero Shirts, Posters, Buttons, Stickers, old two dollar comics on a vintage spinner, half-price statues, and some new toys that we got from Diamond on consignment.

The only departments that didn't do so well were the wall and bin comics. This may have been due to the fact that they were set off to the back of the booth a bit. I did take time to poll many of the back issue dealers. Most of them said that sales were down, or disappointing.

While I was at the show, I tried to put my ebay store on vacation. That stops the sales from going through until I get back. The reason I did this, is that I didn't want to sell something online that had sold at the convention. I got back online a couple of days later, and found that I had sold a bunch of stuff on my ebay store! What the heck was going on? I finally figured out what happened. Putting your store on vacation only makes the ebay store items go on hold. For the last several months, I put new items up at a fixed price "buy it now" listing. None of those listings were put on hold.

Now here's the funny thing: I sold more vintage comics on my ebay store, that I had tried to shut down, than I did at the convention! We still did okay with vintage comics at the show, but I'm glad that they are not my primary focus like in years gone by, or I might be singing the blues right now.

Several times during the show I tried to walk around, but could not do so because the isles were crammed with people. It was a human traffic jam, and you could not get anywhere, so I just went back to my booth. I noticed that the isles where they were selling comic books had plenty of room to move around in. It was those other items, the non-comic book items, that appealed to the big crowds at the show.

Friday and Saturday were very busy. Sunday saw lots of people, but they were mostly looky-loos. The sales slowed down considerably on Sunday.

Anyway, it was a successful event for this dealer. It's particularly satisfying, especially in these uncertain times. That's the financial angle. From a personal standpoint, I always enjoy seeing old friends, business associates, and favorite creators. Now for a few photos.


Here's me, Ryan, and Mark. It's Friday, and we are set up and ready to go.


Here's one of my favorite booths. They sell a bunch of nutty Anime style hats. I brought plenty of people by that booth.


Here's the folks lining up to get in.


Here's my friend David Mack, creator of Kabuki.


Our buttons were a big hit.


This chap was the voice of Charlie Brown in the 1980s. He was fun to talk to.


I saw this gal in her great Polaris costume, and it immediately made me think of one of my favorite comic covers of all time. It's X-Men #50, by the great Jim Steranko. I got her and her friends to interpret the cover in tribute.


Here's the cover to X-Men #50, to compare.


Here's my 6 foot 7 son, "Little Lee", and his girlfriend Christina. I bought a hat for her from the aforementioned funny hat place. My son helped out on Saturday and Sunday, and was a great help to me.


Here are my long time friends, Richard and Wendi Pini, creators of Elfquest.


Here's another fantastic costume. It's Steve Ditko's Creeper. I was a big fan of the character, and enjoyed seeing this unique costume.


My son must have took this one. It's an outstanding shot of Zatanna.


This one was really great. It was not a mask, and you could see her eyes.

WONDER CON DAY 0

Yesterday, Mark and I loaded our cargo van to the brim with vintage comics, bargain books, toys and Pure Here shirts.

I got up at 5:30 this morning, and got on the road before 7:00. I picked up Mark at his house in Hayward, and continued on to San Francisco. We arrived before 9:00. Within a few minutes, they let us drive underground to the convention floor. We grabbed a couple of pallets and started loading them up. As soon as we were done, a forklift operator took the pallets to our booth. We started setting up the booth. By 12:30 I decided that we were pretty well set up. We covered everything up, and called it a day.

Now it's 3:00 pm. I'm back at my San Jose home, relaxing in my sweatpants. I gassed up the van, and just enjoyed a delicious sandwich at Eric's Deli. It can be really hard setting up at shows, but today went really smoothly. I'll be relaxed, and ready for tomorrow. I'll be back with a report, and pictures.

If you are going to the show, look for us in the 1000 isle, right by the front. Make sure to say hi, okay?

WONDER CON

That's where I'll be this weekend.

THE WONDER OF IT ALL, part 1!

Here's my Wonder Con Report from a Comic Book Dealer's perspective for Friday. Stay tuned for Saturday and Sunday reports.

The Wonder Con is a fun show. It's local to me, so I can set up and sell with a minimum of hassle.

I spent most of Wednesday getting ready for the convention.

In earlier days, my convention stock consisted of Golden and Silver age comics only. My strategy these days is to bring a variety of different products in order to try to cater to the widest number of attendees possible. I figure that many thousands of people are coming, and only a small percentage of them collect vintage comics, so why market only to that narrow group? My goal now is to engage the largest percentage of the public as possible.

For the last few years I had also stopped bringing my under $20 Golden and Silver age bin books due to slow sales. This year, I decided to try them again to see if they do better. I brought all our nice wall books, as usual. I think our wall books are superior this year, as they include several nice collections that I purchased recently, including a Showcase #22 (First Silver Age Green Lantern appearance.) Green Lantern #1, and really great original owner collection of 200 golden age books. I brought all the Pure Hero shirts, a bunch of Graphic Novels that we are blowing out for $5 each, my "Hey Kids Comics" spinner, which we loaded with great Silver and Bronze age books that we put on sale for $2 each. We had stickers from Duck and Cover, that have proven to be very popular over the years. This time we are adding their line of buttons as well.

I make a checklist of all the things I need for a convention and keep it on an excel spreadsheet. It includes a whole bunch of very mundane things like: Tape, Tape Dispenser, Scissors, Box Cutter, Strapping Tape, Screwdriver (Slot/Phillips combo) Wrench, Chord Ties, Hand Cart, Backing Boards, Sharpies, Pens, Pencils, Ruler, Business Cards, Business Card Tray, Price Guide, Calculator, Cash Register, Cellphone, Checkbook, Hand Sanitizer, Band Aids, Water Bottles, String, Binder Clips, Tables, Tablecloths, Merchandise Bags, Batteries, Wombat (Back Issue Display) etc, etc, This list is very useful, and it generally serves to keep me from forgetting anything. If you do conventions, I definitely suggest that you keep an updated list like this on your computer. It's amazing how devastating it can be to forget even one item that you need. For instance, if I forgot the wrench, I would not be able to put together the shirt display for the Pure Hero shirts. I would have to start going booth to booth to look for one to borrow. It you need several items, you can waste a great deal of time this way. Sometimes time is very short and you have to race against the clock. One example of this is when they are about to open the door to the general public, and you are not yet fully set up.

Mark Crane and I loaded up the van at our Mountain View location, and got to the Convention center before 9:30. The Moscone center has a really nifty system for exhibitors to set up. The center is located underground, and you drive your vehicle underneath to the loading docks. We got into a line of vehicles which was a block and a half long, but fortunately we got into the building in less then a half hour. We parked our van, and started loading comics on a pallet. The teamsters fork lifted it to our spot, and carried the other items in on an electric flat bed vehicle. The service was really fast and efficient. Mark and I were pleased at the ease with which we got in.

Here is our stuff on Thursday morning, moved to our booth, and ready for set up.

After the stuff got dropped off, Mark drove off to find a spot to park the van. I began to work on a set-up that would include the Podium, the extra tables, the comic book spinner, the Shirt Display, and the Sticker Display. On Wednesday drew a rough outline of the set-up on graph paper, so I had a good idea of where to put things. Still, there were changes to be make before I was fully satisfied with the set-up. Only then could we start putting the merchandise in place.

Mark and I worked quickly and we made fast progress. Setting up a convention display is almost as hard as setting up a store. It's amazing that all those people do all that work for just 3 days of sales, and then they have to tear the whole thing down. I love to watch that process of creation and destruction. My booth is relatively simple compared to many of the others, such as the T-Shirt monolith that I talked about in a previous blog. Nonetheless, it is hard work to set up. When I have a big job to do, it's great to have Mark Crane around. I like to think that I can do my share of hard work when necessary, but Mark works harder than anyone else, at all times. By 1:00 I was satisfied with our progress, so Mark and I went home for the day to better rest up for the upcoming convention.

Here's the view from the same vantage point, taken on Friday morning, a little while before opening time. We are all set up, and are joined by my buddy Mark Arnold. I put Mark Arnold on sign making duties. Mark is great at making signs. He's got great handwriting and an innate understanding of comics. He is also very witty. I just let him run wild with the signs. Mark Arnold had to leave in the afternoon to apply for a government job, so Mark Crane and I ran the booth.

We sold out of WonderCon tickets at the stores, so we expected quite a turn-out. Friday was actually quite a bit slower than we expected. Most of our sales were to other dealers such as Harley Yee (who was set up across form us) Richie Muchen, and Bud Plant. Otherwise, not many people looked at our wall books. This surprised Mark and I. We hope they will do better tomorrow. All departments were a bit lackluster. Since things were a bit slow at the booth, I roamed around a lot, leaving Mark Crane, to run the booth most of the time. A big frustration for us was the fact that our portable credit card machine did not get any reception, yet our cellphones worked. I've had nothing but problems with this thing, and I think I'm going to cancel my contract and do without one until I can find a unit that works everywhere I need it, any time I need it.

Now, on with the photo parade!

This one is a little out of focus, but I want to run it anyway because it highlights my buddy Batton Lash. He is one of the nicest and wittiest fellows around, so I always like to talk to him. He is also the creator of the wonderful, long-running Supernatural Law comic book. The Toxic Avenger will be guest-starring in issue #45, on sale soon. Make sure to reserve a copy at your local comic book store!

Here I am with a pair of fantastic individuals. It's master artist Mark Schultz, artist of Xenozoic Tales, loved by all that appreciate fine comics art. Mark did a signing at our store a couple of years ago to great acclaim. On my other side is Mark's publisher John Fleskes. John is the man behind Flesk Publications who put out and incredible series of fine art books including the Mark Schultz sketchbooks, and a new book on Steve Rude. John is the most honest and soft spoken publisher you will ever meet. In his youth, back in the 1980s, John spent a year working for me at my Palo Alto location. John will soon be presenting new editions of Xenozoic tales under the Flesk imprint. I could not be more happy to hear about this development.

Here's my buddy Rafael Navarro. He enlivens any event, and his is loved by all that know him. I could hang out with him all day, and I usually do!

Here's a view from inside our booth, to the right.

To the left, to the left.

Another view form the booth

Just outside the booth, looking in.

The view from across the isle.

Manga fans enjoying the selection of $5 books.

Here's our good friend (Free) Steve Chung enjoying the selection of vintage $2 comics on our "Hey Kids Comics Spinner".
Sorry about that camera flash, Steve.

Here's the delightful Fat Momma from Stan Lee's great TV series "Who Wants to be a Super-Hero". Watch her go nuts with donuts! Tomorrow, I'm bringing Connie and my daughters, and I know they will love to meet her! She's a super cool Momma!

Well, it's time I hit the silk to rest up for what I hope will be a spectacular Saturday, so I'm going to put this thing to bed with typos intact. See you tomorrow. Same Bat Time, Same Bat Blog!

Warmest Regards from Your Friendly Neighborhood Comic Book Dealer,

- Lee

THE FURTHER DESCENT OF MAN

Still not another APE report.

As I write this, I'm back at my home in San Jose. For those of you who are not familiar with the Bay Area, it's 60 miles to the south via highway 101.

On the way home I pass right by my two store locations. Twenty miles to the south is San Mateo, where one store resides. Thirty-six miles to the south is my Mountain View store. If I wanted to, I could hop right off the freeway at Rengstorff, and be at my store in a minute. This time I pass it right by.

At one point I had a big map of Northern California. It had pins on it with all the other comics stores. I also placed pins where I planned on opening stores. My next locations were to be in San Francisco and San Jose. I even looked at locations in both areas, but those plans were put on hold. The timing was not right, or the money was not right, or the market was not right. Right now there are no plans on expansion, but there are plans at making the existing stores better.

I get home and say hello to my family. I have some dinner, and watch Sopranos with my wife Connie. Then I load up my photos. I have a habit of playing the song "The Party's Over", as sung by Blossom Dearie, after a big event. It helps me decompress and get back to normal. So I play the song again.

The Party's Over,

It's Time to call it a day.

They've burst your pretty balloon,

and taken the moon away.

Let's look at the photos:

Here's Al Gordon. He's a mellow fellow, and a fantastic artist. Like me, he hurt his leg running recently. We hobble around a bit and commiserate together. You can let a little of Al's cool rub off on you by checking out his winsome website.

Here are Ted and Robbie, the two gentlemen behind the IDW line, one of the fastest growing, and highest quality publishing houses we've seen in quite some time. They are really nice guys. I made sure to stock up on all their fine titles for the stores.

Here's a lovely photo of my friends James Sime and Kirsten Baldock, of San Francisco's own Isotope Comic Book Lounge. I always get a kick out of the fun events they put on. They are looking remarkably fresh after putting on their famous Isotope mini-comic award show the night before.

I really had a great time joking around with Rick and Debbie Geary. It's hard to tell you just how fun and witty they are. You'll just have to meet them yourself to find out!

Here's Jim Smith, co-creator of the great Ren and Stimpy! He not only cracked us up with his wild antics, like doing impressions of our favorite episodes, but he drew a picture of the famed duo for my son. Here he's getting down, and playing the theme song! Did we, or did we not have a blast? Did I, or did I not tell you to go to the APE?

Here's Camilla Pierrico, who will be taking over as artist on Slave Labor's Nightmares are Fairytales, beginning with issue #19. The art she showed us was fantastic, and we are looking forward to it. As it happens, Camillia hails from Vancouver, where much of the family and I will be visiting in just 2 weeks.

Here's a shot of our friend, Anna Warren Boersig, producer of Dorothy.

Here's Shannon Wheeler, creator of Too Much Coffee man, and his boy Austin. Shannon and I are planning on becoming the next Bialystock and Bloom.

Here's an old friend J.R. Williams. We go way back to my own alternative comics convention that I put on at the San Mateo Expo center in 1993. J.R. was putting out a comic book called "Crap" at the time. Fantagraphics was the publisher, and it was anything but Crap. I'm hoping that someone will be able to coax J.R. back into the comics world some time soon. His stuff is hysterically funny.

It was a real honor to meet Art Spiegleman the author of my all-time favorite graphic novel, Maus. He was helping to raise money for Gary Groth, publisher of Fantagraphics, who is pictured on the left. The good people of Fantagrahics are fighting a lawsuit brought on by SF writer Harlan Ellison.

I don't know who these guys were dressed as, but I loved the costumes. One of them handed me a button with a blank face on it. The other one handed me a tiny naked doll. Neither one spoke a word. Great marketing here, because it stimulates the curiosity, and does not reveal too much. I think the button had some small reference to a web site, but I don't have it handy to check. I'll just have to wonder, at lest for now.

Here's the view of the room from the balcony with one hour to go.

The Party's Over,

It's Time to call it a day.

They've burst your pretty balloon,

and taken the moon away.

It's time to wind up,

the masquerade.

Just make your mind up,

the piper must be paid.

-Lee
Lee’s Comics