Here's my haul from the Jet City Comic Show the Saturday before last. It's a pretty eclectic bunch of comics.
First, the regular-size comics and digests:
The crown jewel of this con is
Strange Tales Annual #1 (1962), a really good representation of the monster/mystery/suspense/sf books of the post-Atlas, pre-Marvel era. All of the stories here are from 1959 & 1960. There are four stories and a new cover by Jack Kirby (three stories inked by Dick Ayers, one by Bill Everett, and the cover inked by Kirby himself!); four stories by Steve Ditko, three by Don Heck, and one each by Paul Reinman and John Forte. One of the Heck stories is familiar to me - it was also reprinted in Fantasy Masterpieces #1, which I bought and read over and over in 1966. This annual went on sale the same month as FF #7, Hulk #3, the second Thor story, the second Ant-Man story, and the first Human Torch solo story. This one was $20.
The next most expensive things I bought were the first two issues of
Marvel Comics Digest, $6.99 each (cover price). These are the digests that are published by Archie Comics and distributed to supermarkets, where I bought issue #3 the week before the con. I plan to continue buying these digests, preferably at a supermarket.
Everything else was $3 or less; most of the comics were $1 and most of the magazines were $2.
Finishing the Marvel purchases, I got
Conan the Barbarian #92 & 95 (1978-79), almost completing the first 100 issues. #92 has Sal Buscema filling in on pencils for both cover and story; #95 has a John Buscema pencilled-and-inked cover. Roy Thomas wrote both and Ernie Chan inked both stories and the cover of #92.
From DC, I got:
Superboy #102 (1963) - the cover story has Superboy dealing with a Kryptonian Thought Monster, which looks like a carnivorous Triceratops with a TV screen in its head. Cover by Curt Swan & George Klein, story by Jerry Siegel & George Papp. There's also a Superbaby story by Siegel and Al Plastino, three Henry Boltinoff humor strips and a Jack Schiff/Sheldon Moldoff PSA.
Our Fighting Forces #157 (1975) - the Losers tangle with Panama Fattie, cover & story by Jack Kirby with Mike Royer. These Losers books are the only Kirby work from his 70s stint at DC that I don't own. This is my first, it won't be my last.
From Bongo,
Radioactive Man #5 (1994). I suspect that I own this already but I love Radioactive Man. This issue parodies 1980s comics. Cover blurb: "Who washes the washmen's infinite secrets of legendary crossover knight wars?" Cover by Bill Morrison, story by Steve Vance, Tim Bavington and Bill Morrison.
From Dark Horse,
Flaming Carrot Comics #26 (1991). Part 2 of a 3-part crossover with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, by Bob Burden and friends.
From Slave Labor Graphics,
Tales from the Heart #9 (1992) - a day in the life of a Peace Corps volunteer in an African village. Cover by Charles Truog, script by Cindy Goff & Rafael Nieves, art by Aldin Baroza.
Last but not least, three Charltons:
The Phantom #45 and
Flash Gordon #18 - both from 1971, with all art by Pat Boyette in both.
Haunted (aka
Baron Weirwulf's Haunted Library) #50 (1980) - Cover and one story by Steve Ditko, other stories drawn by Don Newton & Dan Adkins, and Pete Morisi ("PAM").
Now for the magazine-size comics, which are all Marvels:
Marvel Preview #20,
"Bizarre Adventures" (1980, b&w) - This reprints four stories from 1975-76, with notes on each one by Roger Stern. Two stories and the new cover feature Dominic Fortune by Howard Chaykin; one story is scripted by Len Wein, the other by Chaykin. The other stories are by Tony Isabella, George Perez & Rico Rival, and Marv Wolfman, Dave Cockrum & the Crusty Bunkers. Perez also contributed a frontispiece. This magazine's official title would change to "Bizarre Adventures" with issue #25.
Rampaging Hulk #9 (1978, b&w) - the cover by Earl Norem and the story by Doug Moench, Sal Buscema & Rudy Mesina both feature the Hulk and the original Avengers. The story seems to take place between Avengers #1 and #2. There's also a Shanna the She-Devil story by Steve Gerber and Tony DeZuñiga, a portfolio of Shanna sketches by DeZuñiga, and a frontispiece by Rich Buckler.
Hulk #11 (1978, color) - the magazine shortened its name and went to full-color with issue #10, which came out when the TV show started. This one has a wraparound cover by Bob Larkin, frontispiece by Walt Simonson, a long Hulk story by Doug Moench, Ron Wilson & Fran Matera, and a Moon Knight story by Moench, Gene Colan & Tony DeZuñiga.
Epic Illustrated #1 (1980, color/b&w) - I would have been all over this if I hadn't dropped out of comics in 1978. Frank Frazetta cover; three chapters of Metamorphosis Odyssey by Jim Starlin; an Elfquest story by Wendy Pini; a Silver Surfer story by Stan Lee, John Buscema & Rudy Nebres; and other stories by Leopoldo Durañona, Bob Larkin, Ray Rue, Thomas Blackshear, Mirko Ilic, Ernie Colon, Arthur Suydam, George Bush (!), and Carl Potts.
Epic Illustrated #2 (1980, color/b&w) - More in the same vein - Richard Corben cover; another Metamorphosis Odyssey chapter by Jim Starlin; the first chapter of a Robert E. Howard adaptation by Roy Thomas and Tim Conrad; a Wagner opera adaptation by P. Craig Russell; a Samuel R. Delany story illustrated by Howard Chaykin; a story written
and drawn by Archie Goodwin; and contributions from Marv Wolfman, Daina Graziunas, Steve Bissette, Rick Veitch, Vicente Alcazar, Maurice Horn, Robert Wakelin and Ernie Colon.
Epic Illustrated #4 (1980, color/b&w) - Once more, with feeling - Michael Kaluta cover; another Metamorphosis Odyssey chapter by Jim Starlin; the third chapter of that Robert E. Howard adaptation by Roy Thomas and Tim Conrad; the second chapter of an Elric adaptation by Roy Thomas and P. Craig Russell; a Harlan Ellison story illustrated by Ken Steacy; and contributions from Shotaro Ishimori, Marc Hempel, B.K. Taylor, James Fox, Paul Kirchner and Rick Veitch.
Six issues of
Marvel Super Special - I bought #1 and #4 when they were published; at the con I bought:
#2 (1977, color)
Savage Sword of Conan - an adaptation of a Howard novel by Roy Thomas, John Buscema & Alfredo Alcala with colors by Marie Severin. Wraparound cover by Earl Norem and frontispiece by John Buscema.
#3 (1978, color)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind - adaptation of the movie by Archie Goodwin, Walt Simonson & Klaus Janson with colors by Marie Severin; cover by Bob Larkin.
#9 (1978, color)
Savage Sword of Conan - a Howard/DeCamp story adapted by Roy Thomas, John Buscema & Tony DeZuñiga with colors by Marie Severin. Also a Red Sonja story by Roy Thomas & Christie Marx and Howard Chaykin, and a painted cover by John Buscema (!).
#21 (1982, color)
Conan the Barbarian - the Schwarzenegger movie adapted, pencilled and inked by John Buscema with script by Michael Fleisher and colors by Deborah Pedler and Lynn Varley. Also photos and interviews about the movie, and cover by Renato Casaro from the movie poster.
#35 (1984, color)
Conan the Destroyer - the second Schwarzenegger movie, adapted in two parts, both scripted by Michael Fleisher and colored by George Roussos. Part one has full art by John Buscema; part two has Buscema breakdowns finished by Pat Redding, Bob Camp & Charles Vess. Also photos and interviews about the movie, and cover by Renato Casaro from the movie poster.
#38 (1985, color)
Red Sonja - the movie adapted by Mary Wilshire & Louise Simonson, breakdowns by Wilshire, finished by Vince Colletta with colors by Julianna Ferriter. Also a portfolio of Sonja drawings by Larry Hama, Bob Layton, Al Milgrom and others, and a line-drawn cover, not painted, by Wilshire & Colletta.
If that wasn't enough, there was a freebie table from which I picked up:
The Bully's Bully book one, by Courtney Huddleston and James Taylor (no, not that James Taylor). This started as a Kickstarter-funded webcomic and is now out in paperback from Rorschach Entertainment. Co-creator Taylor also runs the Jet City Comic Show. This is about bullying and empathy.
FOOM #1 - Marvel's new revival of the 1970s in-house fanzine.
"Sneak Previews" of
Valiant Icons and
X-O Manowar.
It was a fantastic weekend with
Cei-U!, who bought some interesting books too. Kurt, I know you recorded your purchases; are you going to post them here?
Edited to add one more freebie that I accidentally left out - issue #7 of a tabloid-size publication called
Vision Quest, with numerous contributors. I'm sure these strips made sense to the people who wrote and drew them, but most of them make little or no sense to me.