Scenes from an Amateur Comic Book Collector's Life (6)--Big Apple Comic Con

I am one sick ticket. I spent Saturday at the Big Apple Comic Con which has recently been bought by Wizard Entertainment and moved from the Pennyslvania Hotel (or whatever it's called now) on 34 th Street all the way down to the ass-end of the West Side on Pier 94 at 12th Avenue. I had a lot of fun. Previously the Big Apple cons were crowded into this one floor at the hotel with dealers and a few second-tier celebs selling their autographs (Bill Daly, Larry Storch, Mason Reese, etc.) Now the event has exploded with panels, talks, video game demonstrations, and literally dozens of celebs. It still doesn't approach the big Comic Con at the Javits Center or the Star Trek conventions I used to go to all the time, but it's a definite step up. (the pix are of two convetion-goers--the Golden Age Green Lantern I've seen before at Comic-Con. The blue alien is from a Star trek Episode. I said to her as she was eating, "Are you a Tellerite?" "No, an Andorian" Both species were on the episode Tower of Babel. Side note: my friend Lydia gave me some Star Trek episodes she got a garage sale. This episode was not on them, but it did have Court-Martial, one of the best ones. Thanks Lydia. Lots of other costumed conventioneers, but not as many as one would see at comic-con)

The day started with two Q&A sessions with Star Trek people: Kate Mulgrew and Brent Spiner. Both were funny and glad to meet their fans. I told Spiner I thought he was fantastic as John Adams in 1776 at the Roundabout a few seasons back.

Then I hit the comic dealers and went bat-shit crazy, buying 41 old comics. Actually that's not so bad. I didn't spend more than $5 for any one book and some I got for as low as $1.

Here's the haul: 2001: A Space Odyssey #7 (Jack Kirby art)

Action #380 (Superman and a really good Legion of Super-Heroes feature)

Adventure #392 (Supergirl)

Atom #9

Blackhawk #237

Capt. Johner and the Aliens No. 1 (formerly a second feature with Magnus Robot Fighter)

Detective #292 (coverless)

House of Mystery #160

Jimmy Olsen #48, 51, 73, 96, 101, 117

Journey Into Mystery #116 (Kirby)--with the Mighty Thor before he became the mag's title character

Legion of Superheroes 273

Lois Lane #25, 35, 46, 62, 80. (#62 looks like a real winner with Lois and Superman running against each other for senator, just like that time Greg and Marcia ran against each other for student body president.)

Magnus Robot Fighter 6 (the earliest one I've ever found)

Metal Men, 17, 25, 27

Strange Adventures 131, 151, 152, 231 (the last is a 64-page giant. I wasn't sure if I had it, but I didn't)

Superboy 121

Superman 171, 177 plus Superman Annual 4

Superman Family 176

Thor 138, 140, 153, 171 (all by Kirby)

World's Finest 163, 185

In between buying binges, I visited the autograph area were celebs were selling their autographs and photos. I didn't buy any (at $20 a throw), but it was fun to see Mickey Dolenz (my sister's favorite Monkee), Nichelle Nichols, David Hedison (Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, the handsomest man on TV in the 60s, now totally white-haired and still handsome), Bruce Weitz (Hill Street Blues, who I once interviewed for Theater Week magazine), Carol Cleveland of Monty Python, and of course Julie Newmar, the original Catwoman. I was standing by her booth and said hello. I said "You know I was looking at Youtube and you can find the What's My Line episode where you were the Mystery Guest. That was when you were in The Marriage Go Round on Broadway." She smiled and said "Thank you." Another surprise--Pete Rose was selling his signature too, but for a lot for than Julie Newmar or Todd Bridges.

The whole day was like going into a tunnel and escaping reality, emerging in this alternate universe were the DC and Marvel worlds, Star Trek and Star Wars were all real. Well, back to reality--or reality TV anyway. In future blogs, I'll deconstruct the comics I bought.

My Top Ten Favorite TV Shows

We all gotta get silly sometimes. So here's my top ten favorite TV shows of all time. Please add your own in the comments spot. (I never get any comments, boo-hoo! Is anybody there, as William Daniels sang in 1776.)

In no particular order:

1. Rocky and Bullwinkle. Funny and satirical and way over my head as a kid. Boris and Natasha, the Giant Metal Moon Mice (while disguised as a moon mouse, Boris was reading a book called Mice Kampf), Cloyd and Gidney, Fearless Leader (when I was little I thought he was named Phyllis Leader), fractured Fairy Tales (Snow White: We used to have a line of giants, but we had to cut them out, too much overhead), Peabody and Sherman (Oh, no, Sherman, in this Indian dialect "ta-ta" means "Let's Have a War"), Wrongway Peachfuzz, and of course the flying squirrel and moose. I actually met June Foray at a sci-fi convention once and got her autograph.

2. Hill Street Blues. Real-life drama. I interviewed Bruce Weitz (Mick Belker) and saw Joe Spano (Lt. Henry Goldblume) on the subway. Robert Prosky (Sgt. Jablonsky) grew up across the street from my grandparents in Philly.

3. Dr. Who. Greatest sci-fi series ever, still going on. I've met six of the ten doctors and several of the companions at various sci-fi conventions.

4. The Amazing Race. Of course, read blog entries on the current season for more details.

5. The Dick Van Dyke Show. (Funniest moment: Millie and Jerry discovering Laura with the inflatible raft.)

6. The Mary Tyler Moore Show (Rhoda: I don't know why I'm eating this chocolate, I should apply it directly to my hips)

7. Theater in America. PBS series in the late 1970s spotlighting a different regional theatre production every week. Arena Stage, American Conservatory Theatre, Negro Ensemble Company, Shakespeare in the Park, etc. How I wish there were something like that on TV now, but even with all the dozens of cable channels, nobody cares enough about theatre to present one.

8. Upstairs, Downstairs. (Ruby, it's 6 o'clock, what should you be doin'? Not speculatin', Mr. 'udson. I'll speculate you, my girl!)

9. Mystery Science Theatre 3000. Too much magnificence to go into. This deserves an entire column.

10. Batman with Adam West and Burt Ward. Of course, my favorite show from ages seven to ten. We didn't think it was funny at the time. But now it's wonderfully campy.