Today's Comic Book Conventions Are Sad!

Join me as we take a journey to the past in the way of comic con programs.
I flip through Bay Con 3, Pacific Northwest Con 1990 & San Diego Comic Con 1994 !
Check out those covers by Dave Stevens, Jack Kirby And Matt Groening!
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#simpsons #jackkirby #eternals #rocketeer #davestevens #mattgroening #sdcc #comiccons #comicconvention #comicsbooks #flipthrough

[@andrewp_cc]

My favorite part about that JK autograph is that it is the ONLY autograph in that whole book.

[@WestCoastDAVEngers]

I thought about that too, the person who owned that wanted the king and ONLY the king

[@6bthedevil]

Dope video and RIP Ed Piskor. His THING DKR pose!!! SO DOPE! I'm Bay Area my man!

[@WestCoastDAVEngers]

Thanks for watching! Miss Ed every day

[@rjgiddings]

In 1990 in Bakersfield CA - I walked up to Jim Lee, got a handshake and a quick sketch in 5 min, and walked away to the next artist... and If I KNEW how freakin rare that was - Id have spent a few more minutes at that table, believe me. No cosplay, no gaming stuff, no Funko Pops, just stacks and stacks of comics. By comic artists/ geeks, for comic geeks. Seems like a million years ago.

[@WestCoastDAVEngers]

I spent almost an entire day at Stephen Platt's table at a show at Hofstra in NY when I was like 14-15 and I'm glad, cause nearly 30 years later he's finally returned to the comic con circuit, but that memory still stays with me. Thanks for sharing your story!

[@drawingpathos]

Back in '91 in San Diego my dad had to get a ticket punched and then stood in a line for three hours to get my copy of X-men #1 signed by Jim and Scott.

[@darrelldent9083]

Got a George Perez sketch in '77 for $10, full figure. Doc Savage, he was thrilled because it was different than the usual requests.

[@eggplantcomics8336]

Photos and video footage I’ve seen from the 70s comic convention was huge tables with unbagged books piled on top of each other. Truly horrifying!

[@darrelldent9083]

Yeah, but the deals were great! Actually, in addition to the guys like Gary Dolgoff (who piled silver age stuff on his table) there were the bagged, boarded in long box stuff too, thankfully no slabs back then.

[@vobgreat]

Wolverine's costume is Fang's from the Imperial Guard.

[@WestCoastDAVEngers]

I had a feeling someone would know, like you, my resident X-Pert!

[@read.your.comics]

Then Byrne immediately put him back in the yellow and blue an issue later.

[@stampscapes]

Great flip-through. I was surprised at the guest lineup for the Bay Con one but comic fans back then probably wouldn't travel down to San Diego much at that time. Nice putting some con history out there also. Creation Events put on cons around the country in that late 70's-80's and maybe longer and was the main con organizers but there was zero information out there on those shows so I'm glad you did this as a little historical record. Cons were really chill for a longest time. Even with San Diego, you could decide to attend on a Saturday, park in the con parking lot, and walk up to the entrance and buy a day pass until the early 2000s. There was the 90's comic boom but the shows were still mainly focused on the books. Just us comic book geeks at those shows for a long time. lol. My wife worked at Qualcomm which is where John Rogers (pres of comic con) worked and she said that he used to bring in a stack of day passes and just lay them on a table in the break room for anyone to take.

[@WestCoastDAVEngers]

I never got to any of the west coast conventions when I was a kid, but NY had some great ones, I wish that I had paid attention to some of the legends but was enthralled by the Image guys as a 12 year old. Thank you for the additional historical record in your comment! Look for a few more of these down the line as I picked up another stack of vintage comic con programs!

[@stampscapes]

@@WestCoastDAVEngers Yeah, NY would also have those Creation Sci-Fi and Comic Con shows. You'd see NY and different areas in CA (Bay Area, Anaheim, and LA), and probably Chicago. Look forward to seeing more of those vintage program vids. Do you have any of the Buyers Guide for Comic Fandom issues? Would be cool to see some flip throughs of those. I had a subscription as a kid for a few years but I can't find any of them. That publication was our connection to what was going on in comics. Overstreet, of course, was the main book but, as far as current prices and events went, it was the Buyer's Guide.

[@WestCoastDAVEngers]

@@stampscapes I don't think I have any at this moment, but always keep my eyes open for them, but I typically gravitate towards hunting fanzines and comics journal when I'm looking for stuff for my PC. But I'll definitely add the buyers guide to the hunt!

[@marshsquad4693]

I went to high school with Karl Kesel. He was a couple years older. After I moved out my parents had his father mow their lawn. His dad had a side business

[@brute_nm]

Al Feldstein with a cowboy hat, Wally Wood with a f-ing CROSSBOW... those EC guys really knew how to flex in pics

[@WestCoastDAVEngers]

The real comic badasses!

[@OliverSteron]

Great video, appreciate you sharing it!

[@WestCoastDAVEngers]

More coming down the pipeline with comic con program flip-throughs!

[@deadlanguage_store]

Steve Rude's Kirby looked SO much like Kirby! Loved all the con art, especially since that's probably the only place most of it was ever published. Love it DAVEY!

[@WestCoastDAVEngers]

Rude the Dude is like Kirby reincarnate! Glad you had fun Joshie!

[@mxoraven1]

I’ll admit as soon as you turned the page to that Kirby auto I shut my phone off and started to curse lol yes I’m jealous. Awesome find

[@WestCoastDAVEngers]

It's okay, when I first got it and flipped through it I shut the book and said "no fucking way" lol

[@jeffreyskinkus6154]

In 1977 no one charged for an autograph!

[@Spidermanmustang-yk2dj]

Bro, I guess there’s still hope to find good stuff at your local HPB!! I haven’t been to that Berkeley HPB yet.

[@juanalbarran75]

Getting a Kirby autograph just like that is wild 😳 Oh, and you need to check out Rumiko Takahashi! Ranma 1/2 is a lot of fun.

[@WestCoastDAVEngers]

I always see those Ranma 1/2 books but never knew anything about and always seems so intimidating cause there's so many issues! But I will check it out Juan!

[@juanalbarran75]

@@WestCoastDAVEngers You're right, Ranma is way too long... try One Pound Gospel, a story between a nun and a boxer. Great stuff. It may be hard to find but it's only 4 volumes, I think.

[@WestCoastDAVEngers]

A nun and a boxer...I feel like that's several issues of Daredevil😂 I'll pick up a volume!

[@darrelldent9083]

Yeah, I still have the ones from going to the '75 creation convention and the two Marvel Cons from '76, '77. Great time capsules. Comparing them to the more recent NYCC programs, which are mostly ads.

[@WestCoastDAVEngers]

Ha, come to a convention in 2024, and here's your ad catalogue! Thanks for watching!

[@johnsonbenjamin887]

That was fun !

[@drawrobot]

At my first con I tabled at, Chicagocon, my table was between Steve Rude and Al Williamson. I was excited to chat with Al but unfortunately he was a no show. Al was between me and Sergio Aragones but he was busy most of the show. Steve was a socially awkward cat who didn’t talk much.

[@WestCoastDAVEngers]

Thats some great company!

[@marcb3181]

I would have wanted to go to the 1977 convention and then hightail it over to Colorado to buy Edgar Church's collection before Chuck Rozanski got his hands on it.

[@WestCoastDAVEngers]

Now that's worth building a time machine for!

[@Swalty-Boy]

Damn it, Dave! I thought we were FINALLY getting the long-awaited trilogy sequel, West Coast Davenger's: The Return of Turok, not a history lesson! I NEED to know who wins; Turok vs Darth Jar Jar?!? Well, at least we have 5 more chances this week. Fingers crossed! 🤞

[@WestCoastDAVEngers]

😂😂😂😂 You never know what's gonna be in the next one! "High Ground - the epic battle of Turok & Jar Jar"

[@mattrossi9956]

Quick story: I’ve been to every SDCC since 1993, and when my brother and I went to the 94 show, there was also a signing there with Matt groening, bill morrison and Steve Vance. They were only signing one thing but when we got to the front of the line, Matt signed like 4 things for me including that book. Bill Morrison, Steve Vance and Cindy Vance also signed it. I just got it slabbed/verified with CBCS. It’s interesting to see the changes to SDCC over time. Back then it was like 95% comics and there was much more of a “personal” feel to it. You could actually walk around and talk to creators. I remember doing scavenger hunts at the marvel booth to win swag and prizes. Great show Dave!

[@WestCoastDAVEngers]

Matt, thank you for this cool story! I wish I had gone out to SDCC back when I was a kid, this would have been a great experience for me in '93 as it seemed like it was for you!

[@arghsonofcliff]

Ya things were different. I did sports card shows in the early 90's. If the had guests we would get free autographs pictures and stuff. One show we had a guy selling pogs behind us we had a blast that day. He had pog guns we had fights all day.

[@lastavenger8532]

back when comic books were the main focal point, today its full of cosplayers who only care about showing off & have zero interest in the medium

[@silversurfer4441]

Everything today is about the indulgence of the self and ego. It's role-playing games where YOU are at the center of attention, and it's cos play where YOU are, again, the center of attention. No one gives a rip about the creators anymore, and they're the ones making it all happen. As an internationally published artist myself with Marvel Entertainment, I've had times when I've done signing events for retail stores, when I'm available for signings and even live drawing performances, but I'm totally ignored because the patrons are busy playing games. They can play games anytime they want to, but I was there for only one day in a lifetime. It makes no sense. It seems, art is dead.

[@thequietroomfiles9731]

Great work and video but you don't know who Bill Mumy is??? Oh the pain! Danger Will Robinson! BIll was Will Robinson in Lost In Space as well as have a few bands and writing for different Comic companies most notably Innovations Comics and their Lost In Space Series of the 1990s

[@WestCoastDAVEngers]

What can I say, I've never watched Lost In Space🤷🏻‍♂️

[@thequietroomfiles9731]

@@WestCoastDAVEngers all good!

[@eggplantcomics8336]

Wow you are destroying those pages as you flip! Ouch

[@andrewp_cc]

🤫 But the truth is that books looove when you actually treat them like books…

[@eggplantcomics8336]

@@andrewp_cc they like it rough, eh? 😆