Los Angeles Comic Con - 9/19/2010

Sunday morning. It took me about 15 minutes to get past downtown to the Shrine Auditorium for the LA Comic Con. Who ever said LA traffic was bad..?

Parking was affordable at $7 per spot. It looked like you could actually swing free street parking but I'll have to wait for the next one to try that out. The entrance fee was $8 but if you wanted first stab at what the dealers were offering you could get in an hour earlier (9am) for $12.

The selection was pretty good for a smaller convention; a slice of everything. We checked out pretty much everything but I spent the most time going through the newer issue 50c boxes. It is safe to say I came away with a pretty big pile.. Overall there were great deals to be made. There weren't a super abundance of trade paperbacks but I still managed to get a couple for either $5 or 50-60% off book price.

Some dealers were more popular than others and it got pretty crowded in some places. People were waiting in line to get at some of the 50c boxes. The mood and atmosphere was great and the auditorium itself definitely added to it. Excellent vibes.

I won't list all the pretties but here were a few of my favorite pickups:

• Artifacts #1 (First printing, Cover B) - $0.50
• Captain America: Red Menace vol 1 - $6.00
• Thor the Mighty Avenger #2, #3 - $1.00
• Y: The Last Man vol 1 - $3.95
• Showcase: Green Lantern vol 1 - $5.00

Maybe not a convention you travel across the country for like SDCC or NYCC but if you are in the LA area for some reason and it happens to coincide with the LA Comic Con, then head on over. You won't be disappointed, there's definitely something for everyone!

Official Website

America’s 10 Greatest Comic Stores (Flavorwire)

There is a post about "America’s 10 Greatest Comic and Graphic Novel Stores" over at Flavorwire that was at least semi interesting. I would not put too much weight on what is said for each one.. their choices and motivations doesn't really play well with my own but still, it does feature 10 LCS' so I'm all for it.

http://flavorwire.com/119588/americas-10-greatest-comic-and-graphic-novel-stores

Comic stores vs. the economy (ROBOT 6)

There's a post over at ROBOT 6 reporting on the economy in relation to comic stores both local and online.

"Economic forces continue to take a toll on comic retailers — online stores and brick-and-mortar shops alike — a gloomy reality illustrated by two recent developments."

http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2010/09/comic-stores-vs-the-economy-a-grim-tale-of-two-retailers/