For any collector of old, rare or unpopular comics, the Buffalo Comicon was the Mecca of comic stores on Sunday. The event, sponsored by Queen City Comics was a great place for local collectors to make a killing. Well-known titles such as "The Avengers" and "The X-Men" were just a few amongst thousands.
The Comicon was set up at the Marriot Hotel just off Millersport Highway. One of the first orders of business after paying was going and picking out a free stack of comics. That's right, a free stack of comics right at the entrance. Leaving a Comicon empty handed would be sacrilegious.
Upon entering the room, the walls seemed to be stacked from floor to ceiling with thousands of comics complimented by a number of comic enthusiasts, artists and collectors milling about the room.
For the most part, DC and Marvel back issues dominated the selection, with a few independent labels in the mix.
"This Comicon could have been better," said Phil McAndrew, a junior illustration major at Daemen College. "There could have been a lot less old guys selling what they found in their mom's basement."
Agreeably so, the idea of a few more unheard comics and artists finding their way to this convention wouldn't have been a bad thing.
Comic books were not the sole focus of this convention. Some of the artists would actually sit down with a person and draw them as a superhero. There were various comic-related games along with a rather large collection of comic-related toys dispersed around the room.
Although there was a large presence of the major companies, a few indie artists did show up. Artist/writer/producer Jeff Youngbluth, a UB alumnus and the author of "Deep-Fried"-which can be viewed at www.whatisdeepfried.com-and "Weapon Brown" had a booth set up.
"Deep-Fried" was actually run first in Generation Magazine and then moved to The Spectrum. After gaining a major in illustration, and getting published by DC, Youngbluth started his own production company "Death-Ray Graphics."
"Deep-Fried" seems to be a fairly solid set of comics. The main characters Beepo, a clown and Road-kill are a medium, or so it would seem, for Youngbluth to make a satire out of the Bush administration and American life. He does a fine job at that. The art is cartoon-like, and would be comparable to the "Bone" comic series.
Although it seemed to be a rare event, the Buffalo Comicon could have used some improvements. Although there were a lot of comics, the same DC and Marvel back issues at every table become monotonous and only interesting to a certain audience. Had the Comicon found some way to distinguish itself from every other small comic book convention, it would have been more interesting.
