Geek World: Mid-Ohio Con
Mid-Ohio Con bills itself as the largest comic book convention in the Midwest, and when it says it’s a comic book convention, it means it. Half of the exhibit hall is taken up by retailers of comics and comics-related merchandise, and the other half is taken up by the booths of artists, writers, and indie comics publishers. The panels are small and entirely comic-book related. By all this I mean the following: If you love and/or collect comic books, or possibly if you love to engage in elaborate cosplay, this is the convention for you. If not, well, you can work that out for yourself.
Fortunately, I am one of those comic-book lover/collector/aficionados, and I had a great time. These sorts of conventions are best, I’ve found, for finding either rare issues or cheap bigger-ticket items, ranging from trades to figurines. I went into the retail area without a real goal in mind, and found myself a little overwhelmed by all the awesome. So I took a step back and set myself a goal: Neil Gaiman and Andy Kubert’s Marvel 1620 #7, the only issue of the series I didn’t own. This took me about five minutes to find. So, new goal: Brian K. Vaughan’s single Dr. Strange story, The Oath. Within five minutes, found, in trade paperback for $5. If you can’t tell from those two selections, I’m a big Dr. Strange fan. I also found a neat Booster Gold figurine for $15, complete with Skeets and inexplicably, one of Atom Smasher’s legs.
A blurry picture of the floor of Mid-Ohio Con 2010, because it was just not my day for taking pictures, apparently.
The line-up of artists, writers, and creators was pretty solid for a show all the way out here in Columbus, Ohio. I had a chance to chat with Sean McKeever, who has done some great work in both the Marvel and DC universes. I expressed my condolences for the cancellation of Young Allies, which I had enjoyed, but he told me that the team would appear again in other stories soon, including in a team-up with the kids from Avengers Academy next year. He was kind enough to sign a copy of X-Men Origins: Jean Grey that he had written for me. David Finch, whose writer/artist run on Detective Comics is about to hit stores, had the longest line on the floor, so I wasn’t able to make it to see him. What makes Finch’s drawing power even more impressive is that he was set up right next to none other than the Incredible Hulk himself, Lou Ferrigno. I got a chance to shake his hand and I can confirm for you that, yes, he is the strongest one there is.
David Petersen, writer and artist of the wonderful Mouse Guard, was also in attendance, and I got the chance to express my admiration briefly as he busily sketched away. On the same row I found the great Kurt Busiek, who may have had the best run on Avengers that any writer has ever had, as well Arthur Suydam, Frank Cho, and Adam Hughes. I had a chance to attend the Marvel Universe panel with several of these creators, and though there really wasn’t a lot of very substantive discussion, it was loads of fun in any case. I can tell you that the answer to: “What’s going on with Scarlet Witch?” is “You should read Young Avengers: The Children’s Crusade“. Done and doner. There was also a lot of speculation on what Spider-Man’s day-planner looks like: “3:15 Team up with Wolverine. 3:45 Get the devil to annul my marriage.”
The cosplay brigade was also out in full force, of course. There were several impressive versions of Princess Leia, a strutting Captain Jack, a great sixties Jean Grey, and full-body suits of Chewbacca and a Predator. This was all made more amusing by the fact that we were sharing the convention center with the Ohio School Boards conference, through which Imperial Storm Troopers regularly marched on their way the men’s room.
All in all, I would highly recommend a trip to Columbus’ annual Mid-Ohio Con for comics fans of all stripes. It’s a great chance to meet some of the creators of the books you love, or to find that one issue you need to fill out a run. Maybe we’ll see each other next year!
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