I went to Garden State Comic Fest today. It was a bit of a last-minute decision, since I didn’t even know it was happening until I saw a tweet about it on Friday from Jim Steranko. I haven’t been to a con like this in quite some time. I’d call it a medium-size con. Plenty of dealers and a fair number of guests. And, unlike some other cons, the guests were primarily comic book writers and artists. (No pro wrestlers, reality TV stars, or washed-up sci-fi actors from the 70s. Not that there’s anything wrong with any of that…)
I got three books signed: my copy of Legion Annual #3, by Greg LaRoque; a Dick Tracy comic, by Joe Staton; and a hardcover First Wave collection, by Rags Morales. All three of those guys were very friendly, and it was cool to meet them.
I didn’t see Steranko there, though maybe I just didn’t look hard enough. I did see Walt and Louise Simonson, but their table was (rightly) very busy, so I didn’t get to talk to them or get anything signed. Greg Hildebrandt had a very nice Tolkien book for sale, but it was a bit too expensive for me ($100).
I picked up a few random hardcovers and paperbacks for really low prices (all between $5 and $9), so my reading pile is now another eight or so inches higher. I didn’t pick up any individual issues, but I did flip through some dollar boxes, and enjoyed looking at some random old comics. So, overall, worth the trip and the $25 admission.