I think the temperature was somewhere around the low nineties this past Sunday.  Typically, I wouldn’t even bother to go outside at all on a day like that.  I also wouldn’t willingly go to a OSU Buckeyes sports bar/fan hangout under normal circumstances.  But Sunday was an exception to all this, because the 2006 Buckeye Comic Con was held at The Buckeye Hall of Fame Café in Columbus.  So, I pretty much had no choice but to brave the searing heat and scads of gaudy OSU memorabilia and make the trek to Columbus...with my entire family in tow to boot. (They are just too kind to me sometimes, you know?)

Now, this was about the most focused I have ever been at a comic con.  I had my short list of “haves” and “wants” with me and although the list is not a comprehensive roster of my entire collection inventory, it provides a clear enough picture of what issues I am missing from some of my favorite comic book series.  I also have a very short “wish list” of some of my more sought-after issues from my years of collecting. I try to keep this list very short and very realistic, because I don’t want to make a practice of spending gobs of money on comics.  My “wish list” (as of this past Sunday) included 3 key issues:
Flash 135
Flash #135, March 1963
1.  Flash #135  “Secret of the Three Super-Weapons!”  is classic Silver Age tale featuring Flash and Kid Flash.  I passed up a copy for $7.00 or $8.00 at a local shop about 15 years ago and I have been looking for an affordable copy ever since.  The cover depicts a wonderfully goofy scene in which Flash has accidentally changed Kid Flash’s uniform through the use of his mental power and some kind of futuristic weaponry.  Incredibly kitschy.  I still love Flash and Kid Flash stories from “the good old days” when both characters were still “alive.”

2.  Captain Marvel Adventures #100  “The Plot Against the Universe!” is probably one of the best Golden Age Captain Marvel tales ever.  This is a lengthy tale which pits Captain Marvel against Dr. Sivana, featuring guest appearances by the wizard Shazam and Captain Marvel’s pal, Mr. Tawny.  During the course of the tale, Captain Marvel and Dr. Sivana discover three new synthetic elements: Sivanium (no. 97), Shazamium (no. 98), and Marvelium (no. 99).  So much for Berkelium, Californium and Einsteinium.  This issue would definitely find a place on my comic book “wall of fame.”

3.  Flash #123  “Flash of Two Worlds”  I am not sure what I can possibly say about this comic book that hasn’t been said over and over again by fans for decades.  This is a comic book masterpiece.  I love Flash comics and this one is the story that brought together the Silver Age and Golden Age Flashes for the first time.  This is pretty much my most sought-after comic book for many years now.  High-end, good condition copies are generally out of my reach, but I have come close to scoring some low-grade “reader” copies in recent years.  I have a reprint of this issue, but I am too rigid to allow reprints in my “wall of fame” collection.  The day I score an original copy of this issue, I will definitely have to reassess my top three slots of comics on the “wall of fame.”

Within minutes of hitting the door, I found two copies of Flash #123.  One was around $250 and the other was $275.  That is really way more than I want to spend on a single issue these days.  I much prefer “reader” copies which are banged up, but mostly complete.  At the same booth, I found a great copy of Flash #135 and although it was quite a bit more than the copy that I passed on many years years ago, it was relatively affordable.  I gave it back to the dealer while I looked around some more, but I eventually went back and purchased it.

My next stop was a visit to the Fearless Readers booth.  Fearless Readers is my favorite Dayton-area comic shop these days.  The store owner greeted me by telling me that he had purchased a box of comics earlier in the day that was comprised mostly of Golden Age  material.  He let me look through a couple of stacks from the collection and I was pleasantly surprised to find quite a few issues of Captain Marvel Adventures and Whiz Comics.  I picked out one of each title (Captain Marvel Adventures #135, Aug 1952 and Whiz Comics #147, July 1952) and he let me have them for one low, low price.  This was especially nice as these titles aren’t easy to find for reasonable prices, especially at Dayton area stores.

Whiz 147
Whiz Comics 147, July 1952

I found another copy of Flash #123 at a different booth, but this copy was $200 which is still too high for me.  I looked around a bit longer and found a few more comics that excited me, including a Charlton Captain Atom (Captain Atom #83, November 1966) and a Golden Age Airboy (Airboy v. 3 #4, May 1946).  I’m always in the market for that kind of stuff and I was successful at getting a little shaved off the prices of those two issues.  Along the way, I picked up an old Barbie comic book for K. and I felt that it was necessary to qualify my purchase by telling the dealer, “Um...This isn’t for me.”  He responded by laughing and saying, “Don’t lie.”  Nothing like a little comic con humor.

By this point, I was nearing the end of my spending money, so I packed it in.  It took me a little less than an hour to spend my comic con funds, but it was a blast (for me, anyway) and I could happily scratch off one of the issues from my “wish list.”  The remaining two comics on the list are a bit out of my reach right now, but it looks like eBay will be a better option when it comes to finding affordable copies of these particular books.

Then again, there is always another comic con around the corner.