Granite Con Wrap-Up

Last weekend, a buddy and I headed up the highway and attended the Granite State Comicon in Manchester NH. This con is one of my favorites because it is big enough to attract a good guest list and artist's alley but small enough to not overwhelm me with creators and signatures I need to get. As a result, this is the convention where I go to relax, shop, and buy comics.

The show felt far busier than prior ones I have been too and had a very high energy. There were a lot of people in costume here, way way more than I expected. So it had a sort of festive carnival feel to it.

As I said I went there to shop and I had to thumb through a whole host of boxes. But I ended up with some diamonds in the rough. And the beauty is ... almost all of them were in either $1 or 50 cent boxes!

I will admit that this Adventure Comics 80-page Giant from 1998 caught my eye mostly for the great Steve Lightle Wonder Woman cover. But inside is a Linda Danvers Supergirl story! Written by Joan Weis with art by Louis Small Jr and Butch Guice, it tells a nice story of Supergirl saving a down-on-her-luck young woman from a life of slavery. There is some good contrast between Linda's prior poor choices and this girl's lack of freedom of choice. I am sure I will eventually review it. But as someone who loved the PAD Supergirl, any new story is worth checking out.

I also got the Superman Secret Files and Origins 2004 because the talent on the sidebar was pretty high. After looking through it at home I was happy to find that it included a Supergirl Who's Who page drawn by Michael Turner very early on in that incarnation's story. I will definitely post that ... and soon.

I brought home a whole stack of comics which also included the last two issues of Stalker I needed to complete that brief series, a bunch of Ted McKeever Eddy Current and Transit issues, a Lois Lane mini-series with art by Gray Morrow (!), Mike Allred's Superman/Madman, and all sorts of other goodies.

So from a comic book point of view, it was great and I will be reading new stuff for a while.

There were some downsides to the con though.

One was that I didn't get any original art, the first convention in a long time that that has happened. I had a plan for a very cool commission which just didn't come to fruition. And by the time I realized that, it was too late to look elsewhere.

The other down side was that Keith Champagne wasn't there. I heard he cancelled late. He was the artist I was most hoping to meet (after Eric Powell who also cancelled).

Still overall, I had a very good time there and will definitely head up to the next one. If you are looking for a nice local art scene, some 'name' guests, and great comic bargains and you are in the area, you should too!