The first one I attended was in 1973 at the Sheraton on Shelter Island. It was still relatively small and the industry professionals were pretty accessible once you knew the route between the rooms and the bar. My fondest memory was sitting in a room on the floor (there were no chairs) listening to artist and fan-favorite Neal Adams answer questions about his work, and borrowing one of my comic books to use as an example. I still have that autographed issue of Strange Adventures. Neal’s still around too, and still at the Convention, but the whole sitting-at-his-feet-while-he-holds-up-a-comic-book vibe is pretty much a thing of the past.
Although both Ken and I enjoyed going, we enjoyed it for different reasons. The attraction for Ken was primarily the exhibition hall (which we still quaintly call the “dealer’s room”, even though it now covers the same acreage as the Ponderosa), because it was an opportunity to pick up merchandise and old comics that he otherwise wouldn’t have access to. With the advent of the internet, particularly E-Bay, that’s no longer the case. That, along with the factor of the ever-increasing crowds, finally made Ken realize that nostalgia alone wasn’t worth the hassle of attending. I suspect the last few times he made the trip, it was more for my benefit than his.
All material copyright 2009 Chuck Thornton