...No, not a big con. I went to the Motor City Comics Convention on May 16, but actually didn't get all that much. That's a big con, with a huge guest area, a ton of dealers, etc. But in my area, there a bunch of much-smaller cons throughout the year. These mainly have dealers ...a bunch of dealers selling comics, toys, videoes, and (yes..) Beanie Babies in a large room. I sometimes get better deals at these smaller shows than I do at the big ones. Anyway, let me tell you what comics I bought...

...But before I do that, let me mention some comics I saw there. I saw one dealer thumbing through an unbagged issue of Captain America Comics (1940s), but I didn't bother asking how much he wanted for it -- I'm a cheap-skate, y'know!

Because of the discussion of certain Miracleman issues being scarce or rare, I made it a point to notice what Miracleman issues were in some of the cheap boxes that I dug through. I saw Miracleman #2-8, and 3-D #1, were in one dealer's 50-cent box, but didn't see any past #8 in there. Other comics I saw in the 50-cent boxes which I made a note of were the Green Lantern one-shot "Ganthet's Tale," Justice League (1987 series) #1 & 2, and Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (first series) #1-3, 5-9, 11-15. In the 25-cent boxes, I made note of seeing Strikeforce Morituri issues circa #1-8, Squadron Supreme #1 & 2, X-Men (1991 series) #1, Man of Steel (1987) #1, Justice League Annual #1 (1987), Marvel Team-Up #26, and New Mutants #22, 23, 29.

None of which I bought. (Because I already have some of them, or don't want 'em.) But figured I'd mention it here.

OK, now on to the stuff I bought. Everything I bought was either 25 cents, 50 cents, or a dollar.

Marvel:

Amazing Fantasy (by Busiek) #16: 50 cents

Avengers #61, 62, 78, 90: $1 each
(They also had #80 for $1, but I got that already.)

Avengers #383, Annual #23: 25 cents each

Avengers Unplugged (1990s) #3: 25 cents

Captain America #303, 304: 50 cents each
(now I only need 20 more issues to have #106-454)

Giant-Size Conan #1: 50 cents

Daredevil #71: $1 (they had lots of 1960s DD for $1, several older than this one...but I got this one because it looked to be in better shape)
Daredevil #81, 128, 139, 140, 143, 163, 164: 50 cents each
Daredevil #369 (1997): 25 cents

Fantastic Four #176, 396, 397: 25 cents
Fantastic Four #230, 399: 50 cents
(I'd been looking for #230! It's not as nice condition as I'd prefer, but it will do. Now that I finally got this comic, I have an unbroken FF run from #157-264.)
Giant-Size F.F. #4: 50 cents
Giant-Size F.F. #5 & 6: $1 each

Fred Hembeck Destroys the Marvel Universe #1: 25 cents

Ghost Rider #12, 14, 25, 27: 50 cents each
Ghost Rider #31: 25 cents

Hulk #186, 194: 50 cents each

Inhumans (1970s) #1: $1
(completes my run of that series -- now I can actually begin to read it)

Iron Man #20, 23, 24, 40: $1 each
Iron Man #61 (semi-poor): 50 cents

Jungle Action (1970s) #1: $1

Ka-Zar (first series, 1970s) #2: $1 (double-sized)
Ka-Zar (second series, 1970s) #1: $1

Marvel Comics Presents #26, 33, 35, 36, 77, 87, 101-109: 25 cents each
(Well, I'd said before that I thought this series went downhill after #100, but I notice circa #106 there was a serial drawn by Gene Colan, so I had to get that. So, I don't think I'll be looking at any after #100 in the future. In fact, I now only need 18 issues to have #1-111.)

Marvel Fanfare (1980s, Claremont/Cockrum X-Men) #3: 50 cents

Marvel Feature (first series) #2 & 3: $1 each
(I already had these, but these look to be in better shape. 2nd and 3rd-ever appearences of The Defenders.)

Marvel's Greatest Comics #33: $1

Marvel Super-Heroes #29 (DD & Iron Man): $1

Marvel Tales #26: $1 (Spidey/Thor/Torch reprints)
Marvel Tales #100 (1970s): 50 cents
Marvel Tales #211: 25 cents

Marvel Team-Up (1970s) #2, 13, 23: $1 each
Marvel Team-Up (1990s) #6: 25 cents

Marvel Triple Action #19: 25 cents

Monster Menace #1 (1993): 25 cents

Namor #3, 6: 25 cents each
(now I have Namor #1-24, and that's all I want to get of that series...unless Byrne did any issues after #24?)

Punisher/Capt America: Blood & Glory, Book 3 (1990s): 50 cents

Sensational She-Hulk (1990s Byrne) #1, 31, 32: 25 cents each

Star Brand (Byrne) #14: 25 cents

Strange Tales #123 (1960s): $1
(Most of the $1 books I bought were at this one dealer's table where he had a lot of 1960s stuff for $1 each...including Strange Tales circa the #140's. At the last minute, I put back some 1960s Challengers of the Unknown issues and a poor-looking, condition-wise, pre-#100 JLA Giant.)

Tales of Suspense #66, 79, 85: $1 each

Tales to Astonish #78, 89, 95, 97: $1 each

Thor #429 (1990): 25 cents

Thunderbolts (1996) #3: 25 cents

Vault of Evil (1970s) #3, 4, 7: 50 cents each

Werewolf by Night (1970s) #16: 50 cents
Giant-Size Werewolf #5: 25 cents

Uncanny X-Men #118 (curled spine), 270: 50 cents each
Uncanny X-Men #274: $1

DC:

Action Comics #299: $1
Action Comics #722: 25 cents

Adventures of Superman #494-496, 503, 504, Annual #5: 25 cents each

Aquaman (1960s) #16: $1

Batman: Gotham by Gaslight: either 50 or 25 cents

Brave & the Bold #28 (1990s reprint); #196: 25 cents each
Brave & the Bold #92: $1

Detective Comics #225 (1990s reprint): 25 cents
Detective Comics #435: can't remember price, probably 50 cents or $1
Detective Comics #455: $1

Doom Patrol (1960s) #99: $1

The Flash #183 (poor condition), 241 (bent), 311, 312, 331, 343, 346: 25 cents each

Jack Kirby's Fourth World (1990s Byrne) #1, 3, 7: 50 cents each

Mister Miracle (1970s) #12: 50 cents

New Talent Showcase (1984) #5: 25 cents

New Teen Titans (Baxter series) #17, 19, 20, 22-31: 25 cents each
(This came at a good time, just as I've been reading this series from #1-up and was getting close to where the holes in my collection begin. Now I only need 17 issues to have #1-101.)

Official Crisis Index (ICG, 1986) #1: 50 cents

Official Legion Index (ICG, 1980s) #1-3: 50 cents each

Our Army at War (1970s) #291: 50 cents

Plastic Man (1970s) #12, 13: 50 cents each

Ragman (1990s) #3: 25 cents

Shadow of the Batman (1980s reprint series) #1, 4: $1 each

Showcase #101, 102: 50 cents each

Superboy (1960s) #81 (poor), 108, 116, 122: $1 each
Superboy (1990s) #14, 28, 30: 25 cents each

Superman #400: 25 cents!! (or possibly 50...but I think it was 25...!)

Superman (1990s) #105, 110-113: 25 cents each

Superman Annual #3 (1991): 50 cents
Superman Annual #8: 25 cents

Superman/Madman Hullabaloo (1997) #3: 50 cents

Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #114, 122: $1 each

Swamp-Thing #38, 39: 50 cents each

Wanted (1970s reprint series) #4, 7: $1 each

Wonder Woman Annual #5 (Cockrum pencils): 50 cents

World's Finest #227: $1
World's Finest (1990s, Steve Rude art) #3: $1

Other companies:

Adv. of the Fly (Archie, 1963) #26: $1
(page 1 & 2 have some splotches)

Attack (Charlton, 1964) #3: 50 cents

Battlefield Action (Charlton, 1960?) #32: 50 cents

Big Bang Comics (Caliber) #1 (can't remember what I paid...maybe 25 cents?); #2: 25 cents
Big Bang Comics (Image) #1: $1

Bone #15, 21, 23-26: 50 cents each

Cavewoman (Caliber) #7: 50 cents
(Rumor has it that Cavewoman might be having a cross-over with Kesel's Superboy sometime in the future.)

Cerebus #70-72, 74-76, 78, 79, 81, 83, 84: 50 cents each
(This filled in some holes for me nicely, giving me an unbroken run of #70-93.)

Damned (Image, 1997; Zeck art) #2, 3: 50 cents each

Doctor Weird (Caliber, 1994; Brunner cover) #1: 25 cents

Ghost Manor (first series) #4, (second series, 1970s) #15: 50 cents each

Ghostly Haunts (Charlton, 1970s) #20: 50 cents

Ghostly Tales (Charlton, 1970s) #87, 98: 50 cents each

Hate (Fantagraphics) #21, 24: 50 cents each

Haunt of Fear (Gladstone EC reprints, 1991) #2: 50 cents

Hercules (Charlton, 1960s) #2, 5, 6: 50 cents each

John Bolton Halls of Horror (Eclipse) #1: 50 cents

Jungle Adventures (Skywald, circa 1971) #3: 50 cents

Luger (Eclipse) #1: 50 cents

Mike Grell's Maggie the Cat (Image) #1: 50 cents

Mr. Monster's 3-D Hi-Octane Horror (Eclipse) #1: 50 cents

Nexus: Alien Justice #2, 3: 50 cents each

Original Black Cat (Alfred Harvey, 1988) #1: $1

Pathways to Fantasy (Pacific) #1: 50 cents

THE PHANTOM:
(Whew! This was the oddest find I've had in awhile. One 25-cent box had a bunch of recent-looking Phantom comics in them, reprinting the old comic-strips. I'd not seen the comics before...in fact, they looked like foreign comics. In fact, it turns out that it was printed in Australia. Some of the covers are paper, like Gladstone had reverted to in recent years. Some of these Phantom comics have the normal amount of pages, some are 64-pagers, and then one special issue (#1000!) is a whopping 308 pages! What a find, and for only a quarter each!)

Phantom (Aus.) #978, 992, 994-1004: 25 cents each!
Phantom (Aus.) in "The Tiger's Lair" (not numbered): 25 cents (sideways comic)

Starslayer (First, 1980s) #7, 8: 25 cents each

Supreme (Awesome) #51, 52A, 52B: 50 cents each
(first Supreme comics I ever bought, writ. by Alan Moore)

Tales Too Terrible To Tell (NEC, 1990s) #1: $1

True Love (Eclipse; romance reprints) #1, 2: 50 cents each

Twisted Tales of Bruce Jones (Eclipse) #1-4: 50 cents each

Unusual Tales (Charlton, 1962) #36: $1

Victory (Topps, 1990s) #1: 25 cents
(This was a Kurt Busiek/Keith Giffen comic that used Topps' Kirby-created superheroes.)

WHEW! I don't wanna think about how much I spent!

Oh, after the con, I stopped at a comic store in the area and bought the following:

Comic Book Marketplace #58, $4.95
Dr. Wonder #3, 5: $2.95 each
Comic Book Profiles #3: $2.50 (yeah, I found it at last)
Howard the Duck Treasury Edition, 1976: $1.50 (Howard joins the Defenders)

Of course, with the store discount, it came to less than that, i.e. the $1.50 Howard book cost $1.20, etc.

Well, now that I'm through listing everything I got, I think I'm gonna sit down and possibly read some comics! (And look forward to the next con, three weeks from now...)

Rob