{"id":340,"date":"2010-08-30T10:33:04","date_gmt":"2010-08-30T14:33:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.viciousgrin.com\/blog\/?p=340"},"modified":"2011-12-12T15:04:05","modified_gmt":"2011-12-12T20:04:05","slug":"baltimore-comic-con-death-and-sandman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/viciousgrin.com\/blog\/2010\/08\/30\/baltimore-comic-con-death-and-sandman\/","title":{"rendered":"Baltimore Comic-Con, Death, and Sandman"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

or “How after 12 years I came closer to completing my oldest collection and won the con at the same time”.<\/p>\n

I started collecting Sandman<\/a> comics around 1998 or so. This was back in the days when huge swaths of the San Diego Comic-Con floor was nothing but booth after booth of comic books. I would plop down with a box of $1 comics and a list written down on notebook paper and carefully pluck out the little treasures.<\/p>\n

As we all know, SDCC is nothing like those halcyon days any more. Where there were once 10-15 booths of cheap back issues of non-superhero comics, there are now 2. Walking into Baltimore Comic-Con<\/a> was like coming home. Comic shop owners dominated the floor. $1 comics. $5 graphic novels. Action figures, artists, independent comics publishers, and web comics. It was beautiful. My nerd heart wept.<\/p>\n

We stopped in many booths looking for a comic that has eluded us since July: Blackhawk #133<\/a>, the first appearance of Lady Blackhawk. (Still haven’t found it) In one booth, I started flipping through a box of comics entitled “Misc. Vertigo”. In it, I found the Death<\/a> Mini Comic, “Death Talks About Life”. A 6-page pamphlet distributed in the 90s informing people about safe sex, STDs, and condoms with a guest appearance from John Constantine<\/a>. I kept flipping through the box and Trey and I opted to split up so he could keep looking for Blackhawk. This booth wasn’t done with me, yet.<\/p>\n

I found the Sandman back issues and the front of the stack had issue #3. My eyes got big as saucers. The front part of my collection was the most naked. The first 8 issues of Sandman were always out of my price range as a young’un. I am now a grown up with a scandalous amount of disposable income. I stumbled upon the box of comic book treasures. Literally. I pulled all the low number issues missing from my list rather gleefully.<\/p>\n

Tucked in the wrong place, out of order, was Sandman #8 — the first appearance of Death. My breath caught in my chest. I stared at in disbelief for a few seconds. I had found it. My first thought was, “Trey is NEVER going to believe this!” My second thought was, “He missed me finding it! Sad! I wish he was here.” No matter what else happened, though, I could go home happy.<\/p>\n

I purchased my huge stack of Sandman back issues and asked the booth owner if he had copies of Sandman #1 and #2. He stepped down to a box of comics on the floor and plucked issue #1 effortlessly from the box and handed it to me. His asking price was half what I was used to seeing when I started my collection, it was a no-brainer. I had successfully found the mini-comic, the first appearances of Death and Dream in one place. Full on triple nerdgasm, all the way, across the con. (To borrow a SUPER tired meme)<\/p>\n

Out of a 75-issue run of a seminal series of comics, I am only missing 4 issues. I am on nerdy cloud 9.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

or “How after 12 years I came closer to completing my oldest collection and won the con at the same time”. I started collecting Sandman comics around 1998 or so. This was back in the days when huge swaths of the San Diego Comic-Con floor was nothing but booth after booth of comic books. I … <\/p>\n

Continue reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":341,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[51],"tags":[54,46,69,47,68,67,45],"class_list":["post-340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-comic-books","tag-comic-con","tag-comics","tag-death","tag-nerdery","tag-sandman","tag-vertigo","tag-win","item-wrap"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/viciousgrin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/vertigo-comics.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":287,"url":"https:\/\/viciousgrin.com\/blog\/2010\/07\/27\/honeymoon-recap\/","url_meta":{"origin":340,"position":0},"title":"Honeymoon Recap","author":"Jess","date":"July 27, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Theoretically, I should really do a post about different events and chunks of the honeymoon. Likelihood of that? Slim to none. I may surprise myself and do something about the different snippets of awesome that comprised my honeymoon in San Diego. Thursday was a travel day and can be summed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Comic Books"","block_context":{"text":"Comic Books","link":"https:\/\/viciousgrin.com\/blog\/category\/comic-books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/viciousgrin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/con-day-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/viciousgrin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/con-day-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/viciousgrin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/con-day-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/viciousgrin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/con-day-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/viciousgrin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/con-day-1.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/viciousgrin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/con-day-1.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":418,"url":"https:\/\/viciousgrin.com\/blog\/2011\/06\/01\/dc-comics-big-announcement\/","url_meta":{"origin":340,"position":1},"title":"DC Comics’ BIG Announcement","author":"Jess","date":"June 1, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I would be horribly remiss in not posting anything about this topic (but what else would be new, there?), so here goes. Dan DiDio, co-publisher of DC Comics broke the news to USA Today they are rebooting the DC Universe and relaunching some 50 titles at issue #1. I have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Comic Books"","block_context":{"text":"Comic Books","link":"https:\/\/viciousgrin.com\/blog\/category\/comic-books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/viciousgrin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/20110601-104808.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/viciousgrin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/20110601-104808.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/viciousgrin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/20110601-104808.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/viciousgrin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/20110601-104808.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/viciousgrin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/20110601-104808.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/viciousgrin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/20110601-104808.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":220,"url":"https:\/\/viciousgrin.com\/blog\/2010\/06\/16\/from-the-win-files-a-fonts-story-the-best-wedding-invitations-and-a-documentary\/","url_meta":{"origin":340,"position":2},"title":"From The Win Files: A Font’s Story, The Best Wedding Invitations, and a Documentary","author":"Jess","date":"June 16, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"From The Win Files will be a list of nifty things or links that I just find completely and utterly awesome. Welcome to the first installment. I Am Comic Sans, a short imagined monologue from an oft-maligned font found on every personal computer from here to Timbuktu. If you have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Win Files"","block_context":{"text":"The Win Files","link":"https:\/\/viciousgrin.com\/blog\/category\/the-win-files\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/viciousgrin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/Munchkin-Win-Files1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":282,"url":"https:\/\/viciousgrin.com\/blog\/2010\/07\/17\/absentee-blogger\/","url_meta":{"origin":340,"position":3},"title":"Absentee Blogger","author":"Jess","date":"July 17, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I am a bad blogger. I promised an update during the long weekend and didn't deliver. I apologize. Lots. I even had a fun post about shoes drafted that I never bothered to post. Some day soon. Promises. It has been super hot here the last few weeks. We haven't\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "House Adventures"","block_context":{"text":"House Adventures","link":"https:\/\/viciousgrin.com\/blog\/category\/house-adventures\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":298,"url":"https:\/\/viciousgrin.com\/blog\/2010\/08\/03\/terrible-loser\/","url_meta":{"origin":340,"position":4},"title":"Terrible Loser","author":"Jess","date":"August 3, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I saw yesterday's PVP and it was like Scott Kurtz was inside my mind! (It's incredibly important you view that comic before continuing. Go on ahead and look. I'll wait.) Did you read it? Good. (If you didn't, go do so, but we're not waiting for any stragglers. Keep up\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Comic Books"","block_context":{"text":"Comic Books","link":"https:\/\/viciousgrin.com\/blog\/category\/comic-books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/viciousgrin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/dexstarr.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":454,"url":"https:\/\/viciousgrin.com\/blog\/2011\/06\/15\/wedding-anniversary-weekend-of-doom\/","url_meta":{"origin":340,"position":5},"title":"Wedding Anniversary Weekend of DOOM!","author":"Jess","date":"June 15, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Ok, not really of DOOM. But, oh the mishaps were very Lathrop-y. Because it is so much fun and we have such a wonderful time with it at the Mocks, I tracked down a Beatles Rock Band Limited Edition bundle. It comes with a drum set, Hoffner bass controller, microphone\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Trey and Jess's Life"","block_context":{"text":"Trey and Jess's Life","link":"https:\/\/viciousgrin.com\/blog\/category\/trey-and-jess-life\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/viciousgrin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/jess-n-trey-07-19.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/viciousgrin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/jess-n-trey-07-19.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/viciousgrin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/jess-n-trey-07-19.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/viciousgrin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/jess-n-trey-07-19.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/viciousgrin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/jess-n-trey-07-19.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/viciousgrin.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/jess-n-trey-07-19.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/viciousgrin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/viciousgrin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/viciousgrin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/viciousgrin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/viciousgrin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=340"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/viciousgrin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":345,"href":"https:\/\/viciousgrin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340\/revisions\/345"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/viciousgrin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/viciousgrin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/viciousgrin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/viciousgrin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}