The Four Color Media Monitor

The Greenfield Recorder's covering this year's Western Massachussettes Comic Book Show. First, what they say about the veteran creators in attendance:

This year, DC Comics’ Mike DeCarlo and Marvel’s Joe St. Pierre will be among the big names attending the show. DeCarlo was a DC editor in the 1980s and is best known for inking – adding shading and detail to comic book sketches – George Perez’s work, who created the top-selling “New Teen Titans” series in 1980.

St. Pierre is known for creating the most Spider-Man comic book covers during his time with Marvel.

Yes, that's the great news. But now, here's what else is taking place:

Along with the chance to meet and speak with comic creators, people will also have the chance to grow or start their own comic book collections with a wide variety of books for sale. There will also be high-grade dealers bringing rare comics for those who are really invested in their collections, including one dealer who has a rare copy of Spider-Man #1.

“We’re selling comic books that range from $1 all the way up to 1000s of dollars,” Henry said.

Oh, for crying out loud. Yet another example of speculator markets in motion. Why not encourage people to start a collection by buying the paperback and hardcover archives available on the book market? Yes, I know selling old pamphlets is to be fully expected at these conventions. I went to the Tel Aviv Sci-Fi Festival during the Sukkot holiday, and saw quite a bit of that there myself. But when viewed in light of how the speculator market is making a joke out of fandom, that's why I find appalling. Seriously, I think most pop culture conventions have to move away from emphasizing speculator sales and auctions, because it takes away attention from the importance of entertainment value. On which note, does this convention from New England make a genuine effort to focus on that? Who knows?

Labels: conventions, dc comics, good artists, history, marvel comics, msm propaganda, sales, Spider-Man, Titans