Sunday, May 17, was a nice morning and after I roused my weary bones I realized it was also the last day for the annualMotor City comic convention held every spring at the Novi,Michigan, convention center. So I grabbed a quick bite to eatand scurried down to the basement to put together a large
briefcase full of comics I thought might be salable to the dealers there. This was a very eclectic collection with booksranging from a few ratty condition 1940s era comics to the modern age. I especially thought some extra copies of "Guardians of the Galaxy" comics might be hot items in view of last year's highly successful movie.
I hit the road about 10:00 A.M. for a beautiful, sunny drive. Approximately 90 miles later I arrived in Novi and decided I needed some lunch before going to the convention center. I was hungry and didn't want to pay inflated prices for the junk food I would get there. So I stopped at a Burger King and paid a reasonable price for a junk food Whopper Combo meal! It was delicious!
Lugging my comicbook briefcase into the huge convention center around noon, I was hit with a one day entrance fee of thirty bucks! My suggestion that since the day was already half shot the fee should only be half price cut no ice! Still thirty bucks! And the place was jammed with people. In fact, when I pulled into the parking lot (there goes another five bucks!), it took me ten minutes of cruising around before I spotted someone backing out of their spot - which I quickly claimed. Note to robbers: if you could get away with the take from this weekend event, you should be set up for life!
I wondered why there would be so many people at a comic convention on the last half-day of a three-day weekend? Later I found out.
Hoping to sell enough comics to make up for what I had already invested in this trip, I started making the rounds of dealer tables. My dreams of comic profiteering soon vanished. As I displayed my wares to dealer after dealer, I was met with a succession of wan smiles and shaking heads. "Sorry. I can't really use any of ths stuff." I would draw attention to my near-mint copy of "Rocket Racoon" No. 1. One dealer laughed outright and replied: "You know how many copies I have of "Rocket Racoon" back at the store?!" The question was rhetorical.
After about an hour, I gave up and hauled my briefcase back to the car. The rest of the afternoon would have to be just for my observational enjoyment. I went back in and roamed around with my camera. And there was a LOT to observe. Comic and movie fans can be VERY creative with their costumes! I snapped several examples; some of which accompany this article. Most were delighted to pose for pictures.
There were also a lot of celebrities from movie and TV shows that were happy to pose with you for a photo op -- for a price. The prices for the lesser-known luminaries started at twenty bucks, on up to three figures for any really big names. I was in no mood to shell out any more money for an up-close
photo. So I snapped a couple from long distance; outside of the lineup corrales. I figured I HAD to take one of Terry Farrell for Ken Cunning's sake!
However, I did come across a lady dressed in a rather provocative style at one of the merchant booths. She was selling "hair flips" for women and demonstrating one that she wore. The hair flip was the last thing I noticed! I asked for a photo of her with my camera and she said she'd be glad to do so, but she was required by contractual agreement to charge at least five dollars for a photo. AND her partner at the booth could take the photo of the both of us together. That seemed like the best photo offer I was likely to get so I peeled off five singles and posed with the lady. We had such a good time bantering during the process that she agreed to let me have a 2nd photo gratis! You can see the results. I was having a little trouble focusing my eyes in the 2nd pic!
By about 2:30 I was getting pooped and needed to sit down for a spell. So I wandered over to the speaker rooms where panel discussions were being held and went into one that had emptied out and sat down. Other people slowly sauntered in and took seats. An authoritative woman up by the speakers' podium would periodically announce: "The first three rows in front are for VIP guests only!" I happened to be sitting in the 4th row so I kept my seat. My row was empty. A few such VIP guests did show up and took seats in the front row. In time, Several fans, many in costume, came in and took up seats in row 3 in front of me. Then came that authoritative announcement. There was a mass exodus from the 3rd row into the 4th row and I suddenly found myself surrounded. I asked the guy next to me who was going to speak and he looked at me like I was nuts before answering: "Bill Shatner!"
Yep, Boys and Girls, Captain Kirk had beamed down to this year's comicon! The flyer I had received in the mail a couple weeks ago made no mention of him being on their celebrity list but apparently he had managed to schedule it in recently. At 3:00 P.M. a door opened behind the raised podium and a man with a microphone announced: "And now, Ladies and Gentlemen, the one and only...
William Shatner!"
A tired looking, but confident and smiling Bill Shatner strolled genially up to the podium to much cheering and applause from an audience that he immediately wrapped up in the palm of his hand. I, myself, was delighted to see other fans in the audience taking pictures with their smart phones so I followed suit with my own camera. Evidently no celebrity fee was required for these speaker occasions and I was only four rows away! One of the first things Shatner did was invite the audience up to fill in the mostly empty first three VIP rows. Just as suddenly as the fans from the 3rd row had hemmed me in on the 4th, they rapidly clambered over chairs to re-occupy the VIP rows! I soon found myself with plenty of elbow room again, which suited me just fine.
There followed a most entertaining hour of Showman Shatner doing what he loves to do; talk about himself. The man's egotism is proudly on display, but, really, what else would you expect in front of a crowd of adoring fans? Besides, when you consider his brilliant career and all the things he is still involved in -- and plugging -- even at 84 years, you gotta hand it to him! He has earned his egotism! And he really is a great raconteur.
Driving back home that evening, I felt hugely satisfied with my day at the comicom. I hadn't made a single dollar on my comic books, but I had enjoyed a visual, wild feast for the eyes and spent an hour in the presence of the biggest living legend of Star Trek!