HeroesCon 2025 Janetacular!
6/25/2025
I've found myself getting back into the world of paper comic books, magazines, and assorted stuff. Now, I've always been a reader, but I'm on and off with single issues for things, if I buy in paper at all. But sometimes the bug bites, and I've been happy to comply. The end result is that, only a few days before, I decided to make it to HeroesCon this year. My dearest friends were relatively uninterested, but I imagined going alone wouldn't be so bad. I could pace my shopping, panels, and breaks how I wished without group coordination. Sorry, friends...
I was worried about looking cute with the dreadful heat over the weekend, but everything inside the convention center was crispy cool. I think I managed to look pretty good given the circumstances.
For me, shopping for some fun stuff to take home the same day was a big draw. I'm a bit of an idiot, so the amazing guest list pretty much passes me by. Later in the day, I happened to hear that Scott Shaw was around, but I had trouble finding his booth. Repeat that two or three times for when I was actively aware of someone's name. I just found out John Romita Jr was there! How'd I miss that?!
So, let's talk about what I did do for my one-day adventure. One of the things I was on the hunt for was, naturally, Archie Comics Sonic the Hedgehog. I would love to have any of the Spaziante covers from early in the run, and I wondered if anyone would have Sonic #39 (perhaps graded or something, which I wouldn't want for myself) or the Mecha Madness special. To my surprise, almost everywhere I checked didn't have any Sonic at all, even the IDW stuff! I did find one booth that had Sonic #61 in good shape, but 40 bucks for one book was out of my budget. Everywhere else, silence! So what's the deal?
According to the dealers I spoke with, early Sonic issues are hard to come by. And when they do show up, they sell right away. Hm, I guess that's the makings of a very collectible comic book! I had wondered for a while how rare or in-demand they were, and it appears to be both elusive and sought after. Darn!
Another thing I was looking for, casually, was pretty much anything Godzilla. In particular, I was curious if I could snag any of Marvel's 1977 Godzilla series. I'll note now that Marvel comics were eeeeeverywhere, which is fairly par for the course as far as I can recall. And I really like Marvel Comics myself; I've been using my Unlimited sub quite a bit lately. I was wondering if DC fans or other collectors (like me? I don't know what you'd classify me as!) were having a hard time out there. I swear, some vendors seemed like they only had Silver Age Marvel stuff.
Even when I was a kiddo at these kinds of comic shows, one of the most uncomfortable feelings for me was the sensation that you were looking through somebody's old crap that they want to unload. Disorganized, unlabeled longboxes, not being welcomed to the booth, etc. Thankfully, this kind of thing was few and far between at HeroesCon. I was very frequently greeted, made eye contact, and asked if there was anything I was looking for. I appreciate everyone who wasn't afraid to say hello and invite a trans woman over to view their stuff.
Being in the dealer's hall was overwhelming. Truthfully, I wish I had brought more spending money, but you could never bring enough to a place like this. Stick to your budget!
As far as panels were concerned, I had to choose. One was the Fantastic Four panel where Tom DeFalco(!) and assorted others from FF history and fandom would come to discuss the series. Just thirty minutes out from that though was a PRIDE PANEL! I ended up going to that one instead, which I don't regret! That was hosted by a librarian named Jennie Law, but everyone was lovely. I was unfamiliar with Sarah Myer (Monstrous, and a few TMNT projects!) prior, but her story was particularly touching and had us all emotional. The power of these books and stories to connect people of all different backgrounds, but similar experiences, is powerful. At the end of that panel, Jennie also implored us to "Make comics, read comics", which really resonated with me as I went back down the hall. It's been on my "make it happen" list for a while. Jane superfans may recall that I've shared one of my early scripts here before. So, maybe it's time to pick up a pencil again.
Before we get to the mother lode of my HeroesCon experience, I'll break down some of the cooler stuff I managed to pick up. There are also lots of pics on my Bluesky.
- Star Trek #13 - Gold Key Comics 1972
- Regular Show - #1 and #6 - Kaboom Comics
- Godzilla Vs Hulk #1 - Marvel Comics
- Ms. Marvel Mutant Menace #2 - Marvel Comics
100% the coolest find I got for a cool six dollars. It's got an absolutely stunning cover with Spock judo throwing a robot, which does happen in the interior pages! This is the new oldest comic in my collection. It was an awesome feeling for me to hold and read a book from over fifty years ago! I wonder what the person who read it in 1972 thought of it? I bet they could have never imagined it would end up in my pretty hands. I think I'll look for any more of these that have gorgeous covers, because this one was awesome and a fun read.
I had no idea there were Regular Show comics. I'm a fan of the show and its style of humor (it somewhat reminds me of Beavis and Butthead, if that makes sense), so these were fast pickups for me. The variant cover for #6 really spoke to me in a spiritual way. These were fun comics too, though #1 ends with a cliffhanger to be resolved next time. It seems like trade paperbacks of this series aren't super common either. I'm imagining Kaboom is a pretty small line and these comics are ~10 years old. So, not sure if I'll be picking up the whole series easily, but I'm hoping to see more of these around somewhere.
This is something I wanted to read, and it's another month away on Unlimited. So, I figured, why not? Godzilla and the Hulk together is something that my eight year old self would have absolutely freaked out about, so I was fine paying the cover price for this new comic. I had to dig a little to find it, and I wonder if I could have gotten a cool variant cover, but I enjoy the standard cover. I liked the story inside too. It had its quirks, like...THEY DON'T ACTUALLY FIGHT! Still, an enjoyable pick-up, easy reading kind of story that you might expect from a little crossover like this. I wanna check out the FF and Spider-Man ones later. It's not a vintage Godzilla, but I'm gonna budget for that next time. I didn't see any of IDW's line of Godzilla comics floating around, but I didn't look quite as hard for those.
I'm a total sucker for Peach Momoko's work, and this one had a great... Are you starting to get the idea I love covers, and will buy things based on covers alone? That's just how it is. The interior story was cute. I'm aware of Kamala Khan as anyone would be, but I've read only a scant few books with her in it. Should we really count her god-awful appearance in Amazing Spider-Man a little while back? Yuck. This was a much more fun adventure featuring the X-Men villain Mojo.
I picked up a few things for other people, and some stuff I haven't read as I type this up. Like The Maxx #1 from Image, something I've always been really curious about ever since seeing clips from the animated series forever ago.
Animazeing Animerica
The ultimate find for me on that fateful Friday was tucked away in one of the smallest booths. And within that tiny booth, a long box hidden in the shadows labelled "Anime Magazines." YABBA DABBA DOO! I started freaking out inside, but politely asked one of the gentlemen attending the booth if I could take a look through that box.
Inside were tons of issues of Animerica, with absolutely drop-dead gorgeous covers for things like Evangelion, Patlabor, and Gundam! I also picked up a few with covers for Rumiko Takahashi series like Urusei Yatsura (of course!) and Ranma 1/2. I had finally found something at this con, or anywhere, that made me truly giddy! I'm sifting through these with my jaw on the floor and excitedly yapping to the gentleman who retrieved the box for me.
That special someone was none other than Mike Moon! Who I quickly discovered to be quite the prolific "oldtaku!" Mike and I discussed how he helped to get the convention Animazement off the ground. Animazement is something I hold very near and dear to my heart as the best part of my high school years, so I had to shake Mike's hand and bow my head for that alone. I don't usually get to tell people out loud too often that I like some of these things, let alone discuss them with any passion. I underestimated how good this felt, which...is probably about as sad to read as it was delightful for me in the moment. Regardless, I was enthralled with Mike's outstanding collection of things.
Here's a nice interview from 2014 with Mike if you want some more details! He's definitely the kind of person I liked to pester with questions about the past.
Some of the other goodies I oogled included a 1999 Shirow Masamune calendar(whoa!), four Japanese volumes of Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou, something I strongly considered buying despite being unable to read it. Mike saw my enthusiasm for a lot of these things and pulled out a Viz Lum #1 from 1989 and a full run of Eternity Comics' Queen Emeraldas, an original (but based on Leiji Matsumoto's work) by Ben Dunn (Ninja High School), Robert Gibson (various), and the very awesome Tim Eldred! This is the exact kind of thing I've become very interested in collecting! I said yes on the spot in dramatic fashion!
Mike then proceeded to give me a heavy, heavy discount on all of these things, which happened to be the remaining amount of cash I had on hand. I felt a sense of joy and responsibility as Mike said he was happy for these books and mags to get a new home. It was almost like a passing of the torch to me, in the heat of the moment. Though surely it's not that serious! Heheh.
I graciously thanked everyone at Catgirl Island and promised I'd return before the day ended. I was out of the funds I allotted myself, but this was one of the best and coolest things that's happened to me lately. I can't thank Mike and everyone enough!
Towards the end of the day, my fingers had started to blister ever so slightly from the weight of my sampling from Mike's collection in the plastic bag, which fits the metaphorical weight I placed on that experience.
It was simply divine to be around so many books of so many different kinds. I hear it sometimes said that HeroesCon, compared to (some) other conventions, has remained all about the comics. That suits me just fine! Every convention is all about the fun people and unique experiences, for which I am beyond thankful to every kind soul that helped me along. Gwaah, it was so fun! Next time, I'll have to plan my guest visiting a little better and up my budget!~
Take it easy, and keep reading!
- Jane