This past weekend was a significant one for New York comic nerds of all ilks, from those exclusively into spandex and punching to those collectors who prefer their comics brooding and embarrassingly autobiographical. Not only was the seven millionth annual Big Apple Comic Con happening across the street from Madison Square Garden in the decrepit Hotel Pennsylvania, but the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art was having their amazing annual Festival. It would seem that I had a big weekend ahead of me.

On Saturday, June 23rd, I attended the MOCCA Festival, located at the Puck Building (in the ridiculously trendy NoHo / SoHo area of NYC). The Puck Building, or at least the areas that we were allowed to access, was comprised of a series of large, interconnected ballrooms. In each one, artists and small publishers had set up simple 6-foot folding tables to display their works. There was no ridiculous fanfare, no corvettes decked out with TVs and people blasting out Guitar Hero tunes, no Marvel Comics shilling their latest galaxy-spanning, glossy-covered saga. The deceptively subtle, unadorned ballrooms were the perfect quiet atmosphere for artists to practice their art and explore each others’ works, without the constraints of ‘the industry’ telling them what was and was not appropriate. It would seem that a large portion of the overhead lighting wasn’t completely functional, but no one seemed to mind too much.

‘DIY’ or ‘do-it-yourself’ culture has recently found a significant foothold among the 30-and-younger crowd, as evidenced by such sites as Etsy and the vast collection of artists who choose self-publishing as a viable option for dispersing their artworks to the world. Xeroxed copies of small, hand-stapled books weren’t an uncommon sight, whereas that kind of presentation would have once been viewed as unprofessional. Now, the xerox machine has become an integral part of ‘zine and comic culture, as it’s become abundantly clear that the insights that you find in a professionally published book are the same insights that can be found in a cheaply mass-produced work. DIY, at least in a material sense, sprung out of the need for economy, after all - the trendiness was just a coincidence that came along later.

Because of this, the variety of artists and approaches covered the entire scope of the comic industry. From artists who had a few small piles of photocopies, artists who’d handmade books on a printing press, artists who had books professionally bound and printed in color or black and white, and even artists who took the ‘comic’ format and stretched it to its limits by presenting piles of individual panels in small boxes, packaged with 45s, and even as original paintings. Some were published by indie labels, while others were simply there to share their own amateur (and often impressive) creations.

I had my own mission, though, and that was to once again get my Bizarro Comics book signed by Tom Hart, Nick Bertozzi and Jessica Abel, to add to my collection of artist signatures I’ve been accumulating since 2002. By the end of the convention, I’d found everyone but the elusive Tom Hart, and even had a great conversation with Mr. Bertozzi about Jack Kirby and the recent release of the second volume of the DC Archive Edition of Kamandi. With my recent appreciation of Jack Kirby just being explored in earnest, it was enlightening to see the invisible barrier between ‘hero’ comics and ‘indie’ comics being broken down, as they often exist in two very different worlds, and are not always at ease with each other. He signed my Bizarro book right next to his own drawing of Kamandi.

Jessica Abel didn’t seem quite as receptive to my appreciations, but added the seventh signature to my Bizarro book anyhow.

Other attendees included Gary Panter, who was recently profiled in Juxtapoz Magazine for his influence on current ‘pop surrealist’ art culture, as well as his role as designer on Pee-Wee’s Playhouse (which was integral in my mental development, probably to no surprise). On the other end of his row of tables was the seven year old daughter of Denis Kitchen (founder of the notable Kitchen Sink Press), Alexa, perhaps with the most elaborate display of all, including a banner heralding her arrival and title of ‘the youngest artist in comics!’, with stacks of pink books overwhelming the table around her, while she continued to draw and her mother looked on proudly. All of this convinced me to come home to my own seven year old niece, make her a pot of coffee and let her burn through a ream of printer paper at high speeds… though this is something that she does fairly regularly anyhow without the aid of caffeine or goading. Coffee would probably blur her to a white-hot light speed from which we’d never recover.

Interestingly, there were a few artists who normally attend the Big Apple Comic Con who opted to lend their support to the MOCCA Fest instead this year, since odd planning had both events on the same days. I can see this as an active support towards the ‘art’ side of things over the ‘industry’ side, so Kyle Baker and Evan Dorkin be praised. You guys made the right choice.

Also of note was Dr. Cube from Kaiju Big Battel, a being of unspeakable evil and megalomania. From behind his table, he grasped at my friend’s complimentary Wizard Magazine and tore it open in order to sign it. When he handed it back to my friend, it read ‘Wizard Magazine is for sucker MCs! Dr. Cube!’. Shortly after that, he snatched someone’s water bottle and wrote ‘WATER!’ on it, and it all became clear. Dr. Cube and Los Plantanos were the only costumed folks at MOCCA. This was a good thing.

The MOCCA Fest spread through four or five ballrooms on the first floor, as well as a large room on the seventh floor. Table spacing was fair, and allowed foot traffic easy passage, which was a bonus as I have limited patience for crowded convention floors. As the day wore on a bit, the ballrooms filled up to ‘crowded’ levels, but the mood remained calm and unfrustrated - which is not something that can be said for the purely ‘BUY AND SELL’ atmosphere of the traditional comic convention.

Another added bonus? Art chicks are HOT. Unfailingly. So… there’s that, too.

By the end of the day, I’d spend $200 in limited edition, small run books, original paintings and records. As I purchased them, I had the opportunity to talk to an inspiring collection of genuine artists, half of whom seemed a bit surprised that I wanted them to sign their works for me, unpretentious and unassuming as most of them were. Stay tuned for an exploration of just what $200 in small press books looks like.

… which, in Bizarro language, means that I love Bizarro. It takes some getting used to.

See, the history of Bizarro is a long and complicated one, but it’s one that always rejuvenates my love of comics books - especially Silver Age type stories, when bizarre sci-fi scenarios began dominating the general crime tales. I’m not into the really cool superheroes and bad guys with nice haircuts and sunglasses and a clear intent. I’m really into the bewildering, misbegotten characters whose bumbling plans and inept henchmen or grotesque appearances thwart their nefarious plans time and time again.

What you need to know about Bizarro is that he’s an ‘imperfect duplicate’ of Superman (either created by a machine or from a parallel dimension, depending on what you read) who first appeared in 1958, he’s very easily swayed, and he’s not very smart. To speak Bizarro language, you must say the exact opposite of what you mean. While his motives throughout the history of DC Comics are very hard to interpret, it’s generally believed that he thinks that he’s doing positive things. Unfortunately, since Bizarro logic and morality is inverse to our own, he’s actually doing harm when he comes to our Earth. Inasmuch, you could go to Bizarro World (or Htrae, as it is also called), punch a kitten off of a tall building, and you’d likely be lauded as a hero. Please note, though, that a Bizarro kitten would probably be really ugly and super-strong, and possibly carrying a shank, so don’t get any ideas. Bizarro is a major Superman nuisance, but I’d hesitate to call him an ‘archnemesis’, due to his sometimes-helpful nature. You’ve probably heard the term ‘bizarro’ in the general lexicon of our language, either in reference to a particular Seinfeld episode, or anything that’s the ostensible opposite of something else.

For something so unabashedly ridiculous, I adore him, and when I adore something, I want action figures of it. This week, DC Direct released the fourth installment of their Superman/Batman series of action figures, based on the artwork of Ed McGuinness and the ‘Vengeance’ storyline. In the past, I’ve been unenthused about this whole line of figures, given the fact that many of them have been a single, oddly-proportioned body repainted differently to represent a handful different characters. DC Direct themselves stated that the initial wave of figures was a rushed job, with the sculptor given the last-minute assignment of sculpting a male body based on the unique art of McGuinness, instead of a different body for each character. Since then, McGuinness’ art has grown on me - kinda cartoonish, hyper-muscular, but action-packed. They’re still using the same bodies in this fourth wave, complete with what fans have dubbed ‘tyrannosaur arms’, which are sculpted in such a way to be permanently sticking out at angles to the body due to mega-musculature.

This fourth set includes a Bizarro, as well as a Batman Beyond (from the future), a Batgirl and a Supergirl (both from an alternate universe), a Kryptonite Batman (which is a green, glowing Batman and cooler than it sounds), and a Batzarro (Batman’s Bizarro duplicate). Bizarro’s been an action figure a handful of times before, but this guy with the big, backwards ‘S’ is my new favorite. As action figures go, Bizarro doesn’t have too much articulation, with turns at the wrists and neck, bends at the knees, hips and elbows, and ball-jointed shoulders. Since a generic body is frequently used, the only sculpting of consequence is Bizarro’s head, which is a great interpretation of the original artwork.

The figure is painted cleanly in the dark-purple and maroon Bizarro colors, and detailed all the way down to blue tips on his pointy hair, and tiny little wacky spirals for pupils in his eyes. A glossy maroon is used on Bizarro’s boots, while a matte finish is used on the rest of the figure.

He is accessorized by his ‘Bizarro #1’ plaque, which he adopted when there was some confusion about which Bizarro was the first, and ergo best, Bizarro on Htrae. He wears this childishly-scrawled rock around his neck on a rope. He’d hardly be Bizarro without it.

If I have a complaint about the figure, it’s that this particular figure has a very loose, malformed joint on the left elbow, which seems in danger of breaking under any pressure. The sculpt does not take into account the rotation of the figure’s wrists either, so when they turn, there’s a large incongruity between the two oblong shapes of the hand and where it connects. Despite this, it’s a great addition to a growing collection of Bizarro figures in a growing selection of styles. DC Direct figures generally retail for about $15 at retail, but the price generally drops to $10 per figure when purchased in sets.

You am not buy this figure. It completely not worth the money.

Well, it’s another cold Saturday in February and I’m off on another monumental New York City Toy Fair journey today, which actually brings my stay here at Collectors’ Quest full-circle. One year ago, I began my charming reportage on Toy Fair 2006 (and the elusive Super Skrull action figure, which I still haven’t found), and in a few days, we’ll have a whole array of Toy Fair 2007 coverage. So, I must ask the question, where has one year of collecting brought me?

It started out with Toy Fair, and in retrospect, every company that I profiled came through on almost all of their promises for the year of toy glory ahead, despite a shaky industry and the questionable cost of oil, and subsequently, plastics. Toy Biz has since become Marvel Toys (though they produce no toys of Marvel characters anymore, oddly) and scrapped their Animated Fantastic Four line of action figures, presumably because the actual cartoon was bad enough to make human being lay eggs. Actual ostrich eggs, from which were borne hellish netherbeings which actually took over Montana for a week or so. Because the cartoon was that bad. Aside from that, I’m still waiting to see the Space Vixens from Product Enterprise. They’ve seen some modifications and name changes, but once they’re out, I’ll be all up ons. Who can resist a saucy space lass? Their inconsistently-working website doesn’t instill confidence, but I’ll wait for you forever, Peggy Ryder. Or Felicity Bliss. Or whatever you’re called now.

February 2006 also saw the inaugural NY Comic Con, for the unmitigated natural disaster that it was. We learned to never, ever underestimate the sheer volume of geeks that would swarm from the woodwork should you ever hold any kind of geek event in NYC. It was long overdue, and those geeks needed to propagate and conquer, years of pent-up awkwardness just screaming to escape. I was there, I was squashed, and I’ll be going again this year, because it’s all we got ‘round these eastern parts. Here’s a tip for any general admission convention attendance : a large backpack might seem like a good idea to store your loot, but it makes walking around almost impossible, especially in an ocean of the predominantly overweight. Nuclear technology now provides convenient, though expensive, solutions for storing your belongings in the 7th dimension, should our clumsy 3rd dimension run out of space. It’s the only way to travel, guys. This year, I’ll be scoring signatures on my Bizarro Comics hardcover again, and I think I’ll even be expanding into the array of creators in the Bizarro World hardcover, just to make the trip worthwhile.

Let’s see… DC Superhero glasses are still awesome, but I still have no living situation where I can line my cabinet space with them to proclaim my hold on geekiness while still living a swingin’ bachelor lifestyle. I’ve begun to wonder if their presence in my life is related to the presence of not-getting-lucky-because-I-seem-like-a-7-year-old, but I have my best scientists working on the statistics as we speak. Findings are inconclusive.

The unwieldy collection of records still grows beyond that metal case of squaredancing records and the sack of 45s, and has expanded into a collection of almost two dozen voice-o-graph records and an additional eBay auction of 40 childrens records that I couldn’t resist. I’ve been contacted by a handful of people who have their own forgotten voice-o-graph and recordio discs, and I’ve offered my services to convert them onto CDs for them. So, if you’re interested, drop me a line. Here’s a sample!.

You probably should have taken notice when I profiled the Women of the DC Universe busts designed by Adam Hughes, as the earlier ones have tripled in value since then. Zombie Heroclix are still incredibly hot and worth about a hundred bucks each.

I’ve learned that eBay is still crawling with unrepentant capitalists, occasionally bordering on the disgusting. With the recent death of Anna Nicole, collectibles featuring her that weren’t worth five bucks three days ago have skyrocketed to hundreds of dollars, and forget about the fabled Astronaut Love Triangle. There are eBay sellers selling what they purport to be Nowak’s diapers, left behind in her frantic road trip. There’s no eBay record for anything with her name on it previous to this incident, and a current seller of an autographed photo of her includes an unflattering story of the astronaut in question in her item description. I’ve learned from this that cannibalism is alive and well in the United States, and should I ever want to give up my soul, I could make a quick buck by hopping on that sensational train of the news du jour and fabricate pseudo-collectibles. I can only hope that some other quirky celebrity dies an untimely death or has a public freakout so I can afford that new iPod.

For the record, I completed my 24 Hour Comic, Owl and Ghost, and the entire universe loved the dickens out of it. After its internet publication, I’d trade a painting for a scarf (yes, for a growing scarf collection) and a knit hat with the titular ghost stitched onto it, by the amazing Melissa Stanley.

The year finished off with me digging into the back of my closets and parting with everything that I was not passionately in love with in order to make room for my more current loves. Hundreds of toys were opened, breaking their mint-in-package values and going into storage cabinets or displays. I’ve learned that toys, while conveniently stackable inside of packages, are so much more fun when you set them free. Monetary value be damned, my Alex Ross Plastic Man is an incredible figure, and he needs to breathe. In the current climate of toy collecting, many folks are looking for solid figures to complete teams or displays and mint packaging plays less and less into the perceived value of the item. Sure, there are a good deal of hardcore collectors who only collect sealed figures, but there are just as many who appreciate them out of the package. Tell me my Iron Man display isn’t worth a million bucks.

I’ve realized that it’s not the easiest of tasks to live a normal life and collect things at the same time, but we the collectors are actually infinitely wise investors. Somewhere out there, there’s someone else who wants exactly what you have, and when you connect (and your relationship with the object in question needs to end), you stand to profit in more ways than one. Who’d have thought that an old set of Adult Superstars action figures (which were sent to me as a free promotion, might I add) would now be worth hundreds of dollars now to some other collector? We’re treasure hunters, and the newest frontier is the back of our collective closets.

Here’s to another year of collecting. I’ve been able to chronicle my collecting and loves here on Collectors’ Quest (and soon, you’ll be able to also - stay tuned), but if you collect, start a journal. Give a page or two to every genre of item you collect and see what amasses over a year. It’s a lot more than you’d think.