Originally published at Comic Book Daily under my Bound Together column.
Fan Expo 2010 is done for me. None of my Sunday goals were reached and the show remained packed; no last day slow down. It’s solid for the retailers but as a buyer I like bargain hunting at the end with dealers who don’t want to haul merchandise home.
I wasn’t able to track Tim Bradstreet down so no sketch from him. Ethan Van Sciver still had a long list of sketches …

Originally published at Comic Book Daily under my Bound Together column.
Saturday at Fan Expo was crazier than usual: the crowds were so intense all afternoon there was a long line waiting to get in. If only the deals were that crazy…
I dedicated the day to getting various hardcovers signed. Two options: snag a signature at the creator’s booth or at one of their signings. Some like Olivier Coipel and the Kubert brothers were only signing for one hour at a signing area; …

Originally published at Comic Book Daily under my Bound Together column.
Fan Expo 2010 started today at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.  The early bird package had a 2:00 PM entrance and there were hundreds lined up to get in: I’ve never seen a crowd that large buying a premium VIP three day show pass.  Media and vendor passes are a beautiful thing.  Art prices are continuing their dramatic increase while vintage hardcovers are scarce.

My focus was artist alley and acquiring sketches from my favourite artists.  Paolo Rivera was set up …

Dell had a fourty-eight hour deal on a TomTom XXL 540 M GPS with case for $150 CDN so I jumped all over it.  Five inch screen, spoken street names, advanced lane guidance, U.S. Canada and Mexico maps plus lifetime map updates.  Everything I was looking for in a GPS for the car.

I unpacked it and turned it on: very straightforward questions about date, time, home location, voice to use.  Nice and easy: screen was large and easy to read and navigate.  On my previous TomTom One 3.5″ GPS my …

Originally published at Comic Book Daily under my Bound Together column.
In 1989 Marvel decided to give some Joe Simon and Jack Kirby works the deluxe treatment in the form of hardcover reprints.  The Fighting American, Captain America and Boys Ranch were reprinted as hardcover volumes outside of the Marvel Masterworks program that was in full swing.  At the time Masterworks were focusing on silver age Marvel works so these 1940s and 1950s works didn’t fit.

Captain America The Classic Years was published in 1990: two 7.25×10.25″ hardcover volumes in a …