Although the tickets are sold out for his only appearance today (Sunday), it will be cool to see Stan Lee in person at the Big Wow. Moreover, I look forward to meeting some of the artists who penciled, inked, and wrote the comic books I used to read during the 80s.
When I was a fourth grader, I was HUGE into comic books. Along with my brother and older cousin, we would talk about the story lines, art, super powers possessed by both the heroes and villains, and associated toys. My favorite titles were Captain America, Thor, Macross, and G.I. Joe. My brother specialized in the Fantastic Four and my cousin, the X-Men.
The love of comic books was imparted to me by my dad, who was a big comic book reader as a kid in the Philippines. I remember the days, after he would pick my brother and me up from our grandmother's house, when he would drive us in an early 1970s model Datsun 510 to a few comic stores that dotted San Jose: Willow Street Comics on Willow Avenue (a dingy, lower floor of a house that had a unique smell to it; has been closed for over 25 years); Mike's Coliseum on Lincoln Avenue (now Hijinx Comics; touted as San Jose's oldest comic store - http://www.hijinxcomics.com/history.html); and Comics and Fantasies in Princeton Plaza (I don't know why but it always smelled like a dead rat was rotting in their A/C vents). Stepping into the stores - rather, we RAN inside - always brought satisfying and exciting feelings. There was a reverence to them, as if the cover art of the comics were stained-glass windows. Like saints on pedestals lining the walls, the greats and the soon-to-be greats were on display: Jack Kirby, John Romita Sr., Barry Windsor Smith, Neal Adams, Berni Wrightson, Frank Miller, John Byrne, Alan Moore, and Alex Ross.
Back then, rotating comic racks could be found everywhere especially in 7-11s, Thrifty stores, Toys R'Us shops, and Woolworths. But the comic book industry had a lull during the '90s and comic books suffered greatly: titles by the major publishers were slashed; many artists left the big companies and went the independent route, producing their own titles; and the securing of intellectual property rights reared its ugly head. Comic stores soon shuttered and the only ways to buy comic books were to drive to the corners of the Bay to find those stores that weathered the downturn, subscribe to your favorite titles, and visit your local B. Dalton, Waldenbooks, or Barnes and Noble (though they were limited with the titles they carried and usually did not have the most recent releases).
Fortunately, the resurgence in the past ten years with CGI-driven films starring the industry's juggernaut characters (Batman, X-Men, Spiderman, Avengers, Thor, the Incredible Hulk, and Iron Man) has given comic books "a new life" to a new generation of readers, many of whom are my students' ages.
So attending the Big Wow tomorrow will be like a journey to my youth.
And I look forward to feeling like a fourth grader again.
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