"Like sands through the hourglass... so are the Days of Our Lives."
I hadn't expect this column to be absent for so many days, but life has a way of getting in the way of my plans. Sometimes, it's for the best. Sometimes it isn't. This unplanned hiatus was a bit of both.
My son Eddie came home from The Ohio State University for his spring break. That was Thursday, March 13. After a grueling week of finals, he'd come down with a bad cold and, outside of running a few errands with me, didn't much feel like doing anything. So I blew off my work and kept him company. Over the next two days, we watched DVDs of Live Free or Die Hard, The Bourne Ultimatum, and The Game Plan. There might not have been a classic among them, but they were entertaining.
Besides spending time with Eddie, one of the high points of the weekend was watching daughter Kelly playing in her recreation league basketball tournament. Her team had the second best record in the regular season, but, after a very exciting game, lost by one basket to a team they had beaten twice during that regular season. Kelly was a dynamo on defense and scored five points, but it wasn't quite enough.
Sunday night was fun, too. Sainted Wife Barb cooked a great corned beef cabbage meal for us, her mother, and our neighbor Greg. Then we watched several hours of our new guilty pleasure, Women of Ninja Warrior, wherein athletes, entertainers, housewives, and other feisty Amazons run a grueling and oft-insidious obstacle course. It's oddly addictive.
I could have written a few columns over the weekend, but I was feeling the bliss of spending time with my family and my friends. I'd give you a "mea culpa" here, but, honestly, I don't feel at all guilty about goofing off for those several days. I don't get days like that often enough.
Eddie was much better by Monday, but then I came down with a nasty flu bug of some sort, complicated by unpleasant reactions to my blood pressure medications and a sprained wrist. I was pretty helpless all week long. I could run a hour's worth of errands or write a short review, but then I'd be useless for the next several hours. It's taken until now for me to start feeling even close to a hundred percent again. However, I need to have a discussion with my doctor about the meds. Time for a change, I think.
I'm doing well and writing, but there may be a few more bumps in the online road in the near future. Justin, that wonderful web-wizard who hosts Tony's Online Tips, is also a much sought-after sketch card artist. He's going to be very busy for the next few weeks, so he may not be able to post TOT as fast as I write it. We're both going to do our best to keep these columns coming to you five days a week or more, but we may have to miss a day every now and then. Thanks for your patience.
The photo? I'm pretty sure it's from 1992. Eddie would have been about four years old and Kelly about a year old. It's hard to believe they were ever that young and equally hard to believe they are so much older today. I'm a blessed and proud papa.
******
MID-OHIO-CON LIVES!
I knew the good news was coming almost two weeks before Roger Price announced it, but I had to wait for his announcement before I could talk about it.
Here's the press release:
Mid-Ohio-Con To Be Acquired By GCX Holdings
Mid-Ohio-Con 2008 Scheduled For October 4-5
R.A.P. Promotions, Inc. announced today that it has reached an agreement to sell Mid-Ohio-Con to GCX Holdings LLC. Now entering its 28th consecutive year, Mid-Ohio-Con is one of America's longest running and most successful pop culture conventions. Every year, Mid-Ohio-Con brings fans of all ages together with leading comic book writers and artists, film and television creators and stars, as well as publishers and retailers from across the nation.
"I am delighted to have reached an agreement to sell Mid- Ohio-Con to GCX Holdings", said Roger A. Price, President of R.A.P. Promotions and founder of Mid-Ohio-Con. "I know that the GCX team is excited about the opportunity to continue the tradition of Mid-Ohio-Con and I'm looking forward to working with them as we get underway with the planning and execution of the 2008 event. We have selected the weekend of October 4-5 for Mid-Ohio-Con 2008 and will be reaching out to invite guests, exhibitors and sponsors shortly."
"Mid-Ohio-Con is a fantastic event with a unique heritage and a loyal base of fans that have enjoyed this convention year after year," said James H. Henry, Managing Director of GCX Holdings. "We are committed to staying true to the things that have made Mid-Ohio-Con successful in the past while looking for opportunities to further grow the event over time. We are particularly pleased that Rog has agreed to stay on to work with us since his insight, knowledge and relationships are second to none and will be invaluable to us in the future."
Mid-Ohio-Con 2008 will be held at the Greater Columbus Convention Center at 400 North High Street in Columbus, OH. The event will be held in Exhibit Hall E and several adjoining panel rooms which will offer more than 70,000 sq. ft. of space for exhibitors, panels and other activities. As the winner of multiple Prime Site and Inner Circle Awards, this state-of-the art facility has become one of North America's most popular sites for local, state, regional and national groups and organizations.
Contacts:
James H. Henry
GCX Holdings LLC
Roger A. Price
R.A.P. Promotions, Inc.
Since the news hit, I have received dozens of e-mails asking me questions about Mid-Ohio-Con, most of them better addressed by Henry or my pal Roger. The most bizarre came from the reader who thought I bought the show. From what I gather, John Byrne has been getting those as well. Though, to the best of my knowledge, I've never met Henry, he is a real person and GCX Holdings is a real, if relatively newly-formed, company.
The October 4-5 date for Mid-Ohio-Con does put it in conflict with the well-respected Small Press Expo in Bethesda, MD, and with the Midwest Comic Book Association FallCon Comic Book Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota. That's regrettable, but it was unavoidable. As Price wrote:
Several people have mentioned that Mid-Ohio-Con's new play dates for 2008 are in conflict with two other great events.
May I explain what happened? We had a very limited number of dates to choose from for this year and tried our best to avoid as many conflicts as possible. In addition to other scheduled shows, we had to work within the dates that were available with our great venue and nearby hotels, while also trying to avoid other conflicts such as Ohio State football home game weekends. We simply tried to do the best we could under the circumstances.
I'll only add that, as the father of an Ohio State student, I can confirm you don't want to try to hold a convention on the same weekend as a home game. Every OSU home game is an event, filling nearby hotels and restaurants...and the convention hotel is only a couple of miles from the campus.
The two Mid-Ohio-Con questions I've been most frequently asked this week are:
"Will you be attending Mid-Ohio-Con?"
"Will you be returning as program director?"
My answers:
Yes, of course, I will be attending Mid-Ohio-Con. I have only missed one show in the past 25 years and that was due to illness. Whatever my involvement with the event, I will be there to support my friend Roger and the show itself.
As for my returning as the show program director, I have not, at this time, been contacted by GCX Holdings, so it would be both inappropriate and premature for me to make any further statement on this matter. When and if there is any news on this, I'll share it with you right here.
The third most frequently-asked question was:
"What other conventions will you be at?"
I'm afraid I also don't have anything to report on that front. I've been asked to appear as a guest at a few shows, but the deals haven't been finalized. There are shows I'd dearly love to attend, but they don't fit into my budget or my schedule, though that could change sometime down the line. Once again, when and if I have any news on this, I'll share it with you here.
For now, I'm just thrilled that the proud Mid-Ohio-Con legacy will be continuing! It's long been my favorite comics convention and I expect that will continue for many years to come.
The theme of this week's Tony Polls is the political leanings of super-heroes and super-villains. We're asking you to name the affiliations of a dozen different characters, ranging from Aquaman to the X-Men.
The theme was inspired by Mike Seuffert, the right-wing columnist for the weekly Sun newspapers in Ohio. Seuffert appears to be an amiable enough chap, though he writes with the child-like smugness that often comes from those who actually believe Fox News is fair and balanced and whose minds reboot with every historical retcon offered by President Bush. Recently, he speculated on the political leanings of various comics characters. I found the idea amusing enough to steal.
Seuffert believes Batman is a Republican because "he was born wealthy and probably stood to lose billions of dollars through the inheritance tax when his parents were murdered." He also says the Batman is tough on crime, frustrated by the revolving-door criminal justice system, etc. However, in typical Fox News style, Seuffert errs when he says Bats will take a life to prevent further crimes. Maybe Seuffert never heard of the Joker.
I think the Batman is an independent. He's way too much of an arrogant "richard" to believe either major party is as qualified to run things as, well, himself.
Seuffert sees Superman as a Democrat, what with Clark being an illegal alien and probably soft on border control. That's a funny line and I happen to agree with his assessment of Superman, if for a completely different reason. If one believes in "truth, justice, and the American way," one doesn't belong to the Republican Party whose president opposes those things.
Seuffert believes Iron Man is a Republican. Since Tony Stark is a war criminal, just like Bush, I agree with Seuffert.
As for Captain America, Seuffert calls him a "disenfranchised Republican," but I think he's wrong. Steve Rogers was a Democrat. Heck, he even supported equal rights for gays when J.M. DeMatteis was writing him.
I'll have more of this back-and-forth with Seuffert later this week. In the meantime, I urge you to cast your own votes on these and other characters by going to:
These poll questions will remain active until sometime after midnight on Tuesday morning, April 1.
Tony's Online Tips is a reader-sponsored feature, made possible through your "Tip The Tipster" donations. Today's column was brought to you by Roger and Steve...and I thank them for their generous support. If you'd like to contribute, just click on the "Tip The Tipster" link elsewhere on this page.
Thanks for spending a part of your day with me. I'll be back tomorrow with more stuff.
I review The Amazing Adventures of Nate Banks #1: Secret Identity Crisis, Secret Identity Crisis: Comic Books and the Unmasking of Cold War America and The Walking Dead Volume 2: Miles Behind Us.
ZERO: Burn your money before buying any comic receiving this rating. It doesn't *necessarily* mean there's absolutely nothing of value here - though it *could* - but whatever value it might possess shrinks into insignificance before its overall awfulness.
ONE: Buy something else. Maybe I found something which wasn't completely dreadful in the item, but not enough for me to recommend it when there are better comics available. I only want what's best for you, my children.
TWO: Basic judgment call. I found some value, but not enough to recommend it. My review should give you enough info to decide if you want to take a chance on it. Are you feeling lucky today, punk? Well, are you?
THREE: This denotes something I find perfectly respectable. There are better books out there, but I wouldn't regret buying this item. Based on my review, you should be able to determine if it's of interest to you. Let the Force guide you.
FOUR: I recommend anything earning this rating. Unless you don't like the genre, subject matter, or past work of the creators, I believe you'll enjoy this item. Isn't it uncanny how I can look right into your soul that way?
FIVE: Anything getting this rating is among the best comicdom has to offer. You should buy/read this, even if the genre/subject matter doesn't appeal to you. It's for your own good. Me, I live for comics and books this good...but not in a pathetic "Comic-Book Guy" sort of way.
Please send material you would like me to review to:
Anything Goes Trivia
