In addition to the comics swag (slang for freebies), there was plenty of other swag available, though it was near-impossible to gather it all up, given the vast expanse of the exhibition floor and the limited time (especially if you wanted to do something more than picking up swag, like, y'know, actually buying comics or attending the sessions).
My vote for the best (& most practical) swag of the con (which I, unfortunately, did not score for myself) : a Final Destination 3 promotional handheld mini electric fan. Everywhere you went in the Convention Center (moreso in the lines outside of it), as well as on the crowded trolleys, it was as hot as the flames covering Ghost Rider.
Other cool non-comics swag that I recall getting : a blue "The Tick" spoon (aka Spooooooooooooon!") ; a bookmark illustrated by Donna Barr ; a Lynda Carter Wonder Woman face-on-a-stick (for the auction, I guess) ; a gummi candy (I think it was a "gummi brain" ; it gave me a necessary sugar-rush) ; bags, bags, bags (alas neither the HUGE black "Star Wars" bag nor the yellow Dark Horse bag survived the trip, though they lasted quite a long time and held a lot) ; a large reproduction of a page from Art Spiegelman's In the Shadow of No Towers (on thick cardboard, I think) ; a Wowio t-shirt ; a pink sticker-thing of an octopus holding up a torah scroll that has the word "Chimney" written on it (with Hebrew letters) which I later stuck onto a black display board ; a booklet of bizarre Adult Swim postcards ; "The Making of Free Enterprise" booklet ; exclusive author-read excerpt and Q&A for Eldest (book two in the Inheritance trilogy) ; SW [Star Wars] Action News podcast CD (38 recent episodes) ; ConNotations v.16, #3 June/July 2006 ; Comic-Con International 2006 Souvernir Book
Free Books
The Best of BenBella Books' Smart Pop Series Volume 2
The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters by Gordon Dahlquist (special excerpt)
His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik (special preview)
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch (special excerpt)
Lost Calling by Evelyn Vaughn
Nocturne by Caridad Pineiro (sneak preview)
Rhiana by Michael Hauf
Free Magazines
Animation Magazine Aug. 2006
Bubblemag #1 (2006)
Cinemafantastique special 2006 preview issue
MAD Kids #4 (Aug. 2006)
Previews July 2006
TV Guide for July 24-30 (which just happened to have Capt. Kirk and Mr. Spock on the cover)
Write Now! Magazine #13 (Aug. 2006) given to me by Danny Fingeroth after chatting with him prior to the start of the Eisner Awards
non-Jewish comics
Age of Conan : Hyborian Adventures
B.A.B.E. Force : Back to School #1
B.A.B.E. Force : Jurassic Trailer Park #1
Classic Cardinal #2
Codename Ghost (1-page promo)
Conan : The Legend #0
Cryptid
Dark Horse : 20 Years (a collection of pinups)
Flare #1 Nov. 2004
The Guradian Line preview issue
Hellgate London #0
Innies and Outies (1-page promo)
Iron Star
The Legend of Isis #2
Liberty Girl #1
Monster House (signed)
Netcomics Manhwa Sampler
The Night Driver teaser edition (signed)
Pakkins' Land #4
R. H. Stavis' Demons of Mercy #0
Red-E & the Lynnx #1
Renaissance (looks like a comic, but actually just tells about the people involved in the film)
Rush City #0
Shark-Man #1
Sherree's Secret #1
Ted Dekker's Saint : A Graphic Introduction
Visionary Comics Studio Previews 2006
Virgin Comics #0
Woah Mini Comics #1 & #2 (given out to those of us standing in line outside the convention center, waiting to get into the Ghost Rider / Spider-Man 3 session)
Yin Yang Yo! #1
Jewish Comics
I bought Jobnik #1, written by a Jewish American-Israeli-Canadian woman. I suppose I could have asked to pay for it in Canadian dollars, but didn't think of asking, at the time. I might have passed right by the booth, if I hadn't spotted the Hebrew t-shirts ("bikesh shalom ve-rodfehu", which means "seek peace and chase after it"). The comics are autobiographical and mainly show Miriam Libicki's life during her stint in the Israeli army. You can read about Miriam and her comics (and view preview pages) by going to http://www.realgonegirl.com/comix.html. I paid cover price, but forgot to ask her to autograph it for me. I was also given a 4-page reproduction called "jobnik manifesto".
Libicki, Miriam. [Hamas] Jobnik #1 Feb. 2004 (Vancouver : Real Gone Girls).
I bought The Lone & Level Sands graphic novels (i.e. both the color hardcover and the black-&-white paperback). I've been told that the hardcover looks superior to the paperback edition. I forget the total price, but I paid less than the cover price for the 2 combined would have been. mpMann signed both of them for me
Lewis, David A. The Lone and Level Sands (Fort Lee, NJ : ASP Comics, 2005).
Lewis, David A. The Lone and Level Sands (Arlington, VA : Caption Box, 2005).
I bought The Nine Lives of El Gato Crime Mangler at cover price, after author-illustrator Michael Aushenker told me it had a story with Holy Cow Holstein in it, whom he described as Jewish. He signed it for me, as well as a promotional poster for Monsters 4 Justice (a superhero-team comic series). Included in the team's roster is Urban Golem, who is Jewish.
Aushenker, Michael. The Nine Lives of El Gato (LA : El Gato Comics, 2003).
Jalila #1 was given to me for free, as I was heading out of the exhibit hall on Sunday afternoon --- at least 15 minutes after the hall was "officially" closed. I haven't read it yet, but there's a rabbi on the cover (alongside an imam and a priest).
Kandeel, Ayman. "The 6th Terrorist" Jalila #1 March 2006 (Giza, Egypt : AK Comics).
I was given a copy of Smoke & Mirror vol. 1 and Of Bitter Souls vol. 1, while waiting for my plane to board on Tuesday (i.e. 2 days after the convention ended). I was meant to fly back to Toronto via Detroit, but the Detroit flight was cancelled. If it weren't cancelled I might never have met Chuck Satterlee. Chuck realized that I was at the convention when he noticed that I was wearing a Wowio t-shirt (one of the freebies). When I told him about the panel I moderated, he told me that one of the characters in Smoke & Mirror is Jewish and that his adoptive parents were Jewish.
Satterlee, Chuck. Of Bitter Souls Volume 1 : Saints & Sinners (UK : Markosia, 2006).
Satterlee, Chuck. Smoke & Mirror Volume 1 : Time & Time Again (UK : Markosia, 2006).
I was given a copy of the minicomic The Bleeding Tree by its illustrator-adapter Diana Marsh.
I bought The Librarian : Return to King Solomon's Mines 5-page exclusive preview for $1.00. No Jewish content in it at all, but there is an illustration of a book with a Star od David on it on the cover and it's hard for me to pass up any comic that has "Librarian" in the title.
I made a photocopy (for 10 cents, I think) of a cartoon from a Doonesbury digest book that I had picked up during the Toronto Bookcrossing Convention. In the cartoon, Mark Slackmeyer tells his black friend that it will be interesting trying to get him into his father's club since normally you can't get in unless you're descended from one of the guys who came over on the Mayflower. His freind asks how he got in since Mark is Jewish. Mark replies that "We [the Jews} owned the Mayflower."
Trudeau, G.B. The President is a Lot Smarter than You Think (Popular, 1973).
I also made a copy of a one-panel Bizarro cartoon in which a pig is walking into a doorway of a house with another pig. A Hasidic Jew is sitting in a chair and one pig says to the other "It's okay, Ralph. We'll be safe in here."
Piraro, Dan. Bizarro. (San Francisco : Chronicle, 1986), p. 9
In the bookcrossing spirit, I gave away both cartoon books at a room where a panel on the subject of comic strips was to take place.
I bought a copy of Crickets #1 at the D&Q table for the Candian cover price (luckily I still had Canadian cash with me) and got Sammy Harkham to sign it for me.
Harkham, Sammy. "Black Death" Crickets #1 Jan. 2006 (Montreal : Drawn and Quarterly).
I bought The Prophecy #2 for just $1.50 (i.e. 50% off the cover price). That's the kind of bargain one can expect when you wait until 15 minutes after the lady on the loudspeaker yells "The convention is now over. Leave the exhibit hall NOW!"
Kubert, Joe. "The Prophecy Part Two" Sgt. Rock : The Prophecy #2 Apr. 2006 (NY : DC).
I bought a copy of David : The Shepherd's Song and David's Mighty Men at cover price, as I didn't feel sure I would have another chance to buy them. I didn't realize, at the time, that the Mighty Men book contained the story from Mighty Men #1 (which I already owned).
Lepp, Royden. David : The Shepherd's Song Volume 1 (La Mesa, CA : Cross Culture, 2005).
Saltares, Javier. David's Mighty Men : Goliath Sized Edition (La Mesa, CA : Alias, 2005).
I bought one of the last remaining unsold copies of Arsenic Lullaby #12 at the cover price for one reason and ONLY one reason : to be able to read the story with the Pilsbury Doughboy at Auschwitz. When I got home and scanned it, I realized that it was simply a 1-page illustration, not a story. There are stories in the comic, though.
Paszkiewicz, Douglas. "1943 : The Pilsbury Doughboy at Auschwitz" Arseic Lullaby #12 Jan./Feb. 2000 (s.l. : A Silent Comics).
I vaguely recall getting a bargain on the copy of Families of Altered Wars #109 that I bought. I had to sift through a box of the issues of the series in the vendor's longbox to find it, but the cover was hard not to notice once I saw it. It has an illustration of an Israeli jet fighter and a Star of David air force emblem in the background, as well as the storyline title "Wings of David" and a "Save Israel Rebuild Iraq" slogan.
Nomura, Ted. "Raumkrieg Part Five" Families of Altered Wars #109, 1st story June 2003 (San Antonio : Antarctic).
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