It is no secret... I haven't been in the comic collecting realm for very long... well not back in I should say. This was my very first opportunity to attend a Comic Convention of any sort, in my entire life. Before this, the closest I ever came to attending a comic book convention was Free Comic Book Day, which was also my very first and happened to be this last weekend. Lots of firsts for me this year. I think that it's quite fitting that the Cherry City Comic Con is the Comic Con to finally pop my proverbial comic con cherry.My trip started bright and early Saturday morning my wife and I arrive, excited and ready to go. When the doors opened I hit the ground running. I made sure to make my first Con experience the con I wanted it to be; I bought a V.I.P. pass... so I didn't have to wait in line. I came in with a positive attitude, not expecting it to be perfect, just expecting it to be fun. And when I walked through the doors it was truly information overload."Kid in a candy shop" doesn't even begin to describe what it was like for me walking through those doors. "A jonesing crack addict walking into a crack manufacturing warehouse", that is a better descriptor. My brain exploded! Neurons were misfiring in all directions. Thank god my wife was there to focus me; she's really good at doing that.Here are the personal highlights for me...Getting to meet Nathan Quarry from Zombie Cage Fighter was simply awesome. If you don't know who he is then 1. you aren't into Zombie Cage Fighter, 2. You aren't into UFC and 3. You aren't into Comic Book Men. And that's okay. But you should be into Nathan Quarry. Because Nathan Quarry isn't just a UFC fighter or a comic book writer or a T.V. star. Nathan is something different altogether.He was at the Con partly to promote his comic Zombie Cage Fighter, but mostly to share his message which happens to be a great message (this is me paraphrasing that message);He did a panel which focused on sharing his personal story which is interesting, especially since he grew up here in the Cherry City, and ties tightly into his message which helps his message really hit close to home. And Zombie Cage fighter is a fictional telling of his story.If you ever get a chance to meet and talk with Nathan, take it, you won't be disappointed. He's a great man with a huge heart and a "can't be stopped" attitude that is contagious. You can learn more about Nate and his personal message on his site . You can learn more about Zombie Cage Fighter on this site Nichole Brune was called up to do a Q&A panel. She was quite entertaining and fun. She told a bad joke (What did the fish say when he ran into the cement wall? ... dam.) And talked about her art, her creative process and how she developed her style.She made it no secret that nothing comes easy... hard work, long hours (10,000 hours to become proficient) and practice, practice, practice if you want to become an artist and make a living at it.After her Q&A panel I had a chance to talk with her at her booth, mainly I more personal questions for her. I asked her about how she coped with criticism and more specifically, self criticism, of her work early on and even today. Her answer was quite interesting in that she said "You have be able to recognize that there will be people interested in your work, even when you think it is crap."I spoke with her for about 25 minutes uninterrupted, asking question after question. She was very open and candid in her answers, and gracious... so very gracious. Oh did I mention, her artwork is simply stunning.Comics... Yeah they had a few of those. I personally scored 140 comics and some other various swag at the con. This included 120 Incredible Hulk back issues, a few Savage and Sensational She-Hulk back issues and some Dark Horse Presents back issues... plus an autographed copy of Zombie Cage Fighter from Nathan, you know, to help support his message. Not to mention that beautiful large Hulk #1 poster looming in background of the photo.All in all... I averaged about $0.36 a copy for the comics. That's right. It wasn't a typo. I spent about $50 on 140 comics. When you do the math, that comes out $0.357.It's all about wheel'n and deal'n... and that is something I know about. A few of my friends have witnessed me in action. And a few have actually walked away unsure of what was happening, or what to do, not sure if the clerk was about to get hostile or not, because I stay calm, but firmly state my position and rarely budge and clerks tend to become frustrated because they tend to have over priced their stock and I tend to know what I am talking about because I do research before hand and they can't argue my talking points and get frustrated.But this is how it gets done. At the con, the vendors aren't like that. In the end, everyone got what they wanted... me, the vendors, the other customers; everyone was happy. You can click on the image on the right to see a higher res image of swag I got from the con.Speaking of vendors and artists as well, they were a huge part of the con as I am sure they are a part of most cons. But what I found great about the vendors at this particular con was their willingness to give.Take for instance Tony Grove of Tony's Kingdom of Comics and Collectables. He spent most of his day Saturday over at the Star Wars booth having his photo taken with fans raising money for charity rather than trying to sell his own stuff at his booth. He left sales to his volunteer staff while he focused on raising money for charity.I found one vendor that actually took over 100 of my comics in for trade. That's right... I was able to trade in some comics that I no longer wanted for comics I did want.Vendors at the con were awesome! Friendly, chatty, willing to barter... and giving. These are my type of people charitable, give and take type of people of the community. You can click on any of the images below to see higher res version of the image.Artists included big names like Gary Martin Nichole Brune as well as some great local artists like Corrosive Comics , Anne Mare, Hot Rod Betties Tattoo Brett Weldele and so many more.Cosplay was a huge part of the con. There were tons of different costumes in varying styles and levels of complexity. From 80s Battlestar Cylons to an 8' tall Chewbacca (with mouth animatronics and sounds) to Mars Attacks aliens and even some Silent Hill and Bioshock themed costumes.They were all amazing. Feel free to click on the images below to view the larger high res images.My personal favorite costume was the Galactus. Not only was his costume truly awesome and hand made, including the little Silver Surfer orbiting his left side, but his helmet was signed by Stan Lee. And after talking to him a little, I learned that Kevin (Galactus' Earth Name) was also a real nice guy. Something I found common among all of the Con-goers. Everyone was truly friendly and nice. For my wife, her cosplay highlight was were the Labyrinth cosplayers (Top-Two Center).Cars were in abundance at the Con... of notable mention was the Ford Mustang from I Dream of Jeannie, the Chevy Chevelle from Supernatural and the Chevy Nova from Death Proof a Call of Duty Jeep and one of the cars from one of the Fast and Furious movies. All very cool too look at (and touch). My favorite was the Nova... Death Proof being a favorite of mine. Feel free to click on any of the images below to see full res images of the cars.All of this, the Con, the vendors, the artists, comics, the cosplay, the cars, interpersonal interactions I had... it was made possible because of this guy (pictured right getting a tattoo at the con, click on it to a higher res); Mark Martin. He decided he wanted a Con in our hometown and he, with a lot of help, made it happen.It was because of his drive and the hard work him and a ton of volunteers, vendors, suppliers and con-goers that this, the first Cherry City Comic Con was the success that it was. Even with the second day of the con being scheduled on Mother's Day, and given the fact that the weather was unusually beautiful for an Oregon Spring day, the attendance was impressive.Not everything went as planned, it rarely ever does. But, if we are to be honest, this event went really good, nay I say I went great. From everyone I talked to at the con, and that was 100+ people including vendors, con-goers and staffers, this was a great event for everyone involved. The most important aspect of this event was that it lived up to its promise; it was a safe, family friendly event from start to finish and that is because of the efforts of everyone involved in the con. I applaud everyone involved and thank them for their tireless efforts.As for myself, now a former con-virgin, I couldn't have asked for a better first experience. I was in comics nirvana the entire time I was on the con floor; from door opening to door closing. My thanks go out to everyone (staff, vendors, artists, cosplayers, critters, and even baby ewoks) who helped make this an event for everyone; an event for Salem; a Cherry City Event.Until next time... here's to filing, and logging 140 comics.