Details

The 15th annual Minnesota Comic Book Association FallCon Comic Book Convention is scheduled 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday in the Education Building at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds, 1372 Cosgrove Ave., St. Paul.

Admission is $9 for adults for both days or $8 with a food shelf donation. Children under 9 get in free.

The event includes exhibits by local and national publishers, art schools, fan groups, comic book retailers and movie studios. Featured guests include Dan Jurgens (“Superman,” “Thor”), Silver Age giant Rich Buckler, legendary Disney artist Don Rosa, “Crow” creator James O’Barr and “Green Arrow” writer/artist Mike Grell. More than 100 mainstream, independent, alternative, regional and national comic book writers, artists, inkers and publishers will be in attendance.

Special events include a comic book art and collectibles show, Q&A panels, a comic book marketplace, portfolio reviews, door prizes and grab bags, free creator autographs, live music and a charity auction.

“An event like FallCon showcases the creative side of the comic book industry,” said Nick Post, co-director of the MCBA.

Archive details courtesy of brainerddispatch.com.

Explore More

■ MCBA
With over 30 years of history, the Minnesota Comic Book Association’s SpringCon and FallCon shows are Minnesota’s largest conventions focused on comic book creators and vendors. You will not find as many longtime favourite and up-and-coming comic artists under one roof anywhere else in the state! And if you are in the market to buy, sell, or trade, we feature both local and out-of-state vendors for the largest selection possible!

I’m updating some old articles by adding old photos and I ran across these photos from Fallcon 2003, where I met Rich Buckler (who died in 2017).

My family and I have been attending Fallcon since 1999, when they were still holding at a hotel. Looking back, I guess officially it’s called Minnesota Comic Book Association FallCon or MCBA Fallcon, but who calls it that? Even in my original file, I never referred to it as MCBA.

The big draw for me was Rich Buckler, the man who gave George Perez a job as an art assistant. Buckler accepted so many assignments during his heyday that he couldn’t possibly draw everything, so hired assistants. These assistants would often draw background, leaving the full character for Buckler to finish. The two had a falling out, due to disagreement about how to approach art direction, but it’s good to know that Perez and Buckler long buried the hatchet, well before Buckler died.

The other big draw was James O’Barr who created “The Crow”, but we did not see him at the convention. It is possible that he cancelled his appearance and/or was not accessible at the time we were there.

Below is the report I filed on my George Perez website:

>>>>

October 5, 2003 | Fallcon

I haven’t been to Minnesota’s Fallcon Comic Book Convention since they moved to the Minnesota State Fair Grounds, so it’s been a good one or two years. Things have certainly changed, the biggest difference is that there were a lot of exhibitors, vendors, companies, and artists (as seen in the overview photograph).

I did feel sorry for the exhibitors who were stuck in the “Batcave” which were colder, damper, and (what seems like) half-lit. I asked one of the vendors why they got the bad end of the stick, and basically it was because they had applied for space very late in the stage of the convention and they got what was left over.

I attended Rich Buckler & Mike Grell’s Panel later in the day, in the “Danger Room”. Since the place was an old theater, noise really carries well. Unfortunately, this goes for people who were talking in the back of the theater.

Grell did most of the talking, he seems really excited about a possible up-coming movie adaptation of his creation, Jon Sable. His involvement in the film only goes as far as his script (he cited that Hollywood in generally does not want the writer’s input after the script). If you grew up in the eighties, you would remember that ~~NBC~~ ABC actually aired about six or seven episodes of Jon Sable! They changed it a little, but it’s still pretty much the same character.

There were a lot original artworks, which I suspects were donated for display by the owner of http://www.comicsfun.com, as I saw the Triton and Spectra artwork by George Pérez in frames. The “Celebrating 60 Years of Wonder Woman” included over 50 artists, but none of which included George Pérez’s! My favorite WW sketches were Dan Clowes and Peter Gross (Death wearing WW’s outfit).

As for that one final photograph, I have to admit I am a bit of a Miracleman fan, and I had no idea that two-pack existed. I thought I’d share the information, in case someone out there wants one for their collection.