Contributed by collector and Overstreet Advisor Art Cloos
Photos by Alice Cloos
The first Garden State Comic Fest (GSCF) was held in January 2014 in Ledgewood, New Jersey, and since then it has evolved into the biggest premier comic event in New Jersey. But due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the summer 2020 edition of the show was canceled. For the first time in three years, it has returned to its traditional spot at the Mennen Arena in the heart of Morristown, New Jersey.
GSCF really is a true comic and creator focused convention with a great selection of comics and original comic art available from the Golden to Modern Ages. This is proven through guests and attendees that come from all over the world.
The dealers list included 3D Printing by Muckychris, Absolutely Gary Platt Comics, Aces, Agents of Slabs, AJ’s House of Comics, Amber Keep Art, Arbco Comics, Artoons Awesome Minis, Bad Fish Comics, Bad Ink Studios, Benny Miller Art, Blimp Trading Co., Blind Science Design, Blue Juice Comics, Boone Enterprises Inc., Captain Canuck, Chubby Penguin Parties, Codakhrome Comic Shop, Collectors Crate, Comic Carnies, Comic Collision, Dancap Designs, DeLuca’s Cards & Comics, Derpy Con, DGLW Cosplay and Photography, Digital-delightz, Dimension Decals, DJF Comics, East Side Mags, Geek Emporium, Golden Gays, Golden Memories, Groundbreaking Comics, Hero Restoration, Howard Tauber, Instant Impressions, Jack & Lil’s Workshop, Jay’s & JediMax Comics & Collectibles, JDT One Entertainment, JP Comics, Justin Bowen, Kingdom Comics, Knights of Abyss, Komic Knights, Kubert School, Mablestoys & Treats, Monster Mash, Moving Pictures Comics, Mugs Collectibles, Needle Meister, Nemesis Comics and Games, NerdMerchnj, NJ Collectibles and Supplies, North Jersey Woodcraft, NRG Comics, Outpost 1 Collectibles, Otaku Collection, Quabrot Comics, RIF Prints, Santiago Sports, SFP Marketing LLC, Shadow Relics, Snuggly Shark Collectibles, Stitch’d 2gether Collectables, Stormwatch Comics, Sword of Truth Comics, The Cheesecake Nerd, Toyz From The Darkside, Uncharted Territories, Undisputed Comics King, Watchtower Collectibles, The Wrestling Collector, and Zanti Jewelry.
Creators at the convention included Adelia Gunderson, Adriana Melo, Alton Simpson, Amanda and Daniel O’Leary, Andy Chang, Angelo Liu, Angela Fernot, Anizuka, Arismendy Jimenez, Ashley L. Watkins, Billy Tucci, Bob Almond, Bob Sharen, Bobby Campbell, Bobby Chrisafis, Brian Lacy, Buzz, Catherine Wegman, CdubbArt, Chansaphea Phoun, Charles Paul Wilson III, Chris Ivy, Chris Madd, Christian Blochinger, Christian Mack, Daniel H. Perez, Darren D. Auck, Derek Draws, Emily Witten, Emma Kubert, Enrique Quique Lopez, Ethan Farina, Eugene Zebrowski and Jack French, Fadi Hakim, Fernando Ruiz, Finnegan Dowling, FT Comix Zone, Graham Nolan, Gregory Maldonado, Gus Mauk, Howard Chaykin, J.M. DeSantis, Jackie DeMayo, Jackie Stier, James Ferguson, Jan Duursema, Jason Baroody, Jeff Johnson, Jesse Simon, Jim Calafiore, Jon Peter Buzio, Jose Varese, Jump Back Productions, Keith Williams, Kevin Altieri, Kim Demulder, King Puddin Art, Len Danovich, Leslie E. Heath, Louise Simonson, Lynne Yoshii, Graham Nolan, Gregory Maldonado, Gus Mauk, Howard Chaykin, J.M. DeSantis, Jackie DeMayo, Jackie Stier, James Ferguson, Jan Duursema, Jason Baroody, Jeff Johnson, Jesse Simon, Jim Calafiore, J.L. Johnson Jr., Joe Giella, Jon Peter Buzio, Jose Varese, Jump Back Productions, Keith Williams, Kevin Altieri, Kim Demulder, King Puddin Art, Len Danovich, Leslie E. Heath, Louise Simonson, and Lynne Yoshii.
There was a nice selection of media guests at this show including Freddie Stroma, Nhut Le, Tiffany, Kevin Alterie, Brett Azar, puppeteer Bill Diamond, Ian James Corlett, and others. In addition cosplayers are a big part of the GSCF experience and for this show the invited cosplayers were The 501st Legion: Northeast Remnant, Barbie Chula, The Legion of Super Villains Cosplay Group, The DGLW Cosplay and Photography group of David C. Grubbs/DG Collins Cosplay and Dominique Wilson/Cosplay by Mikette, The Mandalorian Mercs Costume Club, Robert Franzese, ItsJoy, Ruby Rinekso, CosplayKatie, and The Amazing Spiderlings.
Hosting an awards ceremony has become a feature of the bigger comic shows and Garden State has joined this trend by welcoming The Inkwell Awards. The Inkwells are awards given for creative achievement in the field of inking in American comic books. It was created to focus on and show more recognition toward the inking art form and its artists. The production skill exclusive to comics is often misunderstood and underappreciated and inkers are at times not presently credited as they were traditionally.
Panels and demonstrations at GSCF included the Saber Guild Corellia, a Lucasfilm recognized charity costumed group, that specializes in lightsaber stage combat that helps raise money for Robert Wood Johnson Children’s Hospital. They offered lightsaber classes at their booth both days of the show and performed on the main stage. Bruce Wechtenhiser, a premier Spider-Man fans with a comic and memorabilia collection that he spent 50 years building, hosted the Spidey & Me: Over 50 Years of Connecting and Collecting panel. He spoke about his emotional connection to the character through stories that included tales about Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, and John Romita and he shared photos, and rare items from his collection. Allie was excited to see Tiffany at the show and also the Golden Gays a group created to honor the Golden Girls TV show. They took pics with fans at their booth and performed on the GSCF stage.
A long line of people waited to get into the show, near an absolutely gorgeous 1966 Batmobile which was surrounded by fans taking photos of the iconic car. Batman’s Tumbler from the Christopher Nolan Dark Knight Trilogy was on display on the other side of the plaza. Multiple food trucks were stationed in the parking lot since the Mennen food court had shut down.
Inside, I met with several friends and fellow collectors, including my friend Sean Wolfe who was also happy that GSCF had returned. The first dealer table I saw was John Paul of the NJ Pug Production Comic Shows, who runs the Clifton Comic Book show. I caught up with my good friend and fellow Batman collector Stuart Greenberg and his son and daughter (otherwise known as The Wonder Twins) who was excited about his new autographs. I also caught up with Jerry Goldstein, a fixture at New Jersey comic shows.
The con had a good representation of comic dealers selling Golden to Bronze Age books as well as the hot Modern books of the last 20 years. Anthony Snyder had a nice selection of both vintage art pages and comics. Vendors also sold t-shirts, jewelry, and other elements of a successful show. In fact, Allie found some unusual craft items not usually sold at comic shows and she loved going through the Artist Alley and talking to the artists. Dealers reported good sales overall and many said they would return in 2023. As we left the show Allie and I were already looking forward to next year’s edition.
GSCF is located about 40 minutes from New York City and 45 minutes from the Poconos in Pennsylvania. In terms of public transportation, the Mennen is located between two New Jersey Transit train stations and it is a little over a mile walk or a short cab ride to the Mennen. Also, Coach USA Bus Lines go through Morristown, and both travel every hour from Penn Station and the Port Authority in NYC. There are two hotels close to the show, The Sonesta Simply Suites of Morris Plains and the Sonesta ES Suites of Parsippany, both a short ride to the show. Beyond the food trucks there were at least ten places to have a sit down meal within a two-mile radius from the arena.
There were various ticket packages available including combo tickets for photo ops and kids 10 and under were given free admittance with a paying adult. The show dates for the 2023 GSCF have not been announced yet, but you can check their website at www.gardenstatecomicfest.com or their Facebook page for show dates and announcements email them at gscomicfest@gmail.com.
To see more photos from GSCF, jump to our In the Limelight section.
