Got home last night, and that wasn't fun. One piece of luggage was left behind, and sent with the next flight. Got it this morning.
The rest of the trip was filled with stuff, so didn't spend most of the time at the house. I won't go into a day-by-day thing, and I'm a little lazy with the pictures right now.
Bro and I did check out some comic shops during the trip. Also, we went to a couple of places that was used in Runaways, the Griffith Observatory and the La Brea Tar Pits. The view from the Observatory was very nice. Especially somewhat early in the day, and without it being hot. Barely any Los Angeles smog at the time.
As for the La Brea Tar Pits, Adrian Alphona made is look better than it actually is.
The comics shops we went to during the trip, Meltdown Comics, Golden Apple Comics, Jay & Silent Bob's Secret Stash, and Geoffrey's Comics.
I found that Meltdown Comics was a nice and big store. Didn't pick anything up from there, but easily could have. Golden Apple Comics seems to be the place where many signings are taking place (none of which going on when I'm here). It's right on Melrose Ave and La Brea (opposite corner from Pink's, the celebrity hot spot for hot dogs). Picked up one of the other Scott Pilgrim t-shirts available.
I was quite disappointed with Jay & Silent Bob's Secret Stash. I knew that the original west coast shop closed, but was re-opened inside of Lazer Blazer (a DVD place). But wow, was it ever small. The selection of comics wasn't even that great.
Geoffrey's Comics had to have been the best shop during the trip, with discounts on the stock, and a large selection of new releases. This was actually were I bought my comics from, aside from the Fathom: DOW #1 Jay's Company Comics Exclusive.
My key pick-ups were the following:
- GI Joe #21 (the Silent issue, featuring the first appearance of Storm Shadow) for $7.50.
- Captain America #41 (Monkey Variant by Frank Cho) for $2.50.
I did buy some other books, but won't list them now. That being said, I could've spent a couple of hours in the store, just going through the bin stock. Oh well, that would've been more to bring back home.
Checked out the Nucleus gallery, and ended up picking up a copy of Clean Cartoonists' Dirty Drawings, already signed by Craig Yoe and Dean Yeagle.
Did eventually head back to Frank & Son Collectible Show, but did not pick up anything. I could pick up the new issues at home, which would save me the trouble of bringing them back home. As for bin stock, there were some books I wanted to buy, but did not want to spend too much. I'll wait for the con at the end of the month, and do my bin diving then.
Checked out a few of malls, and a Swap Meet during the trip. Aside from a few comic related graphic t-shirts I picked up from Steve & Barry's liquidation sale, I didn't pick up much from the mall visits.
The Swap Meet was interesting. It's more of a flea market, rather than a "swap" meet. People don't take trades, just cash. Nothing that really caught my eye, but lots of stuff that may interest other people.
Guess I wasn't really in a buying mood during this trip.
Did eat a whole lot during the trip. Got to the two places I had to eat at during the trip. Carl's Jr. and In-N-Out Burger. Just had to eat there at least once during the trip. In-N-Out has been a favourite of mine, since the first time I went to LA on a regular basis. There was a location right next to my uncle's old convenience store, so I had it somewhat regularly back in the day.
But the trip wasn't just fast food joints. Headed out to many different places. Korean BBQ, Mexican "hole-in-the-wall" type restaurant (which was a very good place), out for the shaved snow (pretty much, ice cream, but the toppings were great), and various other places.
One of the nights, my step-sister picked up about 16-pounds of seafood. Crawfish, Shrimp, Mussels, and Clams. OMG, that was some good eatin'. I never had crawfish until that night. It's like little lobsters, with significantly less meat. Aside from the work involved in getting a tiny little piece of meat, it was delicious.
This trip was also filled with a lot of time with the family I don't get to see too often. Had so much fun with them, and wish I could spend more time with them, but unfortunately, had to get back to the grind.
I'll post pictures when I stop feeling lazy about it.
My favourite American Gladiator, Crush. Also known as, Gina Carano (MMA fighter). Thought it was cool that J. Bone drew the American Gladiators, after the show came back from those years on hiatus, with new Gladiators. Here are the drawings he did of the Gladiatrixes and Gladiators. I had to get him to draw Crush, which he gladly did. :D
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