Everything you missed at Original Art Expo with Dave, from West Coast Davengers: Original Comic Art, Kirby Awards, and More - The Short Box Podcast Ep. 489

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intro music plays

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Yo, Short Box Nation, welcome back.  If you're brand new, welcome to the show. My name is Badr and this is the Short Box Podcast, the comic book talk show that brings you the best conversations about your favorite comics with the people that put their blood, sweat, and tears into making them, or in today's case, you know, I love saying it, the fanboys who love comics as much as you do. I'm recording this video, well, I'm recording this episode, it's video and audio.

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from Orlando here at Original Art Expo. It's their third year. uh Big shout outs to Original Art Expo. They invited me out. I got a press pass. I've been hanging out  all weekend. I wanted to do a recap, of course.  I got to bring the convention experience to you guys that are not able to be here. And I said, well, I don't know if they want to just hear me solo. So  who can I find to join me for a fun  little recap of the weekend? And I think this guest I got here with me is the embodiment.

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of the perfect guest for this kind of episode. Ladies and gents, I'm sitting here with the man himself, West Coast Davengers. He's a  comic book hunter, he's a podcast host, he runs the West Coast Davengers YouTube channel, as well as the amazing comic interview podcast direct edition. My man Dave is here with me. Dave, welcome to the show, buddy. My God, what an honor. How you doing, Badr? I'm doing great, man. I have been looking forward to having you on the podcast since we met at

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We met where? At New York Con? No, was HeroesCon. HeroesCon last year, 2025. I've been a big fan. You're a comic hunter as well as a podcast host. You have some incredible interviews as well. And yeah, man, I appreciate everything you stand for. Well, the feeling is extremely mutual. Like I told you, when I first met you in person, I'm like, you're one of the podcasts that are research points for me. When I'm going for an interview, I got to listen to somebody who I want to listen to, who's got great energy.

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and knows what he's talking about. And that's you. I appreciate that, man. We could go on and on about how great I am,  but we are not here to do that today. And vice versa, I could go on about all the great things you do.  But oh we are recording, like I said, live from our original art expo here in Orlando.  It is my first year attending this event. It's been only around for three years.  I'm to understand that you've been here all three years, right? Yeah, this is my third year here uh as somebody who  not only loves comics and comic art,

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uh I'm a collector myself, you know, and so I you know big fan of what Casper and Bill have built and I had to come first year and you know, like any uh great addiction I keep coming back for more  What would you say  as someone that is an experienced comic convention goer? What separates  original art expo from some of the other conventions that you frequent and visit? well for starters, it's the fact that  the only thing that's sold here is

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original art  and ah so you're getting away from anything  that might uh distract you from that.  But the thing that I  remember saying vocally and also thinking to myself the first time I was here  was,  oh my God, I can hear my thoughts and I can have a conversation with an artist  without using my convention voice.  And uh

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That's something that I haven't experienced since I was a kid, since I was going to small cons as a kid. It's dawning on me now that I have not been, I have not suffered from the audio fatigue, the stimulation fatigue that comes from maybe like a larger comic convention where there's so much noise, you have to talk over, you have to talk loudly. By the end of the day, your voice is shot, your ears hurt in some weird way. You don't feel didn't even think about that, you're right.

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It is maybe the most peaceful convention I've ever been to. And so  getting that as just the environmental experience,  the other thing is,  I mean, sure,  most people can't half the stuff that's here, but you're seeing some of the greatest comic book art up close. Nobody's telling you you can't  see it. Nobody's telling you you can't go close to it. uh mean, you know, and if you're a comic fan of whatever.

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whatever genre,  whatever era, there's something here that is gonna blow your mind out the back of your head. um Last year, I think it was last year, unless it was the first year, the House of Secrets 92 cover was here. Oh wow. You know, the first Swamp Thing? uh had a,  last year they did the collections in Black Gallery, which they had the  earliest  known piece of.

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Black Panther's first appearance, think they had a page from 52 or 53.  And then this year, you you've got the whole Commandy 7 issue up. Yeah, okay. And I guess it's just a little context for those that are not here.  The  convention is kind of broken up into two uh segments. You have the main convention floor where you've got the art sellers, you've got uh artists here as well. mean, Paula Rivera's here, John Romita Jr. is here, Adam Hughes, Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmaiotti.

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The list goes on,  no disrespect to anyone, the Havent name. It's just a long list.  And then the second portion is kind of uh what I'm calling the  fine art section.  So you've got like Julia, oh my god, I'm drawing a blank, uh Boris, I believe? No, no, uh it's Julie Bell.  Julie Bell, thank you so much. Julie Bell is here. uh Painters are in this room.  They're selling fine art, like painted paintings.

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The Marvel Masterworks  are here with the original art. So it's cool that they've got it separated in that way. And then  there's a third smaller room that's kind of like an art gallery. And that, I think, goes to what you were saying. They're showing  on display these original Kirby pages from uh Commondi. And it's a nice touch, like going back to what you said,  walking to that room.

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It was maybe the most peaceful room because it has a  museum quality to it. And everyone that goes in there automatically just enters museum mode. So very hushed tones,  appreciating the art.  And something you said too,  it is an embarrassment of riches here of how  many just classic,  iconic, uh legendary pieces you're seeing, like covers from like, you know, first appearances,  you've named some. uh

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pages that go back to the 40s and 30s. in a weird way, it's just all here. And no one is too precious about you handling them. It's not like a comic that they're trying to keep the near-mint scores. Or it's like encased in plastic and in slabs. It's like, here is the original raw art that you could flip through. And there are stacks and stacks. It is.

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It has been uh such a unique experience for me uh being here.  Yeah.  even in my third year here, because  this art changes hands, the auction companies are here showing off what's in their signature auctions. That stuff won't be here next year  because it'll be in collections. um But the Dark Knight III cover was here. The final painted Dark Knight II cover was here. um Vampirella I painting is here. ah

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Todd McFarlane splash page that's one of the greatest splash pages of Spider-Man swinging in a very close-up that's here. uh So each year it's a different feeling.  It's very,  I would definitely  say,  maybe this is anecdotally, but I feel it does swing very  vintage Marvel heavy  in terms of the art pages. But  it's not lacking for your DCs.  I came across a table that had a bunch of  original art from

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Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips criminal, which is like, oh, I didn't even think about,  yes, that would have original art. Sean Phillips is drawing on boards and things. uh Mike Mignola art is here. There is not an artist I can think of that is not represented here in some way. You're 100 % right. mean, uh Scott Eater is a guy who takes care of the Indian underground. He's got Basil Wolverton. He's got  Los Bros Hernandez. And the thing about what you were saying about

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being Marvel heavy, I think we also have to keep in mind a lot of DC art doesn't exist anymore. They were also perpetrators of incinerating and dumping art. There is some Bernie rights in here. But you're right. haven't seen a single, I mean, I haven't looked at everything, but I haven't seen a Neil Adams Batman page here. I think Heritage Auction might have one on display. I've seen a couple of vendors with some Green Lantern Neil Adams for sure.

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uh But you know, I want to go back to something you said in terms of just how unique this crowd is and my big takeaway is that comic culture has so many subsections to it. You know, people think comic books, they think, you you're floppies, you're comic shops,  but it truly,  there's so many subsections within  the culture and the genre. And I think coming here was eye opening to see  the art world  is a very tight community.

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I'm convinced that all of these art sellers know each other.  The way they come up to each other, trading art, they're talking about their latest pickups.  Last night I had an interaction with someone right outside the hotel, and everyone here is extremely friendly. This particular person is really into the Marvel Masterworks cards. He's only here for that.  We were having a chat outside and he's telling me about um this Ronin uh art piece that he bought, which is the original art too. And I believe Julie Bell  did the art  or painted this one.

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And it's the original art to this Ronan card. And he was very, very straightforward and very honest with me. He's like, dude, I'm going to be honest with you, I don't really know much about comics. I don't read them. I do collect them. I buy slabs. And if I'm being real with you, it was like a therapist moment. I'm just taking it in. Like, what? He was like, I just like the art on the front. I just know what I like. And I'm just here for the art. And it was.

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It was interesting. My knee-jerk reaction was like, can you really call yourself a comic fan? But it's like, no, that's gatekeeping. I have to check myself. This guy is here because he, it's OK to just like the art. Sure. And I think it puts an emphasis on, to me, it's like there's a delineation between you can appreciate the art and then there's nothing to engage with the art. And I think that's what I enjoy about being a comic fan is engaging with the art, the tactile feel.

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understanding the artists, the writers, the connection, the collaboration and all of that. This being my first year, this being your third year, did you kind of have a similar revelation or experience like, oh, this is  an interesting subsection. Did you feel out of place? Did it feel kind of weird maybe? Me and the card community have a push and pull uh of...  Look, I collected cards  a lot through my life and I love opening packs and I love that and I loved...

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the Marvel Universe stuff in the 90s because I was being exposed to artists. didn't know who Joe Jessica was until the 92 masterpieces. But at some point, you're a lot kinder than I am with this. At some point, I feel like it's a little bit of a disrespect to the comic book medium if you're just collecting the thing. Sure. It is great that they support artists, guys like Demetri Pitellis and

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uh You know, uh EM Gist and  Joe Jusko and, uh you know, Dan Dos Santos. It's nice that they're buying this original art from these guys because it's beautiful stuff. There's no denying it.  But I think about the long-term  overall health of comics. And I think about how many times we've watched the industry  start to go down the drain. And if the...

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If you're not engaging with the actual comic books, you're not helping. You're helping, and it's great to help the artists,  but the comic book stores  are the life of our ecosystem. ah this is such a great convention to expose yourself to artists, but you got to explore their books.  It's what they do.  I think you bring up some valid points in terms of sustainability and  really engaging with the culture in a long-term way.

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That experience to me showed that there's so many ways  in rabbit holes  and doorways people can enter the uh medium and enjoying the art form. I for me, cards were maybe among the first  instances where I was engaging with art and these comic characters. I'll also say  the Super Nintendo  X-Men game was a huge gateway for me to get into the show. So whether it be cards.

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video games, the comics themselves. It is interesting to see what someone's gateway into this is.  And in this case,  the emphasis on art is just, I'm thinking like,  I bet you someone's gonna,  how can someone not bring a long box of comics or  a collection? And it's like, no, this is so hyper-focused on just original art, sketches, pages, commissions, and  the lack of comics  is,

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Shocking in a way for a first-timer, but also  I don't just really refreshing. It's like, okay  I'm engaging with comics in a whole different way where I'm just appreciating  the art and I was telling you I had to take multiple breaks  because it's almost like you see so much much like heroes kind I always say that you see so much dope shit that you almost become immune to it you gloss over it and I  think we both had an instance where we were like, hey, let's

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like grab a coffee,  refresh our eyes, come back and appreciate more great art. What are some of the standout things that you've  seen today, this weekend, anything that really pops to mind?  Well, there's a couple of things. uh Despite it not being the greatest comic of all time and despite it being possibly the most hyped comic of all time, the entirety of Superman 75 is here.  The death of Superman, every single piece of art, think, aside from three pages,  even the

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The funeral for a friend poster original artist here. look, I was 13, 12. I don't remember how old I was when that 15, when that book came out and I've memorized every splash page and every action in that. I've, I've also enjoyed watching, uh, Ed Piskor and Jim rug rip the book apart, but to see Dan Jergens and Brett Breeding's original art up close and get to touch it. Um,

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If I may interject, find it, because Dan Jergens is  a guest artist here,  I find it so interesting that he's sitting here and you've got this iconic art just like a few feet away from him.  It's almost like I  would love for him to like walk up to the art and I wonder what his thought, you what he feels seeing that. Don't ask, don't ask.  Because I already did that for us.

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Dave, I love it.  That's awesome. But last year I had the, I'll talk about what I've seen here, but last year I had the amazing and esteemed opportunity to film a little segment  with Bart Sears  holding the Turok One cover. Nice. And like that was a moment for me. uh Aside from, you know, the Superman 75, you know, seeing  the Frazetta painting  up close. In the fine art section where it belongs. Yeah. But it was the dark night to...

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painted cover and the Dark Knight 3 cover.  I got to hold those.  I could take photo with those. Like the Dark Knight 2 cover, I'm, hopefully won't get choked up about this, but I, that's an image, you know, Batman scrunched in the cover is seared into my mind. And uh Ed Piskar did an homage to that for Fantastic Four to Grand Design with the thing. And I own that cover  and getting to hold  the cover that inspired that.  And you know, it's Frank Miller. It's Frank, it's Frank fucking Miller.

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You know, and  to me, Batman,  there are iconic images, but then there's that. And the Dark Knight one cover is amazing.  But Frank Miller, thinking about scrunching this figure up in a comic book cover and using that, it kind of hearkens back to Steranko's King Size Hulk.  To me, that's comics in a nutshell, like the embellishment of the figure and just doing the cartoonish thing.  And so seeing that cover, along with a couple of Bernie Wrightson covers,

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you know,  to use a phrase that I like to use, we're eating good at this show. It's a buffet. It is a buffet  for the eyes. I don't know if it's  because I've had this creator on my mind since its passing. I'm talking about the late, great Sal Busema.  feel like it's almost been magnetic  how I've come across so much of his art in these bends. you know, being able to  engage with

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his art directly in that manner, seeing his inks. And I'm talking about not just the ones that he's penciled. I've seen so many of his spectacular Spider-Man pages here today, but also a lot of pages that he's the inker.  I think it harkens back to his  insane career of being a great penciler, a great inker,  and so much more. But it's something about being able to hold his art and being like, damn, he was.

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know, hunched, probably hunched over this pencil late night, maybe just working. I don't know. It's something about  being able to engage with like the tactile experience. I think it transcends how I'm trying to describe it. But  yeah, I'm seeing so much of South Pacific and it's like heartwarming.  Speaking about heartwarming, man, I'm thinking about experiences and exchanges I've had  this weekend.  And real quick shout out to not only getting to hang out with you,  it's been great. uh Eli Schwab is here. Yeah. Matt Sardo.

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Kassaraw, I mean so many awesome people. Oh, and of course the Inkpulp guys, man. I gotta shout those guys out. Matteo Scalera, Sean Christo, getting to meet Eric Cagnetti and telling him how much I love his Ironman run from back in the day  and getting him to see him like, oh dude, what? You read that? You know, it's like, yeah, I don't know. Having the opportunity this weekend to tell artists how much they mean to me. I had an exchange with John Romita Jr. He was the first table I went to on Saturday morning when the doors opened.

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Me and Eli were walking, we went straight to his table, he had a bunch of head sketches for like 200 bucks. It's like,  wait, what? I can own an original John Romita  sketch? I stood in line for a bit and just watching his interaction. And I mean, to your point,  I don't know if we've actually brought this up, but this convention  is so peaceful also in terms of how much time you get with the creator.

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There isn't, like if this was New York Comic Con, which I've seen him at New York Comic Con, his lines are insane. Like you almost sort of like, can't afford to wait two, three hours. But at Con, like here, I think I waited 20 minutes in line and was a, you know, I didn't feel rushed, pushed. I got to see him interact with the fans and so many people, like one guy brought up an original, some art that his dad did. He's showing him and you know, John Meador Jr. know, just seeing him get teary eyed and.

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how much that meant to him. Dude, it was moving. Everyone in line, I think, were like,  oh man, we cut onions in here. It  was really sincere, man. uh It's been a very beautiful  weekend of just art appreciation for people that I don't know always get to feel that. Yeah, and you do get these great interactions. Everybody's happy here, or at least seemingly. uh

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Shout out also to the Inkpulp guys. It's great to have them all together in one place. I'm seeing people that I'm meeting for the first time that are just as friendly as seeing some of the people that I'm seeing for the first time in two months. I want to also mention that another special aspect of the original art expo is that

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I don't know if this was the first, you can correct me if this was the first year they did the Kirby Awards. It is the first year. so wow. So I got to attend the inaugural Kirby Awards for the original art expo  and to see like, you know, people like Walter Simonson get an award in a standing ovation, you know, it's like, damn, this is  so  cool. uh know, John Byrne got an award. um Powell.

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Nate Powell, yeah, Nate Powell got an award. The homie, Nate Powell.  Zoe Thurogood  got an award for, I think, best newcomer. And her speech was really inspiring. I really liked what she said about, is now my  whatever,  second, third newcomer award. I've been in the game since 2019. But emphasizing um just how hard it is to break into comics, I think, was awesome. A very inspiring thing to have the Kirby  Awards here. And it's something that  Cas was.

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been working on for a few years and I'm glad that they were able to finally work it out and get it here. it's, you know, for a lot of people think that this is one of those kind of conventions where you have to have a lot of money to enjoy it. And that's the opposite. It's the exact opposite. Now, it's not like these comic pages are, you know, $10, $15 mini comics or the price ranges you would typically see at a regular Comic Con.

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I'll be honest with I have not bought an original art piece yet. I didn't find the one that really spoke out to me, but I ended up  buying a 1996 Marvel Masterworks onslaught card, beautifully painted by Boris Vallejo. I bought a Jack Kirby sculptor here in the fine art section that was sculpting out of clay these statues, these Jack Kirby inspired Marvel statues.

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I bought a Mighty Thor bookend, and it's got a badass Jack Kirby quote on the side. You know what I'm saying? Some really interesting, even though I haven't bought a ton of, I thought I bought Sean Crystal's art book. got Eric Cagnetti to sign the latest issue, Absolute Batman, which he crushed it in. So I'm picking up really cool stuff, and I'm not breaking the bank. I did have an intention of leaving here with my first original art piece. I just haven't found the one.

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So I'm chalking this one up to a learning experience. Well, there's still time. There's still time.  I can get them to buy something.  I will say,  having come across and flipped through so many art books and portfolios, I think if anything, it has shown me what I like, what I want to buy in original art. And I've found myself really gravitating towards  the interior title pages or splash pages that show the,  I just learned this phrase today, thanks to Jimmy Palmiotti.

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He was giving me a crash course on some original art because he's a big original art buyer Jimmy's great and and Asia. Yeah the indica indica great fucking word  I learned the phrase paste of right like me the lettering or the cutouts that they hyperimpose  I'm really I think I find myself gravitating towards arts that has texture

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You know, that you can feel like where they've pasted something over. You could see the white out. The inks kind of stand raised. I think that's the beauty of it. I just haven't. I found a lot of dope pieces. Don't get me wrong. Some incredible pieces, but none that fit both my price range and  that were, you know,  maybe meant something to Right, right. Yeah, it's...  It's a journey. I'm trying to treat it like a journey. Yeah, it is. I don't need...  I think we talked about it. I'm like, if I find something great, but I don't want to force it, you know, because I feel like this is such a...

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You know, it's not only the investment, but also I think the, um this is  the attachment feels a little. you know, art, art is based on feeling on both sides,  you know, the creator and the patron.  And so you should definitely,  you know, it's fun to jump in with some commissions because that's like a personal thing.  But when you're looking for something that is published  and  it should feel something to you, you should have a connection to it. I mean,  I've only bought

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two pieces, three pieces this weekend, which like last year was like 10, and the first year it was probably more.  But I'm also behaving because I misbehaved in Japan.  I always say this convention  will keep you behaved. It's not a very uh impulse buy. It's not a I walk by a booth and it's not like you walk by someone's booth and they've got a $10 mini comic and you're like, oh, I can afford $10. Oh, I can afford a $5 sticker.

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And by the end of the night, that stuff builds up. I think for me here, it's like, I do appreciate the focus. Now granted, I have seen some folks just scooping up pages left and right, which has been impressive. Well, and if I had a  seven to eight zero bank account, there would be game over. It would be absolutely game over. mean,  every St. Kevich piece, every McFarland piece,  any Larson piece, I'd buy every single one of them if I could.

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I think what I also want to note that I've some cool stuff I've seen is a lot of prelim art. Yes. they'll have the whatever, the main cover on the front. But then sometimes the art dealer will include the prelim art or they'll just sell the prelim art and it's like an alternative take to a cover. And a lot of them being Marvel covers where we're talking about artwork from the 60s, 70s, 80s.

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where variants weren't a very popular thing. So this is kind of like the closest you get to an old school variant, know, unused prelim art where the cover's a little different,  maybe the title might be a little different.  I've also enjoyed coming across commissions. A lot of people have art commissions and sketches and  one-off pieces that these artists have done. So it's interesting to see like...

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what other people have commissioned artists and you know, to Tony, you know, and it's like a Howard the Duck, you know, riding swamp thing or something. It's silly, you're like, uh. Well, and that's  one of the things that's  a decent way to get in on 60s and 70s stuff is getting commissions. Cause  if you find a Kirby commission that you really liked or uh Steve Gerber commission that you, you know, somebody that's no longer with us,  it's,  that's your only choice unless you're going.

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to buy a published page, but then the price range is so significantly different.  I would say when it, you know, just mentioning about prelims, one of the coolest, most amazing uh artists  and their prelims is Simone Bianchi.  His prelims are better than most people's finished. uh I own a first year here.  He did a Spawn One cover recreation, I think  officially for Todd.  And  his prelim is like...

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gorgeous and I bought it because the painted thing A,  is already in somebody's collection and B, would have cost me probably 10 times what I paid for the prelim. prelims are definitely a good way uh for a new collector to kind of enjoy some art  and get something that's really nice.  Matteo Scalera, his prelims are 100 % better than most people's finished art.  Yeah, he's got some great stuff.

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Cool thing,  looking at my notes, another cool thing  I saw, artists at work,  know, every table that you go to, you know, this is an opportunity, because it's so chill, think a lot of them just take the opportunity to, they're working on their next piece, they're working on their next project,  but what I found interesting is last night I was walking through the lobby, and it was pretty late, it was close to midnight,  and Jerome Opinia, who I had no idea was here until much later,

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was sitting at a table in the middle of the hallway. There was no one around. It was just him at this table working on. I couldn't quite make out the figure. I didn't want to bother him, neither. But you know, it's midnight, and he's working on this piece. Who knows if it's a commission, a sketch, whatever it may be. I found that really inspiring and a great insight into the amount of

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dedication, the amount of hours that they put in. And I think it spoke also maybe uh something about his personal nature. Maybe he's a night owl. Maybe he prefers  being in a public space. There were so many questions I had, but it was a cool moment of just really raw. I don't know. It was just something really about that moment that I'm going to leave here thinking about that. Yeah. I actually  did talk to him last night while he was drawing.  Well, I just wanted to introduce myself because we have mutual friends.

29:35
Nice to see that. He was at a table by himself, just drawn. All  right, Dave, I think we've covered everything I want to cover.  I do want to maybe talk just a little bit about the West Coast Dave Vendors channel.  I know that you do a  claim sale. it every week? Is it a weekly claim Every other week.  Every other week you do a claim sale. I've watched a few of them to study. I feel like I'm studying tape. I'm watching a master at work  sell v-

30:02
Very interesting comics to a very dedicated and hungry community. You always have some interesting books. I love the format. And then you also do some great interviews with the Direct Edition podcast. Do you have anything coming up that you want to plug if someone wanted to dive into Direct Edition or maybe some of your favorite videos on the West Coast Day Avengers channels? Where would you point them to? All right. Well, with West Coast Day Avengers, mean,

30:28
A week after we finish up here, I will have an OAX video out. And it'll be the third OAX video  that I've put out, which  will probably be over an hour of footage of everything I saw and did. uh For people that are interested in  comic store videos, uh you can find playlists on my channels of me traveling to other  states, countries, uh visiting comic shops, digging through books. I have.

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probably close to 15 videos of my Japan trips on there.  And on the West Coast Dave Enders channel, if you really want to get the best video I ever put out as my Todd McFarlane interview. Yeah, that's a great one. Classic. And then direct edition, the podcast, which is mostly just an interview podcast. uh Recently, Jeff Darrow, Mark Silvestri, Eric Kinetti,  Sebastian Bakov, Skid Row talking about his love of comics. uh

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To me,  I try to cover all of the things I like and I don't like just one thing. ah My tastes are everything. So if you like anything about comics, even CGC videos on West Coast Avengers where I unbox $10,000 books,  I've got that too. Real quick, I've also been curious, where does the name West Coast Avengers come from?

31:43
I love that it's a  great play on West Coast. Avengers, it rolls off the tongue really well, but just curious about the origin of the name. So when I  started, before I started the channel, me and my friend  Dave Korea, who's an amazing artist,  we took a couple of road trips. He lives in the Bay Area. I lived in Seattle at the time.  And I would fly down to the Bay Area. We'd drive up the coast going to every comic store we could.  And  we just came up with the name. We were two Daves.  And  it would just roll, it just.

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One of us said it, West Coast Avengers, and it stuck. Because I'm not changing my name from Dave at any point. And that's obviously a play on West Coast Avengers. Well, let me add one more question to that. For my West Coast listeners and short box family, what is a comic shop that, and maybe it's one or two, I have a minute coming to mind, but on the West Coast that you feel is a mandatory visit for the people that love to get some digging?

32:42
through boxes and all of that. Well, out of the three states, I'll do one in each state. The Bay Area, California, I would say Bronze Age Batcave in Los Gatos. Sometimes a name of the shop just tells you everything you need to And that sounds like one of those. And then Oregon. mean, Portland, it's really hard to choose because there's like 18 stores or whatever in the city. But I'll shout out Cosmic Monkey. But also shout out.

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Excalibur and Floating World.  And then in Washington state,  I'll give you Ancient Comics in Burien, Washington, very close to Seattle Tacoma Airport,  10 minutes from downtown Tacoma, downtown Seattle. So Ancient Comics,  Cosmic Monkey, Bronze Age Batcave, but there's so many more. Now, and maybe that's why I need to have you back on for part two. We can get into a little bit more of that. But we're going to get back on the convention floor here at Orlan Original.

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Art Expo in Orlando. Listeners, hey, this was a short and sturdy episode. I appreciate you for checking out. And maybe next year, this convinces you to come check out Original Art Expo. It's been a lot of fun. I'm going to do one last sweep and see if I can't find that one art piece that I'm going to take home. But Dave, you've been great, brother. This has been awesome hanging out with you. Short Box Nation, you've been great. And keep on tuning in. Come back next week for another great episode. Peace, y'all. And thank you to this guy. Where's Ghost Adventure?