CheddarVerse

#7: Meeting Comic Book Legends at C2E2, Some PC Picks Ups on the Floor, and nerding out at the Spider-Man Exhibit

• Cheddar Comics • Season 1 • Episode 7

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✅ Episode #7: Comic Book Nerd Weekend in Chicago, Meeting Comic Book Legends at C2E2, Some PC Picks Ups on the Floor, and nerding out at the Beyond Amazing Spider-Man Exhibit! 🎙️🧀

In this week’s episode of The CheddarVerse Podcast, Chris & Jen dive into:
🧀 C2E2: J Scott Campbell, Jenny Frison, PC Pick Ups — 2:51

😮‍💨 Was the Beyond Amazing Spider-Man Exhibit worth it??  — 27:25

👀 Final Takeaway: The Mythology is Strong — 45:02

Cheddar Comics Presents: The CheddarVerse Podcast! 🎙️🧀
Hosted by husband & wife dynamic duo Chris & Jen from Cheddar Comics, CheddarVerse dives into the stories behind the comics: unforgettable collection buys, A Moment in Comic Book History, and the culture surrounding the hobby.
Whether you're a lifelong collector or just comic-curious, this is a fun, happy space celebrating what makes comics special: the thrill of the hunt, the nostalgia, the art form, and the community.

New episodes Mondays!

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SPEAKER_02

Over the weekend at C2E2, we met some incredible creators, but one moment caught me off guard. I showed J. Scott Campbell a comic book and he said he had never seen it before. His reaction? Not what I was expecting. Between that and the rest of C2E2 and the Spider-Man exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry, this weekend felt like we were stepping into the comic book world. And by the end of it, we had one takeaway we weren't expecting. All this and much more here in the channel. At Mrs. Cheddar underscore comics on Instagram. What's going on, everyone? Thank you for tuning in wherever you are. Make sure that you are subscribing, following, liking, commenting, sharing, whatever you're doing on We appreciate it. YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Podcasters, Amazon Music. But I don't I don't know the whole list.

SPEAKER_00

It was a big list, right? Shocked to see how many of you have to do that. Yeah, when I showed you that today, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

It's like we're on all of these. She was like, oh my God. Oh my god, there's like 50 of them.

SPEAKER_00

Shows what I fucking know.

SPEAKER_02

There's a lot of them.

SPEAKER_00

I know two.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. So as always, we appreciate every single comment, message, everything about um how you're liking the show so far. We so, so appreciate it. Very much. Um, it means the absolute world to us. We can never express that enough. And thank you again for coming back. Or maybe this is your first one. Welcome in.

SPEAKER_00

Welcome, welcome.

SPEAKER_02

We have a special episode today. We are talking about our nerd weekend in Chicago. We went to C2E2. We met some great creators. We're going to be talking about our experience there, some surprises, some things we weren't expecting. And then after that, we also went to the Amazing Spider-Man or Beyond, Beyond Amazing Spider-Man. Forgot what it's called. Yeah. The Spider-Man exhibit at um Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. And we had a nerdfield weekend. Oh, yeah. It was wonderful. It was wonderful. And um, yeah, we were just kind of surprised by the end of it what it was. So here's our experience, and let's get into C2E2. It's cheddar on the floor of C2E2. So we had a great time at C2E2. I did want to start with my my favorite part first to front load this. The big one, the one I spent the most time and money on, was J. Scott Campbell.

SPEAKER_00

Very special.

SPEAKER_02

Um, he was probably the biggest creator there uh as far as size and everything, because they actually he actually was in artist alley, or he was not in artist alley. No, he was in the autograph section because his lines can be so long. So over the weeks and months, I kind of picked out like five books because he had it where it was by five, like you pay for four.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, sure.

SPEAKER_02

Like one was free. So I was like, well, I want to do that. Definitely, you know, because he has enough covers where you can pick and choose. I get in line for J. Scott Campbell, it's a long line.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, you were there for a while. Yeah. Which I was really surprised about.

SPEAKER_02

It was because of VIP. Oh, right. Like the normie line was like maybe 15, 20 people, but VIP just kept coming in and they cut in front.

SPEAKER_00

I can't believe that's how many people were in normie line, and they didn't. No, exactly.

SPEAKER_02

They just kept piling up, piling up, VIP, VIP, and we're just like, oh my god. So luckily I made conversation with the guy in front of me, and we had a good time talking and stuff, and he's actually the reason we end up going to the Spider-Man exhibit afterwards. So it actually worked out. Yeah. Anyways, my time comes. Jay Scott Campbell's there, the most personable guy, super sweet. Because you know, like when you're number two or three, you're listening to his conversations with everybody else. He's just so happy. Whatever you brought him, he loved, you know, he's super kind to everybody, answers all your questions, you know, gives you all the time in the world, and everyone's leaving, you know, the the J Scott Campbell guy, like who worked for him, who's managing the line.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

He's like, you know, somebody made a comment like, you know, oh, do you you know it's such a long line, everything? And he's like, Yeah, like when I look this way towards the line, I see grumpy faces. And when I see when I look at them when they're with J Scott, I see happy faces. So I get to see grumpy faces turn into happy faces.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_02

And at least when you leave, you'll be happy. Definitely, and hopefully you'll forget when you're grumpy. So that he was cool. Everyone, everyone that worked from him was super cool.

SPEAKER_00

I'm sure.

SPEAKER_02

So I get up there, I'm showing him what I have, you know. I'm like, oh yeah, you probably see all these, you know, and because some artists like are like, oh yeah, I see those all the time. Not him. He was like, cool, this is great. Really? Yeah, he just thought he was like anything anybody brought him. He was just super happy to see it.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, that's nice.

SPEAKER_02

It was so cool, yeah. You know, not like oh this one again, or yeah, you know, I was like, no, he was whatever it was. He was just so he was just so genuinely happy you were there to see him.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, I I love it when they're like that.

SPEAKER_02

No ego, yeah, you know, nothing like that, you know. So um, I had some colors picked out, and he kind of he's like, I would recommend you know doing this color. I have tried that and it doesn't work and this kind of stuff. And I was like, you know what you're talking about. Yeah. So mostly with the your rogue cover. Yeah. Like because we wanted yellow, right? And I was like, can you do this one in yellow? And he's like, I can, but I've had trouble with it like like blending into the green and not popping very well. I would suggest maybe gold to play off the yellow. I was like, Yes! So sold. Oh yeah. And we were really happy about this one because this is like a limited to like 2500. Right. So, and that one we snagged on eBay, so we sent it in software. So that turned out gorgeous. It's beautiful, right?

SPEAKER_00

It's beautiful.

SPEAKER_02

The other ones, of course, are cool. I'm saving the big one for last. You know, the black cats are awesome, and I'm just happy to finally own these. I'm sure. And then have them signed. And then the big one. Little drum roll.

SPEAKER_00

I can't do a drum roll.

SPEAKER_02

Oh.

unknown

Oh.

SPEAKER_02

Of course. I can't.

SPEAKER_00

I've tried. It doesn't work out.

SPEAKER_02

Okay. So this one was um, if you follow me on Instagram, you saw me post about it and post about it and talk about it, but I just thought it was super cool because it's an amazing Spider-Man 601. It's the Mary Jane covers number one cover, and it is signed by John Romita Sr. And it's got a Dynamic Forces COA. Um, and they limited to only a hundred copies. So for me before this, I was like, I think that that's super cool. Because to me, like Ramita was the first one who drew Mary Jane Watson and drew her beautiful and had people fall in love with her and all that stuff for all those years. It was Ramita. Ditko never drew her.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, interesting.

SPEAKER_02

The first time you see her is a Ramita drawing, and then Ramita is the one who drew the famous you've hit the jackpot tiger panel. Yeah, I mean, so that's why I'm assuming they have dynamic forces or whoever put this together had Ramita sign this cover. So when I have something cool that I think is cool, you know, I just like to always ask. So I this was the last one I showed J. Scott Campbell, and I was like, so I wanted to show you this one. Have you ever seen this? It's signed by John Ramita Sr. Have you ever seen his signature on this cover? And he was like, no, I've I've never seen that before. Right away.

SPEAKER_00

I'm like, yes. Ah, awesome.

SPEAKER_02

Fuck yeah, man. Fuck yeah.

SPEAKER_00

I fucking did it. I love hearing that. Hell yeah. You know? Hell yeah.

SPEAKER_02

And then I was like, really, you've never seen it? And he's like, no, I've never seen. I didn't even know that they did this.

SPEAKER_00

That's interesting.

SPEAKER_02

And he's like, I I'm I'm a little I'm a little taken aback because John Ramita is I'm quoting J. Scott Campbell. He's like, John Ramita is the Mary Jane King to me. Wow. So to think that he signed this, let alone that he saw my cover, let alone let alone signed a hundred copies of it, is is very special. And I it he he was getting a little like I I I I wonder what he thought, you know, did he like it? Yeah. You know, he was getting like artists, a little self-doubt, you know, like the master saw his work, what did he think? Right. You know, and to know for for him to know that Romita did see it and signed it and did all this, you know, let alone what did he think. So he was he was legitimately kind of paused and and took a minute.

SPEAKER_00

That's so cool. You know, you like gave him something that he's never had before.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Which is so sweet.

SPEAKER_02

And I mean, how hard is that when you're at his level? Oh, sure.

SPEAKER_00

I'm you know never comes along that like at all.

SPEAKER_02

So yeah, he was like he to him it was very special.

SPEAKER_00

That's wonderful.

SPEAKER_02

And he was like, Do you mind if we if I take a picture for for my socials? Like just like me and the I was like, Yes.

SPEAKER_00

Go right ahead.

SPEAKER_02

You know, so he got the lady, hit one of his team members to take a picture of him, like smiling with it. And um, I think it was in his day one recap like video. Um and yeah, he he loves seeing it. So we got um he added his his signature to it, and I thought it was just super cool to hear him in a beautiful red have the same reaction to Ramita's signature that I did.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, you know, that's you don't have any other do you have John Romita?

SPEAKER_02

I don't have any. This is my only one, my only John Romita senior.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, well that's very interesting.

SPEAKER_02

And that's what he said. He's like, Oh, John Romita Senior. Oh not junior, because junior you'd see a lot more.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_02

You know.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, of course.

SPEAKER_02

Um so I thought that was really cool. You know, and it was just nice to be able to, you know, give an artist like that something you know that maybe they've never seen and think about later or not, you know.

SPEAKER_00

I'm sure he did.

SPEAKER_02

Either way, it was cool for me, you know. Oh shit, yeah. So I'm pretty sure then I'm the only one that has this book, you know, double signed like ever by Ramita and J. Scott Campbell. Yeah, yeah, you definitely because normally with these dynamic forces too, you and you've seen a bunch of them in collections.

SPEAKER_00

I have, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Where they they're normally what a thousand, two thousand, five thousand copies. So I've never seen a hundred copies. That's pretty low. Yeah. Um, and this is 2009, so I I would have to look up when he passed away. I know it wasn't right after that or something, but still he was he was up there then.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, they had him sign. So that makes sense that it would be so limited, probably.

SPEAKER_02

So that was my little uh corner with J. Scott Campbell.

SPEAKER_00

That's very special.

SPEAKER_02

And that wasn't the only creator we met. We had a couple, you know, a couple that we had on our list. I think we had four total that we were excited to see that hit our interests. Yes. And your number one was Jenny Frizen. Jenny Frizen, and you brought her a big old stack.

SPEAKER_00

I did. I I did bring her a big stack. I felt so bad, but she doesn't care. No. She loves it.

SPEAKER_02

So it was you, me, and our and our five-year-old daughter.

SPEAKER_00

Yes. So she came back and sat down, and she's usually very quiet.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

But I had my we had our daughter there, and she was she got very chatty with our daughter, which was very never seen her talk that much. No, I've never.

SPEAKER_02

For reference to, we met her last you and I, um, when it was just the two of us, we met her last year at C2E2. Yeah. And we met her twice. Yes. We went one time and we went back a second day. Yeah. So, you know, we kind of had a feel for what it was gonna be like, what she was like, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

But with our daughter, she just like lit up and was really asking our daughter all these questions. Yeah, absolutely. So, and it was fun to chat with her and you know, as a mom being able to share, like, you know, this is a female or girl artist who totally draws and creates these covers, and this is what she did, and it was really fun to watch our daughter kind of like soak that in, and Jenny like picked up on it and was like, What did you draw? Like, what do you like to draw? I like to do this, and she drew something for our daughter, and then she was so sweet, she asked our daughter to draw something for her, and she's like signing the books at the same time and being so patient and just absolutely wonderful. It was a really special moment for me as a mom. Yeah, because I was just like, This is something that she's just really soaking in.

SPEAKER_02

So I think once she heard that um the kid likes to draw, yeah, you know, probably her as a there was a connection as a female artist herself, you know, sees a little girl who likes to draw. Like, what do you like to draw? And that lit her up.

SPEAKER_00

Yep.

SPEAKER_02

She's like, when I was, you know, and Jenny, when she was like, when I was a little girl, I used to draw these like bubble hearts. Yeah, and she drew it and she took a post-it, she drew a little heart with a little shine on it and gave it to her. Yeah, and she's like, What do you like to draw? And the kid was like, our kid was like, rainbows. She's like, Will you draw me a rainbow? And she got her all the right color markers and patiently sat there for like a full minute or two to let the kid take the red marker and draw the red arch and put the cap back on and grab the orange one, take the cap off and draw the line and put it back on. And she was just patiently waiting, she couldn't wait until it was you know, to see it.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and then she was very sincere.

SPEAKER_02

She was. And then she took it and she she kept the kids doodle and put it on her little board so she could look at it.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. I was like, what? Yeah. Oh my god. Yeah, she was just the best.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, she was just I mean, she was the best and she is the best, and yeah. That just solidified how great she was.

SPEAKER_00

Absolutely. So it's like, well, we're gonna see you every time. I can't. Yeah, if you're here, we're seeing, yeah. Absolutely. You know, because there's always gonna be covers that I want from her or art.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, and you have some of the covers that you got signed?

SPEAKER_00

I do. I have all these Wonder Womans.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah. And you had to really slim your pile your Frizen pile down. I did.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I really did.

SPEAKER_02

And by the way, too, Frizen is so cool because um her she has it where her first three are free. Her first three signatures are free, and it's five bucks a signature after that. You know, which is super cool. That's like old school pricing.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, these were great. It was really awesome. Very special moment. It was, and I have more, so we'll be going back again.

SPEAKER_02

More comics to get signed? Yes. Oh, oh yeah. Yeah. I had a couple things here for for friends. Let's talk about friends. Um, it was nice we had um I had somebody who buys from me on Instagram stop me, and uh M. Mora on Instagram stop me and talk to me for a little bit, and he was like, Cheddar comics? I'm like, Yeah, hi, who are you? You know, and then he said his name, like Manuel. I was like, Oh, what's your handle? Yeah, I don't know your name. People tell me their names, I'm like, I don't know. Well, you have to tell me your handle, that's what I know.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, me too.

SPEAKER_02

You know, so he told me, and that was nice of him to stop and say hi, and you know, said how much he was very sweet. Yeah, and he was like, I appreciate you so much. I'm so glad I found your page. I'm like, Oh, that does man that make that makes my whole day. Thank you. That's so sweet. Yeah. Uh saw a couple other people there, and then um my our friend, Scott Savage, yes, um, met after the J. Scott Campbell um signing, and him and I were doing a trade um because I've been after my Green Lanterns. I'm on my Green Lantern kick. Yes. And my one through a hundred, and I uh before before C2E2, I was down to five. I needed one, four, seven, nine, and eighteen. Um, and then Scott had us contacted his buddy, and we did a trade for some. I had some Japanese Batmans he wanted, and we traded for this Green Lantern number nine, which is first Sinestro cover. Very cool, super cool. Wow. And it looks nice too. 60 god, it's gotta be 62. It's still a 10 cent silver age book. It's really nice, very vibrant. 61, 62, I forgot. So, yeah, first Sinestro cover.

SPEAKER_00

Um really Sinestro's head was that big.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, yeah, it's huge, man. It's like kind of like the leader almost.

SPEAKER_00

It really is. Yeah. Big head.

SPEAKER_02

So that was a big one for me. I was like, great, good, you know.

SPEAKER_00

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02

Traded it, saw Scott, chatted with him a little bit, off we went. Um, and then we did a little. I was telling him too, I was like, I've been looking everywhere for one book. I'm after one comic. I'll get into that right now since we're on Sinestro. I'm like, I'm after one comic, and I haven't seen it anywhere.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

It was a Green Lantern 7. First appearance of Sinestro's been the one I've been like itchy, itchy for. And I always follow my instincts. I'm like, go for the itchiest one, you know? Well, get go for the one you want the most, right? Always. So I was like, that's kind of the only one I want. And it's easier when you hone in on one instead of being like, well, I'm gonna take my big list and go for everything. Like, fuck that, you know. So I looked and looked and looked and never saw I saw up and down the rows.

SPEAKER_00

Up and down. Nobody had really any Green Lantern. I know. Which I was really surprised by.

SPEAKER_02

I wasn't.

SPEAKER_00

Well, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

I wasn't. I take that back. But I was expect I was like, I would think you would see 76 or 1 or 7 or 7. Right. You know, just at least the three big yeah, nothing. Yeah. I was only looking for seven. I saw one seven and it was a purple label, and it was really exp it was a qualified grade, and it was expensive. It was really too much. That was the only one. And then at the end of the day, we were making a second pass because I was like, I want to make sure I saw everything. And we stopped at Dale Roberts Comics, who we've done trades with before, and I just asked directly instead of looking at because I didn't see it on the wall, I was like, You don't have a Green Lantern one or a seven? Yeah. He's like, Yeah, we do, and he like goes down to the floor under the boxes, it was on the bottom run of their wall, and they had a one and a seven. Yeah. I looked over the one. The one, of course, was gorgeous. It was beautiful. I mean, it was a great copy, but I was like, I can only do so much today. So I looked at the uh I was like, How much for both of these? And he said a price was like, ooh, okay, that's no good. And I was like, how much for just the seven?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

And he set a price, and I said, Let's do it. Yep. And I checked with Mrs. Cheddar. I was like, Do you approve of this? Like, you think this is okay to do? Absolutely. Not that I need her approval for my purchases, but I just always have an immense amount of guilt when I when I want to buy myself something big. I I just feel guilty.

SPEAKER_00

Sure.

SPEAKER_02

You know.

SPEAKER_00

Which I of course, I I I understand. I feel the same way. Yeah. You know, but you know, when it comes to comics and things I know that, you know, run really deep and you just love, it's just like, I want you to have those things. Yeah. So that's why you're the best. You know, first and astro, like, well, we gotta have that in the Green Lantern collection, and it's gorgeous copy. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02

So I mean, and that's what's nice about it too, because when you look up when and I've been trying to I've been trying to get this book for months. Yeah, I know. You know, like since the fall, and it's just like one of those ones that like never it doesn't come up on eBay.

SPEAKER_01

Huh.

SPEAKER_02

I asked around so I've been it's been in my eBay save searches. It's been in my I've been asking Instagram seller friends, groups posting about it. Do you have one? Do you have one? Yeah, no one ever had one.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

And if they were on eBay, they were a exorbitant amount. They're crazy. Or they were really low grade and like too beat up for me to even want to touch, right? Sure. So then Dale Roberts had one. It was it was it wasn't a cheap price, it was a decent price, but it's such a nice copy. It's like a mid grade copy.

SPEAKER_00

It really is.

SPEAKER_02

It's absolutely gorgeous, you know, and I haven't had this for 20 years. I sold It we had to sell it in my college collection when I was 18. So I haven't had this book for 20 years and I got it back, you know. And it's an under and it's probably because of the cover, because the cover isn't that great, and Sinestro isn't on the cover. So I think that kind of like hurts it a little bit. If like this number nine was this cover. That would make more sense if it was a good one. It would probably probably help it, but so I was super happy to end the hunt, the one I was the most itchy for. And then how cool? Same day? Yeah, same day. Sinestro day.

SPEAKER_00

It's Sinestro Day.

SPEAKER_02

You know, the trade of number nine. Yeah. You know, and then got number seven, got the two big Sinestro books, his first appearance and his first cover. Yeah. So I was like, meant to be. Absolutely. Totally meant to be.

SPEAKER_00

I mean, how much more like in line can you be? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Synchronicity or whatever you want to call it. I mean, yeah. You know, it was wonderful.

SPEAKER_00

It really was. I was so glad that I I mean he had a lot of them, but I was glad he had First and Astro.

SPEAKER_02

Me too. Yeah. It was the only one I saw. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

It was the only fucking one I saw.

SPEAKER_02

You know. One honorable mention of my I saw two favorite things as a site. Not the comics, it was original art.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

I want to talk about just two quick pieces. Number one, the Comic Connect booth was there, and they're the big auction house. And they brought with them the Superman 75, Death of Superman, original cover art. And I literally gasped. I looked up because we you were at the family headquarters, and I went and took a walk to see if I could find Sinestro, which I didn't at that time. But and I bump into that booth and I look up and I'm like looking at the original art and I look up on my I literally gasped. I was like, oh my god. Because I knew that it was up for auction because they promote it so much. Okay. You know, so I knew that that cover was or they were selling that, like it was like the it's like the whole issue.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

You know. Um but to see it, I was like, oh my god, it was gorgeous it was so cool. It's iconic. I mean, for someone my age, you know, who grew up in the 90s, it's it's an iconic cover. Yeah. And I just couldn't it was just so special to see it. And then all the other pages, too, like Lois holding him when he's dead and doomsday stuff, and incredible. And then I shared on my stories, and then someone's like, Yeah, we should chip in and get it. I'm like, Yeah, let me look up how much it is. At the at that time, it was at on Friday the 27th or whatever, it was at $413,000. Oh my goodness. With 16 days left to go. Wow. Um, by the time this podcast comes out, it'll be like within a week, it'll sell. So I wouldn't be surprised, I guess, if it hit a million. I have no idea.

SPEAKER_01

Holy cow.

SPEAKER_02

So that was very cool to see in person. And then there was another guy, uh, Anthony's original art or something like that. And his whole booth was just like um big folders, like big folders of artists' original art, which is so cool. And he's got this big wall of stuff, and I'm scanning it. Green Lantern again, Gil Kane, a Gil Kane page from Green Lantern 14. Oh my. I was like, wow, I've never seen a Green Lantern Gil Kane page. And I was like, because I was looking for to spend some money, and it was like six grand. I was like, that's so cool. And then I'm like scanning and scanning my favorite thing I saw, and I and it was behind other stuff, it was covered up. And it was this Mary Marvel Marching Society piece, and it was Kirby, and it was a stationary, it was like the stationary art, and it was Kirby, it was like 12 drawings, you know, Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, Spider-Man, Cap, Kirby original art, plus it was signed, it was like quadruple signed by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve, uh, I'm sorry, Jim Strenko, and Neil Adams. Wow. And I just happened to ask the guy, I was like, how much is that piece? And he's like, 65,000.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, fuck. That's incredible. Oh, I see. That's incredible.

SPEAKER_02

He's like, yeah, it's 12, you know, it's Kirby doing 12 superheroes. Right, so that makes sense. And it's sign, and he's like, I'm gonna be so sad when that's gone.

SPEAKER_00

Oh man.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

So it was cool to see. I wish we could have gotten it. Oh yeah, sure.

SPEAKER_02

Take a check that won't cash. Yeah. So it was cool to see that stuff, you know.

SPEAKER_00

Didn't you see uh like a like Alex Ross? At Comic Connect, they had a uh Kingdom Come page.

SPEAKER_02

That's what it was. That was very price at $175,000. Oh my god. Yeah, which was nuts to see too. Yeah. So that was the stuff I like, because that stuff's one-on-one, so that's why it was cool to go around and not that the comic covers aren't cool, you know. You see amazing fantasy, you see Batman 1, Sensation 1, you were ogling, you know, but the original art, you know. When I leave the show, I'll never I won't see the I'll never see that Superman page again unless I see it in a museum piece. Right. Which is a great segue to the second thing we did this weekend, which was the Spider-Man exhibit at Science and Industry. Enter the Spider Man exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry. Um, while I was in line for J. Scott Campbell talking to that guy when we were like in line for like an hour, he was like, Oh, have you seen the Spider-Man exhibit at Museum of Science and Industry? And I was like, No, I haven't been. We don't we only make it to Chicago like twice a year. He's like, Oh, you gotta go. And I was like, Oh yeah, I've totally forgot about that. Yeah, and we had this like we were only going to see Tweet 2 for one day.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Because we didn't want to go back Saturday, and we didn't really have that much to do though, you know. So we went to the we were gonna take her, the kid to the shed, and then we had this second half of the day we didn't know what to do with. Yeah. So this was like perfect. We're gonna be down at the museum campus. We'll go see the Spider-Man exhibit. She's a big Spider-Man fan, and so am I. You are? Look up at giant banner behind us, you know. So it's perfect. Yes, it was. So yeah, we went there, and um, what were your first impressions just like walking right right when we first walked in? What'd you think? Because they had it into two galleries, so it's two big rooms.

SPEAKER_00

The you you mean the first gallery?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, I was blown away by the setup. It was gorgeous.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, it was like immersive lights and yeah, all the lights.

SPEAKER_00

Spidey symbols and yeah, you know they had all these beautiful spotlights on all on the comics when you walk in, and then as you're walking into the entrance, you see like just a little far off this beautiful like Spider-Man like sculpture, like swinging down. Yeah, and you could take pictures with it, and everybody was taking pictures with it.

SPEAKER_02

Yep, big line for that.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and that was really sick. So sick. I know. So I was pretty a taken back.

SPEAKER_02

It for me, too, as like comic history nerd, it was just like all Ditko, right? When you walked in, it was just like all Ditko art. Like all over the walls. It was like video projection, like all over the walls, and it was transitioning to like Ramita, and then it was transitioning to you know McFarlane and then Eric Larson, and you were just like watching it like go through the time.

SPEAKER_00

The amount of like skill and passion and creativity that went into those galleries off the wall. I mean, so cool.

SPEAKER_02

Cause I'll say, like, I I've seen before we went over I think I don't know how long it's been there. I think like a year. Since last year. Yeah. Yeah. I had seen TikToks or I had seen other stuff of kind of like everything. I kind of knew every not every art page, but I kind of knew the big things that were gonna be in there. Sure. So I was kind of like, I don't know, you know, yeah. Kind of seen it wrong. Like, once you're in there, amazing, beautiful, so cool, love it. I want more, right? Yeah. Um, some of the specific things that are in there too is and that's what was nice. It was like a full 360 view of Spider-Man. Yeah. It wasn't just the comics. No, it wasn't just toys, it was the entire character, the all the mythology. Yep. So you know, you start off right away, boom, amazing fantasy 15. You know, first appearance of Spider-Man sitting there. That's right. CGC 55. You know, somebody on I po I made a video and posted it, and somebody commented, like, you think the museum could get it better than a 5.5. Uh I don't know, that's pretty good, man. Like 50 grand. I don't um but you saw that, you saw original Ditko art pages. I'm gonna nerd out this whole section. Original Steve Ditko art pages. You know, like, oh my god, how hard is that to find, you know, or see? Sure. You know, um they had a lot of just like they really they really use like every inch of the space to like put to plaster Spider-Man art, comic book art, yes, on the walls. And it was cool in the beginning because it was all Ditko, Ditko Craven, and Ditko Lizard, and all this stuff.

SPEAKER_00

Was that what the Sinister Six was? That was they were all his. Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, that Sinister Six wall. Yes, all Ditko art. Oh, okay. So it was so cool. So then, you know, you see my favorite to I'll break down my favorites because if I go piece by piece, it's gonna take too long. Yeah. My favorite Ditko piece was they had this Ditko pinup page. That was like so cool to see. It's signed to somebody. I was like, oh my god, it's so incredible to see. And then you come around there and you see, and I got a little emotional, and I I told you this already, but there was these two um big biographies of Stan Lee and a big biography of Steve Ditko. And to see Stan Lee and Steve Ditko being told their story in a museum setting was I uh it really took me back because you know, I read these stories, I know their history and their lives, and I know that while they were here on this earth, maybe by the end they were appreciated, but while they were working there, they were laughed at. Stanley would lie about what he did as a career because people would laugh at him or be like, Isn't that kid stuff? He'd s he would just tell people that he was a writer, you know, and he didn't want to say that he was a comic book writer because at dinner parties they would just like, really? You're a comic writer, I don't joke, you know. And to think that at the end that they have the last laugh and they contributed something greater than any of those people at that dinner party.

SPEAKER_00

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_02

You know, with the creation of Spider-Man and to be p to see their bios there in a museum setting was just really special. Yeah. You know, that I don't know if museum stuff happened while they were alive, but it happened at some point, and that's all that matters, you know. Absolutely with their co-creation. Yes. And it was cool too, because you had said it too, it was they were they were um they were both credited as co-creators, which you said you liked. I liked that a lot. Yeah. Yeah. It wasn't just Stan.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, which is honestly what I was expecting, but not anymore. No, it's not like that anymore. It sure isn't. Which is nice.

SPEAKER_02

You know, the the time of Bob Kane created Batman and Stan Lee created Spider-Man is lawn over. Which I'm happy to see. You know, you see both their names every time now, which is great. So then, yeah, you see the um then they had not only just the original art, which I was ogling over, but for everybody, you know, they had that big Tom Holland costume from No Way Home. Really cool. That was like the centerpiece of that first room.

SPEAKER_00

Yep.

SPEAKER_02

For me, it was Amazing Fantasy 15.

SPEAKER_00

Sure.

SPEAKER_02

You know, but I mean I've seen those. Yeah, you know, but the the Spider-Man costume.

SPEAKER_00

Wow.

SPEAKER_02

Whoa, cool.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, the new Spider-Man.

SPEAKER_02

And everyone, I don't know if you heard this too, but that was like the main draw, like in that room. And I just kept hearing, I heard it two or three times because I was shooting video for Instagram or my reel, and I just kept hearing, it's so small. He's so small.

SPEAKER_00

I think I said that. Maybe one of those of you. Yeah, it might have been me. I was like, he's really little.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, everyone kept saying that.

SPEAKER_00

I'm like, Tom Holland's, you know. Yeah, he's a little guy.

SPEAKER_02

Who looks at Tom Holland and says, That's a big guy?

SPEAKER_00

Well, sure, yeah. I just, you know. Just flips. That's shows credit to him, shows how good he is and makes it larger than life. Yeah. You know, he's bigger than what you would see.

SPEAKER_02

And you know, we're, you know, Toby people, so it was cool to see some Toby McGuire movie props. It was Spider-Man 3, but whatever.

SPEAKER_00

It's still cool.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I loved it.

SPEAKER_00

I'll take it.

SPEAKER_02

Um, yeah, and then you go into that other section and it was just and then it kind of turned into um the John Ramita era. You know, so that first room had kind of the gen the Genesis stuff, and then you kind of move into the 60s and 70s and you see more John Ramita artwork. Yeah, there's a lot more of that. Oh, yes. I think there was like three Ditko pages, and then there was like ten or fifteen Ramita pages. Yeah. Which was weird because it was another there's a couple synchronous synchronicities in the weekend, and then John Ramita Sr.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Because I had his autograph and I had that moment with J. Scott Campbell, and then the next day I'm looking at his original art in the Spider-Man exhibit, and I didn't know I was gonna be there. You know? And then there was um uh was there any other I'm sorry, I'm I'm hogging it. Was there any other like favorite pieces that you saw before I just keep going on and on about the original art? The movie props. The movie props. What movie prop was your favorite?

SPEAKER_00

Well, I was just remembering the the Spider-Man 3 props. Yeah. I was looking at with our kiddo, and it was so funny. She was like, That's Peter Parker's. They need to give that back to him.

SPEAKER_02

His his camera in his badge.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, that's Peter Parker's. She was so serious about it. This whole time she was very serious in there, so that was really funny. Um I liked seeing the yeah, the goblin mask and the pumpkin bomb. That was really cool. Yeah, it was like I loved seeing that.

SPEAKER_02

The Spider-Man costume was cool, but the green goblin mask and pumpkin bomb from Green Spider-Man one.

SPEAKER_00

And then they had um a claw from Doc Ock from Spider-Man 2 and his goggles.

SPEAKER_02

Oh my god, yes, I know. That was so cool.

SPEAKER_00

That was sick. And then they had um I really liked that you could pose with all these cool statues that they had made.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, they did a really good job too of like lifelike making it like an all-ages experience. Yes. You know, because we've been to um we've been to one other like Marvel exhibit when we were in we this is gonna sound bougie and stuff. It's the one time we took an international trip. Yeah. We went to Paris once and there happened to be a Marvel exhibit there. Yes. And if you think about that exhibit, it was a traditional museum experience, right? Art, art, art, art, art, prop, art, art, art, prop. This was like this was a different take. This was immersive photo opportunities, yeah, stuff for kids to do, you know, like that kind of thing, which I thought was a really different way to do it.

SPEAKER_00

It was you know you could go up to it, you could touch it, it wasn't like off limits.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

I I loved how lifelike they were. Yeah, that was really cool. Yeah, it was cool.

SPEAKER_02

So and they so they had those couple of props which were cool. The green goblin masks, everyone kept walking by and going, coward, you know, like doing their well on the foe. Lots of great art in there. They had that one nice display of all of that like merch. Yeah, oh yeah, which was cool because there's this merch, it was all this merch from over the years, and there was this drawing in there uh on the top. Do you remember that? No, I missed that. I'll show you the I have a picture of it. It's a little drawing, and it says in there this is John Ramita Sr.'s um sketch of the Macy's Day balloon design.

SPEAKER_00

Oh my god, and it is the one that you're like crouch or whatever.

SPEAKER_02

And it's and it's Ramita's Ramita did the sketch for that balloon.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, they have that in the and they had that. I totally missed that.

SPEAKER_02

And then you leave that part, and then my favorite part, the back end of that room, yeah, was which I I've seen original art before. I don't think I've ever seen an old script. And there was one of Stan's scripts for uh I'd have to look at my picture, like uh ASM like 82. Yeah. With Stan's notes for the script. Yes. Which I I don't think I've ever seen.

SPEAKER_00

I never thought about it until I saw that. I'm like, oh yeah, how did they edit the writing? Yeah. Oh, I guess they did it like this. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Turn around there, and then what do you see? Holy shit. Maximum carnage, the video game in a Sega Genesis as a museum piece.

SPEAKER_00

It was behind glass. Oh my god, dude. I turned to you and I was just like, hey, you feel old now? Yes. Black. My childhood's in a museum. Oh shit, man.

SPEAKER_02

It's like, oh boy.

SPEAKER_00

You know, I was like, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Enough so then you turn around and I I took a picture of this. There was so it was like, you know, you got in symbiotes, and it was Carnage, Maximal Carnage game, and then there was this art piece, and I just took a picture of it because it was Carnage. I took a picture of it, and then I posted it later, and my friend Rob Markman said, What is what is this? It says 361. And I didn't realize it when I took it or posted it on Instagram. And then I looked and I was like, Oh my god, he's right, it is 361, which is Carnage's first appearance. And he and then he got all nerd and looked it up and sent me the comic link like bio. And I didn't realize it when I took it. Is is it was um bag Mark Bagley's first attempt at the first Carnage appearance, and it was the only time it said in the write-up that in his five years of doing Spider-Man, they asked for another go at the cover. Wow. And what I had seen was the original alternative cover for, and I'll put it up on the screen for our podcast listeners, um, our YouTube listeners, it was the first go at that cover, you know, and I was like, this is this is great. I mean, I loved what got published, but this is great too.

SPEAKER_00

I thought it was sick, it was gorgeous, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

You know, and I had no I felt so stupid, I didn't even realize it until I got home. I was back at the hotel posting, you know, and it was just so cool to see that. An alternative alternative cover. Yeah, and I was telling you there's an amazing fantasy 15 alternative cover that's right, which that Ditko did, which I didn't learn about until like 2015, you know. Yeah, and then it's not and it's different than the Kirby cover.

SPEAKER_00

So fascinating, like because to me they're both like like just the Carnage one, like for example, like they're both like beautiful, yeah. It's great. And how do you make that call?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I don't know. You know, I know Stan, I think it'd be better. Yeah, Stan didn't like didn't care for Dick Co.'s version. Okay, and he took it to Kirby, and Kirby did the Amazing Fantasy 15, which is classic. Sure, you know, and then that one, I mean Bagley did both of them, but I think it's Bagley. Um, and then yeah, so you see the and then it gets into the modern era. And the best part about that section was they had I couldn't believe that they had it. Yeah. Ultimate Fallout 4, first appearance of Miles Morales cover sitting there.

SPEAKER_00

I was like, oh my god.

SPEAKER_02

I saw Ultimate Fallout 4 cover.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Holy shit. That was really cool.

SPEAKER_02

I was like, no one was looking at it because behind me was a huge Miles Morales statue that you could get your picture with. And everyone was in line for that. And I'm over here.

SPEAKER_00

Hey guys.

SPEAKER_02

Ultimate Fallout modern classic cover here. So, anyways, you know, it was great. They had all this kind of stuff. It ends up in a little area and it has, you know, like you can do sketches and hang out and get you into the gift shop. And overall, it was just great. So let me ask you, was it worth it better than expected? You know, what did you think?

SPEAKER_00

Definitely better than what I was expecting. I I guess I don't know what I was expecting. I I guess it was gonna be just like, oh, probably some comic cover, you know. Yeah. Some comics.

SPEAKER_02

Like the Paris exhibit. Yeah. Maybe maybe some props.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, you know, I didn't expect it to be in two galleries. Mm-hmm. That was surprising. Um like, wow, you guys got a lot of stuff. But you know, he has such a history. It's like, yeah, you can tell it over these decades of time. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_02

You know, so like honestly, I mean, really, let greatest superhero of all time. Clearly. I I think that I don't think that there and I'll say that's my final takeaway. I mean, really, I I don't know. I don't think that there is another debate. About the greatest superhero of all time, and it has to be Spider-Man, and I'll say that. Yeah. And when you look at like a licensing thing, like the number one licensed superhero by tenfold is Spider-Man.

SPEAKER_00

Sure.

SPEAKER_02

You know, he's everywhere. And Stan always said it too like that any creed, color, age can be under the mask. Yes. And that's why he's different compared to Batman or somewhere else. You know? And I think that he's. I don't think that there can be any debate about the greatest superhero of all time. Has to be Spider-Man.

SPEAKER_00

It definitely has to be.

SPEAKER_02

Just subjectively, not your favorite. But just the one who is the purest hero who has been through the most. Yes. I mean it's just when I well when I left the exhibit, I was like, that's it. He's the best. He's the greatest of all time. He really is? Absolutely, 100%. Nuff said. So our final takeaways for the weekend between C2E2 for us and seeing the Spider-Man exhibit, I think we both kind of walked away from both those experiences. Surprised at the the scope of age, of type, of creed, color, income. You know, that's what I was kind of surprised by. You know, we both agreed.

SPEAKER_00

The weekend really showed, you know, the the love of comics and the stories that they tell are beloved through everyone and anyone. Yep. And it doesn't matter what you're into, you will find something that you absolutely love and feel comfortable in. And especially because you can feel it within that community. Everybody's a nerd, and I never feel more comfortable than honestly being in like that environment. Yeah. Because there's so many people, and somehow I'm still super comfortable there because we're all vibing at the same thing and we're all finding like something like that we love and can share together.

SPEAKER_02

I think my final takeaway from you know between C2E2 and the Spider-Man exhibit was just seeing how much the culture, the comic book culture, the mythology more than the comic books. The comic books is the foundation, and I as a comic book collector have always believed that it is well beyond the comics, between the movies, the TV shows, the video games, the trading cards, however you found these things, it has permeated every age group, and it's still is is it's still a cultural phenomenon that is still happening. Kids at C2E2, Gen Z at the Spider-Man exhibit, boomers. I mean, every every the whole gamut of age and creed and color and type and income, loving the mythology. I'll say it that because that's a broader term than the comics or the characters, for sure. You know, just absolutely loving the mythology and to see it still having such an impact, you know, to all the way down to the youngest. You know, the Spider-Man exhibit had tons of kids and they were loving it. Loving it. You know, it was really, really special to see it still being loved and enjoyed.

SPEAKER_00

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02

And that's it for our special episode, Nerd Weekend in Chicago with C22 and the Spider-Man exhibit. We hope you enjoyed us talking about all of our travels and our adventures and takeaways and what we saw and the power of the comic book mythology is alive and well from the old to the young. That's what I saw this weekend. We thank you for listening. Be sure to follow me on Instagram at cheddar underscore comics for weekly Thursday live sales and everything else. And be sure to follow Mrs. Cheddar on Instagram at Mrs. Cheddar underscore comics. And be sure to like, subscribe, all of it, comment, all that stuff on wherever you're listening or watching. We appreciate you. We love you. Be sure to tune in next week for episode eight. Same cheddar time, same cheddar channel. Thanks, guys.

SPEAKER_00

Bye.

SPEAKER_02

This has been a cheddar comics podcast. Tune in next week for issue number eight.