Mid-Ohio-Con
Comic fans gather at convention The 55-year-old owner of R.A.P Productions in Mansfield is putting on the Mid-Ohio-Con comic book convention this weekend at the Greater Columbus Convention Center for the 28th time. The convention, featuring more than 100 comic book celebrities of the past and present, brings together nearly 10,000 superhero enthusiasts for two days of panel discussions, celebrity meet and greets and tributes to industry veterans. With his partner in crime Tony Isabella, a famed comic book writer, Price has created one of the largest comic book conventions in the country.
by Dwayne Steward
Entertainment writer
The Advocate
Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2007
For almost three decades, the first and last thing on Roger Price’s mind has been comic books.
The convention premiered in 1980 at a local hotel ballroom, staffed by Price, his wife and a few friends. Now the volunteer staff of 125-strong usually needs much longer then the allotted year to plan the event, he said.
“We try to put together a nice mix of talent,” he said. “There’ll be something that everybody can enjoy.”
Isabella, 55, of Medina, attended the convention’s second round in 1981, after returning from a long and successful stint in New York with Marvel then DC comics, where he created the first major black superhero, Black Lightening. Now the event’s program director and Price’s best friend, he continues to dedicate his life to graphic artistry.
“When we say it’s a family show, we’re often talking about our Mid-Ohio-Con family,” he said. “Picking a favorite guest or memory would be like picking a favorite amongst my own children.”
The popularity of comic books has ebbed and waned since the 1950s, but now after Spider-Man’s record-breaking $114 million release in 2002 and “Fantastic Four: Rise of The Silver Surfer” $100 million price tag, the superhero industry has chiseled its way back into the American pop culture lexicon.
“There are probably more different comic books available now than ever before in [American] history,” Isabella said. “They come in many different formats … I can read comics in their traditional periodical format, in manga-sized and trade paperbacks and in hardcover.”
Comic book, television and even Hollywood stars will pack the convention’s program, including Doug Jones, who played the Silver Surfer in the Fantastic Four movie sequel, released this year. Jones, who also reprised comic book roles in “Hellboy” and “Pan’s Labyrinth,” will make a pit stop at the convention center, 400 N. High St., on his way back from filming “Hellboy 2: The Golden Army in Budapest.”
“He’s the biggest creature actor in Hollywood right now,” Price said. “And this is the only comic book convention on the east coast that he’ll be attending this year.”
The weekend’s $25 price tag also will give participants a chance to meet Margot Kidder, who played Lois Lane in the Superman movies, and the winners of Sci-Fi Channel’s reality series “Who Wants to Be a Superhero?”
