tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50860642534429646332024-03-13T13:48:24.087-07:00atlanta fantasy fairAtlanta's fan convention scene, 1975-1995d.merrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07704651182760972937noreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5086064253442964633.post-13348654621528890612030-09-04T16:48:00.000-07:002020-06-27T09:12:20.432-07:00hello from the Fantasy Fairs of days past<div style="text-align: justify;">
The Atlanta Fantasy Fair, known at first as the Atlanta Comics & Fantasy Fair, was a comics and SF convention that took place yearly at various locations in and around Atlanta, Georgia from 1975 until 1995. For several years it was the largest fantasy, comics, SF, and related media gathering in the Southeast, bringing together people from across the region and the nation. As an attendee and a staffer the AFF holds many memories for me, and I'm sure others remember it fondly or (not-so-fondly) as well.<br />
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A few years back, I noticed that information on the AFF seemed to be almost nonexistent on the internet. It's the goal of this blog to rectify that situation by posting any and all data available on the AFF, in addition to information and images of other now-defunct Atlanta conventions and fan organizations from the same era, such as Phoenixcon, Dixie-Trek, etc.<br />
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If you have any images, information, stories, rumors, tall tales, or legends about these conventions, please don't hesitate to send them to me at terebifunhouse@gmail.com or post them here in the comments.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD0i3a7FM712qG_-f56OoX_l7nR1j5A3AVjn0MbyxSpThEj-LsV8d9opoFb87iy2BlCqPh0mPLMQoJF0Lwja70mfeZaxU11Sd9_ypbalAEFoNJmLa0mRH5SUTI6q2UjuW84DixNIbAOZxp/s1600/aff4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="390" data-original-width="350" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD0i3a7FM712qG_-f56OoX_l7nR1j5A3AVjn0MbyxSpThEj-LsV8d9opoFb87iy2BlCqPh0mPLMQoJF0Lwja70mfeZaxU11Sd9_ypbalAEFoNJmLa0mRH5SUTI6q2UjuW84DixNIbAOZxp/s320/aff4.jpg" width="287" /></a></div>
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d.merrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07704651182760972937noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5086064253442964633.post-38474025151489637442023-01-08T17:25:00.002-08:002023-01-08T17:40:15.185-08:00Feels So Good To See You Here, It's The Atlanta Comics & Fantasy Fair 1976<p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>1976! America celebrates 200 years of doing business in the same location! The state of Georgia basks in the not-always-welcome attention of the world as a former peanut farmer, Naval officer, and Governor is elected President! And the Atlanta Comics & Fantasy Fair holds its crucial second convention as the state capital's number one (and perhaps only, apart from <a href="https://fancyclopedia.org/DeepSouthCon_14">DeepSouthcon 14</a>) convention for fans of the fantastic. </span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfmmvFEgDbX5AC1VZOxnVPjUrBi3-QpHHmREzxdu2sy-0XjYmjlmPWo6D_RFpEZZVN4rWagASq51WvrKNbNYwav-qZObBYj-tvhTQehZZX3zmhOCfEDrj8VqIzOaGc_JggPRBX1skOXzJZYpQ_LhnGjVjrDJNNknLr9IDHwOTh6kmPyYoo8g_oJOq2fA/s813/conventions2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="813" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfmmvFEgDbX5AC1VZOxnVPjUrBi3-QpHHmREzxdu2sy-0XjYmjlmPWo6D_RFpEZZVN4rWagASq51WvrKNbNYwav-qZObBYj-tvhTQehZZX3zmhOCfEDrj8VqIzOaGc_JggPRBX1skOXzJZYpQ_LhnGjVjrDJNNknLr9IDHwOTh6kmPyYoo8g_oJOq2fA/w394-h400/conventions2.jpg" width="394" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><br /><br />Atlanta Comics And Fantasy Fair II was held August 13-15 1976 at the downtown Marriott - NOT the Marriott Marquis, which wouldn't open until 1985, but a different Marriott -the Marriott Motor Lodge at 165 Courtland, which is now a Sheraton. Could the team that brought you the ground-breaking 1975 convention repeat its success? Yes, and yes.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4FXxD6EvnJxFACSZMhfraII_1JRpQn0uis4pAXRPnTyIHxxQYWgTVRekJP5vVeTcrdsYHqUwSVMs681zyZcAt5tQZGFTdgyPaFXCE72npCUnijYO8T91GIccctm1LUguLWqdSyDorL4v3o-VccDhEJSjTRuPiRFX_MCUKpmtW4UJt_7cRAB6P7yObYA/s1024/AL026.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="645" data-original-width="1024" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4FXxD6EvnJxFACSZMhfraII_1JRpQn0uis4pAXRPnTyIHxxQYWgTVRekJP5vVeTcrdsYHqUwSVMs681zyZcAt5tQZGFTdgyPaFXCE72npCUnijYO8T91GIccctm1LUguLWqdSyDorL4v3o-VccDhEJSjTRuPiRFX_MCUKpmtW4UJt_7cRAB6P7yObYA/w640-h404/AL026.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>the Marriott Motor Lodge in the 1970s</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /> <br /> </span></span><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcb37Rc-d3pS4ObJBro2SeJI8hF_bLrbWqi7RBSMOQMj99GSQCE3ZvFKCD-nouY8w9--yraciJ69tgl483LCipSfA3YnPTpNttXhTlj5cQQmukobuznfT2nZopJYbWlceGhjdI0fZ0oe8ny6dS9dCbghExIgy12t_l8ul09RdVfPdTcqy8diLLkMsflw/s1200/aff1976_0001.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="983" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcb37Rc-d3pS4ObJBro2SeJI8hF_bLrbWqi7RBSMOQMj99GSQCE3ZvFKCD-nouY8w9--yraciJ69tgl483LCipSfA3YnPTpNttXhTlj5cQQmukobuznfT2nZopJYbWlceGhjdI0fZ0oe8ny6dS9dCbghExIgy12t_l8ul09RdVfPdTcqy8diLLkMsflw/w524-h640/aff1976_0001.jpg" width="524" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnVpr1FzuLcb3OcPemBPMEFYbqZ1x8kq4uVJqyKwmaY-dcVdVaexX8F5lkilPuGPo2v-A9qSVCcnjDPO_r0U_wqbcqS8ZJrbyLB8jBMzWvkwpDwq7h7G900m5VLKkYNLnsx-Ct6QrShnxNx_YImCvnBCJlEAwU2erv1S1SMyjFDxTCK1iXUSzzzmtlWg/s1200/aff1976_0002.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="993" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnVpr1FzuLcb3OcPemBPMEFYbqZ1x8kq4uVJqyKwmaY-dcVdVaexX8F5lkilPuGPo2v-A9qSVCcnjDPO_r0U_wqbcqS8ZJrbyLB8jBMzWvkwpDwq7h7G900m5VLKkYNLnsx-Ct6QrShnxNx_YImCvnBCJlEAwU2erv1S1SMyjFDxTCK1iXUSzzzmtlWg/w530-h640/aff1976_0002.jpg" width="530" /></a></div><br /><br />With a convention committee involving future Flaming Carrot and Mystery Men creator Bob Burden, then-current LSU student Harley Anton, and future Kennedy assassination researcher Lamar Waldron, the 1976 iteration of the convention invited LSU prof Kenneth "Phantasmagoria" Smith, Marvel Comics artist Frank "Howard The Duck" Brunner, DC editor Dick Giordano, and Howard The Duck creator Steve Gerber as guests.<br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiScXfDAGBspw-H-_6PDxhRnRhIVmy2S8OzP1woH0-gcPHGRZIHK5Y8oBGCrLfp5Bf6dpBHsPeNHIgdaC1Q2qmW1fwWOGt23TeT6N_Jb0Lvl-SfzLsr8h-APTcLCvmTVF_mCWxkP-NO8ungak8zM1azHR8wdYO_kisTTzR_dXUBWDRX2Ec3uDQVbm1Ixw/s1200/aff1976_0005.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="984" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiScXfDAGBspw-H-_6PDxhRnRhIVmy2S8OzP1woH0-gcPHGRZIHK5Y8oBGCrLfp5Bf6dpBHsPeNHIgdaC1Q2qmW1fwWOGt23TeT6N_Jb0Lvl-SfzLsr8h-APTcLCvmTVF_mCWxkP-NO8ungak8zM1azHR8wdYO_kisTTzR_dXUBWDRX2Ec3uDQVbm1Ixw/w524-h640/aff1976_0005.jpg" width="524" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFHvkkA_N-dkAV02KEtRlyJRqodvA_47sH_isMQBulQKAYn1SZNRQskj_84m2DQlG0OH8-7agmbPT8eG-dQhrGiuDIZKUCx6hcB0UAw0cw21clj-zsGv5MHCwVC6IObdIlmeNOCGnnAuMT1tzQp94slbdcfNDWZJTIEY4ZcOlSDqGD7J05Qj32nKBl8w/s1200/aff1976_0004.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="983" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFHvkkA_N-dkAV02KEtRlyJRqodvA_47sH_isMQBulQKAYn1SZNRQskj_84m2DQlG0OH8-7agmbPT8eG-dQhrGiuDIZKUCx6hcB0UAw0cw21clj-zsGv5MHCwVC6IObdIlmeNOCGnnAuMT1tzQp94slbdcfNDWZJTIEY4ZcOlSDqGD7J05Qj32nKBl8w/w524-h640/aff1976_0004.jpg" width="524" /></a></div><br /><br />Dewey C. met Brunner at the convention and had the forethought to bring along some of his vintage Merry Marvel Marching Society stationery for Brunner to sign, as seen here in an image ganked <a href="https://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=1024492">from his comicartfans gallery. </a><br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7wxfrP8iR52L4x_wYIeDADfIJUNXfyfVQz78LSekZWEj_9RjebW-bCSZ-bPiRo6C8AYIcGFSbnrsB8CASpuDBIV8djKVVf5hPOI5pAnT6UcD50rGQgbW3xaVUT72V7KiT-1BiTis13VSESFEco0VdjRA0i9X20SQFs-VJpg6ffHQ_Xg8bLhCPtozgcw/s551/1976%20atlanta%20comics%20fantasy%20fair%20brunner%20sig.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="551" data-original-width="419" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7wxfrP8iR52L4x_wYIeDADfIJUNXfyfVQz78LSekZWEj_9RjebW-bCSZ-bPiRo6C8AYIcGFSbnrsB8CASpuDBIV8djKVVf5hPOI5pAnT6UcD50rGQgbW3xaVUT72V7KiT-1BiTis13VSESFEco0VdjRA0i9X20SQFs-VJpg6ffHQ_Xg8bLhCPtozgcw/w304-h400/1976%20atlanta%20comics%20fantasy%20fair%20brunner%20sig.jpeg" width="304" /></a></div><br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXOGOlXqKDruC7GTSUe9TaPPkKb7b6FimVLs6pGb-sTITeqYY7bOzPHWepAMb_dSGc550Hry2ms0DxeHgESE3ZcjRH1S5bogr4Mkah4aHabo2-K56V1qgVoH_nvAl8Z-4vJQ_CrkCgiDNvdPJeUkEsH0qCWNY_OaGCLWy8rASq6qa17FIwpZ9xZN3G9A/s1200/aff1976_0003.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="979" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXOGOlXqKDruC7GTSUe9TaPPkKb7b6FimVLs6pGb-sTITeqYY7bOzPHWepAMb_dSGc550Hry2ms0DxeHgESE3ZcjRH1S5bogr4Mkah4aHabo2-K56V1qgVoH_nvAl8Z-4vJQ_CrkCgiDNvdPJeUkEsH0qCWNY_OaGCLWy8rASq6qa17FIwpZ9xZN3G9A/w522-h640/aff1976_0003.jpg" width="522" /></a></div><br /><br />You can see from the ACFF schedule that the entire convention basically takes place in three rooms - one room for the dealers, one room for the art show, and one room for everything else, including keynote speeches, old movies all night long, panelist talks, dinner breaks, and of course, the sacred ritual of the Screening Of The Star Trek Bloopers.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV-ORdHf4xE8dgwyoXbMpFyqIBKu5A5uLinVQGXZhKNMxI3ekSt5MbK_MONa7PiXsEmuESzwp3ysWIoDEPdmE0-Ogc9qT3tt_0UpnQ-1UiAVowbIfWZb2B0QVdpjru_AVG5d7YF7ru5pQgDYYcNyAeKuEIZL8Ky_sVgSBbBAUJ3A9jDMZDOyNsIzLWSQ/s1500/trek%20blooperss.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="363" data-original-width="1500" height="154" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV-ORdHf4xE8dgwyoXbMpFyqIBKu5A5uLinVQGXZhKNMxI3ekSt5MbK_MONa7PiXsEmuESzwp3ysWIoDEPdmE0-Ogc9qT3tt_0UpnQ-1UiAVowbIfWZb2B0QVdpjru_AVG5d7YF7ru5pQgDYYcNyAeKuEIZL8Ky_sVgSBbBAUJ3A9jDMZDOyNsIzLWSQ/w640-h154/trek%20blooperss.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br />Vintage films were a big draw for the ACFF. 1976 was a time before home video, before cable TV, when the only chance you had to see something like an old SF movie or a cult horror film or curiousities like the 1965 Robert Morse funeral home comedy "The Loved One" was a late-night TV rerun or a screening at the local film society or university cinema.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidiS1b7d7PVuQSV3GdC3dFuNiELQWpIhANhPQ394EfwEz0pgjuSHwjjNUnN_k4R9KqLdjvxdJTGqS-jPUjgNVZyXXhPxbpUczHVW-0YCfy5iQ7Udj4Nhe_44LG2fzppHmyf-rUcCKNCxjNlXmqfxHd0actr37D0fyV_DEwCCQtTIMhnVHv5b3MW9pZow/s1200/aff1976_0007.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="995" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidiS1b7d7PVuQSV3GdC3dFuNiELQWpIhANhPQ394EfwEz0pgjuSHwjjNUnN_k4R9KqLdjvxdJTGqS-jPUjgNVZyXXhPxbpUczHVW-0YCfy5iQ7Udj4Nhe_44LG2fzppHmyf-rUcCKNCxjNlXmqfxHd0actr37D0fyV_DEwCCQtTIMhnVHv5b3MW9pZow/w530-h640/aff1976_0007.jpg" width="530" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3YxRGbIj28doVDOf4QuuFGMjntQnPQRgmBMtefLUWaSXwyHqmTKjt-ZiaR0CwjrkZcAlLsxH94TvvywutUTlkSea6UqID0fW1fU3HFImVTEo7Ci0mjHqy9vEBu4aEdaybUXBeN9wEYVDr30CtZkZYvCo2lmzdgIvLfr9Awfx5c7o_a0-DT00oux2Z_Q/s1200/aff1976_0006.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="991" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3YxRGbIj28doVDOf4QuuFGMjntQnPQRgmBMtefLUWaSXwyHqmTKjt-ZiaR0CwjrkZcAlLsxH94TvvywutUTlkSea6UqID0fW1fU3HFImVTEo7Ci0mjHqy9vEBu4aEdaybUXBeN9wEYVDr30CtZkZYvCo2lmzdgIvLfr9Awfx5c7o_a0-DT00oux2Z_Q/w528-h640/aff1976_0006.jpg" width="528" /></a></div><br /><br />The spectacle of a comic book convention was still big enough news for the Atlanta Journal to devote some column inches to the story, and that's exactly what they did!<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO0wCQGM6mMk7-Wk-bxhCqn56y8taNji82anaYGnx1l9C0B4xLT6ActSNNW8ZiAvaoCvSdyQpkDyEDiUSuC2a7m0kvREtAr982LmHn9r9kkHardBwYzlVlkbLKDOuR4pyesP0sJqDwIgSjIGbh85uBjGsdHrdg9D_uZFdHtjjuCylY_6oc10fYFjyKyg/s1200/ajc%20aff%201976.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1090" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO0wCQGM6mMk7-Wk-bxhCqn56y8taNji82anaYGnx1l9C0B4xLT6ActSNNW8ZiAvaoCvSdyQpkDyEDiUSuC2a7m0kvREtAr982LmHn9r9kkHardBwYzlVlkbLKDOuR4pyesP0sJqDwIgSjIGbh85uBjGsdHrdg9D_uZFdHtjjuCylY_6oc10fYFjyKyg/w582-h640/ajc%20aff%201976.jpg" width="582" /></a></div><br /><br />Some vintage Terry Austin fan art of Dick Giordano rounds out the program book - did this piece net Austin some future DC work? - and we're closing the book on 1976's Atlanta Comics & Fantasy Fair. <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj9GtWw0R9EYGgP2_3O28SfkzDS1JR8bJIGDU_hQLErO_DYQiIac8OQ5dO1kojedgzlJCr_PD8_J-Fu2twxefb7E6xh81TUs8zlj6tsh37lcWK8y9sWXg-bL1HLYCKX3BNvviT0NKUyCcQwp5TnWrsUrRu6Vab2IvDG4i60zRQXTr0BASWHE10I-Y3Ew/s1200/aff1976_0008.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="929" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj9GtWw0R9EYGgP2_3O28SfkzDS1JR8bJIGDU_hQLErO_DYQiIac8OQ5dO1kojedgzlJCr_PD8_J-Fu2twxefb7E6xh81TUs8zlj6tsh37lcWK8y9sWXg-bL1HLYCKX3BNvviT0NKUyCcQwp5TnWrsUrRu6Vab2IvDG4i60zRQXTr0BASWHE10I-Y3Ew/w496-h640/aff1976_0008.jpg" width="496" /></a></div><br /><br />Thanks to <a href="https://wuxtryrecords.com/our-history/">Devlin Thompson</a> for the use of the 1976 ACFF program guide! <br /><br /><i>-Dave Merrill</i><br /><br /></span><br /><p></p>d.merrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07704651182760972937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5086064253442964633.post-53766081248150335422021-06-17T11:20:00.002-07:002021-06-18T06:42:18.523-07:001978 Atlanta Comics & Fantasy Fair<p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Cast your mind back to 1978! America was in the grip of both Saturday Night Fever and Star Wars Mania, shivering with chills - of excitement! Egypt and Israel signed the Camp David Accords, Space Invaders began its assault on our supply of quarters, and in August of that year, at the <a href="https://hoganhospitality.wordpress.com/2011/08/05/reflections-from-hoganhospitality-com-roy-dunfey-the-voice-of-sincerity-at-dunfey-hotels/">Dunfey's Royal Coach Hotel</a> at I-75 and Howell Mill Road, the Atlanta Comics And Fantasy Fair held its fifth festival of fantasy and fun! </span></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzcDbXZpF0NjpcAtNyF5MJvRijQOcPuFFTnDse9ppg-06FWmjnyu6IKzn2buHrOJZLYA7JWLJinXhgZiR9xJk6dQkGOSF8f-0xLGS1iv8inj5a_HIWoo9c9IB9cewzn6aKSKvGKme54Yfu/s1600/AtlanataconMini-PosterFlyer1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1057" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzcDbXZpF0NjpcAtNyF5MJvRijQOcPuFFTnDse9ppg-06FWmjnyu6IKzn2buHrOJZLYA7JWLJinXhgZiR9xJk6dQkGOSF8f-0xLGS1iv8inj5a_HIWoo9c9IB9cewzn6aKSKvGKme54Yfu/w422-h640/AtlanataconMini-PosterFlyer1.jpg" width="422" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>poster for the 1978 ACFF signed by the guests</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc2QHp0wNdZQZrV8uLIGvNdrHSrqgoIeY3fMYSLpww9QcAC7r-Q4c8wSrBwrBeLo8GOBKUhTo1Xxo84tMFbR5HOFzrP8LwtYkSjgpBSqzVvm8tBesZbuDkTexVoyG6ijjpOFMdtY78eR6U/s650/acff78button.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="644" data-original-width="650" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc2QHp0wNdZQZrV8uLIGvNdrHSrqgoIeY3fMYSLpww9QcAC7r-Q4c8wSrBwrBeLo8GOBKUhTo1Xxo84tMFbR5HOFzrP8LwtYkSjgpBSqzVvm8tBesZbuDkTexVoyG6ijjpOFMdtY78eR6U/w400-h396/acff78button.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">With comics guests like Stan Lee, Jim Steranko, Howard Chaykin, and Marshall Rogers, along with a full slate of films, slideshows, a costume contest, an art show, and an auction, the 1978 Atlanta Comics & Fantasy Fair promised a weekend of fantasy fun for all.</span><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">If you were any kind of a SF or F fan in Atlanta your only other local convention option in 1978 was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeepSouthCon">DeepSouthCon</a>, that year's version of the traveling literary SF show which was at the time making regular appearances in Atlanta every few years. 1978's DSC was in June at the Riviera Hyatt House, which used to be on Peachtree where 85 and 75 meet, right by Brookwood Station. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">Jack
Williamson was Guest of Honor and Bob Heinlein was rumored to be attending, but he
didn’t show up. Attendance was 731, which is a pretty good size for a DSC.</span><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMs5966hfpEYhbNmIW5XqKRGGpeMIZ4w8LBU6A8iULb2X305ADN27ZH6QfxfFYOpaLA5YEpjq_F3ZPgdXnUHZkRhPSAzbO-QoTXBvKiNeQFU0QSqlSdfRLpKSTsHysZEl13HfysjYfJg0o/s985/DSC16.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="985" data-original-width="750" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMs5966hfpEYhbNmIW5XqKRGGpeMIZ4w8LBU6A8iULb2X305ADN27ZH6QfxfFYOpaLA5YEpjq_F3ZPgdXnUHZkRhPSAzbO-QoTXBvKiNeQFU0QSqlSdfRLpKSTsHysZEl13HfysjYfJg0o/w488-h640/DSC16.jpeg" width="488" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5ftUozQkbHEl53t38SSuoulJ2A98hda6hVbEf4Ehns2cpbRx_3WAnn5Km7InTXoOHomsq_DXPeVbeZwEby9aa-d-inbTxHg-ZUwV3KiPNbHyo_seOYAOJKrVEtgwmHmphSVeocH1otshn/s546/78shirt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="410" data-original-width="546" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5ftUozQkbHEl53t38SSuoulJ2A98hda6hVbEf4Ehns2cpbRx_3WAnn5Km7InTXoOHomsq_DXPeVbeZwEby9aa-d-inbTxHg-ZUwV3KiPNbHyo_seOYAOJKrVEtgwmHmphSVeocH1otshn/w640-h480/78shirt.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">But we're here to talk about the Atlanta Comics & Fantasy Fair, and that's just what we're gonna do. </span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Thanks to a friend of a friend we have images of the 1978 ACFF program book, so let's take a look! </span></div><div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-_LYLFrm5HslLa7opdl1TY1uSGs9qAypENbi99PFDYPad3vvrTm8i56lYWqIT-V8xFJXkzg5zGbUQXjyiBlU96Gm2kKFMuuPuBz2psJPWMg81YOtgCR39ieHcdxzeDY603uoXilF0TZCu/s1000/acff78pgb1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="672" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-_LYLFrm5HslLa7opdl1TY1uSGs9qAypENbi99PFDYPad3vvrTm8i56lYWqIT-V8xFJXkzg5zGbUQXjyiBlU96Gm2kKFMuuPuBz2psJPWMg81YOtgCR39ieHcdxzeDY603uoXilF0TZCu/w430-h640/acff78pgb1.jpg" width="430" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Marshall Rogers provides a program book cover illustration of a rebooted Blackhawk, complete with everyone's favorite handgun, the Mauser C-96, and a nice try at remembering the name of the convention he was doing this piece for. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdDjQgAFJIus4foEUx0BMxMDDX96gS73549gFUJsfEpmqxYbJ46Hjbhc5fTR5m8SO7l_XwU2aOS_MBN_GPAOUr9pR_ACHij4ZmfzRHFWZYkR6dztyRMj4KFcl-ZvOe7XX2kA_bC3i4BEXT/s1200/acff78pgb2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="794" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdDjQgAFJIus4foEUx0BMxMDDX96gS73549gFUJsfEpmqxYbJ46Hjbhc5fTR5m8SO7l_XwU2aOS_MBN_GPAOUr9pR_ACHij4ZmfzRHFWZYkR6dztyRMj4KFcl-ZvOe7XX2kA_bC3i4BEXT/w423-h640/acff78pgb2.jpg" width="423" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">A welcoming message from the co-chair gives us a little history of the convention and reassures con-goers that here in the ACFF's hopefully permanent Dunfey's home, they've licked the space problem. Their main events room seats 700, after all. Just look at all four of those rules, which remind us that the fandom convention of 1978 was way more interested in finding old comic books and getting Steranko sketches than it was in causing trouble.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Interested in what's happening at the ACFF? Here's the schedule. It fits on one page. </span></p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqFZNBb-CZBgyKEMXNTmF58L0gUDDSHVuebBHJj2TI9i9qoz2FhzGZZnoZ5eoG27j-mo3bLrxee9paZrwlgIyPaca87d-KTq8zYmj0_oGJZKCoenUV_1msZUfnGYPFeJs2c0-uc0rFfUFB/s1200/acff78pgb3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="811" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqFZNBb-CZBgyKEMXNTmF58L0gUDDSHVuebBHJj2TI9i9qoz2FhzGZZnoZ5eoG27j-mo3bLrxee9paZrwlgIyPaca87d-KTq8zYmj0_oGJZKCoenUV_1msZUfnGYPFeJs2c0-uc0rFfUFB/w432-h640/acff78pgb3.jpg" width="432" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Having everything take place in one room cuts down on expensive video equipment, right? In fact this convention didn't have ANY video equipment, all these movies and TV shows were screened on 16mm film. But hey, it's 1978. Where else are you going to see Marshall Rogers, Mike Vosburg, and Howard Chaykin talk about... I'm gonna say Batman. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9qQRtjPcTJCiLi3BRUZ4VT6ZGyPg8vayinBLsw1X6-vDszLVsNZUvL_cOTLGlfOsthA1jDUgIARHskph2LCg2QY_F1IBgFTzbTaow5QJfhEUe8A-yr8WjMDvsQfF7ay83A5a7H7O9XhWs/s1200/acff78pgb4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="815" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9qQRtjPcTJCiLi3BRUZ4VT6ZGyPg8vayinBLsw1X6-vDszLVsNZUvL_cOTLGlfOsthA1jDUgIARHskph2LCg2QY_F1IBgFTzbTaow5QJfhEUe8A-yr8WjMDvsQfF7ay83A5a7H7O9XhWs/w434-h640/acff78pgb4.jpg" width="434" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Okay, I get that it's 1978 and this clackety projector clacking away in the ballroom of the Dunfey's might be your only chance to see "Rocketship X-M". But "well done" that movie definitely is not. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG888n8kpXVEQW6Gb25StecZvtqArbMEp0Q2uyr1HrfNyrhuwNCbfNBAKOVzr8ScJyp6SqXJd7i96hk-NOEeIBzjpvBybMdfQiHuHycTb2_3xZX2wySQoSGPK-7llt8btMHKtvEPN2krid/s1200/acff78pgb5.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="821" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG888n8kpXVEQW6Gb25StecZvtqArbMEp0Q2uyr1HrfNyrhuwNCbfNBAKOVzr8ScJyp6SqXJd7i96hk-NOEeIBzjpvBybMdfQiHuHycTb2_3xZX2wySQoSGPK-7llt8btMHKtvEPN2krid/w438-h640/acff78pgb5.jpg" width="438" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Hey guys we are going to be showing at LEAST fifteen minutes of "Star Wars"! Can you believe it? Please note that the Atlanta Comics And Fantasy Fair is, in compliance with the Trekkie Flub Law Of 1972, also screening the Star Trek Blooper Reels. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxren1_ADeiY1rDCInsBBUBnt6OhFV-EdAgiHNUYEw0lY0y_VHh0zrH_eVMDgZLdy2bh1LR7SR1Ad2gf-0rr3ktNVkMMV2Dc5Eqrt1qkGelnhEjQfRYOgVvN6o5bEXk8x56H27MLzZ0b27/s1200/acff78pgb6.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="811" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxren1_ADeiY1rDCInsBBUBnt6OhFV-EdAgiHNUYEw0lY0y_VHh0zrH_eVMDgZLdy2bh1LR7SR1Ad2gf-0rr3ktNVkMMV2Dc5Eqrt1qkGelnhEjQfRYOgVvN6o5bEXk8x56H27MLzZ0b27/w432-h640/acff78pgb6.jpg" width="432" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">COSTUMERS: have your FORMS FILLED OUT and your ASS IN COSTUME at 6pm in front of the MOVIE ROOM for your FINAL JUDGEMENT</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTUhbkdwAcPWrLCThC47oamhyphenhyphentPNVWpCO3Nlwb-nGlkAAJUlNqOByEYZYNR9_QHmAXFyGs1grwDrd197XM9lNmUeJ2SrnBidreeeqGrLO5C11SSd2-qH6jcD_Jc5daYvTw8FHUCE4vQSme/s1200/acff78pgb7.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="816" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTUhbkdwAcPWrLCThC47oamhyphenhyphentPNVWpCO3Nlwb-nGlkAAJUlNqOByEYZYNR9_QHmAXFyGs1grwDrd197XM9lNmUeJ2SrnBidreeeqGrLO5C11SSd2-qH6jcD_Jc5daYvTw8FHUCE4vQSme/w436-h640/acff78pgb7.jpg" width="436" /></a></div><br /><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Later in 1978 interested parties would see the first issue of VISIONS, the semi-pro fan magazine that would later double as the Atlanta Comics & Fantasy Fair's program book. You could purchase your own copy of VISIONS at the Book Nook, back when they were on Clairmont Rd right where it crossed Buford Highway. There's a KFC there now! <a href="https://www.booknookbookstoredecaturga.com">Book Nook is still around </a>with several locations, the closest to their old home is 3073 N Druid Hills in Decatur. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4sRgiA37XcrP9N1lJP0Bc6DsTc9QMIhX6PiJdQ9XrQBaVw_n65f7vPDv9vDZROLHA9wrRGBK4zJK8gyecKdzkMSEiIPSkiT4epivagl5wlGFOHPiLV0QENvgCha_sOt9M0Q_5vTB4VjuJ/s1200/acff78pgb9.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="809" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4sRgiA37XcrP9N1lJP0Bc6DsTc9QMIhX6PiJdQ9XrQBaVw_n65f7vPDv9vDZROLHA9wrRGBK4zJK8gyecKdzkMSEiIPSkiT4epivagl5wlGFOHPiLV0QENvgCha_sOt9M0Q_5vTB4VjuJ/w432-h640/acff78pgb9.jpg" width="432" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Kenneth Smith provides a pointillist brain creature adding a touch of science fiction otherworldliness to this heretofore manly action-man filled program book. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhil5K0S_onzzPdO7Hvrc1Fj7egr9tkQ2QnEzMElMOZ-O8GXEv9052Yb4CPJL4pxHzRxXsJuTPBoToBpIN7Fmejyoo8OqY3mLRRuVm2aNBjb6rPPcCGvHoUOiDD9X5UsYKJCKmUvvjpsPmz/s1200/acff78pgb10.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="899" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhil5K0S_onzzPdO7Hvrc1Fj7egr9tkQ2QnEzMElMOZ-O8GXEv9052Yb4CPJL4pxHzRxXsJuTPBoToBpIN7Fmejyoo8OqY3mLRRuVm2aNBjb6rPPcCGvHoUOiDD9X5UsYKJCKmUvvjpsPmz/w480-h640/acff78pgb10.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">And we return to grim pulp action with a Steranko back cover that pretty much aims squarely at the target of 1978's fantasy fair demographic - men in their 20s and 30s who want blood and thunder and lots of it! <a href="https://twomorrows.com/blog/tnt/marshall-rogers-passing/">Judging from reports</a> it seems the 1978 Atlanta Comics & Fantasy Fair was a success. Soon the show would change its name to merely "Atlanta Fantasy Fair," and later down the road they'd move from the Dunfey's, but in 1978 all these changes were still in the future. </span><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">-Dave Merrill<br /></span><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><i>Thanks to David Nelson for his assistance</i><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p></div></div></div></div>d.merrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07704651182760972937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5086064253442964633.post-49213288285314891192021-03-22T06:39:00.005-07:002021-03-22T06:40:39.198-07:00atlanta fandom conventions: the video<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKOxoXS3HJc7WF9UEYi64jeiFBjCUeu5OXfs4Pe3GwD2-t88ae94JnA8ilTgsN2Jz25PWNnUqIqg-h0SGnrCtDKhgqjoBEKwxH0rcRcZvoEBjQoj6k0rHfB0FzygXwMqJ0mD-TdiAJ8sKg/s1920/history+ofslide+FINAL+-b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1085" data-original-width="1920" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKOxoXS3HJc7WF9UEYi64jeiFBjCUeu5OXfs4Pe3GwD2-t88ae94JnA8ilTgsN2Jz25PWNnUqIqg-h0SGnrCtDKhgqjoBEKwxH0rcRcZvoEBjQoj6k0rHfB0FzygXwMqJ0mD-TdiAJ8sKg/w640-h362/history+ofslide+FINAL+-b.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /> Back in December of 2020 I did a "video panel" for the virtual Anime Weekend Atlanta, which was one of those online conventions we were having back when COVID-19 was wrecking convention schedules around the world. In fact it still is. Anyway, this is me hosting a little video walk through Atlanta's fandom conventions from the very first SF conventions in the city until about 1995 or so. There are flyers and images and a little video from conventions ranging from AFF to Dragoncon, from Dixie Trek to Starbase Atlanta, from ASFiCons to Phoenixcons, and me talking through the whole thing. Please enjoy and let it be a small reminder of what it was like back when we had conventions. Hopefully we'll be back at 'em soon!<p></p><p>https://archive.org/details/history-of-atlanta-fandom-cons-final</p>d.merrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07704651182760972937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5086064253442964633.post-47860814970052060102021-01-14T17:54:00.005-08:002021-01-18T14:42:56.469-08:00PhenomiCon: Conspiracy or Con? <span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Most fan conventions come out of existing social groups. Fan clubs, societies, and formal or informal circles of like-minded enthusiasts come together to create events. PhenomiCon was different; it was the convergence of disparate, sometimes diametrically opposed groups, thrown together in an specific time and space for a limited window of opportunity. If there was a common denominator, it was that most of us were participants in the Atlanta SF/comics fandom scene in one way or another, staffing conventions, vending in the dealers room, screening videos in the video rooms, organizing or attending events of all kinds. </span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvvz0prGxAgUvgzCioesDA7ugaRb_q7WTl6CJB3gRsj10GXmPc9zmLZUK0vGGu6KX2jvcge8exi6-cMI4KGtmqPbPiOIK9nAmjrYzlnqTTX52XFn6YRaiSAswyqibOFFgYZhGTNlquEUd_/s600/pcon91.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvvz0prGxAgUvgzCioesDA7ugaRb_q7WTl6CJB3gRsj10GXmPc9zmLZUK0vGGu6KX2jvcge8exi6-cMI4KGtmqPbPiOIK9nAmjrYzlnqTTX52XFn6YRaiSAswyqibOFFgYZhGTNlquEUd_/w400-h266/pcon91.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I was one of the organizers, and part of why I started this<a href="https://atlantafantasyfair.blogspot.com/"> Atlanta Fantasy Fair blog</a> in the first place was to have somewhere I could talk about PhenomiCon, not only as a seminal Atlanta fantasy/nerd convention, but also as a life-altering event in a way that only a nerd convention can be. Many, many other people made PhenomiCon a reality and my fuzzy memories of thirty years back should not be held responsible if their contributions aren’t given proper respect. Thank you all. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">So. It’s the late 1980s. Some of us had been getting into computers, the early internet, BBSes, hacking, and what was being called “cyberpunk.” Others had been publishing and sharing zines and zine culture. Others had been into the Church Of The SubGenius, the Principia Discordia, RE:Search’s PRANKS book, performance art, hoaxes and culture jamming. Some of us had been struck by Robert Anton Wilson’s Illuminatus trilogy and, as an extension, the paranoid but fascinating world of conspiracies – JFK assassination conspiracies, UFO conspiracies, and the occult, mystical, secret society cycle of Freemasons, Templars, et cetera. This was all swirling around our various social circles at that time, and at some point the decision was made to host a festival that would combine all these interests and see who’d come, and what, if anything, would happen. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtkhDDsSz4WvxBRaWuie8tpN1TkCsPLbj-diog229jC0H5RdReS3OMuTLq4dJO6jbEIuXf24qAKR-G4snr-F919_AITY2oIbISyB6rKLQLV0rKzlM_QZdslo10eufn_bT4u9khmCVuiA_q/s604/phenomicon+flyer.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="604" data-original-width="466" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtkhDDsSz4WvxBRaWuie8tpN1TkCsPLbj-diog229jC0H5RdReS3OMuTLq4dJO6jbEIuXf24qAKR-G4snr-F919_AITY2oIbISyB6rKLQLV0rKzlM_QZdslo10eufn_bT4u9khmCVuiA_q/w494-h640/phenomicon+flyer.jpg" width="494" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">We decided on a name – PhenomiCon. A date – November 1-3, 1991. A location – the Powers Ferry Holiday Inn at I-285 and Powers Ferry Rd. A color for the flyer – goldenrod. We held a promotional room party at DragonCon that crammed a hotel room so fire-code-violatingly full that people were standing on the beds, hollering at the ceiling, for no discernible reason at all. That somehow convinced us that we could put on our own show.
Most of the prep for the convention involved getting together at somebody's house, writing copy for flyers, program books, and USEnet posts, and figuring out who we could convince to show up for very little money. Staff and attendees alike were a collection of everyone who felt marginalized by the nerd convention scene and by society at large - computer hackers, gamers, conspiracy theorists, underground cartoonists, hemp freaks, the extreme left and right meeting around the end of the horseshoe to complain about how they'd been mistreated. There was even some guy who really wanted to talk at us about the Amiga and the Video Toaster at length, but was unable to connect that to our event. That’s one thing we learned; an event with a vague mission statement and an air of excitement would draw promoters and hustlers like a magnet, wanting to attach their thing to your thing at your expense. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">PhenomiCon maintained a defiant and abusive attitude towards other fan conventions, which looks great on paper but is absolutely terrible in practice. Convention organizations have to use the same facilities, share the same staffers, vendors and frequently the same guests and panelists. Bad blood makes all this sharing more difficult. We should have been good neighbors and saved our attitude for the stage. However, we didn’t, and as a result other conventions in town either ignored or were actively pissed off at us. Not a great place to be.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRJKUfSInK1DtkOqfrqZEDqsTXaCg85ZyeXdtxptgrOQqkHOJKjtNZdhdCuUnjiR9TKtOLVQjqccppv1pEpOzURiXbIisVlJ7j4YBDEuuxSjfpsXk666HBg_9cv2vWMmFi9zQnSXoMTg-3/s1178/stang-wilson-sheaffer91.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="1178" height="488" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRJKUfSInK1DtkOqfrqZEDqsTXaCg85ZyeXdtxptgrOQqkHOJKjtNZdhdCuUnjiR9TKtOLVQjqccppv1pEpOzURiXbIisVlJ7j4YBDEuuxSjfpsXk666HBg_9cv2vWMmFi9zQnSXoMTg-3/w640-h488/stang-wilson-sheaffer91.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">Ivan Stang, Robert Anton Wilson, empty space, Robert Sheaffer</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">As the convention approached I and other organizers found ourselves in states of low-grade panic, occasionally ramping up into panic of the full-blown high-grade type. This was the first time I’d ever been anywhere near this level of event organization, an event that relied on a lot of moving parts, a lot of weird people showing up when they were supposed to and doing what they said they were going to do, and not suing the hell out of us if they happened to lose money or break their leg in the process.
Thirty years later, details are fuzzy. I remember offering Rev. Ivan Stang a beer, because I’d forgotten the moving and very public acknowledgement of alcoholism he made in a chapter of his<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Weirdness_by_Mail"> marginal culture guidebook “High Weirdness By Mail.”</a> I remember the bands being a draw completely separate from the convention itself, which is obvious in hindsight but at the time blindsided me. I remember not having any idea of where one would get weed if somebody, say one of our guests, was to want some weed. I made some poor decisions that weekend, one of which involved me totaling my car the Thursday before the convention, which is why I went around that weekend with a big bruise on my face from where my head impacted my windshield as my car impacted the retaining wall of I-75. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">That first PhenomiCon happened, regardless of driving skills or panic. Robert Anton Wilson came and impressed us all with his wisdom while amusing us with his New Jersey accent. The Rev. Ivan Stang of the Church of The SubGenius arrived with a giant Dobbshead, ready to Devival. Local occult rock act King/Kill 33 played their hit song <a href="https://youtu.be/qMUpGVgM8Go">“We Never Went To The Moon.”</a> The panel rooms discussed fanzines, comics, Bigfoot, the Roswell Incident, Area 51, and the <a href="http://www.cornponeflicks.org/ccmain.html">Christian Crusade to Stamp Out Science Fiction.</a> The Conspiracy LARP game sent seekers throughout the hotel searching for hidden truths. The cult movie video room was where we learned the difference between "Stranger Than Paradise" and "Strangers IN Paradise". UFO theorists and skeptics organizations mixed uneasily.<a href="https://youtu.be/n3eT1XgpHdY"> UFO skeptic Robert Sheaffer of CSICOP debated Robert Anton Wilson</a>. And in the vendors room, the Libertarian Party offered their political orientation test to all comers (turns out we’re all various flavors of Libertarian, surprise!) </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJKJ9wJqql5jGiiNld0LKPH4Fuyy0RFgUYi7tpbhZZ8rh_nzrP_v9dfaC6zWSo9UySHmfl4vgOMRGQugRwxXf2aXpen9Lp0syNUDPLwtUfte0rtGTf6jy7ZSn-Pmj7lV25ZnpcMEizi_S0/s1060/devival7.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="814" data-original-width="1060" height="492" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJKJ9wJqql5jGiiNld0LKPH4Fuyy0RFgUYi7tpbhZZ8rh_nzrP_v9dfaC6zWSo9UySHmfl4vgOMRGQugRwxXf2aXpen9Lp0syNUDPLwtUfte0rtGTf6jy7ZSn-Pmj7lV25ZnpcMEizi_S0/w640-h492/devival7.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">RAW gets the spirit of Eris into his pineal gland</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Other 1991 guests included characters like Milton </span><a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/william-cooper-conspiracy-theory-711469/" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">William “Bill” Cooper</a><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">, a UFO writer who would later go straight down the Illuminati-antisemitic-white supremacist-tax evasion rabbit hole and die in a standoff with police. Don Ware from the Mutual UFO Network spoke on UFOs and their implications on world religions. Robin Quayle talked about mutilating cattle. Mark Jaeger, Charlie Pilcher,and Caryl Dennis delivered a three-part panel covering a UFO History of the World, while marijuana enthusiast and </span><a href="https://beforeitsnews.com/conspiracy-theories/2015/06/virtually-reality-phenomicon-in-atlanta-2470442.html" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Dr. Hook keyboardist Joe Ionno</a><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> spoke about, and perhaps on, hemp. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxkj15GL0c3j2rJS4kG9MeaAyO0ZupG11jLFTs96DNqo52lohGHUeqnrjKXNHcltVSntmqp2wf9Ko3ldMwbCaEBvonAoTJwSVvOPMDySEtqMYZz2EyQGp-_FzkIochTaeugAv3jF1m9lbc/s1500/chap-rev.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1156" data-original-width="1500" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxkj15GL0c3j2rJS4kG9MeaAyO0ZupG11jLFTs96DNqo52lohGHUeqnrjKXNHcltVSntmqp2wf9Ko3ldMwbCaEBvonAoTJwSVvOPMDySEtqMYZz2EyQGp-_FzkIochTaeugAv3jF1m9lbc/w640-h494/chap-rev.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">the Skeptics review PhenomiCon</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Apparently there was a costume contest and an amateur film festival, but the SubGenius Devival was the highlight of the convention, filling the main event room. While most anybody who wanted to deliver personal testimony of how “Bob” had changed their lives was allowed to rant,</span><a href="https://youtu.be/NpYqSzBYy1w" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> both Robert Anton Wilson and Rev. Stang delivered top notch preaching,</a><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> and I was shot and killed by Stang myself. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJDTdwE0VrVE3BOCbUnHgtGa53sF3tZmLmYwTHS09GleWmHuWwrFvY8SrlWUgOOKc8JglV2_TgBAK3dlY_M08-FVUN0r8OSxapbpEfvjBk81IXAkVGexstZtpt6bme5qok4lp9bPZv8WeP/s1064/devival3.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="807" data-original-width="1064" height="486" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJDTdwE0VrVE3BOCbUnHgtGa53sF3tZmLmYwTHS09GleWmHuWwrFvY8SrlWUgOOKc8JglV2_TgBAK3dlY_M08-FVUN0r8OSxapbpEfvjBk81IXAkVGexstZtpt6bme5qok4lp9bPZv8WeP/w640-h486/devival3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">Rev. Lefty Vacationland preaches the word of "Bob"</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Obviously we were going to have to have another PhenomiCon. I forget why we moved from the Powers Ferry, but we moved to a venerable Atlanta hotel and event location which had started as a Dunfey’s Royal Coach and briefly became a Radisson before settling on calling itself the </span><a href="https://atlantafantasyfair.blogspot.com/2008/09/castlegate.html" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Castlegate Hotel & Conference Center</a><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">, which is where PhenomiCon 1992 was held November 13-15.
In the interim between PhenomiCons, the organization published a short-lived zine titled “Chapel Perilous” that served to promote the upcoming show, sell leftover 1991 merch, and engage the community that had survived the first P-Con.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNIAFpFyYYXx1JEeJgg11Bt02p3Z6DVna3XTxgdPfb4kbi0DgDakfpuJK-NP1Kp0vmZA6o006IxG6x1xOgwmMfqbaoCKOqQM6jMmQkeDag8wjitrELn0kOzbh5XMg1VDGhgYMEh6CEkgy6/s1000/chap-cvr.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="663" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNIAFpFyYYXx1JEeJgg11Bt02p3Z6DVna3XTxgdPfb4kbi0DgDakfpuJK-NP1Kp0vmZA6o006IxG6x1xOgwmMfqbaoCKOqQM6jMmQkeDag8wjitrELn0kOzbh5XMg1VDGhgYMEh6CEkgy6/w265-h400/chap-cvr.jpg" width="265" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDlbjdM_5H_rMJUflXyTfXydAI0Aj7e6EB0qYULG8WM8OK2qI5v1Gw_oygmx4xPtHwAX4VN9CMLd6YgrV69rGJH1TU3YMMG2n9ajB82rcmGyp-3SuolkdlcLNCcVmHKk6xF8VIXf0cE3Fn/s1500/chap-intro.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1169" data-original-width="1500" height="498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDlbjdM_5H_rMJUflXyTfXydAI0Aj7e6EB0qYULG8WM8OK2qI5v1Gw_oygmx4xPtHwAX4VN9CMLd6YgrV69rGJH1TU3YMMG2n9ajB82rcmGyp-3SuolkdlcLNCcVmHKk6xF8VIXf0cE3Fn/w640-h498/chap-intro.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY8AM4NlaU_xxDMqTvvQLT0DnrECUAgvf8tP4-jSLUUzvSUZhYDIM3mPzMc6gWOo5L5UB2amRI4e8ncpm3HwQBNhWWBr4UmLGwhFY4tIa1B2ANvICKbP-qrBVgZUiBw3WKPj4_N-UQe-2p/s1000/chap-merch.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="922" data-original-width="1000" height="590" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY8AM4NlaU_xxDMqTvvQLT0DnrECUAgvf8tP4-jSLUUzvSUZhYDIM3mPzMc6gWOo5L5UB2amRI4e8ncpm3HwQBNhWWBr4UmLGwhFY4tIa1B2ANvICKbP-qrBVgZUiBw3WKPj4_N-UQe-2p/w640-h590/chap-merch.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">PhenomiCon’s guest list expanded. Perhaps the star of the 1992 show was local <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerry_Wendell_Thornley">Atlanta figure Kerry Wendell Thornley</a> – author of the Discordian bible “Principia Discordia,” and possible second Lee Harvey Oswald. Thornley had served in the Marines with Oswald, kind of resembled Oswald, used him as the inspiration for a pre-assassination novel, had lived in New Orleans around the same time as Oswald, and sometimes believed he’d also been programmed as an assassin. Thornley’s Oswald novel <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/997990.The_Idle_Warriors">“Idle Warriors”</a> had just been republished by Atlanta publisher <a href="https://rense.com/general10/dies.htm">Illuminet Press</a> (RIP, Ron Bonds) and Thornley’s self-published writings were freely available on the telephone poles in Atlanta’s Little Five Points. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgurgOdfUWZqlHvgB3z4ZsgvWAhikLiCRnUUwT6cIDnJaIsPueHQVfLbE9FJ3fJy7Sg5fSVO973Odq77pIyQn-5TnazySwICFQE7FXKUvD6eDhbBjCZorseBk3FiLWbdd7R0NMNmpxkJtsF/s700/P-con92shirtback.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="606" data-original-width="700" height="554" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgurgOdfUWZqlHvgB3z4ZsgvWAhikLiCRnUUwT6cIDnJaIsPueHQVfLbE9FJ3fJy7Sg5fSVO973Odq77pIyQn-5TnazySwICFQE7FXKUvD6eDhbBjCZorseBk3FiLWbdd7R0NMNmpxkJtsF/w640-h554/P-con92shirtback.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>PhenomiCon 1992 t-shirt graphics</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Other new guests included author of "Black Helicopters Over America" Jim Keith (who would die as a result of injuries sustained at Burning Man 1999), Gemstone File conspiracy researcher Stephanie Caruana, cyberpunk SF author Bruce Sterling, Apocalypse Culture writer & Feral House publisher Adam Parfrey, “Conspiracies, Cover-Ups And Crimes” author Jonathan Vankin, and “marginal culture” figures like Bob “Abolition Of Work” Black. The Rev. Ivan Stang would return with a crew of SubGeniuses including St. Janor Hypercleats and the SubG band “The Swinging Love Corpses.”
1992’s panels included “Vampires: Myth or Reality,” talks on UFOs and conspiracies and anti-work, an “Introduction to S&M,” “Atlanta’s Position in the New World Order,” and “Conspiracy-a-Go-Go.” One speaker showed a highlight reel of the Masonic imagery contained in Kubrick’s “2001,” and we found out that screening Russ Meyer films might draw an audience that was, shall we say, unironic in its consumption of adult material. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5726yi_ops4dmh2BJXcIb95eyMIS4PBdHeU6S0iRjGC2J8AsmuCgZH8MK2tr_aQmO7GKvFJQ7evQD0p7g3RLYZ_lJufPlHDr9pn4XuFQtPocR0aKPzPn3Je3eRyZvIlPWbeUe_tsCLilh/s1158/corpses+92b.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="884" data-original-width="1158" height="488" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5726yi_ops4dmh2BJXcIb95eyMIS4PBdHeU6S0iRjGC2J8AsmuCgZH8MK2tr_aQmO7GKvFJQ7evQD0p7g3RLYZ_lJufPlHDr9pn4XuFQtPocR0aKPzPn3Je3eRyZvIlPWbeUe_tsCLilh/w640-h488/corpses+92b.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">they played for two solid hours</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Looming over the 1992 PhenomiCon was a palpable feeling that the coalition between the hipster conspiracy tourists and the actual conspiracy nuts was collapsing. I mean, getting endless telephone calls from UFO kooks demanding to be read the entire schedule over the phone isn’t behavior that endears the community to convention organizers. Stang and Bob Black were then in a marginal-culture pissing match, which wasn’t helped when Phenomicon put them together on a panel. Were we trolls? (around this time a </span><a href="http://www.spunk.org/texts/writers/black/sp001674.html" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">SubG artist mailed Bob Black a homemade explosive device consisting of a flash cube and some firecrackers</a><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">, an act which can and will get somebody arrested.) Up and coming space-surf-rock band </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_or_Astro-man%3F" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Man Or AstroMan?</a><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> came to PhenomiCon for pretty much nothing – thank you, fellas, you’re still the best - to perform on the main stage after the Devival. However, the </span><a href="https://vimeo.com/158880249" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Swinging Love Corpses</a><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> kept corpsing and corpsing and corpsing, their long-hair rock-star wigs falling onto the stage, the drone of their tuneless howling driving everyone out of the room, the failure of Phenomicon to grasp stage management as a critical part of live events becoming painfully apparent. So </span><a href="https://youtu.be/6syxA0ThR5Y" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">MOAM?</a><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> set up in the hallway outside, in the downstairs motor lobby of the Castlegate, and they blew the doors off the place with a blistering set. Thanks again, guys. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Picture late Saturday night in the wreckage of the main events hall at the Castlegate; the big-deal SubGenius clergy have left, the rock bands have packed up, all that’s left is garbage and techno-trash and staffers standing around in the middle of it all, wondering where the fun went. The organizers and staff were exhausted, irritated at each other, or had gone into thousands of dollars of debt trying to make the thing happen. Or all three. Maybe we’d proved our point with two PhenomiCons. Maybe it was time to hang it up and let the conspiracy win.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitMrNV5ivuDROiNxSAbYDQCCiPa02lk8gmNdzhfsy5_LVoymQp2znVkkWnxw7gC7-VEEajMPww_4bQ5qpQR3BQnNxvQbhFr3MO52xTNgU5YyKARD1XqwG91mERw4ZkuNhtZ40FM8e6zXKK/s1180/corpses+92.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="893" data-original-width="1180" height="484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitMrNV5ivuDROiNxSAbYDQCCiPa02lk8gmNdzhfsy5_LVoymQp2znVkkWnxw7gC7-VEEajMPww_4bQ5qpQR3BQnNxvQbhFr3MO52xTNgU5YyKARD1XqwG91mERw4ZkuNhtZ40FM8e6zXKK/w640-h484/corpses+92.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">the breakout star: my vintage industrial lamp, shown here</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Most of what PhenomiCon did - the UFOs, the Kennedy conspiracy stuff, the computer hacking, that whole Mondo 2000 smart-drink world, well, all that got mainstreamed pretty quickly. The big PhenomiCon events like the SubGenius devival and the edgy Masonic-imagery rock bands became yearly events at DragonCon. TV every week featured the paranoid rants of every flying saucer-obsessed P-Con guest on The X-Files or an A&E show about ancient aliens. The cutting edge computer stuff became something you could do at home by yourself over AOL. There was no need for us to have a PhenomiCon when PhenomiCon was happening all the time everywhere already. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">There was a half-hearted talk of a third show in 1993, but that didn't get any traction, and we did have one meeting about doing a show in 1999 or 2000, but the whole landscape of hacking, cyberpunk, UFOlogy and conspiratoria had all shifted too dramatically. A few high-profile hacker arrests, paranoid cult standoffs and terrorist bombings will do that to a subculture. Dampening any remaining enthusiasm was the sad truth that there's a big world of alien abduction experts, crystal healer past life channellers and Illuminati insiders all getting rich peddling patent nonsense to gullible suckers, and that's a world I don't want to even be tangentially connected with. One visit from the Men In Black was plenty! We’ve all seen <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/13/politics/capitol-riot-investigation/index.html">firsthand in recent days </a>what the mindless amplification of conspiracy thinking can do to public life, and PhenomiCon was a part of that, whether it meant to be or not. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">After the fact PhenomiCon became a legend of sorts, this mysterious event that came and went, leaving nothing behind but memories and debt. In its afterlife as a topic of USEnet forum posts, online columns and letters to fanzines P-Con assumed perhaps greater importance than it had in reality. PhenomiCon was referenced in a wide variety of popular and scholarly books, including Kembrew McLeod’s “Pranksters: Making Mischief In The Modern World,” “Conspiracy Theories: Secrecy And Power In American Culture” by Mark Fenster, and Kenn Thomas’ “Parapolitics: Conspiracy In Contemporary America.” </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvfOrS7kmoVrhmvXQEGKY-Bh9ohJ-YUf7o8yUPInBwC_gSffhDbw51dvH1SvLHg6ap-7fBQXndDmDXuB957p1qgP-j8tPdnI3oxwTF6ovVgezNtTmrrH7VX53jKCyY33aKTIrbAEhX5Ktp/s602/pcon+article+mcleod.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="602" height="568" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvfOrS7kmoVrhmvXQEGKY-Bh9ohJ-YUf7o8yUPInBwC_gSffhDbw51dvH1SvLHg6ap-7fBQXndDmDXuB957p1qgP-j8tPdnI3oxwTF6ovVgezNtTmrrH7VX53jKCyY33aKTIrbAEhX5Ktp/w640-h568/pcon+article+mcleod.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">Mcleod's "Pranksters" covers PhenomiCon</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The early 1990s might have been the only time a first-time convention could have attracted the guests P-Con did. In a few years most PhenomiCon guests would either command large speaking fees, or be unable to speak entirely, as in, a lot of PhenomiCon guests have since passed away. Maybe the stars really did align perfectly there for an instant, enabling us to conjure a big bubbling melting pot of outsiders all bouncing off each other. Maybe the world needed a space where flying saucer fabulists could spin their yarns while also being challenged by the audience, where the paranoid and the suspicious could get out of their bunkers and their own heads, if just for a weekend.
</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">-Dave Merrill</span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><i>Thanks to Ed Hill, Jason Finegan, Rod Ramsey, and especially Scott Weikert, for making it all happen</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_I96Fc2OCDSG7aWqGTCXQs5-ZlXT6nNogx1-JCLPBkoij2G-rtk_PKkSZPeVvXcpfCfdF_0qK8o_V2Hjg6eGDyzMBp-C7fFZejZxkfjyuxUdmHfozENjlV20uRXPGHeN5yf1Rhr7NjhMi/s1181/stang-wilson-sheaffer91b.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="901" data-original-width="1181" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_I96Fc2OCDSG7aWqGTCXQs5-ZlXT6nNogx1-JCLPBkoij2G-rtk_PKkSZPeVvXcpfCfdF_0qK8o_V2Hjg6eGDyzMBp-C7fFZejZxkfjyuxUdmHfozENjlV20uRXPGHeN5yf1Rhr7NjhMi/w400-h305/stang-wilson-sheaffer91b.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><i><br /></i></span></div>d.merrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07704651182760972937noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5086064253442964633.post-22237029981245343712020-09-12T16:13:00.037-07:002021-09-23T11:20:20.295-07:001992: Atlanta Fantasy Fair Southside<div class="separator"><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">In 1992, the Atlanta Fantasy Fair made the bold decision to leave downtown Atlanta. Actually, that decision was the result of forces far beyond the control of any Fantasy Fair anywhere; the 1988 Democratic National Convention took place in Atlanta in the summer of 1988 and it threw a wrench into the plans of every single trade show, festival, convention, and gathering that wanted to happen anywhere in the metro area. Scheduling for every kind of show was wrecked for years to come. AFF lost their coveted Omni/WCC space in 1988, managed to get it back in 1990, then lost it again for the 1991 show. Convention space downtown was in demand, prices were rising, competition was fierce, and the Georgia International Convention Center down by the airport was eager for business. The GICC and the accompanying Hyatt - later a Sheraton - were built in 1985, and in 1992 the place still had that new facility gleam. This would be home for the next two Atlanta Fantasy Fairs.</span></div></div></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi42DjH4yachTbd9tPm-_d94f0W_YlcephUQJtVGkMKmBccd3vpokCAlLChO_pKWKRMzKBlmAlIntsAcwmcG3lShw6uTU3AbAjSyo-3YLX5HzNspG5pqlFB2aVUfgM6dnLbCEUVwefynHVM/s1531/aff92b.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1531" data-original-width="1171" height="625" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi42DjH4yachTbd9tPm-_d94f0W_YlcephUQJtVGkMKmBccd3vpokCAlLChO_pKWKRMzKBlmAlIntsAcwmcG3lShw6uTU3AbAjSyo-3YLX5HzNspG5pqlFB2aVUfgM6dnLbCEUVwefynHVM/w479-h625/aff92b.jpg" width="479" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><br />AFF attendees were there for the jogging and tennis, I am so sure</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Guests for the 1992 AFF included author Peter David, Flaming Carrot artist/writer Bob Burden, fantasy author Stephen R. Donaldson, Star Trek actor Colm Meaney, Star Trek and future Sex In The City star Kim Cattrall, and Aliens android Lance Henriksen, who cancelled his AFF appearance due to contractual obligations- he was shooting the canine horror movie Man's Best Friend, so I'm told. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVjRcGviyFfhymYCmWB_UovzjfDvjW96eTwcs9r6LMtXLGYOci8pzxx260gznICIzpo8lj-1PNq-I6nQg0P-xhMApv3d0GICe_EBp1pR8uOC4gN6HWqjZlfaJu-dpwoMZS-Qvvkge2vUUQ/s1585/aff92a.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1585" data-original-width="1215" height="625" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVjRcGviyFfhymYCmWB_UovzjfDvjW96eTwcs9r6LMtXLGYOci8pzxx260gznICIzpo8lj-1PNq-I6nQg0P-xhMApv3d0GICe_EBp1pR8uOC4gN6HWqjZlfaJu-dpwoMZS-Qvvkge2vUUQ/w479-h625/aff92a.jpg" width="479" /></a></div><br /><span><br /><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I was on staff this year, having recruited a crew of fellow anime nerds to handle the anime room. When we weren't screening <a href="http://letsanime.blogspot.com/2009/07/spaced-out-japanimation-man.html" target="_blank">screechy 1970s super robot epics</a> to a bewildered audience, we were roaming the halls using the convention as a location for our goofball SF epic "The Ozone Commandos." Part One of this film is available to <a href="https://youtu.be/3KUsUGLNHG8" target="_blank">watch on YouTube</a>! </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd1Z1GnPsErtVK9Hoj5fPkUuc0DIrcrwgdbQKVDQx6RMoLrfVTq9-Q6V_no71Yh-28zGafEfna_GaIPUGO-IAqVdz0V0L08TsOYyN4-cmFUu5anwzupLp-tkYLPU_leT9jNv_hOdaSx8YV/s1000/1992+crowd+shot.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="717" data-original-width="1000" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd1Z1GnPsErtVK9Hoj5fPkUuc0DIrcrwgdbQKVDQx6RMoLrfVTq9-Q6V_no71Yh-28zGafEfna_GaIPUGO-IAqVdz0V0L08TsOYyN4-cmFUu5anwzupLp-tkYLPU_leT9jNv_hOdaSx8YV/w400-h286/1992+crowd+shot.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6e5oKZ9JSb_5Bej19fHJ_Hk-WpP20WRcfeuXEkiQ0FH2GJyfA1crDJHjtD8r6sAMeiWL7Nsc4PE9Kotz_COwtj33liKZnswD2CoJv-0oHtIT98R-fP3BNpsFlDn1KKsT_o18yOmHqhJS1/s1000/1992+ozc+door.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="735" data-original-width="1000" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6e5oKZ9JSb_5Bej19fHJ_Hk-WpP20WRcfeuXEkiQ0FH2GJyfA1crDJHjtD8r6sAMeiWL7Nsc4PE9Kotz_COwtj33liKZnswD2CoJv-0oHtIT98R-fP3BNpsFlDn1KKsT_o18yOmHqhJS1/w400-h294/1992+ozc+door.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><br />the Ozone Commandos burst in to blast the nerds (nerds at a different convention)</i></td></tr></tbody></table><span><br /><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">My recollection of 1992 is it felt really strange not having the AFF in downtown Atlanta. For suburbanites such as ourselves, that Omni-Hilton-Hyatt-Marriott nexus was part of the package, lending an excitement to the convention experience that the GICC, ten miles south of downtown, simply did not have. Sure, the GICC was convenient to the airport. I guess if you lived in College Park or Hapeville it was wonderful. But for the rest of us, it was a bit more of a hike down to Riverdale Rd, where the GICC sat among the pine trees and industrial parks south of the airport. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv0g7a6-fOXAAUcM1oB8E1wip8OG4P6zn5s03Y67g4jwJKswXZ7aKHWQSMJyGVwzxTTzUqIizM6FzAjLutB74kbdvmfCE4t8mA46tivQ3F12t45RIwyFTfrgc74MSdMRmU5xuAsuD4tHI8/s1000/1992hall2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="761" data-original-width="1000" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv0g7a6-fOXAAUcM1oB8E1wip8OG4P6zn5s03Y67g4jwJKswXZ7aKHWQSMJyGVwzxTTzUqIizM6FzAjLutB74kbdvmfCE4t8mA46tivQ3F12t45RIwyFTfrgc74MSdMRmU5xuAsuD4tHI8/w625-h476/1992hall2.jpg" width="625" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><br />AFF 1992 crowd - note the AFF jacket and the Buckaroo Banzai headband</i> <br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Dining options were limited to the Ruby Tuesday's across the street, if you didn't feel like driving over to Old National Highway and eating a late night breakfast while staring at the giant display of pies and cakes in the diner at Old National & Sullivan that isn't there any more. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHL1lnVdFLREc4_kMn4M___m3JQN-SEJpbHLllb2gjmU9kc8Y2NfC82jG9Tii5q9VR5Nop-OjexIbYEKE61lsg4E6v6lkLKUHEw36O1KH1yk_53w2Y3i6V9FB6E6F4MKvljlpxv3_57dVH/s1000/1992dealers1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="749" data-original-width="1000" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHL1lnVdFLREc4_kMn4M___m3JQN-SEJpbHLllb2gjmU9kc8Y2NfC82jG9Tii5q9VR5Nop-OjexIbYEKE61lsg4E6v6lkLKUHEw36O1KH1yk_53w2Y3i6V9FB6E6F4MKvljlpxv3_57dVH/w500-h375/1992dealers1.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><br />the 1992 AFF industrial vendors warehouse </i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">The fans grumbled some. I remember seeing the same look of "where the hell are we" on a lot of attendees' faces as they opened their car doors and gazed at this outpost of fandom set among the rolling hills of what, once you get south of Hartsfield, feels less north and more central Georgia. The grumbling intensified as the AFF congoers learned Henriksen wasn't coming. I had particular sympathy for the crew of a minivan that had decorated their windows with Henriksen-themed messages. Who knew he had such devoted fans, and what a bummer for them!</span><br /><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEims594cZJX0PMRAiuYDAllYhiR9xmTEgsUoH_9GGZ9zjFCh_iofMKwAGnA7xXnb933DwBh6bNDuHwXsYeHc1U-jIqKpvuqaxIocqPS4A0Ck-7YnZ9X6QQBHBz1IhbLZnevvxJV3q_aUcyb/s1000/1992dealers3.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1000" height="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEims594cZJX0PMRAiuYDAllYhiR9xmTEgsUoH_9GGZ9zjFCh_iofMKwAGnA7xXnb933DwBh6bNDuHwXsYeHc1U-jIqKpvuqaxIocqPS4A0Ck-7YnZ9X6QQBHBz1IhbLZnevvxJV3q_aUcyb/w500-h338/1992dealers3.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><br />overhead pic of industrial vendors warehouse</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I do remember some hallway drama as one of the AFF directors found out another, competing convention was going to host a room party in their room at the Hyatt, and it became a how dare they, this aggression will not stand, man, sort of moment. The AFF was in a transitional phase that year and not just transitioning down I-85. The ballistic arc of the festival's growth had reached its apogee and was now gently bending downwards. Competition between conventions is real, and when fans start having more fun at other shows, your show had better find something fun to give the fans, or start looking at smaller facilities. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJY4WFDfzopVh8IZaSxzZltCNObUBmkX6anFU7gRohohoxntmov0hqOlfCWmtS7OJqXTp-wUUTOtXcVZghJ8xYytrz0gu8b_JiM7XS7ljx8gWTTpLhRUHWDsvhyphenhyphenpJj3h4JoM-otsMa4sLh/s1000/1992+staff.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="761" data-original-width="1000" height="381" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJY4WFDfzopVh8IZaSxzZltCNObUBmkX6anFU7gRohohoxntmov0hqOlfCWmtS7OJqXTp-wUUTOtXcVZghJ8xYytrz0gu8b_JiM7XS7ljx8gWTTpLhRUHWDsvhyphenhyphenpJj3h4JoM-otsMa4sLh/w500-h381/1992+staff.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><br />Hardworking AFF events staff</i></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">The AFF at the time seemed to be staffed by two different sets of people - a crew of younger fans who'd grown up with the show and wanted to kick it up a notch, expanding into new events and areas, and an older administrative circle that was mostly interested in selling shirts and vendors tables, meeting low-level Hollywood types, and otherwise not rocking the boat. The AFF had lost its contacts with the major comic book companies, didn't have the knowledge base, the budget, or the interest to push the show in new directions, and was seemingly content to deliver guests other conventions didn't want, in venues other conventions didn't want. That's not a strategy for success. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip_XoAgGqrp4ukapYuDppJv4rW3cub_LajNMOaUm2nau0r6Egci_YBF0ue6DiJPjdvJNcC03MZfqgdwW9s3dIStGi5hrbUY-HWZcmayEZzVaYb7yMpgq8w19g5ZnIjeYSLlsOuC_FN4IQQ/s1000/1992awards2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="1000" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip_XoAgGqrp4ukapYuDppJv4rW3cub_LajNMOaUm2nau0r6Egci_YBF0ue6DiJPjdvJNcC03MZfqgdwW9s3dIStGi5hrbUY-HWZcmayEZzVaYb7yMpgq8w19g5ZnIjeYSLlsOuC_FN4IQQ/w625-h298/1992awards2.jpg" width="625" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><br />AFF costume contest crowd</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">In the meantime there was enough of a crowd at the 1992 AFF to make things seem like business as usual, for a little while anyway. The convention would hold its 1992 and 1993 shows at the GICC. In 1994 the Atlanta Fantasy Fair would move to the exact opposite side of Atlanta, to the Crowne Plaza at Perimeter Mall, subsequently <a href="https://atlantafantasyfair.blogspot.com/2008/09/castlegate.html" target="_blank">wrapping things up at the Castlegate in 1995</a>, just in time for Anime Weekend Atlanta to have its first show at the Castlegate later that year. </span><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl6tHpJSF27cfSvYBtCTPa_ognq1CdQB6v68BoAXI9sb1yk7MHeywhMwPV8tYB_nGUYTKo0N2NuQQWAZw4ZvVJYiLfublFA2N8oUumDtCLDgQZfuVNFmmOajquABGd9c5mkj-G3_tn6y0m/s1000/1992gamers.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="756" data-original-width="1000" height="379" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl6tHpJSF27cfSvYBtCTPa_ognq1CdQB6v68BoAXI9sb1yk7MHeywhMwPV8tYB_nGUYTKo0N2NuQQWAZw4ZvVJYiLfublFA2N8oUumDtCLDgQZfuVNFmmOajquABGd9c5mkj-G3_tn6y0m/w500-h379/1992gamers.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><br />gamers in 1992, gaming</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Coincidentally, <a href="https://awa-con.com/" target="_blank">our anime convention</a> would continue to follow in AFF's footsteps, holding AWA 3 and 4 at the Century Center site of AFF's 1979 show. And in 2001 and 2002 AWA would find itself down at the Georgia International Convention Center and its attendant Sheraton, formerly the Hyatt. The facility hadn't changed much in ten years, it was more or less the right size for three and a half thousand anime fans to get together, even if that Ruby Tuesday's was still awful. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtsKw3zX0mtqUC_58ew-FMBhPEm05mv540BuvbgoVqan5oxHh63RbaodYz-MINFl9HPJ5L2MdrEKWilu5HQ7nBsbxZe8DyBAy-EMTsLHh6x4rPJaTfnJJSrOamfycn4OoduIyLxa9tU-lG/s1000/1992+costume+audience.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="763" data-original-width="1000" height="381" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtsKw3zX0mtqUC_58ew-FMBhPEm05mv540BuvbgoVqan5oxHh63RbaodYz-MINFl9HPJ5L2MdrEKWilu5HQ7nBsbxZe8DyBAy-EMTsLHh6x4rPJaTfnJJSrOamfycn4OoduIyLxa9tU-lG/w500-h381/1992+costume+audience.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><br /><span style="font-family: times;">hard to read the mood of the crowd at this 1992 AFF event. Sullen? Confused? Belligerent?</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: arial;">AWA might have stuck around there for another year or so. However, the GICC informed AWA that the convention center and the hotel were both about to be demolished to make way for a new runway at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. Not to worry, a new GICC was being constructed a few miles away on the other side of I-285. Would that suit AWA? Well, turns out that new GICC wasn't going to have a hotel attached to it at the present time, and that was a deal-killer for the anime con. Probably a deal-killer for any other fan convention, to be honest, where half the fun of the show are late night room parties and social gatherings, hard to do in a convention center that shuts its doors at 7pm. At any rate, that new GICC wouldn't wind up opening until 2009. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtKJ2GAlu-GXdNidX_Ds-HmFwPnq5j4SE-e-Q_rQgM906-6N_wm3XjTwwOrgIxmuIKWNLbPzAzhAe7dSQ9skadoXlHMlftNU6kPxHsDgZXCSI2JDllJvyu0TTJ6G8sinlP71V9S51UhWDM/s2048/2012SDC16877.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtKJ2GAlu-GXdNidX_Ds-HmFwPnq5j4SE-e-Q_rQgM906-6N_wm3XjTwwOrgIxmuIKWNLbPzAzhAe7dSQ9skadoXlHMlftNU6kPxHsDgZXCSI2JDllJvyu0TTJ6G8sinlP71V9S51UhWDM/w500-h375/2012SDC16877.JPG" width="500" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_YNBfqvNhD2s95lz6bRJr437HXkOJtJs8f7-r6Wi1vpYKWbITywQdXHB2FykJwJggjaDT19X2V9XyB0PQ_K1S-0QXla0i_BVsXyg9tDoreXgCAS7e9bLW6Kz9uwznZjLZrr9ohbeZ4OPf/s500/2012oldgicc2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="375" height="625" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_YNBfqvNhD2s95lz6bRJr437HXkOJtJs8f7-r6Wi1vpYKWbITywQdXHB2FykJwJggjaDT19X2V9XyB0PQ_K1S-0QXla0i_BVsXyg9tDoreXgCAS7e9bLW6Kz9uwznZjLZrr9ohbeZ4OPf/w469-h625/2012oldgicc2.jpg" width="469" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><br />the ghost town GICC today (okay, 2012)</i></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><span><br /><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">The new GICC eventually got some hotels nearby, but <a href="https://awa-con.com/" target="_blank">AWA</a> moved north to the Waverly and the Cobb Galleria Convention Center in 2003 and has been there ever since. In the meantime, what of the former GICC and the Sheraton? Apparently Hartsfield-Jackson didn't really need that runway extension. Both buildings are still standing and have been used for a wide variety of purposes in the past decade - housing Katrina refugees and becoming a movie soundstage for several different film productions, including parts of Avengers: Infinity War. Things have come full circle, I suppose. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBfEGzX4daLT7HOvDnlImDkT237gTRFI-G_9pGsx9KSw0qomBAzmRnlHQTAlb6wSN5u2tXfZdZuyFmerqHgHNaREt_vvnz20xSIUt5hycgVcvDBdj0sSAzz7-YohyzDQnv1eYOuMJqEACZ/s1000/1992+terry.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="759" data-original-width="1000" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBfEGzX4daLT7HOvDnlImDkT237gTRFI-G_9pGsx9KSw0qomBAzmRnlHQTAlb6wSN5u2tXfZdZuyFmerqHgHNaREt_vvnz20xSIUt5hycgVcvDBdj0sSAzz7-YohyzDQnv1eYOuMJqEACZ/w400-h304/1992+terry.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><br />catch the excitement, I guess, if you want to</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><span>If you want to experience a little bit of AFF 1992, please check out Christine Klimshuk's <a href="https://vimeo.com/312458567" target="_blank">video of the convention and her award-winning costume contest presentation</a>! Thanks to Christine and to Matt Murray for some of the images used in this post. </span><br /><br /><span>-Dave Merrill</span></span></span><br /></div></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilUgHJLwtMPCaQyN14ezDodc1VdOrGGeyQIWb4nw3rT_ONJ-juYbty15Sd4xnnxnsO1erKFo9kroWElPrKVB405O9rEsYKkiN0qjKRZu7Waq0ftG9AchKdlZ-55ksC6m6iuhEizfXtiXED/s1000/1992trekkies.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="761" data-original-width="1000" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilUgHJLwtMPCaQyN14ezDodc1VdOrGGeyQIWb4nw3rT_ONJ-juYbty15Sd4xnnxnsO1erKFo9kroWElPrKVB405O9rEsYKkiN0qjKRZu7Waq0ftG9AchKdlZ-55ksC6m6iuhEizfXtiXED/w625-h476/1992trekkies.jpg" width="625" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><br />I said LIVE LONG AND PROSPER, dammit</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>d.merrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07704651182760972937noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5086064253442964633.post-52251566977470637732020-06-27T09:10:00.003-07:002020-06-29T08:18:53.363-07:00Atlanta Fantasy Fair 1987 photos<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">1987 saw the 13th gathering of the tribes under the banner of the Atlanta Fantasy Fair, meeting in downtown Atlanta at the Omni Hotel and the World Congress Center. Recently my pal Lloyd Carter, himself no stranger to the world of conventions (we started <a href="https://awa-con.com/">AWA </a>together) unearthed a roll of film he shot at the 1987 AFF, and he was kind enough to scan 'em in and send them my way. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Here Star Trek's Nichelle Nichols entertains the AFF crowd with stories and songs from her days on board the Starship Enterprise. Somebody warn her not to do "Star Trek V."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Caroline Munro has faced interstellar villainy in "Starcrash", international intrigue in "The Spy Who Loved Me", the wrath of Dracula in "Dracula AD 1972", the forces of black magic in "Sinbad And The Eye Of The Tiger", and the lustful gaze of Adam Ant in the video for "Goody Two-Shoes." Here she meets what might be her greatest challenge in what I believe is Herb from the accounting department (No offense, guy - I know everybody looked kind of square at 1980s conventions).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Out of the nightmare realm of horror and special effects rises Tom Savini, here to disgust and repel and amaze in equal doses. At this point he had probably wrapped on "Creepshow 2" and was knee-deep in the "Tales From The Darkside" TV series. Not sure what his little buddy there was featured in, but he's definitely creeping me out. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">From the world of comics, DC editor Julius Schwartz lurks behind a table in the lower meeting rooms of the Omni, opposite the Marietta St. drop-off area where your parents would let you out of the station wagon. Schwartz rose from 1930s science fiction fandom to decades helming characters like The Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Batman and Superman. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Here Julie hams it up for the camera. Unfortunately, Julie's sense of whimsy<a href="http://www.sequentialtart.com/archive/feb06/art_0206_6.shtml"> extended to the occasional unwanted physical contact with female fans and pros</a>, one of the reasons we use the irony quotes around the phrase "good old days."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Marvel editor <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_DeFalco">Tom DeFalco</a>, here shown in maximum 1980s cosplay, is no doubt thinking of how he spearheaded the Archie Digest line when he worked for Archie Comics in the 1970s, thereby ensuring children would continue to read comic books even after the rest of the industry would move to direct distribution for adult collectors. At this point in history DeFalco was in fact Editor-in-Chief of Marvel Comics, all part of his long-term plan to write the "Maximum Carnage" Spider-Man storyline.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I believe this is Louise and Walt Simonson discussing both Walt's groundbreaking work on Thor and Louise's groundbreaking work editing X-Men and X-Factor and writing New Mutants and Red Sonja, and how they both look forward to cameos in the Thor movie that will be made in twenty four years. The man on the right is unidentified at this time. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Also in a similar World Congress Center exhibit hall is Tom DeFalco, Marvel writer and former EIC Archie Goodwin, and Unidentified Glasses-Wearing Man holding forth on an important topic. Let's say the Iran-Contra scandal. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Of these two panelists, I know one of them - superstar artist <a href="https://billsienkiewiczart.com/">Bill Sienkiewicz</a> seen on the right - is definitely dressed for the Atlanta summer, which would be great if he was outside. However, he's in a meeting room at a downtown convention facility, which means the AC is cranked and the temperature is probably sixty-five degrees, so he's probably shivering. I don't know who the other fellow is, but I'm going to assume he worked for Marvel Comics in some capacity. (Thanks to AFF veteran Scott W. for the Sienkiewicz ID!)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I wanna say the guy on the right is Elfquest publisher Richard Pini. and I have no idea who the guy on the left is. A balding white guy with glasses and a close trimmed beard? That's the face of the comic book industry in the 1980s. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Looking at these photos 33 years later (!!) it's striking at how.... <i>boring</i> the attendees look. Everybody's in golf shirts or button-down business clothes. I know there were costumers (we didn't call them "cosplayers" back then) but they weren't as prevalent as they'd later become. The cargo shorts and T-shirts that would be the American Male uniform had yet to take over. In a few years, we'd see more young people start attending conventions and subsequently more graphic Ts, more skater shorts, crazier hair, and the sort of hall-costume culture we now take for granted would begin to be seen. But in 1987 things were still pretty square. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I do want to thank Lloyd Carter again for these photos, and ask everyone two questions - 1. if you know who the unidentified people in these photos are, let me know, and 2, if you have any AFF photos or memorabilia yourself, please send those scans or pix my way at terebifunhouse@gmail.com, thank you!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Thanks to 7-Tardis-7 (deep in Center Neptune Gallifrey, no doubt) for the 1987 AFF lenticular pinback badge image!</span></div>
d.merrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07704651182760972937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5086064253442964633.post-85214256259514288712019-02-08T17:27:00.000-08:002019-02-08T17:27:01.748-08:001979: Atlanta Comics & Fantasy Fair<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1979 was the year the AC&FF, or the ACFF, or what we'd later just call the AFF, well, they moved locations up I-85 to the popular Century Center location on Clairmont Rd, just north of the site of their first 1975 show. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHIjR5nA6QqV83040gPfAUZhFV7_2muohZEieFqLAwYCdY42CnxCAyG2Xvw1t1-vYbxYupVlFiEe05HtY1yunY0kDl45QH058csFPMEHsZX96ijtk44saEZFA4cHx2ow6GAVBH7ZkY48qB/s1600/1979+badge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="419" data-original-width="557" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHIjR5nA6QqV83040gPfAUZhFV7_2muohZEieFqLAwYCdY42CnxCAyG2Xvw1t1-vYbxYupVlFiEe05HtY1yunY0kDl45QH058csFPMEHsZX96ijtk44saEZFA4cHx2ow6GAVBH7ZkY48qB/s320/1979+badge.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don't personally have any materials from the 1979 show - I would have been nine years old at the time and while I would have loved to have been there, at the time I didn't even know it existed. So I've had to dig these images up from the depths of the Internet, and once again I'll ask anyone out there with some old convention flyers or program books or photos of Atlanta Comics & Fantasy Fairs past to take an afternoon and do a little scanning and send them .jpgs my way. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The program schedule for the 1979 Atlanta Comics & Fantasy Fair was a folded newsprint poster that boiled the essentials of the convention down to a few pages worth of text and some illustrations by the guests. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-XoZSTvFAI9HeXqjB5Ds7BFhaKPg_M2qr-oJ_xLpDb15IpjyrL1dCnN7oUICoQSm6YZJRg3gOYmOjQwjmX0zT3s0FEI_SVqqEL2zy07nO0VBx_zP5TNEptuTg7twdZf8tWxoVN-ux9HLT/s1600/acff1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="839" data-original-width="1000" height="536" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-XoZSTvFAI9HeXqjB5Ds7BFhaKPg_M2qr-oJ_xLpDb15IpjyrL1dCnN7oUICoQSm6YZJRg3gOYmOjQwjmX0zT3s0FEI_SVqqEL2zy07nO0VBx_zP5TNEptuTg7twdZf8tWxoVN-ux9HLT/s640/acff1a.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisqn5pzCv5Q8xUYKYlr1aKXqk-C_1LoNJnxS4tfLZ_sUqz8a1AilFJDIBNu-6xk7X85u1ohZ5v-rS1aCZ5ijdi3lwlBmPeoXWiwPjUIRaCd0nDzjocVmn5Kzh29F0dPgqTOc1i9Nw3-Une/s1600/acff793a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="761" data-original-width="1000" height="486" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisqn5pzCv5Q8xUYKYlr1aKXqk-C_1LoNJnxS4tfLZ_sUqz8a1AilFJDIBNu-6xk7X85u1ohZ5v-rS1aCZ5ijdi3lwlBmPeoXWiwPjUIRaCd0nDzjocVmn5Kzh29F0dPgqTOc1i9Nw3-Une/s640/acff793a.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From the vantage point of 2019 we can enjoy the charming five-point list of rules, and we can nod approvingly at the lady con chair, which is becoming more common but in 1979 must have been a novelty. Judging from the welcome message's references to "circumstances beyond our control," there must have been some pre-convention drama happening behind the scenes, and let me say that this is an aspect of fandom conventions that has not changed at all. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl3HKqkN27cS3r0XcD_r6AsAOVu9mqiUtZu610PmX_UTsa04zsmMIg7elGigUlhvTivkoxFz2yGaYAp-80mQAToRisRHglbkXVWnBHM3qvvc4XH9CME5I3MuSM3OlGUspnhrBJIDxKrt-R/s1600/acff792a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="799" data-original-width="1000" height="510" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl3HKqkN27cS3r0XcD_r6AsAOVu9mqiUtZu610PmX_UTsa04zsmMIg7elGigUlhvTivkoxFz2yGaYAp-80mQAToRisRHglbkXVWnBHM3qvvc4XH9CME5I3MuSM3OlGUspnhrBJIDxKrt-R/s640/acff792a.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The full spectrum of fandom entertainment circa 1979 is on display as the ACFF gives you, the attendee, a main events room filled with classic movies, SF TV favorites, vintage serials, and Star Trek, Star Trek, Star Trek. What's that? You note they're only showing the Star Trek Bloopers ONCE? Well, let's check out another, perhaps more accurate version of the 1979 schedule. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzYX_heWhB2tc60BA-ZKMNv_yS5S7lEOWxAGASqmDFOxMGW-9YOAoMixR6L6_FiA-YuepAX8mGs2r2Hh_BWU04XHC0kLVhz35pQoSJNojsAq5XtRjLVK3tw9mRWltRcP4cPD3o10WTk3ZW/s1600/79schedule.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="985" data-original-width="1600" height="394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzYX_heWhB2tc60BA-ZKMNv_yS5S7lEOWxAGASqmDFOxMGW-9YOAoMixR6L6_FiA-YuepAX8mGs2r2Hh_BWU04XHC0kLVhz35pQoSJNojsAq5XtRjLVK3tw9mRWltRcP4cPD3o10WTk3ZW/s640/79schedule.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Looks like the Friday night crowd demanded their Bloopers! Apart from the enigmatic inscription "Century Center Hotel - No Money", this schedule also tells us when the dealer's room is open. I for one am appalled at how late this convention lasts on Sunday. By 5pm I am ready to shut these things down, but the 1979 breed of fan had a lot more energy, for some reason.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9eICGrQrTvR0pwbnsN6XqIcldvHuwP5Tf5EQSjoMxi-qcppMQ81rlPPmT_6tso69KV_J_fa1SLljc2fGxlUmDqtBg9dnBYTIWp5Ld2yDcUaVeg3KxCtC61GQwT4mFpNA09NYpt2RXlymO/s1600/acff794a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="782" data-original-width="1000" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9eICGrQrTvR0pwbnsN6XqIcldvHuwP5Tf5EQSjoMxi-qcppMQ81rlPPmT_6tso69KV_J_fa1SLljc2fGxlUmDqtBg9dnBYTIWp5Ld2yDcUaVeg3KxCtC61GQwT4mFpNA09NYpt2RXlymO/s640/acff794a.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's the guest list - John Byrne was still a rising star drawing the X-Men, Howard Chaykin had yet to set the comics world on fire with his American Flagg, Gil Kane and Jim Steranko were legendary titans of the field, and Dave Sim was (a) still married to Deni Sim, and (b) just getting into the groove his 300-issue run of Cerebus The Aardvark. Dr. Kenneth Smith, the only guest to attend the first five Atlanta Comics & Fantasy Fairs, was years away from being insulted by gamers and leaving AFF in a huff, never to return, and Richard Meyers was right on the cusp of becoming completely infatuated with Asian martial arts cinema and becoming one of North America's experts in the field. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq5hSbL4ghEOqOysAUdt59dvi4RLKyfR2e7N4UT5uOic-IFsUm7VdfYtE8kcbLAWprEAqwGD7x6A3sASB7yhEYrUPkN3776Ei7yo8FSTOyw9Ho18AFBHFW5XkT5Ydyr9tVdgGSiBUkWt2m/s1600/acff795.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="793" data-original-width="1000" height="506" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq5hSbL4ghEOqOysAUdt59dvi4RLKyfR2e7N4UT5uOic-IFsUm7VdfYtE8kcbLAWprEAqwGD7x6A3sASB7yhEYrUPkN3776Ei7yo8FSTOyw9Ho18AFBHFW5XkT5Ydyr9tVdgGSiBUkWt2m/s640/acff795.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Cerebus piece on the back of the program guide is a wonderful example of exactly how the rest of the world saw Atlanta in the 1970s - Atlanta was the place where Gone With The Wind happened, and that's it. That's all. Nothing else. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBwn3kEWzIvVoISbQijGPkyP7D6lHIhB_PLBprQ6dV-WGdkrMfdhJtaf8HtFPaPq3hVIvpicFW9cQMI9O5X3-uw9bm4sSRd8V_nxI1G7e_8BQPeR0ETWKDKGsGncT5I1gyNEriVxk5iEOr/s1600/79shirt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="936" data-original-width="680" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBwn3kEWzIvVoISbQijGPkyP7D6lHIhB_PLBprQ6dV-WGdkrMfdhJtaf8HtFPaPq3hVIvpicFW9cQMI9O5X3-uw9bm4sSRd8V_nxI1G7e_8BQPeR0ETWKDKGsGncT5I1gyNEriVxk5iEOr/s640/79shirt.jpg" width="464" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Kenneth Smith program guide artwork also was featured on that year's T-shirt. 1979's show would set new attendance records for the Atlanta Comics & Fantasy Fair, and if they got anywhere near the 1800 attendees the program book was claiming, then by golly that was one crowded show because the Century Center just isn't that big. 1980 would see the convention move back to the Dunfey's Royal Coach which, for all its faults, at least had plenty of meeting space. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks to the <a href="http://www.cerebusfangirl.com/">Cerebus Fangirl Site </a>for the program guide images! </span>d.merrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07704651182760972937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5086064253442964633.post-45603743116391542502017-06-24T07:16:00.000-07:002017-06-24T07:16:17.384-07:00Atlanta Fantasy Fair 1984 <div style="text-align: justify;">
Ah, yes, 1984. The year George Orwell picked for his dystopian novel of global brutalist authoritarianism, the year Apple Computers really broke through to the national consciousness with an ad referencing the 1984 novel, and the year Michael Radford made a film version of that selfsame novel that was chiefly noted for its Eurythmics soundtrack. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSVbVLXD0Ce0tLTiqLFNs6aQBOgkcProaY9Czt6i-LdcpmlgCQfaSFVtVFm5UJ1xanN6nBSYcE_qxCiAaihpayXj91d7qSADEnSjdkVdL-bg-9H5WWWyplW1O3pgW1sDTEV3ElLACJSOBn/s1600/1984.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="901" data-original-width="925" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSVbVLXD0Ce0tLTiqLFNs6aQBOgkcProaY9Czt6i-LdcpmlgCQfaSFVtVFm5UJ1xanN6nBSYcE_qxCiAaihpayXj91d7qSADEnSjdkVdL-bg-9H5WWWyplW1O3pgW1sDTEV3ElLACJSOBn/s400/1984.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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1984 was also the year of the tenth annual Atlanta Fantasy Fair! So come on down to downtown Atlanta the first weekend of August to get your Fantasy Fair on!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcVZOvr8NylD8mPadttXUgMfdxsoON1VtD9jkgpSu5RM3gk71vW3u9vs8IiFx2SNhOY5Mi6J3ry-iTNVKrvC4n78y7SvA9Bu5gmPdDKwsUmOA1MojtUHMb_-6WAiKMq9CcGBY1wUpXG8yz/s1600/1984progress.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="751" data-original-width="563" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcVZOvr8NylD8mPadttXUgMfdxsoON1VtD9jkgpSu5RM3gk71vW3u9vs8IiFx2SNhOY5Mi6J3ry-iTNVKrvC4n78y7SvA9Bu5gmPdDKwsUmOA1MojtUHMb_-6WAiKMq9CcGBY1wUpXG8yz/s640/1984progress.jpg" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">signed by the model</span></i></td></tr>
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The tenth annual... or the tenth anniversary... if the con started in 1975 then the 1984 show would be nine years after their first, but you don't start conventions with 'zero' so it's their tenth... aw, who knows. It was the tenth AFF. Guests included Robert "The Deadly Bees" Bloch, Larry "adviser to Ronald Reagan on the creation of the Strategic Defense Initiative" Niven, Forrest "dammit quit calling me we're trying to shoot Destination Moon here" Ackerman, and Howard Weinstein, whom Wikipedia tells us was a Star Trek author.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij2CAmMalh59m1YCtHEvdbFj3iErfCfEXlK5uKWe6CjFv5wv3Mh35gD7m0KOwQwPOoX8i-MmBOlklC9l4gzqioHIHt89Be9M_XYs1h5x4Ye8KtbM9-t2cp_DiNmwD-v600QjtzVOdy0IK2/s1600/Starlog_Aff_1984.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="489" data-original-width="524" height="372" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij2CAmMalh59m1YCtHEvdbFj3iErfCfEXlK5uKWe6CjFv5wv3Mh35gD7m0KOwQwPOoX8i-MmBOlklC9l4gzqioHIHt89Be9M_XYs1h5x4Ye8KtbM9-t2cp_DiNmwD-v600QjtzVOdy0IK2/s400/Starlog_Aff_1984.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I attended AFF 1984 as a young teenager in the company of my older brother and a gang of friends, who, in those pre-helicopter-parenting days, were allowed to roam freely the Omni Hotel and the World Congress Center back in the days before Centennial Olympic Park, back when the area was a steel and concrete vision of a dystopian Orwellian future, only with Chic-Fil-A.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaROTYPSllqSgIriyOjYYbq9-CklS9RIPpIB7fSx5uiVeLD6V1WC_FKYv13p3tCJd5OTmmEVXeERf5ssSq7281xR2FxB9LanDr88K8TDvYej__LOz5bYxrK7a75ycfDHsdYVlEPoNgw0yE/s1600/aff_1984_poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="675" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaROTYPSllqSgIriyOjYYbq9-CklS9RIPpIB7fSx5uiVeLD6V1WC_FKYv13p3tCJd5OTmmEVXeERf5ssSq7281xR2FxB9LanDr88K8TDvYej__LOz5bYxrK7a75ycfDHsdYVlEPoNgw0yE/s640/aff_1984_poster.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">poster courtesy "Timelord Cardiff"</span></i></td></tr>
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I can vouch for the panels, the costume contest, the huge dealers room, the amateur film festival, and it being a terrific show for a 13 year old nerd to spend all his hard-earned lawn-mowing money at.d.merrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07704651182760972937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5086064253442964633.post-70665856040949080172017-02-07T19:32:00.001-08:002019-02-07T13:03:53.434-08:00Look Away Look Away Look Away Dixie Trek<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMVygzT_8UDaYoXWNFP3wtu5OHMzMXMMTJIbvwUqmiWIg9_OxhGeTjuGdya-czbjoWp2ttkvfpYsOST4TISMODixrv1dXqEBy4mMbQLt4Nnnp1w8Ipfg4GWMvb8o7j11h0LyPeX24hQqDV/s1600/dixietrek88fun.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMVygzT_8UDaYoXWNFP3wtu5OHMzMXMMTJIbvwUqmiWIg9_OxhGeTjuGdya-czbjoWp2ttkvfpYsOST4TISMODixrv1dXqEBy4mMbQLt4Nnnp1w8Ipfg4GWMvb8o7j11h0LyPeX24hQqDV/s640/dixietrek88fun.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In 1980 the Atlanta Star Trek Society was formed to
further the ideals of IDIC and the vision of Gene Roddenberry
throughout the United Federation of Planets, or at least Atlanta
GA. They hosted their first convention on the Emory University
campus. In 1982 they changed their name to Dixie Trek and organizers
William Smith, Owen Ogletree, and Ron Nastrom moved off-campus and
into the wider world of Atlanta fan events.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYVDGmOweaoLaI4yyuD4bUSlEJK1DPCGyumE41bnojijUdnsjWkC9QUKsJUuApy7IEInW-GrvQR_5tZAFSJaZLTS_sIjAJ7oxKkCvoP4GqtjJnr77zYZG6PYdVwyeEG6qG19IOSpnIqof1/s1600/dixietrekIII.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="399" data-original-width="425" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYVDGmOweaoLaI4yyuD4bUSlEJK1DPCGyumE41bnojijUdnsjWkC9QUKsJUuApy7IEInW-GrvQR_5tZAFSJaZLTS_sIjAJ7oxKkCvoP4GqtjJnr77zYZG6PYdVwyeEG6qG19IOSpnIqof1/s320/dixietrekIII.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Personally I was never a big Star Trek fan – beyond
the Kirk-Spock-McCoy dynamic and the overwrought 1960s TV writing
there isn't much there for me – but if you became a science fiction
nerd in the late 1970s, Trek was an ecosystem that you moved through
and dealt with regardless of your personal feelings about the show.
As a teenage nerd for whom conventions were the most fulfilling
social events, I wasn't going to miss one, even it was mostly about
Star Trek.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3lVo3tT9qcSosp0ey5U_WwlElnU9QSaLByQxlilLcDFMqYFF84Cx7ANnrHT9fHrKDku0RK_vu3tNZeMAw3Jm4WT1cWLZWUlBCKHP-TBMvgha55CNo_ALlCo8GMg_pfp-bsQj9jT56miUg/s1600/dixietrek84donhardenx.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3lVo3tT9qcSosp0ey5U_WwlElnU9QSaLByQxlilLcDFMqYFF84Cx7ANnrHT9fHrKDku0RK_vu3tNZeMAw3Jm4WT1cWLZWUlBCKHP-TBMvgha55CNo_ALlCo8GMg_pfp-bsQj9jT56miUg/s320/dixietrek84donhardenx.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Mark Lenard and fan at Dixie Trek '84 - photo by Don Harden</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div lang="zxx" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div lang="zxx" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As near as historians can figure, the modern-era Dixie
Trek began in April of 1984 with a two-day show at the Oglethorpe
College Student Center, a venue which would later host the one-day
Dr. Who event "Brit-Con." Guest Mark Lenard - Spock's
father Sarek, the first TV Romulan, and many other roles - was a hit
with the fans.</span></div>
<div lang="zxx" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div lang="zxx" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Moving out of the collegiate atmosphere, 1985's Dixie
Trek happened May 17-19 at the Northlake Hilton, which is now a
Doubletree and which was the site of many small Atlanta fan events in
the 1980s. Guests at the '85 show included Jon "Dr. Who"
Pertwee, Terry "I Invented The Daleks" Nation and Majel
"Nurse Chapel" Barret. The video room at this convention
may have been the first time I ever saw Blake's 7. It is certainly
the first and only time I was ever in the same hotel suite eating
Moon Pies with the guy that invented the Daleks.
</span></div>
<div lang="zxx" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ2OczRKfhXylLkdHbLtNrv9bV6nQbszSGINyOkNJDlyzmbGKVDmRF6KQMuxT7DWIReell_Us59661A0vvyUxAdNaisWfezisvkIpWveuAK889yVH0azDQ9gH2xMBYxTSpU1wMDWvkIO5M/s1600/dixietrek86_12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ2OczRKfhXylLkdHbLtNrv9bV6nQbszSGINyOkNJDlyzmbGKVDmRF6KQMuxT7DWIReell_Us59661A0vvyUxAdNaisWfezisvkIpWveuAK889yVH0azDQ9gH2xMBYxTSpU1wMDWvkIO5M/s640/dixietrek86_12.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<div lang="zxx" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div lang="zxx" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div lang="zxx" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was more of a Dr. Who fan than a Trekkie (I blame
Monty Python), so Dixie Trek's growing emphasis on British
entertainment was a welcome development, helped by organizer William
Smith's connections to Atlanta's PBS station, then airing Dr. Who
among its other, tweedier BBC programmes.
</span></div>
<div lang="zxx" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4yFoRLyVN_UeaB2_1hH45GK1G5o6WLQCcUdDGxHXoX14j22kr9PxwxyEOQrP9XeJaqt0Xnl-RgchshCMsiB2Ko8adh5iCnAhfYLMrP_r2Cv5Togw3p90wmYdWalHFsKtiTv3FcD2cGwI0/s1600/dixietrek86sing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" height="484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4yFoRLyVN_UeaB2_1hH45GK1G5o6WLQCcUdDGxHXoX14j22kr9PxwxyEOQrP9XeJaqt0Xnl-RgchshCMsiB2Ko8adh5iCnAhfYLMrP_r2Cv5Togw3p90wmYdWalHFsKtiTv3FcD2cGwI0/s640/dixietrek86sing.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">BREAKING NEWS: DR WHO HAS A GUITAR</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div lang="zxx" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For their 1986 show Dixie Trek moved slightly west to
the Sheraton Century Center, a fine establishment with a management
that understood the nerd market. Guest Peter "Dr. Who #5"
Davidson <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOpGQwPaZQ8">absolutely charmed the pants off Atlanta</a>, both at the
convention and via live remotes broadcast on PBS. My memories of
this show are fuzzy but I believe they involve carting a load of
fellow geeky teens around in my Mom's van, and being pulled out of a
room party that involved people drinking BEER and SMOKING.</span></div>
<div lang="zxx" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqeHzJTav4YQiJiKbQhr609eznhItXKZSVC0hpAzBgRnT_G2MlWxXSH9PxakzggPwzZa5kvEe55aWVp9mcG5l2uO1JNNSeKtxioHzhECveKJHAd8W0OQHB_Hn5WnaNB9HcMR0J8IW6qJCL/s1600/250px-GA_19860427.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqeHzJTav4YQiJiKbQhr609eznhItXKZSVC0hpAzBgRnT_G2MlWxXSH9PxakzggPwzZa5kvEe55aWVp9mcG5l2uO1JNNSeKtxioHzhECveKJHAd8W0OQHB_Hn5WnaNB9HcMR0J8IW6qJCL/s640/250px-GA_19860427.jpg" width="540" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"Do I want to go to the Star Trek con, or stay home and watch Star Trek?"</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7J6sMtC4w0yn_fllu8FROb39WZeo1qeNlpE-P1EcyFehmhima1G4O8mhjKeL5p4Pg31Er7T2HIM2btFj8mfYDejvm2UwwZOn-V_4nRIYokd55K2yckaAAEKm1Gl2Cl3SdyKlxSbRoOypt/s1600/dixietrek87_12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7J6sMtC4w0yn_fllu8FROb39WZeo1qeNlpE-P1EcyFehmhima1G4O8mhjKeL5p4Pg31Er7T2HIM2btFj8mfYDejvm2UwwZOn-V_4nRIYokd55K2yckaAAEKm1Gl2Cl3SdyKlxSbRoOypt/s640/dixietrek87_12.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<div lang="zxx" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div lang="zxx" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0S8J9KiPw134qagn178nnRoZKqrPCr2GNkpgAmmrl2vpb_dCPZojIrswNsSXxGsa_O4PBwLsiPW-D3ds4MxwFvz9PlgXMMQ-gWBA6a5u1rMpHQSAX36pU348lxgmmMu_fjiT0Pk2TRpd3/s1600/250px-GA_19870517.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0S8J9KiPw134qagn178nnRoZKqrPCr2GNkpgAmmrl2vpb_dCPZojIrswNsSXxGsa_O4PBwLsiPW-D3ds4MxwFvz9PlgXMMQ-gWBA6a5u1rMpHQSAX36pU348lxgmmMu_fjiT0Pk2TRpd3/s1600/250px-GA_19870517.jpg" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dixie Trek's 1987 show was May 22-24 downtown at the
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyatt_Regency_Atlanta">Hyatt Regency</a>, an Atlanta landmark whose revolving restaurant, the
Polaris, was a fixture of the city skyline for decades. Dixie Trek
was poised for the big time, but tragedy struck; their headline
guest Leonard Nimoy canceled to go work on "Three Men And A
Baby." The show had to soldier on with Robin "Saavik #2"
Curtis, Robert "Freddy Krueger" Englund, comic artist
George Perez, Janet "Tegan" Fielding, and Mark "Spock's
Dad" Lenard. I believe I wound up dropping in and out of this
show but not buying a badge. I'm sorry guys.</span></div>
<div lang="zxx" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div lang="zxx" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div lang="zxx" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dixie Trek '88 was held May 13-15 back in the Sheraton
Century Center, with guests Johnathan Frakes from ST:TNG, along with
Julie "Catwoman" Newmar, Paul "Avon" Darrow, and
SF author Brad "I am at every convention" Strickland. Our
anime club programmed a weekend of Japanese animation for the show,
which meant hauling our VCR and a box full of tapes down to the hotel
and screening 4<sup>th</sup>-generation untranslated copies of films
like Project A-Ko and Macross.
</span></div>
<div lang="zxx" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju5FRdY5-EBKfthE7zpXM-amWj0A58mBpEuJBzCkrO8zddjRdazc5Wb7uILnjuwmzLQWmYqoOjFBsDRn0wAAiKDhwKeLtHjzY4iYslyfTFgjaBTRjlvaanQXd3kBKe9-E_LRXbq3qFsnrg/s1600/dixietrek88_12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" height="412" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju5FRdY5-EBKfthE7zpXM-amWj0A58mBpEuJBzCkrO8zddjRdazc5Wb7uILnjuwmzLQWmYqoOjFBsDRn0wAAiKDhwKeLtHjzY4iYslyfTFgjaBTRjlvaanQXd3kBKe9-E_LRXbq3qFsnrg/s640/dixietrek88_12.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div lang="zxx" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-y4CN6_TrbNcFTofbdEY2MBwWUTUpVc_JicvK89qRLsZ-izGR5rrT4QA0XxUFWBmCMYbxtwkOD7jFRhRhTR4Az1C9FylgM9oYWgM4OOg46BC-gQtj6s-l9ECTFeA6X4ZLgkhdq6BME-z6/s1600/dixietrek88anime.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-y4CN6_TrbNcFTofbdEY2MBwWUTUpVc_JicvK89qRLsZ-izGR5rrT4QA0XxUFWBmCMYbxtwkOD7jFRhRhTR4Az1C9FylgM9oYWgM4OOg46BC-gQtj6s-l9ECTFeA6X4ZLgkhdq6BME-z6/s640/dixietrek88anime.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">we're talkin' FUN</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div lang="zxx" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div lang="zxx" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dixie Trek '89 - June 16-18 - moved to the Radisson,
which was at one time known as the Dunfey's Royal Coach and <a href="https://atlantafantasyfair.blogspot.ca/2008/09/castlegate.html">later the Castlegate</a>, a well-known fan convention destination with overbearing
and confusing architecture and a staff that didn't care what went on
as long as the bills got paid. It's my recollection that I spent much
of this convention wandering around with my anime nerd pals, scoffing
at the Trekkies and distributing <a href="http://cornponeflicks.org/ccmain.html">insulting literature</a>. At the time if
we weren't on staff running an anime video room, our custom was to
show anime out of our own hotel room and bring snacks and drinks and
have what punk band Black Flag would call a "TV Party." So
we probably did that. Details are spotty but apparently one of the
guests was Dr. Who #3 Jon Pertwee.</span></div>
<div lang="zxx" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div lang="zxx" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1990's Dixie Trek was June 15-17 in the selfsame
Radisson/Castlegate, and the listed guests included Gates McFadden
and Denise Crosby from ST:TNG and Marta Kristen, Billy Mumy and Mark
Goddard from Lost In Space. It's my understanding that a pregnant
McFadden had to cancel, which is just as well as the Castlegate was
not the healthiest place for children or other living things. I'm
pretty sure I did not attend this convention.</span></div>
<div lang="zxx" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfG3d7IsAEDS-kLtbLsxy5I5gWYihhc2qgikz0PbfrT8GDA0t6dXOXqDjtjnXIA1DTvNpO99uoG80kfg6WIwnLnD98QSWo65Myr4C511xQrzpCn2FhlQJK-kuxHW6goitUTI7jVcWV2jtY/s1600/dixietrek91_12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfG3d7IsAEDS-kLtbLsxy5I5gWYihhc2qgikz0PbfrT8GDA0t6dXOXqDjtjnXIA1DTvNpO99uoG80kfg6WIwnLnD98QSWo65Myr4C511xQrzpCn2FhlQJK-kuxHW6goitUTI7jVcWV2jtY/s640/dixietrek91_12.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<div lang="zxx" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div lang="zxx" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div lang="zxx" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dixie Trek '91 happened on May 10-12 in the now
officially named Castlegate. Guests included ST:TOS's Walter Koenig,
ST:TNG's Suzie Plakson, Lost In Space's June Lockhart, comic author
Peter David, and comic artist George Perez. I did not attend this
show either; my spare time was taken up with seeing bands and
college, and my convention-going time was taken up with visiting
Dallas for anime stuff and trying to get Phenomicon started. But more
on that later.
</span></div>
<div lang="zxx" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_JRKr_ajRS_q-_pqQsuEJmjV_1xf3RHdrMurIsapfkD8s-xaw2tMnh2XxVv3qjnK9bN9VNfaKPF0Tbw8XZXsPHcFfyIRrJdnz5LREEQbvqQFzsRXThdEftesmuaieeaZn85SMgsUn-vfT/s1600/strictly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_JRKr_ajRS_q-_pqQsuEJmjV_1xf3RHdrMurIsapfkD8s-xaw2tMnh2XxVv3qjnK9bN9VNfaKPF0Tbw8XZXsPHcFfyIRrJdnz5LREEQbvqQFzsRXThdEftesmuaieeaZn85SMgsUn-vfT/s640/strictly.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">are we still talkin' fun?</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div lang="zxx" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div lang="zxx" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In 1992 Dixie-Trek moved to the Century Center for a
May 17-19 show. The Century Center may have at this point been a
Marriott - it's switched back and forth a few times - and Denise "Pet Sematary" Crosby and Jonathan "Oh the pain, the pain of it all" Harris made return visits. I was not there.</span></div>
<div lang="zxx" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div lang="zxx" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dixie Trek '93 was again at the Sheraton Century Center
with guests Nichelle "Uhura" Nichols, Gary "Land Of
the Giants" Conway, and David Hedison, one of only two men who portrayed James Bond's pal <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_Leiter">Felix Leiter</a> twice.</span></div>
<div lang="zxx" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguJUWytTdbBKtpiDLiGBtbhqiaHj9Lqjc0zuSvJf6iiMO7XF_3-OALSMa9bzsZBvZ_6fKAHGMu64_L2BIBj5B7cdnhVFA6xqlUMpHmj6l0XsrpyPtw0LulfyY-LPFMy6l7AwVuNKTZwWag/s1600/dixietrek93.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguJUWytTdbBKtpiDLiGBtbhqiaHj9Lqjc0zuSvJf6iiMO7XF_3-OALSMa9bzsZBvZ_6fKAHGMu64_L2BIBj5B7cdnhVFA6xqlUMpHmj6l0XsrpyPtw0LulfyY-LPFMy6l7AwVuNKTZwWag/s320/dixietrek93.jpg" width="248" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
</span><br />
<div lang="zxx" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In 1994 Dixie-Trek was back at the Castlegate May 14-16
with a rare convention guest appearance by <a href="http://www.capedwonder.com/dixie-trek/">Christopher "Superman" Reeve and Noel "Lois Lane" Neill</a> - and that was it for
Dixie-Trek. Star Trek as a fandom-inspiring franchise was on the wane
in the 1990s; diminishing returns on films and a cycle of lackluster
TV programs failed to keep the public's interest in the face of
newer, fresher genre offerings, and like many other conventions Dixie Trek struggled to get new attendees and to keep the ones it had. The Castlegate was cursed to be the
hotel where conventions go to die; in 1995 the Atlanta Fantasy Fair's
final convention would take place there as well, and a series of
smaller shows would fail to survive its fake Olde English exterior.
Of course, 1995 would also see Anime Weekend Atlanta premiere at the
same hotel, and it's still going 22 years later. Incidentally, the
former site of the Castlegate is now a Wal-Mart, which seems to be
doing fine.</span></div>
<div lang="zxx" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div lang="zxx" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dixie Trek may have remained obscure if not for the
<a href="http://www.revolutionsf.com/article.php?id=5408">October 19 2009 episode of "Big Bang Theory," </a>in which the
character Sheldon relates the story of his feud with TNG actor Wil
Wheaton and how it began at a Mississippi convention called, yes,
"Dixie Trek". One might think that if REAL nerds were
writing "Big Bang Theory," they'd know Dixie Trek was a
real convention, one Wil Wheaton never attended. Then again,
highlighting the Atlanta SF fan scene of the 80s is what this blog is
about, so maybe we should have written about Dixie Trek sooner so
that these overpaid fake-nerd Hollywood writers would be able to look
this stuff up on the Google. You're welcome.
</span></div>
<div lang="zxx" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtkQU1xFzEGUzGwnQuwwgaYP6wVhrMp58hgrpjIMPpBuT9QD6DfttKIp3NCRINFdU9Bfwb-kaJ9hzS8gphA-4pcswUm5g-pGehlNJtusOr9WjktUJa-s9804KSyoIyOmob5X75QNfqm2Xt/s1600/dixietrek88ad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtkQU1xFzEGUzGwnQuwwgaYP6wVhrMp58hgrpjIMPpBuT9QD6DfttKIp3NCRINFdU9Bfwb-kaJ9hzS8gphA-4pcswUm5g-pGehlNJtusOr9WjktUJa-s9804KSyoIyOmob5X75QNfqm2Xt/s640/dixietrek88ad.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">So long, Dixie Trek. May the infinite diversity of infinite combinations grok your Spock... always.</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div lang="zxx" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div lang="zxx">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Special thanks to </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">William Smith, Owen Ogletree, and Ron Nastrom</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
d.merrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07704651182760972937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5086064253442964633.post-48529376509744013652016-06-10T08:05:00.000-07:002016-06-10T08:05:05.658-07:00seen waiting for a busOne of our correspondents spotted a well-dressed fellow sporting this shirt in June 2016 in Cambridge Mass - it's the Ms. Fantasy Fair logo designed by Jim Steranko!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivtwXGtcHngQM50KJcmNRsv_J6yM9TUshyphenhyphenzIJqTE1wIPIp9f8SfGaFFvZcb2ZiT_b5J6msdIvc8qH_EDnyK0y7NFeuP9rF9P1zjPOfJC2oxzaz8hXXxVjEFWYQDZXEgTUqlcaoVCxgRKvz/s1600/tshirt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivtwXGtcHngQM50KJcmNRsv_J6yM9TUshyphenhyphenzIJqTE1wIPIp9f8SfGaFFvZcb2ZiT_b5J6msdIvc8qH_EDnyK0y7NFeuP9rF9P1zjPOfJC2oxzaz8hXXxVjEFWYQDZXEgTUqlcaoVCxgRKvz/s640/tshirt.jpg" width="478" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
I honestly don't know if this shirt is vintage or not. Might be some enterprising soul found the image somewhere and is screenprinting AFF shirts without even knowing this logo pertains to the AFF, or maybe this was found in a former fan's hoard of clothing, or maybe this guy was a proud attendee of the Atlanta Fantasy Fair back in the day. Hard to tell. If you have any sightings of Ms. Fantasy Fair out there in the wild, let us know!d.merrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07704651182760972937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5086064253442964633.post-38841328694344390992015-02-25T08:37:00.001-08:002015-02-26T15:58:58.991-08:00magnum opus con 1986-2001<div class="MsoNormal">
Magnum Opus Con was ahead of its time; embracing movies, TV,
comics, gaming and all the other fandom categories that now make the various
Comic-Cons and Fan Expos gigantic spectacles, and doing so in secondary markets
far from typical con territory. MOC's peak attendance was somewhere in the thousands,
but in spite of the nerd appeal and an enthusiastic crowd, MOC was its own
worst enemy. After 16 years of conventions in <st1:country-region>Georgia</st1:country-region>
and <st1:state>South Carolina</st1:state>, it vanished,
never to rise again. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZs-MnJaK_02ZaW8PKutBqVePqfY_w5ST3gOvNunrrBfgIT0eAVjEo8ht_DCrfycs5wr4GlVutewgxIpY8bFSdVYyu4EF1bb5HKOHwuSsTWkWyh6JpPZNZ8_MZoxaPwKo4aos1RpjMFXWf/s1600/moc1-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZs-MnJaK_02ZaW8PKutBqVePqfY_w5ST3gOvNunrrBfgIT0eAVjEo8ht_DCrfycs5wr4GlVutewgxIpY8bFSdVYyu4EF1bb5HKOHwuSsTWkWyh6JpPZNZ8_MZoxaPwKo4aos1RpjMFXWf/s1600/moc1-5.jpg" height="208" width="640" /></a></div>
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MOC began in <st1:place><st1:city>Macon</st1:city> <st1:state>GA</st1:state></st1:place>,
home town of its chairman. Early iterations of the convention were titled
"Macon Opus Con", the “Opus” apparently a reference to the penguin
character from the Berke Breathed comic strip “<st1:place><st1:placename>Bloom</st1:placename>
<st1:placetype>County</st1:placetype></st1:place>”. It soon moved to <st1:place><st1:city>Columbus</st1:city>
<st1:state>GA</st1:state></st1:place>, to their unique downtown <st1:place><st1:placename>Columbus</st1:placename>
<st1:placename>Ironworks</st1:placename> <st1:placetype>Convention Center</st1:placetype></st1:place>
and several satellite hotels, linked by a shuttle service. Combining a strong
media guest list with a crowd hungry for SF convention fun in the early Spring,
and a geographical location under-served by fan conventions, MOC’s second and third
years were busy affairs. The second MOC became infamous as the last
appearance anywhere of Dr. Who actor Patrick Troughton, who passed away in his
sleep late Friday night of MOC 2. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG8DpPsORsF4YKwyT6lHapqChTuI5QyHjwmBFFNrCmwtKRtqEXW0FjIFc7O3Ew3aS1cWaNcPKW-XXl39YnhLdfrk65CKzyL87_LXFvydoiUJoiNOTiBthqsaUFPcH26be6iUbyH_P8OV-s/s1600/moc123.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG8DpPsORsF4YKwyT6lHapqChTuI5QyHjwmBFFNrCmwtKRtqEXW0FjIFc7O3Ew3aS1cWaNcPKW-XXl39YnhLdfrk65CKzyL87_LXFvydoiUJoiNOTiBthqsaUFPcH26be6iUbyH_P8OV-s/s1600/moc123.jpg" height="312" width="640" /></a></div>
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On the topic of MOC and Patrick Troughton and death, reader "A Million Masks" has this to say:<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;"><i>I am from Columbus, GA..where the infamous Magnum Opus Con was held in 1987. I didn't attend that show, but the guy who organized it was Pat Robinson, owner of Columbus Book Exchange which is the only comic shop left in that town. He's had the CBE since the late 70s/early 80s. At one point in the 90's, there were 7 comic stores in Columbus and Pat's the only one still going. He's also a kind and genuinely good man.</i></span><br />
<i><br style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.2000007629395px;">Anyhow, Pat told me about Patrick Troughton's death at the show that year. Apparently, he woke up, ordered his breakfast and talked to Pat about an episode of Dr. Who he personally selected for a screening at the show that day. When it came time for him to go down to the show floor, he was found dead apparently still sitting in front of his meal. Pat's still sad about that day. For one, nobody wants anyone to die on them and secondly (and certainly of lesser importance), it ended Pat's foray into organizing conventions forever.</span></i></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
For its fourth year MOC struck a deal with the city fathers
of Greenville SC and became South Carolina's number-one (and only) fan
convention. From 1989 to 1994 the downtown Hyatt Regency was filled with
Trekkies, SF writers, Whovians, martial arts instructors, and “Bimbo Pageant”
contestants of both sexes. The nightlife aspect of MOC began to take on
more and more importance as crowds of liquored-up nerds surged through the city
in various stages of inebriation and different crews
of revelers competed with each other in "party battles."
The convention added an extra day, becoming a four-day show, and events like
the slave auction, the “MOC-Alympics”, belly dancing, MOC(k) Marriages, Casino
Night, and the Mr Macho Contest captured the attention of congoers, to the
perceived detriment of more traditional SF convention activities. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeBCT8vjxrHCQGcd3ITvhyphenhyphenRdUkLgMyOgmZ2EofSQZqQVkG-jcqoiPOt152Ltne7s5d49X_sTXCgGmnFrmZ3UoTmpTGHZpWs_vfvtPb9zaVZEHObPYb4tf5qKeKs3BKTCBUwj3o1ACPoVpn/s1600/moc6-10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeBCT8vjxrHCQGcd3ITvhyphenhyphenRdUkLgMyOgmZ2EofSQZqQVkG-jcqoiPOt152Ltne7s5d49X_sTXCgGmnFrmZ3UoTmpTGHZpWs_vfvtPb9zaVZEHObPYb4tf5qKeKs3BKTCBUwj3o1ACPoVpn/s1600/moc6-10.jpg" height="210" width="640" /></a></div>
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MOC’s guest list impressed then and is more impressive now
considering many of them are no longer with us: Dr Who actors like the
aforementioned Patrick Troughton, Colin Baker, Jon Pertwee, and Louise Jameson
rubbed shoulders with Star Trek stars DeForest Kelley. George Takei and James
“Scotty” Doohan; SF writers like Marion Zimmer Bradley, Ben Bova, Robert
Aspirin, Timothy Zahn, David Weber, Lois McMaster Bujold, Roger Zelazny and the
unstoppable Brad Strickland mixed with astronauts and scientists like Dr. Story
Musgrave and film & TV talent Phyllis Coates, Chris Potter, Bruce Campbell,
Tom Savini, Bruce Boxleitner and Yvonne Craig, giving fans from all over the fandom
spectrum somebody to get autographs from.<o:p></o:p></div>
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MOC made good use of direct mail advertising and several
times a year would publish a magazine titled simply "Fandom", a black
and white newsprint affair of 48-72 pages advertising the upcoming convention,
highlighting the guests and events, showcasing glamour photography of the
convention's costumers, and serving as a bulletin board for MOC attendees to
ask questions and as a soapbox for MOC's staff and directors to sound off on
whatever topics came to mind, with varying degrees of coherence and readability.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4eo2_HTZynsZwTw0mIAVH1ux7HUS1YPAuY78Q3Jud6EyjZB0eWJPa_NWayZ5cjoV7SP_3T4UiGIvLPs9dGJobdJIlnvt_MhD8uabEJsmKPk35JfBwaIeN6xd_no5C_akHNFY8ReQtXbTp/s1600/moc689.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4eo2_HTZynsZwTw0mIAVH1ux7HUS1YPAuY78Q3Jud6EyjZB0eWJPa_NWayZ5cjoV7SP_3T4UiGIvLPs9dGJobdJIlnvt_MhD8uabEJsmKPk35JfBwaIeN6xd_no5C_akHNFY8ReQtXbTp/s1600/moc689.jpg" height="284" width="640" /></a></div>
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During the <st1:city>Greenville</st1:city>
iteration of MOC, the <st1:city>Atlanta</st1:city>
convention scene was then witnessing a bitter if meaningless struggle between
the Atlanta Fantasy Fair and DragonCon. MOC's convention chair came down firmly
on the side of the AFF in this debate, accusing the DC organization of sabotaging
the AFF and any other fandom convention that threatened DragonCon's
hegemony. To this end MOC scheduled their 1995 convention directly
opposite DragonCon, and moved it to <st1:place><st1:placename>Callaway</st1:placename>
<st1:placetype>Gardens</st1:placetype></st1:place>, a resort complex located
in <st1:place><st1:city>Pine Mountain</st1:city> <st1:state>GA</st1:state></st1:place>,
close to <st1:city>Columbus</st1:city> and the
"Little White House" historical site near Warm Springs, far away from
anyplace fans had ever attended a convention.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiSlNop6lS4ovoh9YBtvMrvvhUTF1ZOhwwXVT-p72gn1KLVyeekZGhYvaph0WXCoNLiEDRthW2av9dyGnKQ-di97MujQ07lKgevby2M0PPurry8bm2KBbXFanA4aJEuoMT1MeKb76s1n3-/s1600/hotmocfox.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiSlNop6lS4ovoh9YBtvMrvvhUTF1ZOhwwXVT-p72gn1KLVyeekZGhYvaph0WXCoNLiEDRthW2av9dyGnKQ-di97MujQ07lKgevby2M0PPurry8bm2KBbXFanA4aJEuoMT1MeKb76s1n3-/s1600/hotmocfox.jpg" height="260" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Fandom"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This was a gutsy move, and as is so often the case with
gutsy moves, was largely a failure. Attendance figures plummeted as Southeastern
fans found themselves forced to choose between two conventions when they would
normally have attended both, and Dragon Con, having a larger guest list, more
attractions, and being in a city people could actually find, garnered the
lion’s share of attendees. MOC compounded their problems by staging the next
Magnum Opus Con in DC’s home turf of downtown <st1:city>Atlanta</st1:city>,
on the weekend before the 1996 Dragon Con. MOC 11 itself was reasonably
well attended and its host hotel, the downtown Radisson, was a friendly if architecturally
confusing facility with a charming indoor pool built for late-night convention
socializing. Problems came when staffers from DragonCon rented a Radisson hotel
suite and threw a DC room party welcoming MOC to <st1:city>Atlanta</st1:city>.
MOC's con chair saw this as an “invasion” and made very public his feelings on
the matter, removing the flyers advertising DC's party and at one point
attempting to physically eject DC staffers. <a href="https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.fandom.cons/NkV3glzsjc0%5B1-25%5D">Atlanta fandom witnessed this in real time via posts to the Usenet group alt.fandom.cons,</a> and the impression received was that of a friendly gesture irrationally
rejected by an angry con chair. The
chairman’s behavior both at MOC and online would continue to repel potential
MOC attendees for the remainder of the convention’s run. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Antics such as these by con chairs continue to happen in the
fandom world, but today social media gives fans the ability to spread news and
gossip far and wide and with amazing speed. These days, <a href="http://observationdeck.io9.com/when-fandom-falls-apart-dashcon-edition-1604303148">bad conventions and/or bad con chair behavior</a> usually won’t last long. MOC, however, continued on for several
more years. </div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwPyksmb_l3JNZkhRgKc5ECDxJ1gaYQfDCdFHPnj2Z9jD_anHWIMwszhAThENRJII6IyOeWPYlSys0vX5JjGEyAcwzwCxWYOtvhzuzoyeFKJDL08G9WjzKtb67xtMnaJ9B3xmF_zKr4bFd/s1600/moc11-16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwPyksmb_l3JNZkhRgKc5ECDxJ1gaYQfDCdFHPnj2Z9jD_anHWIMwszhAThENRJII6IyOeWPYlSys0vX5JjGEyAcwzwCxWYOtvhzuzoyeFKJDL08G9WjzKtb67xtMnaJ9B3xmF_zKr4bFd/s1600/moc11-16.jpg" height="214" width="640" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
MOC 12 would be in downtown <st1:city>Atlanta</st1:city>,
attended by a dwindling number of fans attracted mostly by the convention's
reputation for parties. MOC would move in 1998 to Athens GA, to a sprawling
facility known as the "History Village Inn”, which was extensively
remodeled in 2001 to become the “Foundry Inn & Spa” and after more
remodeling has reopened as a boutique hotel operating as “The Graduate”. MOC 13, 14, and 15 would be at the History
Village in Athens, a location closer to the con chair’s comic book shop and a
facility the convention could safely book every hotel room of, in order to keep
out the vandals and secret agents thought to be working to destroy MOC. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLgVGJLxrL5dvkqBmGZYMBjh22WV0LyO8Yh1OYXhDhI3CsNbiU20fdQbPkyzynTQMcxgr9rvGyQBfWPN3ivPoBG-Tmzsu3js-nh8yVLi9GaoyVnjJncvj65sZllt9gbkCXroQ3xscLrvve/s1600/moc13x.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLgVGJLxrL5dvkqBmGZYMBjh22WV0LyO8Yh1OYXhDhI3CsNbiU20fdQbPkyzynTQMcxgr9rvGyQBfWPN3ivPoBG-Tmzsu3js-nh8yVLi9GaoyVnjJncvj65sZllt9gbkCXroQ3xscLrvve/s1600/moc13x.jpg" height="350" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pages from one of the final "Fandom" issues. Click to enlarge for more information about 'cronies'</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In MOC’s declining years, the chairman’s behavior became
even more erratic as guests, long-term staffers, and attendees alike were banned
for transgressions real and imagined. The most frequent and most famous charge
leveled against MOCs enemies was that of being “cronies” in the thrall of
Dragon Con. Repelled by this behavior, fandom ironically turned its back on the
convention whose magazine bore Fandom’s name. Surly, paranoiac, and
stressed, the con chair retreated to the safety of his suburban <st1:city>Athens</st1:city>
comic shop, where, with disturbing frequency, he’d ask female customers and employees
to pose for nude photos.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In 2001 the
convention would have its sixteenth and final show in Atlanta, in what was then
the Ramada Plaza Hotel Perimeter North and is now just the Presidential Hotel,
a mixed-use residential/commercial building recently <a href="http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/story/17864154/power-bill-dispute-forces-eviction-of-dekalb-co-high-rise">rendered bereft of electrical power owing to a billing dispute.</a> MOC’s last year would wring
maximum drama from a minimum number of attendees; a mere handful of fans
attended the show and even this small group was subject to bannings, criminal
trespass warnings, restraining orders, and threats. The con chair suffered a heart attack while
prosecuting some of “the cronies” in court, and as a result of his health
condition and many other factors, turned MOC over to long-term staffers for an
attempt at a 17<sup>th</sup> MOC that did not come to pass. </div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
It's a shame MOC self-destructed. The convention mixed
literary SF, gaming, genre film celebrities, and fandom events in a way that
hasn't really been matched since, and when it was focused on its strengths it
was as fun a convention as could be. However, its successes – and there
were many - have been overshadowed by its apocalyptic and apoplectic end. MOC
endures as a cautionary example to convention organizers and staffers alike of
what not to do and how not to do it, and its legend still looms large in the
collective memory of Southeastern fandom.</div>
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More information and photos of past MOCs can be found here: https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/magnumopusconmemorial/info<o:p></o:p></div>
d.merrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07704651182760972937noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5086064253442964633.post-82115354895717699332015-02-08T18:28:00.000-08:002015-02-08T18:29:54.412-08:00Atlanta Fantasy Fair 1986 program book1986! A wonderful time to be a teenager with a solid part time job and some time off in the summer to visit the Atlanta Fantasy Fair! The '86 year was, to my admittedly biased mind, the pinnacle of AFF excitement. Attendance records are spotty but it sure felt like the '86 show was the busiest of all.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioXgtIyc6SLBV68ymbIGK3K7ajxaUtuqOJ-SEBzghH4PZrw3rIhqiqllee8spj_U_Qk-fX4c4hwCWMzNX5pawp5ZvkSR0VAZ4aPdQNrqFmuEsYvjf4QFT9_kQpy1OEN0RZNDYfbnMCL_w1/s1600/aff86pg1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioXgtIyc6SLBV68ymbIGK3K7ajxaUtuqOJ-SEBzghH4PZrw3rIhqiqllee8spj_U_Qk-fX4c4hwCWMzNX5pawp5ZvkSR0VAZ4aPdQNrqFmuEsYvjf4QFT9_kQpy1OEN0RZNDYfbnMCL_w1/s1600/aff86pg1.jpg" height="476" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">front cover by Joe Phillips, back cover by Jim Valentino<br />
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The AFF took up all of the convention space in the Omni Hotel downtown, as well as a good portion of the Georgia World Congress Center next door. Guests for '86 included authors like Robert Aspirin, Chris Claremont, Diane Duane, Denny O'Neil, Stan Lee, Steve Jackson, John Varley, and the ubiquitous Brad Strickland, artists like Ralph Bakshi, Matt Feazell, Kelly Freas, Dave Gibbons, Greg Hildebrandt, Jim Starlin, John Romita, Boris Vallejo, and Bob "Flaming Carrot" Burden, and producers and media personalities like Carl "Robotech" Macek, "Officer Don" Kennedy, Steve Jackson of Steve Jackson Games, and more.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcgk3VXA26HvFOZ-mRb2JhMVKJArjJaOCfzivXl2wENH7yh81EO4G9lHeri0Iq0JRxXBDrJo3BHHxtd-AB2tsVJpqR6RYWw49DGVJDs9opWjhV-veB8jyqPrFhHBSC1sjpeqwjAh8dUuwn/s1600/aff86pg3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcgk3VXA26HvFOZ-mRb2JhMVKJArjJaOCfzivXl2wENH7yh81EO4G9lHeri0Iq0JRxXBDrJo3BHHxtd-AB2tsVJpqR6RYWw49DGVJDs9opWjhV-veB8jyqPrFhHBSC1sjpeqwjAh8dUuwn/s1600/aff86pg3.jpg" height="526" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIWJeOcSV2Q6b_tNoZMKSzo8vf9QnpnSqTcVFQS1uD0tQt4kvZ4LmoTHqxQwV7v27_tpbMqM2N6gMNzb7e2f4D3k8mDbDQr1OZa3JeDzwEqlUAbIr7OjZ8HSujTs5DkKiYeef02fE_apA3/s1600/aff86pg2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIWJeOcSV2Q6b_tNoZMKSzo8vf9QnpnSqTcVFQS1uD0tQt4kvZ4LmoTHqxQwV7v27_tpbMqM2N6gMNzb7e2f4D3k8mDbDQr1OZa3JeDzwEqlUAbIr7OjZ8HSujTs5DkKiYeef02fE_apA3/s1600/aff86pg2.jpg" height="320" width="206" /></a></div>
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Of course video rooms at the AFF were still a big deal, and you can see that while Star Trek was still the go-to vid for fandom, weird foreign imports like Dr. Who and Japanimation (at this convention, this meant "Macross", "Captain Harlock" and "Mobile Suit Gundam") had staked out territory and were firmly entrenched. Gaming at AFF was held on the American Cafe level of the Omni, a large open-air area full of tables and dice and gamers. Both TSR and the club that would later become Dragon*Con ran tournaments that I avoided because I'm not a gamer. Rest assured the Star Trek Bloopers and Warner Brothers cartoons were screened in the auditorium along with Ralph Bakshi films and a presentation on the upcoming Marvel Comics movie "Howard The Duck". How did that one turn out, anyway? </div>
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Saturday's big event was, as it is at every fantasy convention ever, the Costume Contest, which was a must-see event preceded by a film print of "Duck Dogers", as I recall. Other events like talks from artists and writers, a Robotech presentation from Carl Macek, and yet another screening of the Blooper Reels, awaited Sunday revelers. </div>
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Most of the original text for the program book was generated using a very 80s dot matrix printer, which was then used to shoot negatives to burn plates for printing these books on cheap newsprint. If you're wondering why we all wear glasses now, this is why. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcCiTYEpRHSCNlFDU4EdKbFY0PAIj_pND_adVfljL3NMYaAA-6RMLysGNb18NH_pRs0_cO5XWmLZGdCDTWtt9Za9iPGspeGGTIRS5Q8RH3MwyMkN3Pg-RYsGdm-47H8JvIDkXBrbW9oEEH/s1600/aff86pg6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcCiTYEpRHSCNlFDU4EdKbFY0PAIj_pND_adVfljL3NMYaAA-6RMLysGNb18NH_pRs0_cO5XWmLZGdCDTWtt9Za9iPGspeGGTIRS5Q8RH3MwyMkN3Pg-RYsGdm-47H8JvIDkXBrbW9oEEH/s1600/aff86pg6.jpg" height="640" width="516" /></a></div>
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One of the fascinating elements of this program book is that it featured not one but two short comic book stories by emerging talents featuring their own original super-hero characters engaged in adventures. Since this is 1986 and the black and white comic boom was even then exploding across the racks of comic shops throughout America, such things were expected. Looking back this does seem to be kind of an extravagant waste of pages in an already bloated (72 pages!) book.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikArvqxbPhnWpOrYtfqkWOUGRTJViY54hq53MlIztO891EcwPx560z-qr0BYOBIJjcSYYfh87t4bzyz0A69t_2ngASVXA1GnzJ3Qem1mYO__Bc_KHtDNUz9yIop2Gvid6S9DKe4-KL6T4Z/s1600/aff86pg5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikArvqxbPhnWpOrYtfqkWOUGRTJViY54hq53MlIztO891EcwPx560z-qr0BYOBIJjcSYYfh87t4bzyz0A69t_2ngASVXA1GnzJ3Qem1mYO__Bc_KHtDNUz9yIop2Gvid6S9DKe4-KL6T4Z/s1600/aff86pg5.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_45hobPCZ7pA6d0dQdjHgUkZz2mL-Lmrgdgs3SJhbR6L2YabwkSvq0GVNtTBHzSDyfJwwXue5I0p8ODHjiZW80Mo0s1HnRiIxRIPLuccJ7uviBZ4u9AeQcLOpKpqAum1VI2q1oEFFtGQx/s1600/aff86pg8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_45hobPCZ7pA6d0dQdjHgUkZz2mL-Lmrgdgs3SJhbR6L2YabwkSvq0GVNtTBHzSDyfJwwXue5I0p8ODHjiZW80Mo0s1HnRiIxRIPLuccJ7uviBZ4u9AeQcLOpKpqAum1VI2q1oEFFtGQx/s1600/aff86pg8.jpg" height="252" width="400" /></a></div>
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Much of the program book was taken up with ads, some from local merchants and others from corporate sponsors like Marvel and DC.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6j1CHLIiUmDkVuFr1NxVMkaq9uFsqmVyFBHjTpcK0T9_xUPSGCJv-Nvd-qOorAt5MxcJCTQ-edovFeiwhHNIiza_DT1Kf_Gvbpkf8XIbxMa3FTa8ye8a7XstvSu0gEl65g0Bf4OYG7bII/s1600/aff86pg10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6j1CHLIiUmDkVuFr1NxVMkaq9uFsqmVyFBHjTpcK0T9_xUPSGCJv-Nvd-qOorAt5MxcJCTQ-edovFeiwhHNIiza_DT1Kf_Gvbpkf8XIbxMa3FTa8ye8a7XstvSu0gEl65g0Bf4OYG7bII/s1600/aff86pg10.jpg" height="318" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkKIjeInMtswtvuT5dWN0A-lH-XYwOUhV50WrXcZvc2yDeEBhEpX7czRyv8LI5NA7m22spiEUjLWt-xe0KLBkHyxX331k1ZhpPvPqYF2Vk9oSzV5BotVRLkNL4SzL6djsj7FW_Huwy4ETu/s1600/aff86pg9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkKIjeInMtswtvuT5dWN0A-lH-XYwOUhV50WrXcZvc2yDeEBhEpX7czRyv8LI5NA7m22spiEUjLWt-xe0KLBkHyxX331k1ZhpPvPqYF2Vk9oSzV5BotVRLkNL4SzL6djsj7FW_Huwy4ETu/s1600/aff86pg9.jpg" height="307" width="400" /></a></div>
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How did that whole "New Universe" thing work out for you there, Marvel? Between this and the "Howard The Duck" film, the second half of the 80s was not looking so great for the company.</div>
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However terrible Marvel's short term future looked, things were turning out great for fans like us; we had a great convention to hang out at, lots of movies to see and comics to buy, whole new universes of Japanese cartoons and British television to expand our minds with, and friends with which to experience it all. Why isn't it 1986 every year? </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1_kdcTnS6USwayDN5-NIRPn3ygWfZENC0Gj5QL3Pw2rU6J9JQLyume0Rg0BopNftDgPnK6ozEvapXiHJry3jWpsPRCYbiNbp03Hg6MagaQpWp_Na1dQ_1CUgsJ5XebYcOSsqimk5mnGuq/s1600/1986photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1_kdcTnS6USwayDN5-NIRPn3ygWfZENC0Gj5QL3Pw2rU6J9JQLyume0Rg0BopNftDgPnK6ozEvapXiHJry3jWpsPRCYbiNbp03Hg6MagaQpWp_Na1dQ_1CUgsJ5XebYcOSsqimk5mnGuq/s1600/1986photo.jpg" height="315" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the author (left) with friends at what I believe is AFF 1986.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_uMSci3u5lEwtatqspxJ856VL_QOMD-eJP4fd_dWylWXPgGxKcycDlfg43pdZEnr2NK3GmYFfF0k-6RMGXP6Lq3vJyIhqruT_MkwycrfHN3-t6M0dRfiha4nDKEYf_n0QDL8UTXuCRgBV/s1600/1986shirt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_uMSci3u5lEwtatqspxJ856VL_QOMD-eJP4fd_dWylWXPgGxKcycDlfg43pdZEnr2NK3GmYFfF0k-6RMGXP6Lq3vJyIhqruT_MkwycrfHN3-t6M0dRfiha4nDKEYf_n0QDL8UTXuCRgBV/s1600/1986shirt.jpg" height="320" width="286" /></a></div>
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Thanks to Devlin Thompson for this program book.</div>
<br />d.merrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07704651182760972937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5086064253442964633.post-54381002810024702892014-08-01T09:02:00.001-07:002019-02-07T12:47:54.225-08:00no Elvis, Beatles or Rolling Stones in 1977 AFF program bookSorry for the lack of Atlanta Fantasy Fair posts here at the so-called Atlanta Fantasy Fair blog... but real life sometimes intrudes upon our nostalgic wanderings. At any rate, thanks to readers Z. V. and R. W., here are some images from the program book for 1977's Atlanta Comics & Fantasy Fair!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu9V_wFemc6gGXfn3yWKuZ9CFqUr4wENrROBuYTJtaKFYK76cjciQRSt0lhWZ1YUfIcRyv3vcj22A77n4Dz47bv0OKG6BlgxZ_zbXhdXVnY52HNd9PoOZsPq9gEcv5BcFx9GfztblCNOSi/s1600/1977+book.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu9V_wFemc6gGXfn3yWKuZ9CFqUr4wENrROBuYTJtaKFYK76cjciQRSt0lhWZ1YUfIcRyv3vcj22A77n4Dz47bv0OKG6BlgxZ_zbXhdXVnY52HNd9PoOZsPq9gEcv5BcFx9GfztblCNOSi/s1600/1977+book.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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That's a Neal Adams/Dick Giordano illustration of DC Comics president, publisher, and editor-in chief Jenette Kahn gracing the cover there. How many women have there been in the top slots of major comic book companies since then?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Sv0scFxUdh5_E1D_zuOB9BbFV184ggHZE4ees4VmDiCMfHK1MpcFJUnEnBGsOL6wVrz-yxPsGnKcloAHTUGuiFpVmyomJJU4FyJ9fdjE4Ks_h8uDRti8qixEhhtWibIVGi1DXU2p1XWu/s1600/77page1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="371" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Sv0scFxUdh5_E1D_zuOB9BbFV184ggHZE4ees4VmDiCMfHK1MpcFJUnEnBGsOL6wVrz-yxPsGnKcloAHTUGuiFpVmyomJJU4FyJ9fdjE4Ks_h8uDRti8qixEhhtWibIVGi1DXU2p1XWu/s1600/77page1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Some amazing 70s convention program book design is in effect here, demonstrating how tough it was to produce small-press publications in the days before computer-aided desktop publishing software. You'll notice a wide variety of programming in what I assume was their one event room - guest speakers, keynote addresses, cartoons, old silent films, 50s Technicolor extravaganzas, and the Holy Screening Of The Blooper Reels, which in 1977 must have been unscratched and nearly pristine, ready for decades of being screened to eager audiences.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYZYLYCANLtDnEwsLVOSIb6DA5RSfshTUIAWx6wfY6fU-OO5KmFxsWLnQoWJsZqz-aPxgS8MLQsrMGIPbaSyMyopfrvAjx03QjcCWGp-O3Iu0m-KMI9bZFyS2WkOGyx4Bovvmiy_-ViFxU/s1600/77center.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="372" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYZYLYCANLtDnEwsLVOSIb6DA5RSfshTUIAWx6wfY6fU-OO5KmFxsWLnQoWJsZqz-aPxgS8MLQsrMGIPbaSyMyopfrvAjx03QjcCWGp-O3Iu0m-KMI9bZFyS2WkOGyx4Bovvmiy_-ViFxU/s1600/77center.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Neal Adams and Jim Steranko are still-active comic book and illustrator legends, Dick Giordano passed away in 2010, Jenette Kahn retired, and Ken Smith used to write impenetrable essays for The Comics Journal.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA4hlHNYytcrrWUZKfb-s1qQROBxAsAphxJ96ZpcrEc9xuuy925Vgm2XDT7ygFhqdSVA3PuKABamQu9eA2UbOukxTzVrXA2-GhOasmVtr4xiHIDLIig0THy84kP9bJ1bory8cXXTlq6SUi/s1600/77lastpage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA4hlHNYytcrrWUZKfb-s1qQROBxAsAphxJ96ZpcrEc9xuuy925Vgm2XDT7ygFhqdSVA3PuKABamQu9eA2UbOukxTzVrXA2-GhOasmVtr4xiHIDLIig0THy84kP9bJ1bory8cXXTlq6SUi/s1600/77lastpage.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Remember kids, this was a time before home video, before 500 satellite channels, before the internets and streaming video and watching movies on a little gadget you stick in your pocket - if you were a SF nerd and you wanted to see Invaders From Mars, then by golly you sat your butt down on those uncomfortable hotel ballroom seats and you watched that scratchy print of Invaders From Mars. And you liked it! We <a href="https://www.comicartfans.com/galleryroom.asp?gsub=143048">DO have confirmation</a> that the Star Trek Blooper Reel was screened at this year's ACFF.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2KXtlPzK2CsE0h4XYwnlP-9NSyq1QzthOtF2irgX7bm3CggwyPtiT9yWc7_k8Af_RT8hsxAS44ce3p56MzU0pLygQr-SqC6maplT9l2tzl29P7HPVEZNvWuHNoupnqYV1t4OPfuqe8B-6/s1600/77cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2KXtlPzK2CsE0h4XYwnlP-9NSyq1QzthOtF2irgX7bm3CggwyPtiT9yWc7_k8Af_RT8hsxAS44ce3p56MzU0pLygQr-SqC6maplT9l2tzl29P7HPVEZNvWuHNoupnqYV1t4OPfuqe8B-6/s1600/77cover.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Here's the front and back cover, with a terrific Steranko piece wrapping things up.<br />
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The 1977 Atlanta Comics & Fantasy Fair was the first one to be held at what was then the Dunfey's Royal Coach, and would later become The Castlegate and slide slowly into decrepitude and ignominy. There is now a Wal-Mart on the site. I would not have been at this convention as I was 7 at the time.d.merrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07704651182760972937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5086064253442964633.post-58726097672650718802013-08-11T08:29:00.003-07:002017-02-16T10:05:21.909-08:001989 AFF videoThis video was labeled on YouTube at one point as "Dragoncon", but subsequent research has shown it was shot at the Atlanta Fantasy Fair XV in 1989, held in downtown Atlanta at the Hilton & Towers, and it is now labeled as such.<br />
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<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/kU3_ntf5flo/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kU3_ntf5flo?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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The camera operator focuses on the ladies, but what's striking to me about this video is the astonishing number of middle-aged white dudes in khaki pants wandering around. It's as if they're waiting for somebody to invent IT so they can all get jobs. I am not in this video, but I know people who are. Thanks to the camcorder operator and to the forward-thinking individuals who archived this piece of history for us!d.merrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07704651182760972937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5086064253442964633.post-53552652995048634282013-06-13T10:02:00.003-07:002013-06-13T10:02:47.383-07:00AFF 1985 shirtIf you're interested in owning a piece of Atlanta Fantasy Fair history, <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/153756600/rare-vintage-1980s-tshirt-atlanta">Mouse Trap Vintage has a T-shirt from the 1985 AFF on sale at their Etsy shop</a>!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUq4VGRb1rh8PRXeW4aY-WD-8Dl1TlhDFkTRgwWRl_GONX6kYwswhUen62illNbVI4ZoJ9xsFnasY5OZN_j2wij-TC-9sfbFQnDKNPY32wXfyLcD8hLveLXxY8S6O3iRnY2enlwXvk_mMJ/s1600/1985shirt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUq4VGRb1rh8PRXeW4aY-WD-8Dl1TlhDFkTRgwWRl_GONX6kYwswhUen62illNbVI4ZoJ9xsFnasY5OZN_j2wij-TC-9sfbFQnDKNPY32wXfyLcD8hLveLXxY8S6O3iRnY2enlwXvk_mMJ/s320/1985shirt.jpg" width="286" /></a></div>
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Is that Susan Barrows? I think that's Susan Barrows. <br />
<br />d.merrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07704651182760972937noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5086064253442964633.post-38896843218271764702013-02-06T09:22:00.000-08:002014-03-13T09:01:59.701-07:00calling 1987Here's the Progress Report from the 1987 Atlanta Fantasy Fair! We are at the very peak of AFF's membership, I believe. I don't have official records, so who knows? This progress report went out in January and its arrival in your mailbox was the starting gun for the year's convention planning. <br />
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The guest selection might be the most varied in AFF's history: SF writers, science fiction TV legends, Adam West, Caroline Munro (I mean, she was a Bond Girl, kinda), Tom Savini, something for anyone interested in SF or fantasy in the 80s, all sequestered in downtown Atlanta in the absolute hottest time of the year. Get ready for some sweating.<br />
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Here's an introductory paragraph from AFF's president. Note the "grid" elements - this was graphic design in the 80s, kids; drop some grids in there. When you're done reading it you can use it to map out your D&D campaign. Don't forget to pick up your AFF T-shirt, this year it has a girl with a sword on it. <br />
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Comic book guests included a lot of top Marvel talent including Chris Claremont at a time of peak X-Men popularity. Also appearing was Bob Burden, whom I believe was at every AFF. He always had the best stuff for sale at his table.<br />
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But enough of this, on to the costume contest! <br />
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What do we have here? A Gumby! Some of the aliens from the Heavy Metal movie! Marvin The Martian! It's Eddie from Rocky Horror! Some kind of tinfoil box head thing, some Elfquest elves, what appears to be Cerebus The Aardvark, what I believe are X-men mutants, Spiderman, Black Cat, and Moustache Rhino, and one of those horse-riding things from Wizards. You all get candy!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCTKfx-CnqFQB3RgTv2Eov9vRp4QGdv1MYg-nWK_ErULl6Je7dQ7FyusnJPsD-BTz-DuWOzOUVJZGCkHaQ47WmCYo6OiPJPqeaffEGGWnUPlOeFyU1Qu30vq75VjkQlYFxU8dF9bs7PblT/s1600/aff87g.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCTKfx-CnqFQB3RgTv2Eov9vRp4QGdv1MYg-nWK_ErULl6Je7dQ7FyusnJPsD-BTz-DuWOzOUVJZGCkHaQ47WmCYo6OiPJPqeaffEGGWnUPlOeFyU1Qu30vq75VjkQlYFxU8dF9bs7PblT/s1600/aff87g.jpg" /></a></div>
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And of course there's Japanese animation represented by production art from Robotech. I cannot recall if I was staffing the anime room at this year's AFF. Certainly I poked my head in a few times. I know I was on staff but lord knows what area. Most of what I did at this AFF was run around with my friends all over the Omni, hook up a VCR to the hotel room TV and show our own anime titles on Saturday night, buy a lot of comic books and toys, and generally misbehave.<br />
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AFF was still screening 16mm prints at this time. Remember, these were the days before everything was available on home video. If you wanted to see vintage Chuck Jones cartoons or old Ray Harryhausen epics, you had to come to AFF! Or catch them on television, I guess.<br />
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Judge Dredd looms ominously over the Omni Hotel making sure crime is kept strictly to the parts of the Omni Hotel that he cannot see. Seriously, back in '87 this was a bad part of town. It was pretty easy to get mugged if you ventured outside the Omni. We got to see a stolen Ford Explorer peel off down Marietta Street on Thursday night during setup. If you went out in search of food or supplies during the show (good luck, it was a retail dead zone) you were certain to get panhandled. Nowadays, CNN Center, Philips Arena, and Centennial Olympic Park, the Georgia Aquarium, and the World Of Coca-Cola have tamed this once wild frontier.<br />
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We TOTALLY did not obey this rule, we had VCRs set up like CRAZY in our hotel room. I can remember this being a fairly common "house rule" back in the day, but I knew lots and lots of people who brought VCRs into hotels and nobody ever got in any kind of trouble with anybody. It's not like liquor; wheeling a trolley full of booze past the front desk will get some questions asked. <br />
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Here's one of the ads in the progress report:<br />
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Yes, this is the convention at which a guest died. Here's a hint: he played Doctor Who. And no, he didn't regenerate. <br />
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I haven't any photos from 1987's AFF- heck, I didn't even have a camera at that point - but if you do, throw them on the scanner and send them my way at <a href="mailto:terebifunhouse@gmail.com">terebifunhouse@gmail.com</a>! d.merrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07704651182760972937noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5086064253442964633.post-66922647452707746132012-03-09T09:58:00.002-08:002017-12-04T05:56:07.098-08:00calling 1984<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The middle of the 80s brought many new shows to the Atlanta convention scene. Well, okay, two. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One of these was the "Creation Atlanta" convention, which is a name that will bring sighs of recognition and eye-rolling from many of our more experienced con-goers, most of whom first experienced fan conventions at a Creation event. So let's not get all superior. Creation was and is a business that's in the business of running fan conventions, which they've done more than two thousand of around the nation. Mostly consisting of a dealers room, an events hall, and a table behind which celebrities can sign autographs, the Creation business model carves out a unique territory somewhere between your local car and/or boat and/or RV show, an industry trade convention, and the local arts & crafts event that sets up in your local park and kills the grass.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My first convention was a Creation convention that Dad brought us to as the dealers were closing up on Sunday afternoon, somewhere in downtown Atlanta. A giant room full of people selling comic books? I'm in heaven. It was not, however, the show I have this schedule for.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This Creation event is from 1984, as we can tell from the events hyping the upcoming "Supergirl" and "Dune" movies, and it was in the Omni Hotel, unless there was another Atlanta facility with a "Knollwood Room". And maybe there was. As there are six different Star Trek themed events happening on Saturday one might surmise their big guest was a Star Trek actor, and it was indeed - Walter Koenig "beamed down" to sign autographs and deliver a stirring lecture to the crowd on the need to vaccinate your children and spay and neuter your pets. Actually he didn't speak on those topics but it's a good idea to mention them anyway.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sunday's schedule is pretty close to Saturday's - Creation was aiming at a one-day crowd that would buy a ticket, wander through the dealer's room, get Chekov's autograph, laff at the mandated-by-law screening of the Holy Blooper Reels, and go the hell home.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Another Atlanta event from 1984 with a different focus and a different feel was the Atlanta Comics Festival. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOPLCtnXqRW4rpXIn4nQqBv7iJ1uZ0qGHr-boO1RxH5FcOY_PQUa7frECghK0aJ2UmcfOad4edQUxipwETH4iThl6-c9zAIer7Jt62MnW_3M5Cod-CoKvhSC2F0_UQlzARIaKkV6nZVUbj/s1600/acf1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="484" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOPLCtnXqRW4rpXIn4nQqBv7iJ1uZ0qGHr-boO1RxH5FcOY_PQUa7frECghK0aJ2UmcfOad4edQUxipwETH4iThl6-c9zAIer7Jt62MnW_3M5Cod-CoKvhSC2F0_UQlzARIaKkV6nZVUbj/s640/acf1.jpg" width="516" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This two-day event is mostly remembered today as being host to the Jim Shooter Roast, a chummy comics industry event in which the popular Marvel editor was given the Don Rickles treatment. This was claimed to be "the ultimate in fan entertainment." This explains the cover of the program guide - you see, Jim Shooter is a tall guy, and that's the Marvel character "Nightcrawler" sawing him off at the knees. And boy! Just try to explain this to anybody not immersed in the trivial minutiae of the mid 1980s comic book industry! Now THAT'S the ultimate in fan entertainment!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkXaj2n8dB7CTxcENVtntpKTLV0B6pPWKvFZW1KLPzGFDs12xfGTHSBFKJTdifnjJ8Fia0G7wgUFjy6dw5z9Fyfc9bRJgfK9QPfnMnQq-DRqsCcpy21XMnXpKcwSeRe_BVq656dEjmip0t/s1600/acf2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="525" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkXaj2n8dB7CTxcENVtntpKTLV0B6pPWKvFZW1KLPzGFDs12xfGTHSBFKJTdifnjJ8Fia0G7wgUFjy6dw5z9Fyfc9bRJgfK9QPfnMnQq-DRqsCcpy21XMnXpKcwSeRe_BVq656dEjmip0t/s640/acf2.jpg" width="560" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sponsored by a local comics distributor, this event had many Marvel guests like John Byrne, Bob Layton, Bob McLeod, Mark Gruenwald, and John Romita Jr. as well as a dealers room and videos. A video of the Shooter Roast was available on YouTube there for a little while but got removed, as most YouTube videos do eventually.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP3V7BIfS8fCCBuF-k1EHUuTwQno0SNYSqE7RjNgxjWtHblo2gPbecXTLNGNpvHY6kAIO-i0vm-hRZIfal1KvGFxS7iLVKrroz1KfFjpvk2fmQSliat4AGstkr7E5b7ckv9X0D4FXzmeSb/s1600/acf4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="494" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP3V7BIfS8fCCBuF-k1EHUuTwQno0SNYSqE7RjNgxjWtHblo2gPbecXTLNGNpvHY6kAIO-i0vm-hRZIfal1KvGFxS7iLVKrroz1KfFjpvk2fmQSliat4AGstkr7E5b7ckv9X0D4FXzmeSb/s640/acf4.jpg" width="526" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Please note that, as required by law, the Star Trek Blooper Reel was shown on both Saturday and Sunday. This is how ubiquitous Star Trek was in the fandom scene of the 1980s - a convention with no connection whatsoever to television, to film, or to print or media science fiction in general still felt compelled to inflict the Starship Enterprise upon cash-paying audiences. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4e4YRNsl_2yjdOGSuKvzIlXQ7J76w0Ro70luwnQyVrN5z57NtCBhceLj5pUHgY16WbroxV05ekhxBh_LHZU5pJw3BKEq5-OcR9sLZ8JCmCzAqP7TP5QL7XLUv3ExxoCU4UmQUx6Vdgl3r/s1600/acf3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="456" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4e4YRNsl_2yjdOGSuKvzIlXQ7J76w0Ro70luwnQyVrN5z57NtCBhceLj5pUHgY16WbroxV05ekhxBh_LHZU5pJw3BKEq5-OcR9sLZ8JCmCzAqP7TP5QL7XLUv3ExxoCU4UmQUx6Vdgl3r/s640/acf3.jpg" width="486" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">How many of these comic shops are still in business? Survey says 'zero'. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">By the way, at the time I was buying most of my comic books at a store in Smyrna's Belmont Hills Shopping Center - actually at the back of Belmont Hills, by the bowling alley - called the Book Trader. The owner was a man named Benny, who put up with a customer base made up of women bringing in shopping bags full of romance novels for trade and kids such as myself pawing through his comic books for hours, and channeled his irritation into a series of handwritten notes posted throughout his store reminding people that "others may sell for less but *I* know what my product is WORTH!" and similar passive-aggressive mottos. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkmCTvozUbuCNu7mLZZIP0uJbah1Cld1xFWeNu5ApfLNr0Z0Nxw0_xtC7WBzM0_lACM5I-wFrSI0-i0CLg_QLm70ENQNlNoYMQGB99oL6ISU74hX1DMnWaS70U9OGrnneqPwgth6YewDvk/s1600/book+trader.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="261" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkmCTvozUbuCNu7mLZZIP0uJbah1Cld1xFWeNu5ApfLNr0Z0Nxw0_xtC7WBzM0_lACM5I-wFrSI0-i0CLg_QLm70ENQNlNoYMQGB99oL6ISU74hX1DMnWaS70U9OGrnneqPwgth6YewDvk/s400/book+trader.jpg" width="260" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If this was held in the hotel I think it was held in, somewhere around 14th Street in downtown Atlanta, the site has long been turned into part of the Atlantic Station development. If memory serves the hotel was some kind of a mid-range franchise place. Maybe a Radisson. I was there for the Saturday and spent most of the time watching the anime film "Phoenix 2772" in the "Cabinet Room",which would pretty much be the template for the rest of my fan experience, ignoring American comic books in favor of Japanese cartoons. I regret nothing!</span></div>
d.merrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07704651182760972937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5086064253442964633.post-16312712433828573662012-01-17T09:34:00.000-08:002018-06-25T11:35:52.268-07:00AFF 1983 newsletter<div style="text-align: justify;">
Here's some images of the 1983 Atlanta Fantasy Fair newsletter, sometimes referred to as a "progress report". In addition to flyers, conventions would find it necessary to publish 16 or 20 page newsprint booklets to really "sell" the show to a world that was decades away from web pages - it's hard to show the appeal of a costume contest, a film festival, or a giant downtown hotel in just a few lines of type.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFN-V7mrsY4UFJBqZ4q1_JqOU6DqC4FUQxBVnKRBNAUJXSuoWlh0b-c1y7PA3ETqY7dM49xZzEzIPIg2YOqO95ZQaHBAEtQJ34XBv65FDOVZMBEFQGrZ1ad0Xk2JcZ6oqMq05lq_Y0Cqa-/s1600/aff83a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="648" data-original-width="467" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFN-V7mrsY4UFJBqZ4q1_JqOU6DqC4FUQxBVnKRBNAUJXSuoWlh0b-c1y7PA3ETqY7dM49xZzEzIPIg2YOqO95ZQaHBAEtQJ34XBv65FDOVZMBEFQGrZ1ad0Xk2JcZ6oqMq05lq_Y0Cqa-/s640/aff83a.jpg" width="460" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTLn9L5_NP9C3UfTZpn7GSLEoP0gjQiIKa9vxrihf2xh-F9cOcuZbEFXNijginDZdjP-xPiKX1-dn7tErpX3jysyferZOZu2Ger736vroruLrHTEumYQUOhhe3vWyAqhY1mEhPV_46Qe-S/s1600/aff83b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="647" data-original-width="444" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTLn9L5_NP9C3UfTZpn7GSLEoP0gjQiIKa9vxrihf2xh-F9cOcuZbEFXNijginDZdjP-xPiKX1-dn7tErpX3jysyferZOZu2Ger736vroruLrHTEumYQUOhhe3vWyAqhY1mEhPV_46Qe-S/s640/aff83b.jpg" width="438" /></a></div>
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I believe the 1983 AFF was the first show I was allowed to attend in any meaningful capacity - I roamed the halls of the Omni, bought my first Judge Dredd comics, watched five or ten minutes of "Robinson Crusoe On Mars", and purchased a full set of Elfquest comics that had me in a Pini-derived elfy-welfy haze for weeks.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSYggJz7hmOucvkOV8Hv6A9OZT3w9q7C227twfnP5sux0ClmvYyH0S3KqCOcZDjQG6dwp_KRcRRI1EoW4NqgR4XuGZeoc4WGbhCniaG3oWpyxEnZcj7AOTg93AEUx5DbRyubjRG5xp77bm/s1600/aff83c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="648" data-original-width="458" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSYggJz7hmOucvkOV8Hv6A9OZT3w9q7C227twfnP5sux0ClmvYyH0S3KqCOcZDjQG6dwp_KRcRRI1EoW4NqgR4XuGZeoc4WGbhCniaG3oWpyxEnZcj7AOTg93AEUx5DbRyubjRG5xp77bm/s640/aff83c.jpg" width="452" /></a></div>
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I think that's a costume of the Godzilla movie-monster Angirus! That would have been something to see in the early 80s. Honestly I can't remember if we were allowed to stick around long enough to see the costume contest that year. Probably not. I did catch the amateur film festival, which as I recall featured a wonderful if overlong movie about a teenage magician titled "Summer Magic" that climaxed with a Houdini-style escape from a swimming pool. The next year's amateur film festival featured "Summer Magic II", a much shorter parody of the first film in which the underwater escape doesn't go quite so well. Also screened was a movie titled "Drugs From Deep Space" and the thrilling "Galactic Avenger", 30 seconds of cut-paper spaceship animation followed by three minutes of family home movies. You just don't get amateur films like this any more.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSWl9DqFYA0TK7THgiqNvHuex6aWhyphenhyphenBH4m7Bw2NJ7UiGI3ePTV8CYn_gD_mEHu0DIRh-plbSah3c0TshLLyOMVXTWgXoCla_gl8gafoSPfyaYI79jrW3qNOW27e5FktL1bJT6tdIouqIsc/s1600/aff83d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="652" data-original-width="460" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSWl9DqFYA0TK7THgiqNvHuex6aWhyphenhyphenBH4m7Bw2NJ7UiGI3ePTV8CYn_gD_mEHu0DIRh-plbSah3c0TshLLyOMVXTWgXoCla_gl8gafoSPfyaYI79jrW3qNOW27e5FktL1bJT6tdIouqIsc/s640/aff83d.jpg" width="450" /></a></div>
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I probably made it to the con suite - what 13 year old doesn't want free soda? - but I didn't play any role playing games, see any auctions, or witness any awards ceremonies. Most of my time was spent poring through the entire dealers room, wishing I'd mowed a few more lawns that summer.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggXv-fgcNk3ntjAQaZ6mbNxprtgvXI025qOZzCjxhxJ1o_1dWyx0S7gwz6s62QJZR_QmgnCu3XkmX2v5r0NEZAGuAu7HlygOeMiRzQsJBaBwbFafhNQnscxHjEiMnY7sEN1kEGOvmed-ph/s1600/aff83e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="654" data-original-width="473" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggXv-fgcNk3ntjAQaZ6mbNxprtgvXI025qOZzCjxhxJ1o_1dWyx0S7gwz6s62QJZR_QmgnCu3XkmX2v5r0NEZAGuAu7HlygOeMiRzQsJBaBwbFafhNQnscxHjEiMnY7sEN1kEGOvmed-ph/s640/aff83e.jpg" width="462" /></a></div>
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If you hurry you can get your membership to the 1983 AFF for only $13!! Or you might have to buy it at the door for $19. While you're at it, you can get a room at the Omni for $44. That's cheap even for 1983! Of course you have to spend the entire weekend worrying about getting mugged or killed while in scary dangerous downtown Atlanta, but that's a small price to pay.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVC0gLEPqMcB-RXeH6pNEHwDoF67_CEQvtLKyy7xup8NXApJ5f6CLJIKUq-7qTBv5zdkEo6jJpieUpvrb_5Vl_g7Z0SI0RK4KTKcMUAjD40_MCFlHBhtcrQ6mH6gGMOD5xMpNui2VWIoOS/s1600/aff83f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="633" data-original-width="515" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVC0gLEPqMcB-RXeH6pNEHwDoF67_CEQvtLKyy7xup8NXApJ5f6CLJIKUq-7qTBv5zdkEo6jJpieUpvrb_5Vl_g7Z0SI0RK4KTKcMUAjD40_MCFlHBhtcrQ6mH6gGMOD5xMpNui2VWIoOS/s640/aff83f.jpg" width="520" /></a></div>
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Don't forget to pick up your AFF T-shirt and show the world you're proud to be a fan!<br />
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<span style="font-style: italic;">newsletter courtesy the Devlin Thompson National Archives </span></div>
d.merrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07704651182760972937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5086064253442964633.post-36991533344572240002011-10-18T16:24:00.000-07:002018-06-25T11:46:18.119-07:00atlanta starcon & comics<br />
ATLANTA STARCON & COMICS?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHVDqLAadoFHfcOzHp1oaItEWRhyiO1F3lQp3Z-XOa5RBwdWE-rc07UbhUGwVKzPuSsphh-e8nPNX5HuEfKs6gyNFRKv4UsbaD6mqwO1TlVnuFrY_5kgR3UbNxHoJIdATbuwE07rwLxNOR/s1600/starcon1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="508" data-original-width="393" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHVDqLAadoFHfcOzHp1oaItEWRhyiO1F3lQp3Z-XOa5RBwdWE-rc07UbhUGwVKzPuSsphh-e8nPNX5HuEfKs6gyNFRKv4UsbaD6mqwO1TlVnuFrY_5kgR3UbNxHoJIdATbuwE07rwLxNOR/s640/starcon1.jpg" width="494" /></a></div>
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Yes, ATLANTA STARCON & COMICS was a one-time show from the former Atlanta Fantasy Fair organizers. After the disappointing 1995 show, the administrators ditched the AFF brand and replaced it with a new convention featuring a wide slate of guests from Hollywood, the comics industry, the martial-arts stars of the WMAC MASTERS, and the usual costume contests, video rooms, gaming, con suites, panels, art shows, and dealers.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFBEa1xcH0EqTPM8p4Xxkz3Vyb4QHve2Xz3OF3Q63hQk1pJ5V5jMfwYSuIKB-yBjVrQv8EM6-G30Yq3h1hn6gTVFuoVM7jAs8WSa-cLJ2xlUx7AM3Ym1MVDltBW70Kc22bkVYIi-ELEtmv/s1600/starcon2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="515" data-original-width="391" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFBEa1xcH0EqTPM8p4Xxkz3Vyb4QHve2Xz3OF3Q63hQk1pJ5V5jMfwYSuIKB-yBjVrQv8EM6-G30Yq3h1hn6gTVFuoVM7jAs8WSa-cLJ2xlUx7AM3Ym1MVDltBW70Kc22bkVYIi-ELEtmv/s640/starcon2.jpg" width="484" /></a></div>
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I did not attend this show because it was held on the same weekend as the second Anime Weekend Atlanta. As it turned out the second AWA was a total success and the convention is still rockin' it after seventeen years. How did Atlanta Starcon & Comics go? I don't know. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFtbXVL2k83BiSwWWEgKhNoBxeGDDO_OnHkgIpEW1JSbzdQ_t3zXyuBNrViAMil89oDo7Z8BrZV1cBxX3YSLRS4wIdc_fLBPnrholW6dLxLe4zPM-cz68ZZK3HbHK7Tm3tEZgLETwTFlBl/s1600/starcon3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="516" data-original-width="390" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFtbXVL2k83BiSwWWEgKhNoBxeGDDO_OnHkgIpEW1JSbzdQ_t3zXyuBNrViAMil89oDo7Z8BrZV1cBxX3YSLRS4wIdc_fLBPnrholW6dLxLe4zPM-cz68ZZK3HbHK7Tm3tEZgLETwTFlBl/s640/starcon3.jpg" width="482" /></a></div>
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I was told that the dealers were packing up on Saturday afternoon, which doesn't bode well for any show. First year conventions, even if they have a staff pedigree stretching back for years, are always a tough sell. This was the last attempt by the former AFF administration to keep a yearly show alive in the face of both Dragoncon and public indifference.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGDf4pU1TbubO6kxKaAGVwtjuK6nH7UKtkrQ_x2WIyaIcV09D-9mHJTlOSyJ6oexIP2rVXhkZ-eM9hIBLody_ZCzzv2ZH8NQVuZbPOsuP1T9-0UhaiVpmbxJQbBghOgaxqtzezmtF-vffs/s1600/starcon4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="513" data-original-width="406" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGDf4pU1TbubO6kxKaAGVwtjuK6nH7UKtkrQ_x2WIyaIcV09D-9mHJTlOSyJ6oexIP2rVXhkZ-eM9hIBLody_ZCzzv2ZH8NQVuZbPOsuP1T9-0UhaiVpmbxJQbBghOgaxqtzezmtF-vffs/s640/starcon4.jpg" width="506" /></a></div>
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Note the hotel, the Marriott North Central - Dixie-Trek had already been there a few times and AWA would move in for its next two shows. But Atlanta Starcon & Comics would vanish into the mists of the '90s.</div>
d.merrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07704651182760972937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5086064253442964633.post-64692682794253634982011-10-12T08:12:00.001-07:002019-02-07T07:16:18.616-08:00Dragon-Con 1989<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dragon-Con, or Dragon*Con as it likes to be known, is now the big dog in the Atlanta fandom scene, a permanent fixture on the calendar not only of the nerd world but of the city at large, with media attention, parades, traffic congestion, and the kinds of inexperienced-with-the-big-city crowds that make grifters, scam artists and panhandlers salivate from as far away as Warner-Robins or perhaps Waleska. But at one time it was just the new kid on the fan convention block, and this is what their advertising looked like at that embryonic stage.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've often thought of the growth of Dragon-Con and the concomitant shrinkage of the AFF / Dixie-Trek as emblematic of a paradigm shift among Atlanta's fan community - the older Trekkie/Whovian fan power structure being replaced by a younger crowd more interested in D&D, fantasy, and Bettie Page Look-A-Like contests. And sure, I probably think about this too much.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHevaLpJW1pPI-KCHaUcHFF3D3Er0doOST-EDX4Cg77nYmTAgXYOqRLaG8PfyM3HGeTnwOreDoBecdL0n3mr93pm0EhrBj-4MQXgei-v99eMjkZZ-eirxY_VmeRniZOfdsy_jd3epesjvx/s1600/dc89a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="581" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHevaLpJW1pPI-KCHaUcHFF3D3Er0doOST-EDX4Cg77nYmTAgXYOqRLaG8PfyM3HGeTnwOreDoBecdL0n3mr93pm0EhrBj-4MQXgei-v99eMjkZZ-eirxY_VmeRniZOfdsy_jd3epesjvx/s640/dc89a.jpg" width="412" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dragoncon started in 1987 and quickly swelled in attendance to match that of the AFF. Dragoncon's administration has freely admitted inflating their attendance figures in the early days, but it's the truth, that was one crowded show. By 1989 they were infringing upon AFF's turf, which was the Omni / World Congress Center downtown.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDSmA7IQFadaVyGaOb4Za49x9SBSCEXZrLsi_1eSsySJhCMiDdj_VgFIaD0Z-HMmfEujutvezFERXvuBOpmTlq5xogj72r3QWUbYY6Ks6Ud7Yt-sXU1lnDqSZxoUfFaO-E1MWiYpJowpLD/s1600/omni+skating.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="266" data-original-width="189" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDSmA7IQFadaVyGaOb4Za49x9SBSCEXZrLsi_1eSsySJhCMiDdj_VgFIaD0Z-HMmfEujutvezFERXvuBOpmTlq5xogj72r3QWUbYY6Ks6Ud7Yt-sXU1lnDqSZxoUfFaO-E1MWiYpJowpLD/s400/omni+skating.jpg" width="283" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm pretty sure I went to this show and wandered around all weekend without a badge, setting a Dragoncon tradition that many thousands would repeat over the years. I'm not a gamer, not a fan of fantasy or horror movies, so there really wasn't much for me to do at the show other than gawk at the nerds. Again, a tradition many thousands would repeat over the years.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQAYK-hkslF6czKzU76Y8q2ETcJtLLZSUDpIps_GCcCb5_k3yXm93tUjOj5Xd6fV9J4UCO6rxfWJ8rS5b6fErZvMxx88eANq9Jnt3ZogtAAWjoXL2Xaqvy0tfSr3FIuvLUWOEE92IsqbyI/s1600/dc89b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="478" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQAYK-hkslF6czKzU76Y8q2ETcJtLLZSUDpIps_GCcCb5_k3yXm93tUjOj5Xd6fV9J4UCO6rxfWJ8rS5b6fErZvMxx88eANq9Jnt3ZogtAAWjoXL2Xaqvy0tfSr3FIuvLUWOEE92IsqbyI/s640/dc89b.jpg" width="406" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihbZ5a9ssllxX0CQOo1NPD1NhRXIUDHyqyaxQM-jsr26o8YeY2b4sCKq0FygtwToxeDvjQkA2BsqI3z_vA6WplJYLV2mzbIGtx1hTaiThnCHOhidsGMNHuaT_vXOyJbgzSdp2kQ0JauyNw/s1600/dc89c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="447" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihbZ5a9ssllxX0CQOo1NPD1NhRXIUDHyqyaxQM-jsr26o8YeY2b4sCKq0FygtwToxeDvjQkA2BsqI3z_vA6WplJYLV2mzbIGtx1hTaiThnCHOhidsGMNHuaT_vXOyJbgzSdp2kQ0JauyNw/s1600/dc89c.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wow, $65 a night for a hotel room in downtown Atlanta! At the Omni! Did the Omni still have the skating rink in 1989? The late 80s saw the transformation of the Omni complex into "CNN Center", when it was an oasis of light and order amidst the wasteland of Marietta Street. Which, thanks to the Olympics and subsequent urban renewal and the construction of a few parks, Coca-Cola Worlds and aquariums, is now tourist central. How things change.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwB4LBqQhx3657Q9Ah-iElJYFOGvHhiJgh7ahyphenhyphene47lYMP3k86v4-qPSkRc00laXhxTH-JXhN4ZIIDHYd3l-CCWUlrkph_j0PPOoFNfIKgFo5ilC3WFyWn7SQOMaHnvK9kx38Fscb2oDH8g/s1600/GoldMine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="592" data-original-width="849" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwB4LBqQhx3657Q9Ah-iElJYFOGvHhiJgh7ahyphenhyphene47lYMP3k86v4-qPSkRc00laXhxTH-JXhN4ZIIDHYd3l-CCWUlrkph_j0PPOoFNfIKgFo5ilC3WFyWn7SQOMaHnvK9kx38Fscb2oDH8g/s400/GoldMine.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I spent many a fine convention meal at that Chick-Fil-A in the Omni, as well as a fine convention quarter in the Gold Mine arcade. At one point CNN Center had a movie theater that showed first run films AND "Gone With The Wind." Every day.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsGeSm3R4WudlUyttQriq60C4ICyGgFK_ZYjWtpuENJRYcedNkuQv5MoYgCxNNGqJnlcs1t8UriyvE2DLZcOGigpQtjevsJWnKjLOM0mVAYQaxk4dQz1qud8yANM9wCoEMNIfqnmZAFz0k/s1600/dc89d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="464" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsGeSm3R4WudlUyttQriq60C4ICyGgFK_ZYjWtpuENJRYcedNkuQv5MoYgCxNNGqJnlcs1t8UriyvE2DLZcOGigpQtjevsJWnKjLOM0mVAYQaxk4dQz1qud8yANM9wCoEMNIfqnmZAFz0k/s640/dc89d.jpg" width="424" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Whoever had this flyer before me helpfully listed some video room programming, which included Dune, Robocop, Alien, Aliens, three Star Trek movies and the always-entertaining Star Trek Blooper Reel, required by law to be screened at every SF convention forever. Apart from the blooper reel this could very well be USA Cable's schedule for any given weekend.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ten years can zip by in the blink of an eye and suddenly it's 1998 and Dragon*Con is the Last Con Standing among Atlanta's science-fiction-comics-gaming-movies crowd, presaging the kind of all-embracing pop culture attraction that is now merely called "(Name Of City) Comic Con" and happens everywhere. '98's Dragon*Con had a big squarebound program book with a cover by Roger Dean, hundreds of guests, and dates for Dragon*Cons through 2005.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuFKvAcd3higZX18R-HttlIngL-dpSkOu82-88uMAm7-njQAlXJfk33PSWnUS4nDEVOwexVzQNyicdidtwWo0xM2nIsoWzwerAvqWpUfCdEytOrDEpZplNCeOpDvME87IsF69jtisn6S8G/s1600/dragon98.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="621" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuFKvAcd3higZX18R-HttlIngL-dpSkOu82-88uMAm7-njQAlXJfk33PSWnUS4nDEVOwexVzQNyicdidtwWo0xM2nIsoWzwerAvqWpUfCdEytOrDEpZplNCeOpDvME87IsF69jtisn6S8G/s400/dragon98.jpg" width="310" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dragoncon is still going, in spite of scandals and assault and the baleful eye of the fire inspector. It's become the de facto Nerd Mardi Gras for costumers, fame mongers, gamers, and the newly empowered geek demographic as they parade through downtown in all their Klingon finery and Stormtrooper armor. And they said it couldn't happen here!</span></div>
d.merrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07704651182760972937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5086064253442964633.post-44570238932171049402011-10-12T07:35:00.000-07:002018-06-26T09:55:33.142-07:00Dixie-Trek 1986Dixie-Trek - which I wrote about <a href="http://atlantafantasyfair.blogspot.com/2017/02/look-away-look-away-look-away-dixie-trek.html">extensively here</a> - was a SF convention held in Atlanta GA throughout the 1980s and half of the 90s. An outgrowth of the Atlanta Star Trek Society, it moved from strict Trek into the larger world of media SF, as its 1986 flyer demonstrates.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEWxmtnN1HOnfYQX74jY4o2hM4yRKgZFN1EBGJeMaE6J3U4KYDUsaXLpfmI3eNnK_z5KCPM667-QkzO50ISJ0Rpoxh-2c3kbRBq2PcHyDx27Pa8g0eR7tOSzC69s41gQ835ochNEnUG8I4/s1600/dixie86a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="642" data-original-width="502" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEWxmtnN1HOnfYQX74jY4o2hM4yRKgZFN1EBGJeMaE6J3U4KYDUsaXLpfmI3eNnK_z5KCPM667-QkzO50ISJ0Rpoxh-2c3kbRBq2PcHyDx27Pa8g0eR7tOSzC69s41gQ835ochNEnUG8I4/s640/dixie86a.jpg" width="500" /></a></div>
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I attended the 1986 show mostly because of Peter Davidson; I was not then and never wound up being any kind of Star Trek fan. My memories of the convention include running a fan table promoting our Japanese animation club, filling a car with convention pals for a late night food run, wandering into a room party where BEER was being served (!!) and generally having a good time in the convention environment as an unsupervised teenager. Also note the ubiquitous presence of Brad Strickland.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9UzVCfzjjpZvYoIWEhX410-Va8feTbwlCBPST3NMjd_s8caFOPronTJbDl-PPRuBfBFMg5AhKNJxZ72yYrhEYJ1Gr1VQx7GvE5N-bvMmFzislpewEqYCD0ABvFqCT9RjgFV5LzMfV_zbh/s1600/dixie86b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="650" data-original-width="512" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9UzVCfzjjpZvYoIWEhX410-Va8feTbwlCBPST3NMjd_s8caFOPronTJbDl-PPRuBfBFMg5AhKNJxZ72yYrhEYJ1Gr1VQx7GvE5N-bvMmFzislpewEqYCD0ABvFqCT9RjgFV5LzMfV_zbh/s640/dixie86b.jpg" width="502" /></a></div>
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Films at the convention were 16mm prints run off a clackety projector. These included, of course, the Star Trek Blooper Reel, which was a highlight of conventions since in the pre-VHS days conventions were the only place you could see them. Of course you couldn't get Dr. Who episodes on 16mm so the convention used their ten-foot video projection screen. Remember those three-lens RGB projectors?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKCQXpmvDTE4fTITX0ywVtVEY4cB9MkHuNIBS3j_qxQ1pfis3lK-SYOzrM-FN8BhKg0sVASBQsykDdHtDQoJXEV-we3Gfo7j1mFBSNxh2fYOxDSyAbVpDaeK5jVJWWqJWjAtseV8xLlr06/s1600/dixie86c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="647" data-original-width="504" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKCQXpmvDTE4fTITX0ywVtVEY4cB9MkHuNIBS3j_qxQ1pfis3lK-SYOzrM-FN8BhKg0sVASBQsykDdHtDQoJXEV-we3Gfo7j1mFBSNxh2fYOxDSyAbVpDaeK5jVJWWqJWjAtseV8xLlr06/s640/dixie86c.jpg" width="498" /></a></div>
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The world of Japanese animation was only then beginning to carve out a foothold among the Trekkies and Whovians of the world, and I can assure you that every bit of anime shown at this Dixie-Trek was copies of copies of copies of Project A-Ko and the Macross movie. Advance tickets were only $22, which was probably a lot back in 1986, but these days is pretty much what you'd pay for an advance ticket at a comparable show. Though these days you will probably get gouged for autographs, priority seating, and "VIP Access". Note the Century Center was charging $59 a night. You can't get a Super-8 room for that price any more.<br />
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Dixie-Trek faded away in the mid 1990s as Atlanta fan conventions crumbled under the onslaught of Dragon-Con; the Trekkies of the 70s and 80s found themselves with kids, jobs, and no time for filking, while the new fandom of the 1990s wouldn't be caught dead getting Billy Mumy's autograph, instead preferring to play video games and get Todd McFarlane's autograph.<br />
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"Dixie-Trek" was also used as the name of a sci-fi convention in Mississippi attended by a character on the TV show "Big Bang Theory". Somebody owes Owen Ogletree some royalties, is all I'm saying.<br />
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AWA would hold its third and fourth conventions at the Century Center, which is now a Marriott property and seems to have undergone a complete makeover. If you are planning a 900-1200 person event I highly recommend the Century Center; lots of good memories there.</div>
d.merrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07704651182760972937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5086064253442964633.post-6246183589173746422011-09-01T16:18:00.000-07:002019-02-11T03:25:45.221-08:00Overview: the 1990s<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Okay, so there was this convention in Atlanta called the Atlanta Fantasy Fair, and according to the internets it might as well not have existed. But exist it did, from 1975 until 1995. The following is an incomplete overview of the AFFs of the 1990s, when and where they were held, and who was there. Information has been culled from various sources including AFF program books, convention listings, usenet posts, and comments from readers. I will keep updating this post as more information comes in. If you have any data, image files of flyers or artwork, t-shirts, program books, please contact me at <a href="mailto:terebifunhouse@gmail.com">terebifunhouse@gmail.com</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks to all those who have contributed!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>1990 Atlanta Fantasy Fair XVI</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">August 17-19, 1990</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Omni Hotel & World Congress Center</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Guests: Jack Kirby, John deLancie, Sandahl Bergman, Catherine Hicks, Julie Schwartz, Sharon Green, Linda Thorson, Martin Caidin, Greg Theakston, Boris Vallejo, and Carl Macek. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>1991 Atlanta Fantasy Fair XVII</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">July 26-28, 1991</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Atlanta Hilton & Towers</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Guests: Marina Sirtis, Dean Stockwell, Marc Singer, Matt Wagner, Julie Schwartz, Greg Bear. </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sneak preview of "Beastmaster 2". Costume Contest, "Wheel Of Fantasy". </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>1992 Atlanta Fantasy Fair XVIII </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">June 19-21 1992</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hyatt Atlanta Airport & Georgia International Convention Center</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Guests: Peter David, Bob Burden, Stephen R. Donaldson, Kim Cattrall, Lance Henrikson (cancelled) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>1993 Atlanta Fantasy Fair XIX </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">June 25-27 1993</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hyatt Atlanta Airport </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">& Georgia International Convention Center</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Guests: David Prowse, Grace Lee Whitney, Caroline Munro, Monique Gabrielle, Jeff Rector, Gunnar Hanson, Irish McCalla. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Memberships: $27 until 6/5, $30 at door.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>1994 Atlanta Fantasy Fair XX</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">June 17-19, 1994</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza, Atlanta GA. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Guests: Sarah Douglas, Bruce Campbell, Jeff Rector, Geraint Wyn Davies, John Russo, Ted V. Mikels. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Memberships: $27 until June 5, $30 at door. Rooms $79 single/double, $99 triple/quad.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>1995 Atlanta Fantasy Fair XXI, June 23-25</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Castlegate Hotel, Atlanta GA.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Guests: Claudia Christian, Dirk Benedict, Dwight Schultz, Jeff Pittarelli, Don Hillsman II, Wayne VanSant, Joe Phillips. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Memberships $35 for 3 days. Rooms $69.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, as we can see, the convention went from being Atlanta's premier SF/Fantasy gathering with top-notch guests and venues (Stan Lee, Al Williamson, Jim Steranko, Ray Harryhausen, the Omni, the Hilton) to a confused mish-mash of scream queens, airbrush artists, and B-movie personalities, operating out of the Castlegate (!). More information about the Castlegate may be found <a href="http://atlantafantasyfair.blogspot.com/2008/09/castlegate.html"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">here</span></a>.</span></div>
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d.merrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07704651182760972937noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5086064253442964633.post-34179448302810511932011-09-01T16:13:00.000-07:002019-02-07T09:56:40.285-08:00overview: the 1980s<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Okay, so there was this convention in Atlanta called the Atlanta Fantasy Fair, and according to the internets it might as well not have existed. But exist it did, from 1975 until 1995. The following is an incomplete overview of the AFFs of the 1980s, when and where they were held, and who was there. Information has been culled from various sources including AFF program books, convention listings, usenet posts, and comments from readers. I will keep updating this post as more information comes in. If you have any data, image files of flyers or artwork, t-shirts, program books, please contact me at <a href="mailto:terebifunhouse@gmail.com">terebifunhouse@gmail.com</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Thanks to all those who have contributed!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>1980 Atlanta Fantasy Fair VI</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">July 25-27, 1980</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Location: Dunfey's Royal Coach </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Guests: Robert Bloch</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Visions #2 published.</span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Gil Kane was due at 80 show, but didn't make it. Robert Bloch, however was there. They showed his 3 STOS episodes prior to/in conjunction with his presentation. (T. Johnson)</span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>1981 Atlanta Fantasy Fair VII</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">July 24-26, 1981</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Location: Dunfey's Royal Coach / Castlegate.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Guests: Al Williamson, Michael Whelan, Bob Burden, Mike Jittlov? Visions #3 published.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>1982 Atlanta Fantasy Fair VIII</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">August 13-15</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Omni Hotel & World Congress Center, Atlanta GA</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Guests: Frank Miller, Ray Harryhausen, Will Eisner, Philip Jose Farmer, Forrest J. Ackerman, Bob Burden, Mike Barr, Dick Giordano, Brad Linaweaver, Somtow Sucharitkul, Len Wein, musical guests "Axis". 4000 copies of program book (Visions #4) published.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>1983 Atlanta Fantasy Fair IX</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">August 5-7</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Omni Hotel & Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta GA. Guests: Theodore & Jayne Sturgeon, Gerald Page, WSFAns Ted White & Forrest J Ackerman, Bob Burden, Forry Ackerman, Bob McLeod, Wendy and Richard Pini& more. Rooms were $44 a night, 3 day passes were $19.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>1984 Atlanta Fantasy Fair X</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">August 3-5</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: helvetica neue, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Omni Hotel & World Congress Center, Atlanta, GA. GOH: Larry Niven. With: Forrest J Ackerman, </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Robert Bloch, </span></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Al Williamson, Marv Wolfman, B</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ill <span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Sienkiewicz<span style="font-size: 13.2134px;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: helvetica neue, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">, Howard Chaykin, Chris Claremont, Sharon Webb, Richard Pini & others. Membership: $25. Write to: Atlanta Fantasy Fair. P.O. Box 566, Marietta, GA 30061</span></span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"Not only saw Buckaroo Banzai, but I have a real polyester Buckaroo Banzai headband given out as a freebie at the Atlanta Fantasy Fair in the summer of 1984. I wonder if anyone's insane enouW^W^W^^W what it would go for on Ebay? (jackd) "</span></em><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>1985 Atlanta Fantasy Fair XI</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">August 2-4, 1985</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Omni/WCC. Newt Gingrich and Fredrick Pohl are guests.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>1986 Atlanta Fantasy Fair XII</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">July 25-27, 1986</span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I attended the 1985 and 1986 AFF.(...) But for the 1986 one, Stan Lee was there with a clip from the upcoming monster hit movie "Howard The Duck". It was a big deal at the time. Other guests for the 1986 AFF were Jim Shooter, Chris Claremont, Archie Goodwin and Tom DeFalco. (J. Helmick) </span></em><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>1987 Atlanta Fantasy Fair XIII</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">July 31-August 2, 1987</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Guests: Adam West, Nichelle Nichols, Caroline Munroe, Tom Savini</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Omni /WCC. Lamar Waldron displaced as con chair before the 1987 convention.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVlyxMZEQ86Re36Bsg8Y6cgEzWxJtnTVBYZUKzLQVAhsd2Rv0uIG0JJiuU9Z0LVrzB7sgJzP61bSWMi1IuSkoWTk0I50fWnzPeOK7wAIna9RRd_CLJl_KbmN5YEO18Y9TFg9O4J4F8d-3C/s1600/aff87book.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVlyxMZEQ86Re36Bsg8Y6cgEzWxJtnTVBYZUKzLQVAhsd2Rv0uIG0JJiuU9Z0LVrzB7sgJzP61bSWMi1IuSkoWTk0I50fWnzPeOK7wAIna9RRd_CLJl_KbmN5YEO18Y9TFg9O4J4F8d-3C/s320/aff87book.jpg" width="200" yda="true" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>1988 Atlanta Fantasy Fair XVI</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">June 24-26, 1988</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Atlanta Hilton & Towers in Atlanta, GA. Convention location displaced due to Democratic National Convention in Atlanta. Guests: Stan Lee, Mark Gruenwald, Chris Claremont, Steve Jackson and others.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>1989 Atlanta Fantasy Fair XV</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">July 21-23 1989</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Atlanta Hilton and Towers, Atlanta, GA.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Guests: George Perez, Michael Dorn, Jerry Robinson, Gary Gygax</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAIR3RUAowgH0VZkjHZLk2tgYzvFQDJyjz0BRSQA6HCLJYfIRCMy-Cb5-pQC2SwRhx-PGIBGt3xObQhL1s7LIj8FehdYj8YCsUxtrOnJwDx1bjYslxSxVCCSbIW1b0TnXxm6fPTJWbniah/s1600/1989+BLUESTAR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="593" data-original-width="800" height="474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAIR3RUAowgH0VZkjHZLk2tgYzvFQDJyjz0BRSQA6HCLJYfIRCMy-Cb5-pQC2SwRhx-PGIBGt3xObQhL1s7LIj8FehdYj8YCsUxtrOnJwDx1bjYslxSxVCCSbIW1b0TnXxm6fPTJWbniah/s640/1989+BLUESTAR.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">enjoy a psychic adventure at AFF '89</span></i></td></tr>
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d.merrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07704651182760972937noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5086064253442964633.post-17901020495539131112011-09-01T16:12:00.000-07:002019-02-08T04:42:17.424-08:00overview: the 1970s<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Okay, so there was this convention in Atlanta called the Atlanta Fantasy Fair, and according to the internets it might as well not have existed. But exist it did, from 1975 until 1995. The following is an incomplete overview of the Atlanta Fantasy Fairs 1975-1979, when and where they were held, and who was there. Information has been culled from various sources including AFF program books, convention listings, usenet posts, and comments from readers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I will keep updating this post as more information comes in. If you have any data, image files of flyers or artwork, t-shirts, program books, please contact me at terebifunhouse@gmail.com</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Thanks to all those who have contributed!</span></div>
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<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3609/607/1600/179352/aff2.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/3609/607/320/797968/aff2.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>1975 Atlanta Comics And Fantasy Fair I</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>August 22-24, 1975</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ramada Inn, I-85 and Monroe Drive</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">attendance 500 (?)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><em>"At the first Atlanta Fantasy Fair in 1975, the guests were Stan Lee, Kenneth Smith, and me, with my Superman collection." M. Curtis </em>Mike emailed me later to correct his name and to note that he sketched on stage while Stan Lee came out dressed as Superman, infringing upon any number of copyrights.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Listen to a WAGA radio news report about the first AFF <a href="http://www.misterkitty.org/dave/letsanime/7506_2Comics-Waga-5.mp3">here!</a> (thanks to Don)</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>poster for the first Atlanta Comics & Fantasy Fair</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>1976 Atlanta </b></span><b style="font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Comics And</b><b style="font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> Fantasy Fair II</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">August 13-15 1976</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Location: Marriott Downtown</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Guests: Frank Brunner, Steve Gerber, Dick Giordano, and Kenneth Smith</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPhaQsQ3GhIQfN1BGBi39VyAQVke4i1h1eifp10q7_T9XysAXs0j5FSBWyLP-WCVDsB2BrtZ1ZRZ_bbc8FkFaODqF4w7-e5nZ3ievnGf66j4epRWkebxcWjD1V8_SGlYoT76uhQvaRDXv3/s1600/conventions2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="813" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPhaQsQ3GhIQfN1BGBi39VyAQVke4i1h1eifp10q7_T9XysAXs0j5FSBWyLP-WCVDsB2BrtZ1ZRZ_bbc8FkFaODqF4w7-e5nZ3ievnGf66j4epRWkebxcWjD1V8_SGlYoT76uhQvaRDXv3/s320/conventions2.jpg" width="314" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>1977 Atlanta </b></span><b style="font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Comics And </b><b style="font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Fantasy Fair III</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">August 5-7, 1977</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Location: Dunfey's Royal Coach (Castlegate)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Guests: Neal Adams, Kenneth Smith</span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There was the CONAN van, parked INSIDE for I think the 77 show at the Dunfey/Castlegate. (T. Johnson)</span></em></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Dr. Smith was a guest at all of them up until 1988 or so I believe. He quit coming after he tried to intervene in a very loud and childish argument that some gamers were having while he was trying to give a seminar on techniques. On of the gamers viciously insulted him, and he's never been back to an Atlanta con since.("billy goat")</span></em><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJhnU8NBnsnjnqLB1W7AU72sHVzB8_A233GPm6F4r7Fx5vPOZDEi_WiDLZEiXr5OCUMmchA9PAjVRhy5h3BEk1FTYpDOXO63w0udMuuoKy8iU8s9JxwOzGDHc9MCRDk7iOUSCQo10SNX5y/s1600/conan+van.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="176" data-original-width="286" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJhnU8NBnsnjnqLB1W7AU72sHVzB8_A233GPm6F4r7Fx5vPOZDEi_WiDLZEiXr5OCUMmchA9PAjVRhy5h3BEk1FTYpDOXO63w0udMuuoKy8iU8s9JxwOzGDHc9MCRDk7iOUSCQo10SNX5y/s400/conan+van.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>1978 Atlanta </b></span><b style="font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Comics And </b><b style="font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Fantasy Fair IV.</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">August 11-13 1978</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Location Dunfey's Royal Coach (Castlegate).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Guests: Stan Lee, Jim Starlin, Howard Chaykin, Jim Steranko</span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1978, first convention: Atlanta Comics & Fantasy Fair. Stan Lee, Starlin, Chaykin, Steranko. For some weird reason, Robert Conrad was hanging around the lobby on Saturday night. </span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>1979 Atlanta </b></span><b style="font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Comics And </b><b style="font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> Fantasy Fair V.</b><br />
<b style="font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">August 10-12, 1979</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Location: Sheraton Century Center.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">attendance 1800 (?)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Guests: John Byrne, Dave and Deni Sim, Howard Chaykin, Jim Steranko, Gil Kane, Kenneth Smith, Richard Meyers</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><em>"In 1979 Deni and I had the table next to John Byrne at the Atlanta Fantasy Fair and we made a fortune on back issues and sketches... " (Dave Sim)</em> Visions #1 was published.</span><br />
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d.merrillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07704651182760972937noreply@blogger.com0