I don’t actively read comics, though I do have a passing familiarity with both Marvel’s and DC’s stable of superheroes. In addition, I love the culture that comic books have helped foster. So when the Oracle received some tickets to cover the Midwest Comic Book Association’s Fall ComicCon, I decided to head down. It would be my first comic con, and while certainly not on the level of the world famous San Diego Comic Con, it would still be an experience.

The line to get in stretched for about a block outside the Education Building at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds. Some in line had canned food, since a donation would knock a dollar off the admission fee. Seeing as we had tickets already, this wasn’t an issue, but its always nice to hear about a con doing good. After waiting for about 15 minutes, we entered the con itself. There would be no panels or gaming at the convention, just lots of dealers from near and far. There was merchandise for sale, creators signing works, cosplayers, and even an Elvis impersonator. And comics. Lots and lots of comics.

There were a lot of older comics from the seventies and earlier for sale in longboxes and on proud display. Digging in the longboxes, which often held comics for a dollar, was an experience. As someone who’s dug around music stores for obscure CDs, it was fairly similar to that. I didn’t find anything that I personally wanted, but I am glad I got the chance to do it. For those wondering, I was looking for either the Marvel series Brute Force, about cybernetically enhanced animals fighting for environmentalism (take that Captain Planet), or the Transformers comic “The Carwash of Doom.” Oh the eighties…

The Education building didn’t feel like a sufficient place to hold everybody. The con had booths lining the walls and three or four aisles with booths on either side of the aisle. They were usually relatively small, so they were bursting with geeky goods and the geeks looking at them. We were trapped in booths a few times waiting for people to finish shopping.

And the merchandise was incredibly varied, from handmade buttons and bead art to Deathly Hallows pocket watches to old Lego sets. There were three booths that sold various Lego minifigures as a sizable portion of their stock, even some custom figures of characters like Goku from Dragonball Z.

Some highlights of FallCon included the Arkham Asylum funhouse booth with Duela Dent and Poison Ivy cosplayers, the 501st Legion of Star Wars cosplayers, and the fact that there were plenty of kids there. Some of the kids even dressed up. We saw Wolverine with his dad Star-Lord, for instance, as well as a very cute Elsa.

But for me, all of this paled in comparison to finding a truly legendary piece of nerd culture. In one of the booths I found a DVD of the Star Wars Holiday Special. Broadcast in 1978, it has never been aired since or officially released in any format. Considering the merchandising juggernaut that is Star Wars, that says something about this thing’s quality. Despite being the introduction of fan-favorite character Boba Fett, George Lucas reportedly wants to smash every copy with a sledgehammer, and Carrie Fisher keeps a copy to scare away party guests who stay too long. Yes, it is apparently that bad. Yet here it was, for a mere $10.

We took a picture of it, and then I went home, happy that I would never have to say I bought the Star Wars Holiday Special at my first con.