Actually having shame.

Sunday, an old friend came up to town in order to go to our local comic book show. This apparently happens twice a year or so and attracts the few local comics professionals, and he wanted to get some things signed.

I’m not a big comics fan, and not a habitual con-goer, but I tagged along anyway. We collected a third friend, who’s recently gone through a major comic book burnout, on the way.

So, count so far: Three people, of whom only one actually buys comics on a regular basis.

I haven’t been to the local comic book show in quite a while – quite possibly not since 1995. The venue hasn’t changed much – it’s still a bunch of folding tables laid out in the dungeon-like basement of the local convention center, and the overall air of “please buy this crap so I don’t have to carry it home” hasn’t changed much, either. I found that I could get offered an instant discount at most tables just by picking something up, looking at it, and putting it back down.

I had to buy SOMETHING after paying seven bucks to walk in the door, and I didn’t really feel like comics shopping, so I wound up buying a couple of Monsieur Bome figures.

One I quite like:

The Bome figures have been around for quite some while, and this “toramusume” is the second in the series. It might be a little overdone in terms of sheer number of moe fetishes, but I thought it was a really well made figure. Detailed, a neat dynamic pose, and surprisingly stable thanks to a solid base and some clever balance work.

Then there’s this:

Misty May is Gainax’s over-the-top parody of magical girls show heroines, as seen in Otaku no Video, and since I was going on about Otaku no Video a few days ago, I felt compelled to buy this figure when I saw it.

Having brought it home and put it on the shelf, though, I’m kind of regretting that. It’s a well made figure, sure, but, well, the pose is, uh, well, I’m actually a little ashamed to have it on display. I didn’t think that possible, but apparently even I have my limits.