Lawn-Con comic-book show returns

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Chris Yambar’s Lawn-Con 2011 comic-book show will return Saturday for the second year. The event will be from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the front yard of Yambar’s home at 23 S. Hartford Ave., on the West Side. Admission is free.

Comic-book fans can meet independent and mainstream creators, artists and writers for free, which Yambar called a rare opportunity. “It usually costs anywhere from $15 to $30 a day to just walk into a comic convention,” he said.

This year’s Lawn-Con will feature the stars behind several comic books, including Bart Simpson, Donald Duck, Thor, Spider-Man, Popeye, Superman, I Dream of Jeannie, Lost In Space, Green Lantern and Batman. There also will be live music, thousands of $1 comic back issues, limited-edition T-shirts and prints, costumed superheroes and an opportunity to get photos with three-dimensional sculptures of The Simpsons.

First Book of Mahoning Valley will be represented as a non-profit charity, and new children’s books will be given to any child who asks for one between 1 and 5 p.m.

Yambar is a comic book artist and writer who started Lawn-Con last year. His goal is to bring comic books back into the mainstream.

“I’m fed up with the way the comic-book industry has distanced itself from the public,” he said. “It’s been killing itself off for the past 20 years and is experiencing the worst sales figures ever as a result. There was a time when you could buy comics almost anywhere and for a reasonable price. Now, comics are isolated to specialty shops that seem to be going out of business every few months, and comic books are 10 to 20 times as much to purchase.”

Yambar said Lawn-Con’s goal is to bring comic-book readers and creators together. “It’s grass roots, sort of campy, old-fashioned and lots of fun,” he said.

There are no public restrooms at Lawn-Con, and no food or drinks will be sold.