Drawn from memory

It's easy to get so caught up in Hollywood angles of Comic-Con that the original purpose of the event -- to buy and sell vintage comics -- gets overlooked.

I just wandered through the dealer's tables and looked at some fantastic old comics, my favorites being the gorgeous Mac Raboy issues of "Captain Marvel, Jr." from the 1940s. Those books had a lasting impact on pop-culture in a curious way: Elvis Presley, in his Vegas years, designed his jumpsuits, high collars and short cape on Raboy's classic hero.

If I had a bigger bank account, what would I buy today? Some original art from comics I loved when I was a kid. These are the one-of-a-kind pages drawn by the artists at the first step of the production process of comics. The market for these singular, poster-size slices of pop culture has exploded in recent years, and with such icons as Neal Adams or the late Jack Kirby, the prices go into six digits.

Good thing I left my checkbook in L.A.

--Geoff Boucher

An original drawing for sale at Comic-Con of art by Jack Kirby, characters trademarked by Marvel Comics. (Photo by Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times)