The Mr. Silver Age Trivia Panel

I attended the Mr. Silver Age Trivia Contest panel at the first day of C2E2 yesterday. Triviamaster and Comics Buyer's Guide columnist Craig Shutt began his annual get-together long ago at Chicago's WizardWorld convention and then switched it over at the first C2E2 convention two years ago. (A couple of years ago a fan participant was needed from the audience to join the group on stage and I almost answered the question correctly; yes, I said almost.)

The format is a game show in which the Triviamaster asks questions of the Fan Team (consisting of four knowledgeable comics fans) and the Pro Team (consisting of Mark Waid). I think I remember that in the earliest years there used to be four players on the Pro Team, but that was quickly proven to be unnecessary. (One time Mark Waid was not in attendance at the convention and he participated from afar via a cell phone propped up in the chair of the Pro Team, or did I dream this?)

As the curtain was raised yesterday, Mr. Waid got the ball rolling by inviting audience members on the far side of the room to hold up any Silver Age comics they had with them and he would identify the issue number. He did quite well at this challenge other than (surprisingly) having a bit of weakness when it came to Hawkman issues.

Both Teams found this year's slate of questions to be more difficult than those of past years. Some samples: How many people were on the cover of Fantastic Four #1? (The answer is 9) and How many faces are on the cover of Avengers #4? (The answer is 11). Mark Waid commented a few times that this was the lowest scoring Contest ever and, when he would occasionally give a wrong answer the Fan Team ribbed him by saying That's what happens when you sell all your comics! (For a reminder of what that reference is all about, please take another look at this hayfamzone article.)

It was a fun panel, as always. If you haven't yet but you'd like to experience the Mr. Silver Age Trivia Contest, here is a youtube video of the first ten minutes of the 2006 Contest.