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A reader comment here on The Beat has led us to resurrect the trail of Rick Olney, convention promoter extraordinaire. How extraordinaire? Well, he just seems to keep cancelling convention after convention after convention. He’s also led to an epic 30,000+ post thread at Gail Simone’s CBR forum which includes all sorts of reports of Olney ripping people off, amidst legal threats and very very funny rantings by Olney.

140-4008 ImgWell, now it seems that the Mighty Mini-Con that he SWEARS will be held June 23-24 is being held in a secret location. The website has been taken down, and only Olney’s MySpace page remains with this chilling and cryptic message:

“JUNE MMC UPDATE: CAMPING AREA STILL AVAILABLE FOR THOSE ASKING EARLIER VERSUS HOTEL. CONTACT ME!


Wow. Camping for the con. The images this idea conjures are somewhere between Deliverance and Hostel, with a little bit of Apocalypse Now thrown in for good measure.

While we didn’t read the whole CBR thread, an Elite Beat Operative summarized it for us. It seem Olney originally offered tickets for the Mini-Con through the mail, even though he had never announced a venue. The guests were an artist named Jason Dube and a Hot Wheels collector. Despite the rather petite guest list, Olney later said advance tickets had “sold out.” Apparently there were mucho shennanigans at the MMC message board (now since sadly removed) including pictures of toilets full of shit aimed at Gail Simone.

Then he announced that the show was no longer open to the general public. So now, it’s in a secret location, no one’s invited, and no one knows where it is, except the people who are going to creep out into the woods to camp at Mighty Mini-Con, PENNSIC-stylee.

Wow.

Folks, YOU CAN’T MAKE THIS SHIT UP!

For more info, check out the UNSCREWED website.

1 COMMENT

  1. I too am hosting a secret comic book show. mine is only open to pretty girls aged between 23-45.

    Feel free to email me for an invite.

    (you have to admit this is way less creepy then a camping invite)

    saul

  2. You forgot to mention that he also offered special Unscrewed! Glasses for those who showed up to his non-con, before Mac sent a Cease and Desist letter, then he claimed that the glasses would not be available due to a lack of fine chinese craftsmanship. However that didn’t seem to effect us in obtaining some for sale for the unscrewed! fund.

    http://pics.livejournal.com/coppervale/pic/000az3b1.jpg

    ($2.50 for anyone who wants one, check the unscrewed! website for details)

    Yes, there were photos full of excriment on his mighty minicon site, and not to mention posting a photo of beloved indie comic creator J. Morgan Neal from his booth at CAPE in Texas and refering to him as a “fat little thug”

    I hope you all have your bags packed, and are looking forward to a good time! MMC’07 is going full steam ahead if of course you can traverse the clues to the honeycomb hideout and find the Van Of Justice (tm & c) to the most imaginary convention of them all!!!!!!!!!

  3. Wait, which Hot Wheels collector? Because if it’s the one I’m thinking of, there’s no way I’m going. That guy is an asshole. Then again, if it’s the other guy I have in mind, this could be the best convention ever. In the world. Of all time. Seriously. Hot Wheels collector.

  4. Again, it’s hilarious, and the whole story is even funnier, but the unfunny side is this guy is STILL trying to weasel his way back into an industry he was never a part of to begin with. He’s still trying to solicit artists, mostly newbies and foreign artists who won’t know his reputation for cheating creators over and over, he’s still claiming to have a double-ultra secret convention going, and now he’s added a claim that he’s starting (apparently) both an online comics ordering service and a brick and mortar location, within the next few months. With Rick’s business sense, I think we can fully expect the destruction of the universe in the unlikely event that any of these things actually occur.

    Just beware if approached by Rick Olney, his apologist pal Dennis Kininger, or anything related to ORCA, Mighty Mini Con, Tightlip Entertainment, or Whizbang Comics. You’ll be much happier if you give these ‘men’ a wide berth.

    Gail

  5. Heidi, you underestimate this doofus. The picture of the toilet overflowing with, um, toilet matter? It wasn’t hidden away on some message board. No, this was on the front page of the site that was promoting his supposed con. Yes, that will help promote comics to the masses!

    He’s recently done a round of cease-and-desist emails aimed at getting people to stop talking about him and his methods. There’s nothing sadder-looking than a would-be bully who seems to realize that no one is actually scared of him, but he keeps trying because it’s the only trick he thinks he knows.

  6. I think we have it saved at Unscrewed, along with dozens of other choice Olney meltdown moments.

    But yeah, this was the front page advertising his con, which he claims was to help build the readership for comics, young and old.

    Rick has a SERIOUS problem with women, and eventually calls any of them who stand up to him by really grotesque and often sexual names.

    Guy is one of the all-time biggest losers in comics history, and that’s SAYING something.

    Gail

  7. Unless you’re selling manure crap filled toliets aren’t a great way to promote your products.

    Of course, no one ever accused Rick Olney of having great business sense.

    Smelly-Tent Con ’07 stands as testament.

    Really, it can’t be said enough. Do business with Rick Olney or any of his failures-in-waiting at your own risk. The list of people burned financially, professionally, and emotionally by Rick is a long one.

  8. I posted yesterday about the website. Email wasn’t working. Surprised anyone noticed, but …

    Lots of people have attempted comic shows and publications, with varying degrees of success. If things aren’t working out for Rick, fair enough … Maybe the problem is that he aspires to be a WizardWorld size show, and ruffles feathers when things don’t work out. Then he proceeds to ruffle them even further with his commentary.

    My pal Redhead Fangirl and I run a small show twice a year in NJ. Nice little show, we’ve made some friends, made very little money, but dealers, guests and attendees seem happy. I suppose we could aspire to be WizardWorld, but then we’d be following Rick’s business plan (Start Big and Alienate Everyone).

    A trained professional should read the legendary CBR thread. There’s definitely a case study in there somewhere. Maybe we could all chip in and purchase some medication for him.

  9. A couple items that were overlooked…

    Olney said that his convention would be in proximity to a waterpark, and that all Con Special Guests would enjoy a free day there. There’s only one waterpark in his area, and only one hotel in proximity to it. (Google will help you.) Somebody, I believe it was James Owen, pointed out that hotels have VERY different rules and requirements for public events than for private ones, A much larger deposit, business license, liability insurance, etc. Suddenly the Mighty Mini-Con became a “private” event.

    According to an e-mail I received from Olney while trying to talk some sense into him, he has no less than 45 people coming to his “convention” (read: backyard barbecue).

    The toilet image was Rick momentarily recognizing that nobody but UNSCREWED! and YABS participants ever looks at any of his sites, at which point he began using the public face of his company as a personal blog, and a spiteful, juvenile one, at that.

  10. Oh, and the MMC site was taken down after Matt Doc Martin complained that Rick had posted photos from his site without permission. So the hosting company contacted Rick and told him of the complaint. Rather than acting like a rational human and discussing the matter calmly with the hosting company, working out a solution by perhaps pointing to the “fair use” clause of copyright law and stating that his use of Matt’s photos constituted journalistic or commentary usage, or maybe just taking down the photo in question and moving on to a new tack, Rick chose another way.

    He decided that getting huffy and belligerent with the people who host his site would be an effective approach. They might have been inclined to side with their paying (a word seldom used in reference to Rick) customer, but Rick had to do his damnedest to alienate them. They pulled the plug without a second’s hesitation.

    I believe Rick is currently sticking with the same line a kid uses when he falls off his skateboard and lands face-first on the pavement: “I meant to do that.”

  11. I had no idea that you guys ran a show. Why did someone not inform me?

    I MUST BE INFORMED! :)

    Rick’s problem isn’t so much that he aims high and fails, it’s that he takes people down with him, and cheats them all, then threatens and abuses them. He’s not a big dreamer, he’s a serial deadbeat.

    But I agree about the delusions.

    Gail

  12. Just a warning to everyone that has now posted to this item, who hasn’t posted to the CBR thread, you are all now going to get threats of lawsuits for libel from Olney.

    But don’t fret. His threats of lawsuits have been an ongoing thing for over ten years, and nobody has yet to even hear a peep from his “leaggle teams.” Unless of course, you count “Stephen Harris Esq.” who posted as Rick’s lawyer years ago on Comicon.com, until it was revealed to be one of the hundreds of sock-puppets Olney has used. Or the 18 year old legal student MySpace girl he posed as.

    He’s an impotent wannabe. Do not fear him. Just stay away from him, and everything he is involved in.

  13. You know… Knoebels Grove, an amusement park in Elysburg PA, used to have an annual comic book show in the late 90s. And conveniently enough, they have a campground there. Not too far from upstate NY either.

    I wonder…

  14. This is hilarious! Heido-Ho, neighbor! Barbis, you’re just crusin’ for a realistic brusin’ … liar. lol

    Okay, kids! Go play! Be sure to eat and eat and eat until You’re as big as a certain red headed peckerwood!

  15. Kneon writes:
    “And conveniently enough, they have a campground there. Not too far from upstate NY either.
    I wonder…”

    Cue the dramatic music?

  16. TYPO ALERT! AROOGA AROOGA! TYPO ALERT!

    Gail Simone wrote: “Just beware if approached by Rick Olney … or Whizbang Comics. You’ll be much happier if you give these ‘men’ a wide berth.”

    Whiz Bang Toys (single z) is NOT Olney!

    Said another way …

    Whiz Bang Toys (single z) is NOT Olney!

    Ok, that was the same way, but still …

    Whiz Bang Toys (single z) is NOT Olney!

    From Tony Isabella’s YABS post #31549

    >

    Whizz Bang Comics (note double z) is Olney’s proposed venture.

    Did I mention …

    Whiz Bang Toys (single z) is NOT Olney!

  17. Wow. I think Olney has supplanted Micah Wright as “the second man to be kicked out of comics.”
    Micah will work in comics again before Olney puts on another con.

    And camping? Why combine an abbatoir with Deliverance?

  18. Someone should pay someone to take Olney up on his offer and attend one of his cons while filming it. “Searching for Olney”. Instant oscar-material! And the dvd would sell like hotcakes.

  19. Olney can’t be the second man to be kicked out of comics.

    He’s never gotten in.

    He’s not only not gotten work for any other publisher, he’s apparently unable to even self-publish.

    He’s a wannabe comics creator turned wannabe bully.

  20. Ahhh…Rick Olney, the proverbial bad penny. Except after all his court losses, he is worth less than that.

    Paid Donovan yet, Rick?

    Paid anyone yet, Rick?

    How is that Con coming? After losing your Website (that HAD to sting, eh?) you no longer proclaim advance tickets sold out with no guests listed.

    You lose, Rick. Get used to it.

  21. Rick appears, makes a threat, calls people telling the truth ” liars ” and leaves with an insult to someone who doesn’t deserve it.

    Same ol’ gassy, lying, cowardly Olney.

  22. Didn’t the exchange with the hosting company go something like this?:

    Host: Excuse me, Mr. Olney, but there has been a couple complaints about some copyright material posted on it.

    Rick: What?! You’re listening to a bunch of libelous haters? I know my rights and you can’t tell me what I can or can’t put on my site. You know what? Nevermind. Just cancel my account. I don’t want to do business with you any more. *click*

    Later…
    Host: Excuse me, Mr. Martin, but the client in question has decided to no longer to business with us and the site will be disconnected. Have a nice day.

  23. wow…..just wow. good old rick. you can always count on him to pop in on anything with his magical words of wisom. I”M GONnA SUE YOU (Insert Racist, sexist, or homophobic comment here) then he’s going to follow that up with a nonsensical comment about his brain disfunction and that his convention is still a go and he’s got amazing guests for his sold out convention….where there are campgrounds available…..

  24. Paul Smith beat me too it.

    Damn him and his ability to pay attention to this thing. First off YAY Heidi got the comments working again (he says before he even tries to post) Secondly, yes, Gail mistyped. WHIZZ-BANG (note the two z’s and the hyphen) is the thing that Rick has set up, with God knows who.

    Whizbang is a successful retailer in Florida that wants everyone to know that they have nothing to do with Rick Olney, Orca, or Tightlip Entertainment.

    So Whizz-Bang in Upstate NY = Bad. Whizbang in Florida = Good.

    And if you want any of those awful thingies he posted. Contact Matt. He has them all PDF’d.

    And yes, I am still waiting on my reperations check.

    It should be interesting to see how long I can hold my breath.

  25. There you have it. Never pays his bills, lies to everyone, and threatens and insults anyone who calls him on it.

    Rick, you’re a disgusting deadbeat, the whole industry knows it.

    Check out comicbookresources for some new Olney classics too revolting (and hilarious) to believe.

    Why does NO ONE who has dealt with you stick up for you, Rick, except Dennis Kininger, who has said awful things about you in email?

    Geez, seems like if you were half as wonderful and important as you pretend to be, you wouldn’t have such an endless parade of former friends stepping up to say that you’d lied, cheated, and threatened them.

    Well, guess what, Rick?

    No one’s scared. You could not actually be less of a windbag empty threat machine if you tried.

    Good luck with your double-secret camping convention and your shameless Spider-man rip-off!

    Gail

  26. You know, it really doesn’t take a genius to realize that showing up to insult and even threaten people in the reply section of a newsblog that has an article on what a fantastic failure and rip-off artist you are… is NOT a good idea. Way to go, OKRA… I’m sure you’ve won many a reader over to your side with your bully mentality. Anyone casually perusing this item who is not connected to the industry will immediately make up their mind based on your total lack of a defense and your immediate need to be on the attack. Nice job, dimwit.

  27. Whats silly is the image of a bunch of retailers outside in the cold woods with a bunch of comics and longboxes …and a Bear attacks. I know its wrong to visualize this image and all. But from what Rick Olney is attempting with a camping Con the sillest damn thing pops into my mind.

    I’m sure those who are supposed to eat on Olney’s dime will be handed a fishing pole and told they have to catch their own eats. :)

  28. Hey! What is really funny is how hard all these readers of Heidi’s actually look to be the same people living out their fetish fantasies with me. lol

    H.R.’s remarks are funny though..

    No, actually the 2007 MMC is private and everyone attending will be treated to an entire weekend at a water theme park, some camping (if that is their choice over a hotel room) and some nice activities that (obviously) a bunch of you couldn’t appreciate.

    Heidi, don’t ever throw those lime green panties away, sweety!

    Koben, I’m pretty sure you’re one of the secret members of the Ronee club, right? Keep that head shaved and goatee, you sexy devil!

    “Gail” I had a cousin that had a bitch that crotch sniffed like you do. She, unlike you, was able to stay away from the donuts. Keep enjoying that decent ride in Wonder Woman’s invisible jet!

    R.

  29. What’s HILARIOUS is that you’re a serial deadbeat with a history of cheating people, including children, going back at least ten years.

    That is SO FUNNY!

    You keep trying to make this personal, Rick, as if anyone gave a crap about you at all other than to recover the funds for the people you’ve cheated.

    Pay up, and you can go right back to being a talentless nobody that no one cares about in the least.

    PAY THE PEOPLE YOU OWE.

    Gail