The Black Ink Irregulars vs. the Purple Pros
The Comic-Con International Pro/Fan Trivia Challenge
For years, there was an annual team trivia contest at the annual San Diego Comics Convention (a.k.a. Comic-Con International). However, in 1994, after three years being on the championship teams, Jim Drew and Tom Galloway were banned from participating again. Len Wein, who also participated in the contest, suggested a pro vs. fan trivia match, which became a reality the very next year as the Comics Pro/Fan Trivia Challenge. The original trivia contest is now defunct, but the Pro/Fan Challenge lives on.
The Pro team is known as the Purple Pros (PP) and has been captained by Len Wein since the beginning. Mark Waid and Kurt Busiek are regular team members. Other recurrent members are Roger Stern, Tom Brevoort, and Marv Wolfman. The Fan team is called the Black Ink Irregulars (BII). They are captained by Tom Galloway and consist of whoever he can get to volunteer from the rec.arts.comics.* newsgroup hierarchy. If they desire to participate, slots have been guaranteed to Jim Drew and David Goldfarb for being banned from the regular trivia contest, although neither has done so in recent years. Other recurrent members are Jim Murdoch and John Sardegna.
For your reference, there's also a Who's Who page of the contestants and others involved. And finally, for the record, I have never been able to attend a Comic Con in San Deigo, so all information comes from my digging through the Internet (primarily Usenet posts). Mucho thanks to Michael R. Grabois for this post which nicely summarized the contest up through 2003. It served as the foundation for this page.
Current standings: BII 5, PP 6
1995
Theme: None
Moderator: Jim Hay
| BII (280) | vs. | PP (125) |
|---|---|---|
|
Pete Bickford (rotation) Jim Drew Tom Galloway (captain) David Goldfarb (rotation) Eric Sturgeon (rotation) |
Kurt Busiek Ted Elliott Roger Stern Len Wein (captain) |
- Usenet thread (Report by Tom Galloway with a comment by team member David Goldfarb.)
- Web page (Contestant Jim Drew's con report.)
1996
Theme: The Silver Age
(Showcase #4 to Amazing Spider-Man #122)
Moderator: Jim Hay
| BII (170) a.k.a. Rogues' Gallery Revenge Squad |
vs. | PP (190) |
|---|---|---|
|
Stephen Brumbaugh (rotation) Tom Galloway (captain) David Goldfarb Greg "Elmo" Morrow (rotation) Jim Murdoch (rotation) |
Kurt Busiek Roger Stern Mark Waid Len Wein (captain) |
- Usenet post (Jim Hay's pre-match request for Silver Age trivia.)
- Usenet post (David Goldfarb's con report; near the very end.)
- Usenet post (Michael R. Grabois reveals many details, including Johanna Draper dressed as a cheerleader.)
- Usenet thread (Includes comments by moderator Jim Hay and contestant Tom Galloway.)
- Usenet thread (Elayne Wechsler-Chaput's lengthy con report)
- Web page (Jerry Stratton's con report)
1997
Theme: Pre-Crisis
Moderator: Jim Hay
| BII (195) a.k.a. the Bismoll Chapter of the Mike Tyson Fan Club |
vs. | PP (160) |
|---|---|---|
|
Jim Drew Tom Galloway (captain) David Goldfarb Jim Murdoch |
Kurt Busiek Roger Stern Mark Waid Len Wein (captain) |
- Usenet post (Michael R. Grabois' con report. It's under Friday.)
- Usenet post (T. Troy McNemar's con report. About two-thirds of the way down.)
- Usenet thread (Lengthy Chicago/San Diego report by Elayne Wechsler-Chaput includes a paragraph on the Trivia Challenge. Follow-ups include comments from Tom Galloway and David Goldfarb.)
- Web page (Jerry Stratton's con report)
1998
Theme: Pre-Crisis Superman Family
Moderator: Jim Hay
| BII (135) a.k.a. Usenet Chapter of the Jimmy Olsen Fan Club |
vs. | PP (150) |
|---|---|---|
|
Jim Drew Tom Galloway (captain) David Goldfarb Rich Morrissey |
Kurt Busiek Roger Stern Mark Waid Len Wein (captain) |
- Usenet thread (Mostly reports from contestant Tom Galloway.)
- Web page (Jerry Stratton's con report)
1999
Theme: Pre-Crisis (emphasis on Batman and Legion of Super-Heroes)
Moderator: Jim Hay
| BII (130) | vs. | PP (140) |
|---|---|---|
|
Alfred Day Tom Galloway (captain) David Goldfarb Jim Murdoch |
Kurt Busiek Mark Waid Len Wein (captain) Marv Wolfman |
- Usenet post (Tom Galloway's initial report. The promised full report, if it ever came, doesn't appear to be in Google's archive.)
- Usenet post (Anecdote from the match by Tom Galloway. Warning: adult language in a quoted post.)
2000
Theme: The Works of Jack Kirby
Moderator: Jim Hay
| BII (85) a.k.a. yancystreet.org |
vs. | PP (220) a.k.a. Kirby Iron Chefs |
|---|---|---|
|
Jim Drew Tom Galloway (captain) Tim Lynch Jim Murdoch |
Tom Brevoort Kurt Busiek Len Wein (captain) Marv Wolfman |
- Usenet post (Initial results from Tom Galloway.)
- Usenet post (Tom Galloway gives more complete details.)
2001
Name: Rich Morrissey Pro/Fan
Trivia Competition
Theme: Super Teams
Moderator: Jim Hay
| BII (125) a.k.a. Space Canine Patrol Agency's Human Auxiliary |
vs. | PP (135) |
|---|---|---|
|
Tom Galloway (captain) David Goldfarb Michael Grabois John Sardegna |
Tom Brevoort Kurt Busiek Mark Waid Len Wein (captain) |
- Usenet thread (Initial report by Tom Galloway followed by details statistics from him, plus comments from fellow contestants David Goldfarb and Kurt Busiek.)
2002
No match held. The briefly popular game show Beat the Geeks used Comic Con to promote their show by having the geeks go up against the Pros. It took the place of the regular Trivia Challenge this year only. The event was moderated by Mark Evanier with questions written by Tom Galloway. The Purple Pros trounced the Geeks.
2003
Theme: JLA/Avengers (through 1986)
Moderator: Jim Hay
| BII (195) a.k.a. Snapper Carr/Rick Jones Fan Club |
vs. | PP (85) |
|---|---|---|
|
Tom Galloway (captain) Tim Lynch Sidne Ward John Sardegna |
Kurt Busiek Mark Waid Len Wein (captain) (Carlos Pacheco failed to appear) |
- Usenet thread (Tom Galloway's initial post of the results with comments by fellow team members Sidne Ward and Tim Lynch plus remarks from past BIIs.)
- Usenet thread (Starts with "a blow by blow account" by contestant Tom Galloway and includes comments from opponent Kurt Busiek, question writer Jess Nevins, and several past BII members.)
2004
Theme: Supervillians
Moderator: Jim Hay
| BII (25) | vs. | PP (40) |
|---|---|---|
|
Tom Galloway (captain) David Oakes John Sardegna Hal Shipman |
Tom Brevoort Kurt Busiek Mark Waid Len Wein (captain) |
- Usenet thread (Includes comments by contestants Tom Galloway and Kurt Busiek, plus question writer John Wells.)
- Web page by David Oakes mentioning the trivia contest.
2005
Theme: Supervillians
Moderator: Keith DeCandido
| BII (135) a.k.a. Microsoft Technical Support |
vs. | PP (70) |
|---|---|---|
|
Tom Galloway (captain) David Oakes John Sardegna Hal Shipman |
Paul Levitz Mark Waid Len Wein (captain) Marv Wolfman |
- Usenet thread (All questions, answers, and contributors from question writer David Goldfarb and commentary by Tom Galloway, plus comments by question writer Michael A. Chary, and past PP member Kurt Busiek.)
2006
No match held. Tom Galloway took the blame for not sending in the programming form in time, but said the match should return in 2007.
- Usenet thread saying so.
2007
Theme: The Multiverse
Moderator: Keith DeCandido
| BII (230) | vs. | PP (130) |
|---|---|---|
|
Terence Chua Tom Galloway (captain) David Oakes Hal Shipman |
Kurt Busiek Paul Levitz Elliot S! Maggin Len Wein (captain) |
Thanks to Terence and Michael Grabois for e-mailing me the results.
- Blog entry by Michael Grabois, although the meat is in the comments section (by Hal and Terence).
- Usenet thread (Started by me asking for accounts with a seriously messed up subject.)