Sorry
I've been away so long. Howya been? Me too. Now where was I?..
Most modern comic book professionals, unlike the
generation before us, were comic book fans at one time. Some were
attracted to the art and only occasionally took an interest, and there
were also hardcore collectors like myself, a handwritten list at the
ready come convention season. Thankfully, I had eventually broken
the cycle of collection for collection's sake only. There were a lot
of crappy books I had kept buying for years for fear of breaking up
my streak. To best sum it up this line of reasoning, I defer to Jeff
Nicholson, creator of "Through The Habitrails" and six-time
Eisner Award nominee (always the bridesmaid, never the bride) who
detailed it in a humor strip:
"Man, this book is really getting crappy, but
it might get better again, then go up in value, so I guess it's a
good deal to keep buying them at cover price". Sound familiar?
Buy what you like, even if others deride you for 'buying crap'.
I've covered this subject before, but I felt the
need to revisit it to set up this week's subject: A collector's Holy
Grail. Of course, we'd all like the common comic bookish desirables
that are beyond our financial reach: Some Milton Canniff original
art, a complete set of the original Star Wars trading cards (first
series), the 1939 issue of World's Fair Comics (now reprinted in hardcover
as DC Rarities Archives)... But there are also items that nobody but
YOU find value in, because it's usually steeped in personal nostalgia.
Sure, over the years, I gradually bought back some
comics I once enjoyed (sometimes scratching my head wondering why),
but what I consider my personal Holy Grail(s) are comic book-licenced
items from my childhood. Not only was I astonished to find these,
but I got them dirt cheap! |
Exhibit
A: Spider-Man & Captain America 75-piece Puzzle.
Once Karen and I got a computer, we purposely
avoided Ebay and other online sites, because we both feared
we'd quickly spend ourselves into poverty with all the exciting
shopping possibilities before us. But like many women, my wife
loves to 'window-shop' and I surely couldn't resist surfing
around for comics once that door was opened. Being the models
of restraint, we agreed for a while that we'd only do so while
the other was in the room. This way I wouldn't blow a hundred
bucks on imported Robert Gordon CDs, nor she on shoes. It actually
was terrific fun challenging ourselves to find the strangest
things.
One day, while thinking of items that were
obscure as the evening wore on, I tapped into a very distant
memory: A Spider-Man/Captain America puzzle that came in a cylindrical
metal canister. The final image, once pieced together, was round,
approximately the size of a pizza. To my amazement, we found
it that night, up for auction at a mere $ 9.99!
|
|
|
Well,
we threw our stupid rules out the window and put the opening bid on
that baby! As it turns out, we were the only ones who bid on it, and
it came in the mail a week later! All the pieces were contained in
the original, albeit, rusty can, but I couldn't wait to put it together,
getting my dork-on, big time! A handful of pieces were mildly bent,
but that didn't diminish my enthusiasm one iota. I couldn't get a
good scan of this image, as it's label is still firmly attached to
the cylinder, but it looks like Cap's image (using his shield to block
a dangerous ray blasting from the ceiling) is taken from a Sal Buscema
issue of Cap and Spidey's, (standing unsteady, one of his hands to
his head, indicating he wasn't so cautious) looks like Jim Mooney
from Marvel Team Up. The wall has a pseudotech design in various pastel
shades against a warm gray. I've scanned it purposely in black and
white, because the color scan lost definition on the left and right
side. This container has a 1974 copyright notice on it, which nails
the time accurately in my memory. Looking at it, I can almost hear
the radio's daily offerings of Bachman Turner Overdrive, Pink Floyd
and Elton John while Frank Zappa warned us not to Eat the Yellow Snow.
It's silly, but this little puzzle is truly a lost treasure for me.
As an appraiser might say on the Antiques Road Show, puzzles at that
time were cheaply made, and it's rare to find a used one with all
the pieces remaining. I'm not claiming it's worth more than the measley
$9.99 + shipping, but it's a delightful reminder of simpler times
(for me, anyway, as I heard the term 'Watergate" when my parents
watched the news, but remained blissfully unaware of it's impact at
the time). Time enough to learn about politics later. Then, you grow
up and learn more about politics than you'd like.
The second, even more rare item which I consider
another Holy Grail, is a 1976 Captain America Giant Comic to Color,
licensed from Marvel, published by Whitman. Even though I basked in
the glory of finding my beloved puzzle, I never got my hopes up to
ever find this. Coloring books are always used then discarded, right?
I, by fate and a comics dealer named Crazy Ed, chanced upon a copy
of it that was never colored in! The cover was barely holding on,
but it didn't matter to me. I can only imagine that this was an unsold
copy that sat in a store or warehouse for years. I came across this
tabloid-sized coloring book at Megacon one year amongst a box of Marvel
Treasury Editions and DC Famous First Editions. I've selected a handful
of images below: |
|
|
It's
a pretty sure bet that 90% of the art was lifted from various
Marvel Comics. Most of the images you see scanned probably ring
a bell to you if you were growing up at the time. Kirby, Romita
and Gil Kane served up the 'inspiration' for much of the book,
which read like an actual comic. Note the drawings of "The
Lump" and "Sledge-Hammer Fists"(Two names that
cause terror for all the wrong reasons)? If they look familiar,
then you may've grown up reading and rereading Giant-Sized Captain
America #1, published the year before, which contained reprints
of the much-beloved Silver Age Lee/Kirby Cap stories from Tales
of Suspense #59-63. The Lump sequence (where I've taken the
liberty of whiting out the uncharacteristicly-insensitive fat
jokes, as I'm sure Cap really wouldn't approve of such name-calling)
comes from The Sumo storyline where Cap rescued a pilot from
Vietnam. Early in the story, Cap's alter ego, Steve Rogers,
is working out in a gym, the drawings all borrowed from the
"Cap no more" storyline.
This would be a good contender for Scott Shaw!'s
Oddball Comics, and I began to reference it, but he has over
a thousand entries, so much as I'd like to take an entire day
to peruse his catalogue, I didn't see that as a productive use
of time (and this blog is?). For all I know, Scott may've missed
this one. |
|
| I was
going to give you a synopsis of the story, but the thought of making
sense of it made my brain ache. The bad guy's name is Super Sport,
who, as it turns out, it not quite sporting at all, sending thugs
to attack Cap en masse, using explosive tennis balls and stealing
Cap's shield! |
Just as things get hairy for our bad guy,
he conjures up a host of giant robots to take out cap. Then,
just like in real life, Shang-Chi and a gang of superheroes
join in to make short work of said robots. The more eagle-eyed
of you will spot cover poses from Iron Man #75, Marvel Team
up #16, Marvel Adventure #1(the short-lived Daredevil reprint
book) and others.
Silly as it may seem, this coloring-book-in-comic-book-form
really nutured my interest in art, comics and otherwise. By
coloring an actual comic book story, piss-weak as it was, I
felt I was part of the process. It was around this time that
I began drawing my own comics and while I can't say I never
looked back, at least I was pushing forward! Hope you liked
seeing the crap I bought, as much as I loved reliving this crap!
|
|
|
| Last-minute
comment: I know the frequency of my blog has been inconsistent at
best, lately. I had hoped that by publishing it every two weeks, it
would work out easier, but it wasn't. I've still got to ink to make
a living plus fit in some semblance of a personal life or I'll go
batty (my friends have seen it, and it aint pretty). I'll still blog,
but only when I feel compelled to do so, otherwise I'd just be running
on fumes. I will, however, notify everyone on the message board when
a new blog goes up. 'kay? 'kay! |
|
