Redartz: Greetings; and be of good cheer: conversation awaits! And as the above header images suggest, there awaits a pair of questions (at least). I'm providing one, and you get the task of offering the second- that's the deal we're making today.
My question: as we so often "Follow the Leader", who do you think are the best leaders in comics (or television, for that matter) worth following?
Now, let's see where this little 'leadership exercise' leads us...
Redartz: Greetings, gang! It's the Return of the Leader today; he (and I) is counting upon you to kickstart some dynamic discussion. As you know, the first stouthearted soul to check in gets the honor of setting the agenda; so take it away...
Redartz: One thing every collector (of comics, ballcards, antiques, or whatever) loves to do is talk about the finds they have made, the purchases they have indulged in while on the hunt. We here have certainly done so, on several occasions. Well today, we'll talk about things we saw but chose to pass on.
Anyone familiar with us here at BitBA knows I love a good flea market excursion. Like an Indiana Jones treasure expedition, but without the snakes and gunfire. You truly never know what you'll see at these events. Many things you'd love to take home, others you wouldn't be caught dead with. Here are a few things that caught my attention recently:
Love this Archies LP; but condition of the vinyl was a factor in passing it up. Nonetheless, I was tempted to buy it just for the cover. Had to photograph it, at the very least...
Not really sure what this is, or why Santa is standing still for it. But after being somewhat creeped out by it, I had to get a shot of it. Although I wouldn't put this pink...whatever...in my living room, the Blackhawk poster behind it might be a different matter.
Speaking of movie posters, this one is great. Very odd; perhaps if I'd had some of that Fabulous Treasure I would have been able to take this one home....
Werewolf delivery man? I don't know, but this 6 foot tall nightmare totally dominated this corner of the room he dwelt in. I'll be seeing him in my nightmares from now until doomsday.
Another stop by a vinyl lp booth, rifling through the covers revealed this toothsome group. Hootenany, anyone?
Fear not; the flea market trip wasn't a washout at all. I took home several nice CD's, and a small stack of comics, including a cool 1961 Strange Tales (rough shape, but a fun pre-Marvel monster cover). But sometimes there's fun in what you skip. Have you any tales of oddities found 'on the hunt'?
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Redartz: Greetings! As another occasional departure from our usual "Follow the Leader" tradition, we have a topic today prompted by some discussions I've recently read on Facebook.Also inspired by a current project at our house: going through boxes of photos and negatives, scanning and sorting all those images. Seeing some of those photos for the first time in 40+years helped trigger this flashback. Specifically, it's one of those "a favorite book and how I got it" stories.
The book is Amazing Spider-Man 146, and the story takes us back to April 1975. It was a school day, but it was to be a short day: we were starting Spring break at our middle school, and they were letting us out after lunch. Actually, after a lunchtime presentation in the auditorium, wherein a local magician was performing to the accompaniment of then-current pop music. Additionally, it was also the day that our local comics shop got the new books in. So it was a red-letter day all around!
Anyway, after the program ended, my comic collecting buddy and I left the school: with Earth, Wind and Fire still ringing in our ears. We were determined to walk downtown to the the comic shop and see what was in. Walk, because the school buses didn't run to that location; besides it was a fine, warm Spring day. So walk we did, about a mile and a half, past the graveyard, past the park, over the river, and downtown to our destination.
Our rather small town was blessed with the existence of a comic book store; an uncommon thing back then. My pal and I were there each week, religiously. And this week held a bonus: my favorite title was in, Amazing Spider-Man. Grabbing a copy, I opened it up to find another surprise: this issue had inks by John Romita Sr.! I liked Ross Andru's version fine, but Romita was always my favorite. So it was great to see him inking Andru this issue, giving the book that classic Romita polish.
Then there was the story. Continuing the Scorpion story from issue 145 , and the Gwen Stacy return; plus an appearance by the Jackal! Top all this off with a dramatic Romita cover (what kind of creep is Scorpion anyway, threatening a helpless old lady in a hospital bed?), and you have a real winner. So waiting to read it was impossible. My buddy lived a short distance from there, so while walking to his house, I eagerly read the comic (and somehow managed to avoid walking off a curb or into a tree).
Ah, to be 14, out of school for a week, in the sunshine, and carrying a beloved comic- doesn't get much better than that. And there you have it, many thanks to you all for patiently allowing a bit of reminisce today. Feel free to comment about this issue, or about any such special comic /day you might recall!
