Two Questions: Comics Spending and Cross-Company Blending

Redartz:  Hello all! Here's a couple quick questions to light the fires of conversation today.

1. What is the most you've ever spent for a single comic? And yes, Osvaldo, you've mentioned your 5 dollar limit; but have you ever exceeded that?

2. These days meetings between characters from other companies, even other media, have become a hot item ( think Star Trek/Planet of the Apes, Scooby Doo and Harley Quinn). Name a comics character crossover combo (oh, I love alliteration) that you'd like to see; one that hasn't been tried yet. Marvel, DC, Archie, Image, Harvey, Charlton; any company past or present is fair game. Let's throw it wide open!

First, my answers: 


1. About 20 years ago I spent 45 dollars on a nice, sharp copy of Fantastic Four 45 (first appearance of the Inhumans). Ended up selling it not long ago for quite a bit more than that; enabling me to keep the comic for reading in the form of the Fantastic Four Omnibus. Mostly I get my books from flea markets, but will occasionally the pay the premium for better books. Especially at conventions.











2. So many choices...but I'll go with some kids. Sugar and Spike meet Little Archie. I don't think Archie and his pals would stand a chance against the torrid twosome.

All right, the podium is all yours! Weall await your answers...

Funny Books: The Kids are Alright- the "Lil' Folks" in Comics

Tip Top Comics, featuring "Nancy and Sluggo", "The Katzenjammer Kids", and some strip about a boy and his dog.

Redartz:  Hi all! For today's look at four color humor, we join up with the kid stars of the comic world. Kid comics have been a mainstay of the comics industry since the very beginning ("Katzenjammer Kids", anyone?). Perhaps some of us started out reading comics featuring some of these mischievous moppets. I did; the first comic I ever read was an issue of "Casper" (okay, so technically it was a deceased kid, but still). I soon added Richie Rich to the pile, and Little Dot. Then there were these two early favorites:  Little Lulu, especially when scribed by John Stanley...


 

 and Little Archie ( definitely a 'little' pattern going on there). Little Archie, beneficiary of the talents of writer/artist Bob Bolling...

 




Incidentally, Archie Comics often carried strips of another kid heroine: Lil' Jinx:


















 My ultimate fave kid book escaped my notice until years later, in college: "Sugar and Spike". I discovered those  tots in college, and fell in love with them. DC Comics pioneer Sheldon Mayer created these two torrid tots, with the kick that they could understand each other perfectly, but not 'grown-up talk' ( oh, as often depicted in the stories, animals can speak fluent 'baby talk', as can the elderly- second childhood).

 

 

Even today, while my comics purchases are limited, I still look out for back issues of that title (which are notoriously hard to find complete- they featured a page of cut-outs, which of course  frequently got 'cut out'). 

 








 There were many others, some I read occasionally and others that remain obscure today. Some of these are shown below (by the way- the "Cave Kids" were pretty fun, they often appeared in those great old Golden Comics Digests).  Sooo, let's invite the whole gang over and look at a few covers!

The Quarter Bin: The Legacy $1 Challenge

Martinex1: Well it is that time of year when we look back to reminisce and we look forward with hope!  For this $1 Challenge let's look at comics and characters that wouldn't have existed without the trailblazers that came before.  Below are an assortment of legacy comics and legacy characters to choose from; pick four you would like to read and share your reasoning. 

I venture outside of the Bronze Age for cover samples this go around, but I recognize that our era was one cornerstone of ongoing comic creativity. 

So whether you like title stretches like Fantastic Force or future generations like A Next -  state your opinion here.  Could the Thing have gone solo without The Fantastic Four or Marvel Two-In-One?  Was the Blue Beetle better after the Golden Age or after Charlton?  Could there be a Little Archie without Archie? (Don't even get me started on Little Sad Sack!) Could there be a Captain Pureheart without Archie or Little Archie?   Is Wonder Man really named Hollywood in Galactic Guardians?  So many questions to ponder and so little time.

Dive into today's potpourri of spinoffs, namesakes, and title-taking!  Tell us what you think about these books and let us know if you felt any of the followers were better than the leaders!  And please don't be shy about declaring the good, the bad, and the ugly (because there is a lot of ugly out there folks!)