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Tell me a comic story! New / old... Happy/Sad...
Two Friday nights ago I went to the Downers Grove Library Annual Book Sale where they sell off books, DVDs, CDs for charity. There were several hundred items on several long tables for sale.
So, about 15 folks are there, and all was overseen by a petite, smiling 80+ year old woman collecting the money.
Charlie spied a half dozen comics from the midish 70s (like Iron Man 130ish where he fights Iitanium Man) and FF in great condition (no I was NOT dreaming). So I take the 6 to the elderly overlord and proudly hand her $3.00 ($.50 each for paperbacks, lol)
She looks at me and says "Finally! Get THOSE THINGS out of here!!"
I couldn't help but laugh, my wife starts laughing... All FRiday long, those comics must have been chaffing her backside, being mixed in with REAL books, LOL.
So that's all! Tell us a comic story!
I mentioned this already on BAB but here it is again:
When I was about 15 years old I was in WH Smith's (the UK's biggest newsagent chain) and there was a little boy wailing because his mother wouldn't buy him a certain comic. The comic in question was an imported American Marvel comic. "I'm not paying forty bloody pence for a comic!" shouted the mother - but the comic cost forty CENTS, not pence. The UK price, about 15 pence, was printed smaller underneath (alongside the Canadian price). I felt sorry for the little kid but I had no intention of intervening because the mother seemed liked an ogre and I was afraid she'd bite my head off.
Here's another comics-related incident that I recall:
In August 1979 I was, again, in WH Smith's and I bought three Marvel comics - Tarzan, John Carter and a third one, of which I can't remember the name.
They cost 10 pence each and I went to pay for them but the woman at the check-out only charged me for two comics. I was rather confused as there were clearly three comics. But I said nothing and got a free comic, thereby saving 10 pence - and 10p was a lot in those days. Of course, nowadays I'd be honest and point out her error :)
Here's a personal chestnut I've related somewhere before:
I was in the Strange Adventures comic shop in Halifax, Canada, a wonderful little shop, with an excellent back-issue bin selection. I was rifling through the bins and stumbled on Dazzler #1. It was encased in a fancy hard mylar bag, and priced at something in the ballpark of $30!
Even given how old the issue was (it was the late 90s when I was doing this bit of shopping), that seemed crazy high for Dazzler. So I asked the guy behind the counter: "Is there any reason this is priced so high?"
"It's yours. Take it!"
Apparently the store was having a little fun where they'd mark up the book and give it away to the first person who questioned it.
And that's why I'm the proud owner of a Dazzler #1. And yes, still in its mylar bag with a hefty price tag. I am a discerning collector after all...
-david p.
Colin, maybe the check-out woman immediately forgot what that third issue was, just like you later did... :P
Anyway, like Colin, I have a story I recall sharing at the BAB a few years ago: back in my early days of comic collecting in the late 1970s, I first encountered those bagged 3-packs of comics on a spinner rack close to the cash register of a drugstore (in Salem, Oregon). They were filled with DC comics of the time, but with the Whitman logo on the covers. I wanted to see what the third one in the middle of a particular bag was, so I started working my finger along the edge of a bag to make a little hole. Then suddenly, from behind me, I heard the voice of the woman behind the register saying in a very testy yet measured tone, "Do. Not. Open. Those. Bags." Needless to say, I ceased and desisted immediately. And bought the bag I was poking at anyway. Heck, it was three comics for a buck, a good deal at that point, when comics were 35 cents each, and I never recall being disappointed by any of the bagged comics I bought. Besides, not long after that, I learned how to twist the spine of the top comic in the bag enough to be able to see what was in the middle.
When I was around ten, I was big into the Justice League of America and was so excited when their 100th issue hit the stands with all of those heroes from two earths meeting, not to mention the addition of the Seven Soldiers of Victory. I got into the story in a big way and eagerly snatched up issue 101 as soon as it hit the stands.....I still remember that great Nick Cardy cover of the leaguers and societiers(?) grappling with the giant hand gripping the earth. I was anxiously awaiting issue #102, which never arrived at my local store.
Now being ten years old, with no access to wheels, I was in a panic. Of course, my parents weren't nearly as concerned about this crisis (mine or the JLA/JSA's) as I was, so it really took some work on my part with limited access and resources. If my mom had to go to one of the neighboring towns to shop, I went with her and scouted the area for stores that carried comics. Weeks passed with no success, until finally I got sick and had to go to the doctor in a city about 30 minutes away. I got a shot and didn't demolish the doctor's office in the process, so my mom took me to the nearby drug store to get a reward for my good behavior. Well, they had a comic book rack and on one of the bottom rows in the back of a stack was JLA #102!!!!! At long last, my quest was over!!
I know this sounds dreadfully sarcastic now, but that's about how it was in my ten year old mind at the time. :)
Here is another story recalled from the days of BAB.
When I was 7 years old (so, 1977) my folks bought me a comic. Hurrah, I hear you say. Except, I wanted two comics, not one. I pleaded, implored and finally threatened to tear up the X-Men comic they had just given me if they didn't accede to my comic-based coercion.
Unsurprisingly they refused. So I tore the early All New, Uncanny X-Men issue to bits and scattered the fragments around the car. Those merry mutants didn't have a chance. Magneto eat your heart out.
It was not big, it was not clever. But it happened. Oh, the things comics make us do.
Speaking of Magneto.
Fifteen years ago I had a comic pal in the worplace. He was known to have something of a short fuse and for some now-obscure reason had taken against the Chief Executive. So he decides (unbeknownest to me) to take home several copies of the latest staff newsletter and insert perfectly-sized/proportioned copies of Magneto's helmet onto photographs of the Chief Exec. He then scattered these newsletters around the office.
I must say, the helmet fitted JR (yes, those were his initials) a little too well. But who was known as THE comic fan in the organisation? Yours truly. So I spent the next half an hour seeking out and hiding/destroying all the special edition Magneto staff newsletters I could find, should I be wrongly accused.
Ever the completist I kept a copy of course.
As I've recounted many times before, my introduction to comics was from the GIs sharing their comics with me during the times I went with my Dad to base. He was stationed in Fort Hood during the late sixties/early seventies. When he did his second tour of Vietnam, Mom decided to move us from there to her hometown, not far, maybe four or five hours away. This would have been sometimes between my first and second year of kindergarten (damn colors and shapes) so 68 or 69. From this time, I have a very distinct, I mean VIVID, memory of sitting at a desk and "reading" a Kamandi comic. Blonde haired guy with a girlfriend with a rose in her hair. I mean this is burned in my brain. I was going to my grave with this memory. As some of you may remember, Karen from BAB did a retrospective on Kamandi. Turns out he wasn't published until 1972!!! I do remember Dad coming back from Vietnam, home for a bit and then off to Germany. 1973 would fit the time frame of his time in Germany, I do remember "reading" the comic so that would have been post Hooked On Phonics. All the details would fit, except... I have no memory of going with Dad four or five hours to Fort Hood, being on base for the day, which would have been a Saturday and then four or five hours back. There is either a major "hole" in my memories or I have somehow put my reading of Kamandi with a memory of being on base with my Dad.
How did this happen? I don't know!!!
When did this happen? Again, I don't know!!!
Why did I never write things down...
C'est dommage....
(Baby, here I am again
Kicking dust in the Canyon wind
Waiting for that sun to go down
Made it up Mulholland Drive
Hell bent on getting high
High above the lights of town
'Cause you and Tequila make me crazy
Run like poison in my blood
One more night could kill me, baby
One is one too many, one more is never enough
Thirty days and thirty nights
Been putting up a real good fight
And there were times I thought you'd win
It's so easy to forget
The bitter taste the morning left
Swore I wouldn't go back there again
'Cause you and Tequila make me crazy
Run like poison in my blood
One more night could kill me, baby
One is one too many, one more is never enough
When it comes to you
Oh, the damage I could do
It's always your favorite sins
That do you in
'Cause you and Tequila make me crazy
Run like poison in my blood
One more night could kill me, baby
One is one too many, one more is never enough
Never enough
You and Tequila
You and Tequila).
PS: ASTROS WIN!!! ASTROS WIN!!! ASTROS WIN THE WORLD SERIES!!!
From Terry in Virginia
Here’s a comic story from the Dawn of the Bronz Age!
When I was about 11 years old in 1969 and entering Junior High School, I decided it was time to outgrow the comics that I’d been buying and reading since the summer of 1965 between 2nd and 3rd grades. So I bravely “let go of childish things” for approximately a year and half. Then one day my younger brother comes home, sometime in mid-1970, with four comics. One of them was Batman #222, with the Neal Adams cover and the obvious reference to The Beatles and the whole “Paul is Dead” rumor. Another was Aquaman #52, that excellent Steve Skeates/Jim Aparo tale that was interwoven with Neal Adams’ Deadman back-up story. As I read these, just imagine how impressed I was at how much BETTER the writing and art were from a mere 18 months prior. No more campy Batman tales by Gardner Fox, no more horrid Mike Sekowsky depictions of the always congenial, smiley-faced Justice League. No, these new comics had substance, a more mature approach to the genre that immediately got me hooked again. Within a couple of months I had some of the classic O’Neil/Adams Green Lantern/Green Arrow (sadly, I’d missed #76 by a few months). I had X-Men #65, also by O’Neil and Adams. Another month or two led to the Kirby revolution of the New Gods, Forever People, and, oddly enough, the best Jimmy Olsen comics I’d ever seen. Superman #233 began the end of Kryptonite and a new era of dramatic conflict. The League of Assassins and Ras al Ghul soon followed. This, for me, was truly the dawn of the Bronze Age -- a clear cut-off from what went before (at least at DC). Granted, Marvel never really sucked as bad as DC in the 1960s, but as I’ve mentioned before, I pretty much learned to read from my older sisters’ Superman titles. A new day had dawned! And aside from a six-year hiatus between 1977 and 1983, I’ve pretty much been an unashamed comics fan ever since (although I quit DC with the New 52 debacle). I still collect back-issues as I approach my 60th birthday a couple of months from now, still waiting for DC’s “Rebirth” to bring back the Justice Society. If they ever do that, I’ll be back at the Local Comics Shop on Wednesday after work….
From Terry in Virginia:
Of course I meant to say "Bronze Age" in the previous post. Must be old age....
Also, Graham, that JLA #100-102 was probably worth the wait!
I still remember getting JLA 100 - 102, and Amazing Spider Man, off the same spinner rack that did not see an issue of Avengers from 94 -99. Go figure... the perils of reading comics.
Anyhow, that JLA 100 - 102 with the JSA and 7 Soldiers was magnificent to an 11 year old. I went back to reread it a year ago or so and... well... some good, some not so good...
Here is a quick comic related story that I probably told before. At a young age between getting stacks of silver age comics from my cousin (including X-Men) and the time when I finally started buying comics on my own... Mary Beth C. (who sat at my table in 4th grade) had a Mead Avengers folder with the Beast depicted as part of the team. She told me that it was the same guy who was in the X-Men. I could not fathom it. I could not comprehend who this blue guy was. My mind was blown. I even argued with her saying, “No way!” or some such meaningless protest. She clearly told me that she could prove it because her brother had the comic when Beast joined the team.
Soon after that led me to purchase my first comics off the spinner rack. I remember it like yesterday. And Mary Beth was correct!
Good topic choice, Charlie! It's always fun to hear everyone's comic stories.
I may have told this one before, but:
When I first started collecting comics, in that glorious year of 1974, my collecting buddy introduced me to the comic shop in town. It was run by a hippie gent who went by the name of "Joe Peace". Visiting his shop became a weekly habit, both for all the new issues, and for the back issues. Joe actually had a "collector's club", in which you got a ticket for each comic you bought. Each week there would be a drawing, and you could win a cool back issue! I only won once, but received a copy of Iron Man #1. Darned shame that I sold that book in the notorious 1991 selloff...
Sometime around 1981 I'm going to say, I was in my LCS (Starship Enterprises), and I was looking through the Amazing Spider-Man back issue boxes and came across an ASM #17 that was marked at $4.75!! I asked the owner if this was the correct price and he said "yes it was". It was an original copy and aside from a small tear in the cover it was in really good shape. Even back in 1981 $4.75 was an incredible deal for an original Lee/Ditko Spider-Man book. So I quickly snapped it up and thus began my quest to amass a complete run of Amazing Spider-Man --which I eventually did.
Thanks you Terry, I love personal stories like this!
I think I am digging this new BITBA format especially if folks share more stories today! Surely some came to mind over night?
Edo, I had a similar yet uber-cool story about those 3-for-59cent bags, circa 1973. My Mom had taken me to this local department store where they had the beloved rack of those bagged comics. I saw several separate bags with the comics I (desperately) wanted. I also noticed a few of the bags were already opened, so my Mom, having also noticed that, actually encouraged me to secretly open a few myself and grab the ones I wanted. TOO FUNNY.
So I was able to nab ASM 122-124, and several recent FF's, CA&F's and Avengers for a much better price, with our nonchalant look of 'they were already open' when we reached the checkout line. The clerk never blinked an eye.
That was one of the several occasions growing up where I remember where my Mom WAS THE COOLEST EVER. :)
Ah, let's see if anyone is still out there. One more comic tale:
That same local comic shop I mentioned in my comment above organized a small comic convention in our town. This was the first comic show I ever attended; just a one-day affair in a small hotel banquet hall. But it was a staggering experience for me, seeing a roomful of comics for sale. It was on a Saturday, the night before I slept over with my collecting friend and we both feverishly put together 'want' lists. I still remember the excitement, and one book I remember getting at that show: Amazing Spider-man 19 (at that time, by far the earliest book in my nascent collection). Later shows may have been bigger, but that first one will always be a special one.
Ha! I'm still here Red!.
I do remember my first show too! It was in Chicago at the Congress Hotel on a Sunday. Given I was 17, driving into Chicago (no Google Maps!) from northwest Indiana and parking on Michigan Avenue for like $.25 in a meter was an experience in itself.
But then going into a hotel and seeing probably a good dozen or two dealers selling comic books! I had read Steranko's History of Comics a year or two earlier so when I saw Human Torch, Plastic Man, and Blackhawk from the 1940s... well I broke out the $5 bills, LOL.
Funny to think that I got such amazing books for a total price of less than the entrance fee to Wizard World or C2E2 costs today!
Another cool story...
Dick Tracy artist Jim Brozman works at my local comic book store and the man drew me a complementary Dick Tracy this summer!
I was chatting him up, saying how a visiting French cousin in law of mine was a comic artist in France. One thing led to another and he draws me a great head shot of DT and autographed it so I could present it to the visiting cousin.
He used a couple of sharpie markers, lol, because he had been marking prices on items in the store, and used a comic-bag backer-board (acid fee!) for his surface! Quite an impromptu performance! Magnificent!
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