Redartz: Hello again, friends! Today I've been caught by the DDD, or "Dreaded Deadline Doom" as longtime Marvelites will remember. So to keep the conversation going, here are two questions to roll around your mental block:
1. What was your favorite subject to study in school?
2. Have you ever purchased anything by mail out of a comic book, and if so, what?
As you all are sitting breathlessly on the edges of your seats, I'll give you my answers:
1. Science (or as Thomas Dolby might put it, "SCIENCE!"). Even when I went off to art school, I picked Astronomy and Geology as electives. And yet today, I still examine the rocks at my feet, and study the sedimentary formations of the landscapes I encounter. Nerd cred ascertained.
2. Actually I bought several things from comics. When I was about 9, I bought a "Surprise Coin Packet" advertised in one of those classified pages in some comic. Hoping for the advertised Silver coins or rarities, I only received a few foriegn coins and a well-worn steel cent. Oh well, should have known better. And in 1974, when those cool Marvel coins were advertised (you recall, Spider-Man, Hulk and Conan in glorious metal), I took the bait. Ordered all three, thanks to the generosity of my Mom. And although all my old FOOM goodies are long gone, I still have the coins.
Okay, let's hear from you fine folks...
9 comments:
Wow Red... that was a long long time ago!
History was my preferred subject. As I've grown older I've taken a much deeper interest in the sciences though I still have trouble getting past Chapter 6 in the book E = MC2, lol, no matter how many books on said subject I've tried.
The only thing I ordered out of a comic book was catalogs of back issues of comic books for sale, LOL. I bought from Richard Alf a lot who was a co-founder of San Diego Comic Con I recently learned. Also Howard Rogofsky who was ALWAYS advertising. He can be googled too.
Are there interesting rock formations in southern Indiana? (And, I do nope the Russians no longer have your town targeted for nuclear obliteration!)
My favourite subject was Art. It was what I was best at and it had the most likeable teachers.
The only things I ever sent off for from a comic were two badges from Marvel UK. One featured the Thing leaping at us and the other featured a strangely blue Sub-Mariner dragging a load of seaweed around in an image taken from Sub-Mariner #54.
Like Steve, my favourite subject was art but in the third year of secondary school (aged 13) we had to choose between art or French so I chose French as I thought it was more important. But like you, Red, I'm extremely interested in fossils - unfortunately fossils wasn't a subject!
I remember the badges Steve mentioned but the only thing I bought from a comic was a set of Planet Of The Apes posters featuring the characters from the short-lived POTA TV series.
Hmm-- Band/Jazz Band were probably my favorite classes in High School, but my favorite *subject* would have been any of the classes (and there were many) that a Creative Writing angle could be worked into. Heck, I managed to work a Creative Writing-style essay as an answer for the major question on our Western Tradition (history) final. . . I was the kid who would turn in 15 pages for an assignment that asked for five. Which I'm sure surprises absolutely no one here. . .
Like CH47, I once did a round of ordering back-issue catalogs. I think I may have done a couple of stamp-collector grab-bags when I was, like, 10 also. And the FOOM memebership. (Looking at the envelope and the poster on the wall even as I type this. . . ) Well, and then later on. . . subscriptions to the books themselves, which early on required you to CUT THE FORM OUT OF THE COMIC BOOK (!!!!!!!).
HB
Favourite (and best) subject was always French; I've been interested in other languages, and Canada's a bilingual country, so it fit. I still can't speak French worth a damn, but I can read it fairly well.
Never bought anything from a comic, but I was always fascinated by the x-ray glasses (which I think were a big scam). I remember finding one of those pocket spy-scope things somewhere and taking it home, but I think it was missing a lens or something because it never worked quite right ... or maybe it was a scam too.
My favorite subject was history. Ended up majoring in history in college.
I only ordered other comics from comics; the first thing was two Treasury editions from a house ad in a DC comic - my very first of those, one featuring Batman and the other the Secret Origins of the Super-villains. I was only in second grade at the time, and it was thanks to the indulgence of my mom that I got those.
A bit later, when I was in about seventh grade, like Charlie I sent away for a bunch of those free back issue catalogs always advertised in comics. The one that had the best selection and prices was Lone Star Comics, and I ended up ordering quite a few back issues from them on the cheap: stuff like the complete runs of Black Goliath, Ragman, the Inhumans, Sandman (the Simon & Kirby series), the 4th World stuff, etc., etc. Interestingly enough, when I got back into comics again in the mid-'00s, I found that one of the best online comic dealers, mycomicshop.com, was actually Lone Star.
1. Favorite subject was always English. Even though I eventually became a Civil Engineer, it was my minor degree in English Communications that kept me sane.
2. I ordered lots of things from comics.
- Sea Monkeys were probably the first.
- That 7 foot tall Frankenstein poster was hanging on my wall for most of my grade school years.
- I learned a lot about comics once I ordered a weekly subscription to TBG (The Comics Buyers Guide - later changed to CBG.
- Once I got the Marvel bug, I ordered Stan Lee's Origin of the Comics.
- I also ordered those 3 Marvel Coins.
- The Mego Thing figure was a mail order purchase from a Marvel ad, too.
Charlie- Wow, those Howard Rogofsky ads seemed to be everywhere 'back in the day'. And yes,there are many nice rock formations in this area. Many outcrops occur along the Ohio River and in the hills nearby. In fact there is a State Park on the Indiana side known as Falls of the Ohio. It brags a bountiful fossil bed of Devonian Period life (at least you can see it when the river is low enough).
Steve DC and Colin- kudos to the art fanciers! Steve- those badges sound cool, especially the Thing one. And Colin- oh, if only Paleontology had been a subject in elementary / middle school! The Science studies I recall from youth were pretty general, and just touched upon various fields. Like you, I was thirsty for more detail about the loooooong ago.
HB- you're right, I'm not surprised at your affinity for creative writing. One day I expect to see your name credited on a novel, or at least a book about popular culture. And when it happens, a signed copy would be nice!
Edo- History is a fascinating subject, and must have been very rewarding as a major. I didn't really appreciate it until adulthood, when I really became fascinated with the stories of human history (in addition to geologic history). It seemed in school to be taught in sort of a flat, 'names and dates' manner that failed to excite my interest.
Disneymarvel- So how long did your Sea Monkeys actually live? Those ads were even more common than Howard Rogofsky. But perhaps not as ubiquitous as Grit or greeting cards...
My favorite class in high school was History, any kind. I loved history more than anything, so naturally I majored in engineering in college. Still took any history class I could fit in.
I ordered a few things from comic books....the first thing was a set of those 200 Revolutionary War soldiers...you know, the ones where you could fit all 200 in your pants pocket. Later on, I ordered the Origins of Marvel Comics series, the big D.C. Origins book, the Lee/Kirby Silver Surfer, and several calendars. That 4-6 weeks seemed like 4-6 months.
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