Our premise this episode: our time has come, the Boatman has arrived to take us across to our Eternal Rewards. But it's all good, we're ready, peaceful, and what's more, They tell us that we can take One (and only one) favored comic or collectible along with us. I know, farfetched; but just humor me. Aaaaanyway, what is the comic or special collectible item that you would you 'take with you'?
As I step onto the boat, I'm holding tight onto my aged copy of Not Brand Echh! 5. Why, you may ask? Not a valuable book, or rare. But it is meaningful to me in several ways: it was one of the first comic books I ever bought as a child. It was the first back issue I ever bought as a pre-teen neo-comic collector. I still love the book, and the three classic hilarious stories held within. It featured the Hulk and Thing, Captain America and the Avengers (okay, "Bulk and Thung", "Charlie America and the Revengers"), and Forbush Man. And although my favorite hero Spidey doesn't appear inside, he is on the cover (on a "Spidey-Man" t-shirt). So this comic kind of summarizes my whole comic experience; with a loony humor that is most appropriate for my goofy self. So, that's why I'm "taking it with me".
What's going with you, and why?
17 comments:
Wow. Very deep thinking is being demanded at 6:00 AM Chicago Time!
Honestly what I would take is a coin. It is about 2,100 years old. It was not an expensive coin at all - $10 to be precise and is still very inexpensive.
It is called a Syrian Tetradrachm. Experts and historians say that the Tetradrachm may have been one of the " 30 pieces of silver" Judas was paid by the Romans to inform / point on Jesus Christ.
Is it one of the 30? No one can say it is, but... no one can say it isn't.
It is strange how the coin anchors my faith in a hard reality.
And besides it's always been a great conversation piece so I figure it would be likewise in that eternal place.
Either that or I take my t-shirt that has 16 Kirby-drawn faces of Marvel heroes. Now THAT has always been a serious conversation starter. Folks will just stop me on the street and say "That is a cool shirt! Where'd you get that?" LOL.
I have to run! My robot overlord is trying to hijack my Blogger login!
So if I understand this correctly, it's one single item (and not, say, a run of issues or set of tpbs by a favorite creative team). I guess I'll go with my trade collection of Goodwin and Simonson's Manhunter - a masterpiece of sequential storytelling. Either that, or the omnibus of Simonson's Orion (since I don't have the omnibus of his run on Thor).
Demented morbidity indeed Redartz! Of course I'd like to take them all and have a reading room in Eternity...but that's not what you're asking!
I think I would take Avengers #171. This was the second ever issue of that title that I bought, on a family holiday in Blackpool in 1979. It was a year or so old by then. It featured their rematch with Ultron after he stole the Wasp's brain patterns to create Jocasta. Lots of reflection on what life is, and an exchange between Wonder Man and Ms.Marvel on how they would act if they had no fear. Something to consider when the Boatman arrives I guess!
Other than that, there's great Perez art and humour in Shooter's script: the Beast stopping to chat to some adoring fans; the Scarlet Witch being offered modelling work. And I always take great comfort in seeing the Avengers en masse, powerful and determined, whatever the odds.
This is an easy one, X-Men 137. I carried the Death of Phoenix around with me for years, and read it again and again. Perfect for a trip to the afterlife.
Charlie: Love the story about the coin. Years ago when I was a grad student living in Paris, I had hit upon a bit of bad luck. I had interviewed for professorial jobs back in the States but only got one slight nibble for a professorial job. I was pretty despondent that all the years of work had only amounted to that slim prospect. Anyway I used to work at the Ecole Normale, and one rainy day when I went out into the courtyard to have a coffee and cigarette I noticed a vaguely coin-looking thing on the ground. I picked it up, and as it was black with dirt, I immediately dropped it again. Then I thought well, still it could be a coin, like an old sou or something. Anyway I put it in my pocket and took it home. I bought a 38 cent toothbrush, soaked it in olive oil, and worked at brushing away the patina every night for a week to find out what it was. My girlfriend thought I was nuts. Anyway, one night, because the coin was covered in oil I accidentally dropped it and a chunk of the patina fell off. "Great," I thought, "now I've ruined it." I picked it up, put it back under the magnifying glass, and there staring back at me from where the patina had fallen away was the face of Minerva! Turns out what I had found was a silver denarius from the reign of Domitian. I had it authenticated by a coin dealer around the Bourse, and thought it was a pretty neat turn of luck. And I got the job!
See a penny, pick it up ...
And cheers!
Hi Selenarch! Great story!
When I make my biannual pilgrimage to France to visit inland I now hunt for French trinkets and such.
I like the coin stories CH 47 and Selenarch - definitely a topic we don’t cover much here.
For me - it would have to be either Avengers 71 or Avengers 164 - great childhood memories around both books at the beginning of my collecting career. Either would do.
Red - the Echh book is definitely underrated from Marvel’s early heyday. Has that title ever been brought back? We’ve had countless revamps of almost everything - it seems like more modern comics would be perfect fodder for the satire.
It would have to be an issue of FF. I guess I'd go for John Byrne's issue #236, "Terror in a Tiny Town." This one was so satisfying on so many levels.
From now on, any world travelling I do, I am NOT gonna look at the sights--- I'm gonna keep my eyes glued to the ground, looking for potentially-rare coins-! Great anecdote, Selenarch--
To answer this (tough) question, and stick stringently to the parameters (*note*-- have you ever noticed that, whenever we have discussions like this w/ guidelines, we almost IMMEDIATELY start bending the rules so's they'll conform to our preferences? Oh, we're a shameless bunch. . . ), though, the "collectible" would be my first choice: PEANUTS TREASURY-- an oversized hardback collection I got when I was, maybe, 8 or 9 years old? Originally published in the late 60's, I'm pretty sure. A BELOVED volume personally, and still can provide several hours of entertainment.
Single comic, though? Ahhh, folks that have heard me wax on about it over the years KNOW that I'm going to grab my ragged old scotch-taped copy of INCREDIBLE HULK #111, hop on that gondola on the Charon River (or is it Styx, in this case. . . ?), and ask the oarsman what the hold-up is (?). I think it may be the first comic I ever read that left me breathless as I went from page to page. It's the comic where I remember thinking, "I LOVE this!!", as opposed to just "liking" comics in a general way. . . y'know?
HB
HB I take umbrage at your suggestion Selenarch and I have strayed! Red clearly said “collectible “ and coin collecting is a hobby going back 1000s of years, much longer than comic books! I don’t think we bent the rules. Anyhow I really don’t take any umbrage... I just felt like using the word 😂
For a long ride into the unknown. I'd say I take my advice from Mr. Douglas and take a towel with me. You never know what unexpected things might await you...
I'd probably cheat and take a tablet stuffed with half a terabyte worth of digital comics. If that's disallowed ... I don't know, probably some classic Spider-Man stuff; the entire run of Amazing would be good, but then I'd miss out on all those great Spectacular stories ...
As for something non-comics related, I'd maybe take my stuffed gorilla, Gulliver ... you know, so I had someone to talk to.
I might take my new guitar with me. After 30 years I started playing again. What a difference to my youth. Today I can get guitar tabs and instruction videos for almost any song I can imagine from the Web.
OK, that settles it! If Chim is taking his guitar I am taking my ukulele (and my tshirt and my coin)!
I mean, they got to be tired of harps by now, no? They would appreciate some other stringed instruments?
Thanks for playing along today, everyone; hope that boat is a big one!
Charlie and Selenarch- great, great stories about the coins! Coins, stamps, antiques, barbed wire- absolutely they qualify (as do guitars, they can be considered collectible). And after all, someone said something once about 'paying the ferryman'...
Anthony- Avengers 171; what a fine choice. A near perfect issue, iirc. And a phenomenal cover to admire, too.
Marti- "Not Brand Ecch" was collected in a Masterworks edition, and last year a new issue was released as part of Marvel's retro reboot. I intended to pick up a copy, but as yet haven't found one. But yes, I highly recommend any issue you come across. Loads of laughs from some of Silver Age Marvel's best talent.
HB- perfect description of the way a comic can affect you! Your comments about Hulk 111 say it all. A ragged copy of a beloved comic is a treasure indeed. Oh, and be careful walking around watching for coins, we may bump into each other. I'm always watching the ground for rocks and fossils...
Chim- Excellent! You can't go wrong with a towel. Of course, there probably aren't any depressed robots on the boat, but hey...
Ah- meant to cycle back in to respond to Marti's question about re-boots of NOT BRAND ECHH--
it sort of morphed into a sequence of different, but no doubt familiar, other short-lived parody titles. I happened to look the time-frame up once awhile back, and it's surprising how Marvel maintained a thin, but never-totally-forgotten, presence with these books. After NBE came a very few issues of SPOOF, which had three or four issues-- and the last issue came out like a year after the penultimate one. Maybe a year or so after that, we had a half-dozen or so issues of AARGH!, which was. . . okay. And then a few years down the road after that, Marvel jumped back on the parody wagon again with WHAT THE-?. . . which did hang on for awhile. Of these, NBE was held, shoulders, and belt-buckle above all of its successors, no question.
HB
This post was a real thinker for me...
I couldn't really wrap my head around it.
My first instinct was to say: A suitcase. Just a suitcase and fill it with all my memories. But I knew that wasn't right.
Then I was going to say "Avengers 142". The team splits up into different teams. Hawkeye ends up in the Old West. Thor and Moondragon got looking for him. Just an issue that can lead to so many other stories.
But I finally settled on my "3 of Clubs playing card". It was the 80s. My sister was working on a Masters at the LBJ School Of Public Policy in Austin. INXS was on tour and playing at the Auditorium Shores. Auditorium Shores had been an airplane hanger that was later converted to a ute basketball center.
"Uh, did you say 'ute'?"
"Yeah, ute".
"What is a 'ute'?"
"Excuse me, yooouuuths".
Not only was it a great concert but the opening act, The Long Ryders, killed it. KILLED IT!!! The first time I had ever seen an opening act come back out for an encore. And INXS was even better. Anywho, before they left the stage, the guitarist for the Long Ryders threw cards into the crowd. I ended up with the three of clubs.
It was a good day...
(Havana, ooh na-na (ay)
Half of my heart is in Havana, ooh-na-na (ay, ay)
He took me back to East Atlanta, na-na-na
Oh, but my heart is in Havana (ay)
There's somethin' 'bout his manners (uh huh)
Havana, ooh na-na
He didn't walk up with that "how you doin'?"
(When he came in the room)
He said there's a lot of girls I can do with
(But I can't without you)
I knew him forever in a minute
(That summer night in June)
And papa says he got malo in him
He got me feelin' like
Ooh... I knew it when I met him
I loved him when I left him
Got me feelin' like
Ooh... and then I had to tell him
I had to go, oh na-na-na-na-na
Havana, ooh na-na (ay)
Half of my heart is in Havana, ooh-na-na (ay, ay)
He took me back to East Atlanta, na-na-na (uh huh)
Oh, but my heart is in Havana (ay)
My heart is in Havana
Havana, ooh na-na
Jeffery
Just graduated, fresh on campus, mmm
Fresh out East Atlanta with no manners, damn
Fresh out East Atlanta
Bump on her bumper like a traffic jam (jam)
Hey, I was quick to pay that girl like Uncle Sam (here you go, ay)
Back it on me, shawty cravin' on me
Get to eating' on me (on me)
She waited on me (then what?)
Shawty cakin' on me, got the bacon on me (wait up)
This is history in the makin' on me (on me)
Point blank, close range, that B
If it cost a million, that's me (that's me)
I was gettin' mula, pretty baby
Havana, ooh na-na (ay, ay)
Half of my heart is in Havana, ooh-na-na (oh, ay, ay)
He took me back to East Atlanta, na-na-na (oh no)
Oh, but my heart is in Havana
My heart is in Havana
Havana, ooh na-na
Ooh na-na, oh na-na-na
Take me back, back, back like
Ooh na-na, oh na-na-na
Take me back, back, back like
Ooh na-na, oh na-na-na
Take me back, back, back like
Ooh na-na, oh na-na-na
Take me back, back, back
Yeah, ay...
Ooh...
Take me back to my Havana...
Havana, ooh na-na
Half of my heart is in Havana, ooh-na-na (oh, yeah)
He took me back to East Atlanta, na-na-na
Oh, but my heart is in Havana
My heart is in Havana (ay)
Havana, ooh na-na
Uh huh
Oh na-na-na...
No, no, no, take me back
Oh na-na-na
Havana, ooh na-na).
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