Sunday Newsday!

Martinex1: Today I would like to share a short tribute to the Sunday newspaper - a mainstay in the Bronze Age but perhaps now a disappearing anachronism.   Growing up, I was part of a family delivery team that handled the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune, dropping off each neatly wrapped paper on many neighborhood doorsteps.   We would get bundles of "stuffing" delivered from the News Agency on Saturday night; the stuffing included all the advertisements, comic strips, TV guide, and arts pages.   The "news" would arrive early Sunday morning and we would marry the two and then set out to deliver.   If it was raining we would bag the papers otherwise we would rubber band them - two rubber bands for the unwieldy and thick Tribune.  That Sunday route taught me a lot about hard work, earning a living, and service to customers. 

Newspapers have played a significant role in comic books as well, with The Daily Planet and The Daily Bugle fitting into Superman and Spider-Man's fictional private lives. Reporters and photographers seemed like exciting careers that would keep the lead characters close to the action.

In real life, I was at my prime comic collecting age when I was delivering papers.  Sometimes the two aspects would cross paths - like when Spider-Man first appeared in the Tribune's comic pages battling a villain named the Rattler who didn't exist in the comic books but seemed suitably fit for Spidey's rogues gallery.  Or when a special Spider-Man and Hulk comic insert was included in the stuffing for a Sunday paper.    Those special newspaper comics are collectibles now   Here are a few samples including the one I recall from my youth in Chicago.

And of course I was always drawn to comic covers that had headlines or newspapers as part of the art.   I thought it was an interesting layout if characters were bursting through the headlines or reading a paper.

Who amongst us didn't enjoy the comic strips in full color in the Sunday paper?   Sunday was when the story always seemed to leap forward.  The daily three-panel strips were repetitive and merely set up the conflict; the Sunday action took it to the next level.   Spider-Man, DC's World's Greatest Heroes, and the Hulk all had strips when I was growing up.   But recently I have become more aware that many of our favorite heroes and characters had strips during the earlier decades.  Some books have collected those strips.

 Today we can take a look at a few Sunday strips of The Amazing Spider-Man, written by Stan Lee of course with art by the likes of John Romita and Alex Saviuk. 

 So what are your Sunday paper recollections?  Was your dog trained to fetch the delivery?  Did your father read the news while sipping a mug of black coffee?  Did the kids pull the comics and spread out on the floor reading each panel?   Did you skip over some and read others?   Did you catch your grandfather chuckling at the "funnies"?  Who had the better news organization - DC or Marvel with the Planet and the Bugle?   There were many good memories around the Sunday edition; share yours today (and tomorrow the BitBA gang will lead you on a whole new set of topics).   Cheers!

All in the Game: Amazing, Spectacular Spider-Trivia!

Redartz:  Happy Saturday, everyone! The last couple of days we've featured discussions touching on our favorite wall crawler. We didn't really plan it that way, but since it happened, we'll keep it going again today; for a Spidey 'threefer'. Not long ago we tackled some trivia featuring the assembled Avengers. Today, we pose puzzlers pertinent to Peter Parker and his amazing alter ego. To review the rules of the game:

We start things off with a question on the day's subject. The first responder with the answer then offers another question, and so on, and so on. Put your friends (and your  hosts) to the test!



 

And now, our first question:  Most of you will remember that wacky icon of Bronze age Spider-Man, the "Spider-Mobile". It made several appearances in the mid 70's, before fading into (probably deserved) obscurity. And in those appearances, it crossed paths with a few of Spidey's old foes. In it's first appearance, Spider-man used it to help capture one villain's henchmen. Some months later, the ill-starred Spidermobile ended up in the river due to the influence of a second villain. Finally, a third villain salvaged the Spidermobile and turned it against Spider-man. Name those three villains, and then hit us with your stumper!

Animation Congregation: Spider-Man '67!

Redartz: Any of you who have followed this blog (or the Bronze Age Babies before it) will probably recall that my number one comic character is the ever Amazing Spider-Man. Today we will look at the 1967 cartoon series that made him my favorite.

A scene with (probably) Gray Morrow's background work

The series ran from 1967 until 1970, although many here at the BitBA may recall it best from cable reruns (WGN out of Chicago ran it daily, afternoons in the mid 70's).  The show credits list Stan Lee and John Romita as advisors, and you could often see some Steve Ditko influence in some of the poses. The show was produced by Grantray Lawrence, and later by Krantz films (notable for the design work of artist Gray Morrow, and production by Ralph Bakshi). The animation was somewhat crude but serviceable, and looked immensely cool to this youthful viewer. The music was stellar: jazz-inflected, surf guitar, very action-oriented. And it had that classic theme song. After seeing Spidey in action , checking out the comics was an obvious next step.

And speaking of the comics, the show borrowed heavily from them. The cast centered on Peter Parker, J. Jonah Jameson and Betty Brant (no Gwen Stacy, although Mary Jane did appear in an episode). Aunt May was seen frequently, and of course Uncle Ben appeared in the origin episode. As for the villains, much of Spidey's rogues gallery could be seen here. Doc Ock, the Green Goblin, Mysterio, the Lizard, the Enforcers, Electro , Scorpion, Vulture, Kingpin. And there were some new foes created for the program (interesting, but not as noteworthy as the Lee/Ditko/Romita creations). Parafino, Dr. Noah Boddy (yes, rather corny), Dr. Atlantean, and many more. One of the oddest new villains was a game hunter called Clivendon, who hunted the web-slinger for sport. Odd that they didn't just use Kraven the Hunter, who never made an appearance on the show. Here's a look at some of those classic foes...

  The first season tended to have more of the traditional villains, while the second and third seasons got rather strange. That said, the second season did adapt some actual scripts from the comics. Among those featured were Amazing Spider-Man 50-52, introducing the Kingpin. There was ASM 65, where the web-slinger was imprisoned. There was the great Mysterio story from ASM 66 and 67 (which for some reason featured Mysterio protrayed as a skinny guy with glasses).. And the second season actually began with an episode entitled "The Origin of Spider-Man", which was a direct adaptation from the origin presented in the 35 cent magazine "Spectacular Spider-Man" #1. 

This cartoon ran for three years, finally falling victim to the outcry over tv violence in children's programming. The character I learned to love on screen took me to ever greater heights of adventure on the four color pages. Years after the show went off I still recalled episodes, the song, and the cool music. Finally, decades later, a couple episodes became available on VHS and were instantly added to my want list. The biggest treat was the DVD release of all three seasons (which my generous wife gave to me as a birthday surprise). It remains, to this day, the most frequently viewed dvd in our household.

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Panel Discussion: Marvel's Soft Scenes!

Martinex1: Sometimes there are comic book panels that just stick with you; and sometimes these panels have nothing earth-shattering or epic happening. Today I want to explore a few of those types of panels. 

Marvel was quite good at developing subplots in the Bronze Age and often those were character driven arcs around the super-heroes' private lives.  Casts of characters were developed and elaborated upon; often a significant number of pages were dedicated to the non-powered lives of the title characters and their friends and family.  If the pages didn't contain characters in costume or doing anything amazing or spectacular, I dubbed these "soft" scenes. 


When I was very young, an older cousin of mine supplied a large box containing a wide array of comics.   A handful of issues are remembered fondly including Amazing Spider-Man #78 and #84.

These were fantastic episodes from late November 1969 and May 1970 at the dawn of the Bronze Age.  Both were written by Stan Lee with art by John Buscema and Jim Mooney.  The earlier issue was the premiere and origin of the Prowler; the latter issue had Spidey battling wits with the Kingpin and the Schemer.

Even though I remember much of the books' art as it was etched into my mind at that early age through numerous readings, a few pages and panels stick out to me and they have very little to do with he main plot.

I don't know why this page with Gwen and Flash enjoying a cup of joe at the Coffee Bean is memorable, but I really liked it for some reason.   I like the depth of the view (even with the ridiculous Peter Parker plastered against the window) and I like the angle and casual accuracy of the second panel.  Nothing happening here except some romantic misunderstandings ala Three's Company, but I liked the drama even at a young age.

Earlier in the issue, Spidey tried to call Gwen but didn't have any change (obviously because the suit has no pockets).  He notices one slim dime down below the sidewalk grate and retrieves it with his web.  In the middle of the call, a brute bangs on the booth in order to get his turn.  Even though Peter is in costume, the actual scene is rather mundane and kind of a page filler, but I always enjoyed the trivial ways that the hero used his powers and how his down-on-his-luck misery was always part of his characterization.  If you don't read Spanish you can still easily follow along to Buscema and Mooney's work (it was the only example of the page that I could find on the world wide web).

In issue #84, I jump to a simple panel of the Schemer musing about his treacherous self.   It is so silly really.   But what I absolutely adored was that the villain was hanging out in his well-equipped car.   There was actually a snow storm going on and the megalomaniac was buried in a drift just cooling off.   Check out the Buscema gadgets and controls all around him.   I found it both funny and appealing at the same time.

So they may seem trivial - a romantic entanglement, a mundane task gone awry, and a villain chillin', but they all have stuck with me for about 45 years. It was part of what made Marvel (and comic books in general) so real and attractive to me.

Do you have any odd recollections like these?   Are there smaller soft scenes that stick with you?  Am I totally bonkers?   Let us know what you think and thanks in advance for sharing your comments.

Short Cuts: Groovin' to Your First Stereo...

Redartz: For most of us, our love for music probably started pretty early in life. We heard songs on the radio, music performances on tv, possibly even had parents who took us to concerts. Many of us (myself included) even had a little record player as kids, generally stocked with some 45's and childrens' records. Our little player, with it's massive tonearm, often could be heard playing Disney and Flintstones music from our bedroom. My siblings and I loved it.

Not my Wards unit, but similar...

However, by the time my teen years had rolled around, that little phonograph seemed lacking. Playing music was getting to be a serious pastime, and required some upgraded hi fi (high fidelity) equipment. For me, this came at Christmas, when my parents gave me my first real stereo. From Montgomery Wards,it had AM/FM stereo radio and a turntable, with separate large speakers. And, it also had a set of headphones (indispensible for listening at night, or to drown out my brother's music). I was ecstatic, and played that unit for hours on end. 




 


Later on at college, I'd upgraded further with the likes of Pioneer, Sansui and Phillips components, but that first stereo holds a lot of good memories. My first exposure to Casey Kasem and American Top 40 was heard on that set, and my first lp's were spun upon it.  Many a late night was spent, lying in the dark, tethered to that stereo,with the headphones. filling my ears with Wings, Alan Parsons, and Heart. That Wards stereo taught me the difference between hearing music and actively listening to music What was your first introduction to the wonderful world of audio?