BS: Any comic book readers here ?

Subject: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: GUEST,Hal Jordan
Date: 07 May 03 - 10:52 PM

Just wondering if any mudcats were also current or past comic readers. I just rediscovered my collection that ranges from Marvels to old Freak Bros and Crumb comics. Where can I find out how much some of these are worth { the first dozen Conan's and Silver Surfers for instence } if I decide to sell these to finance my next guitar ? Do any of you stay current with comics now or is it something from your past ? Who were some of your favorites ?

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: DonMeixner
Date: 07 May 03 - 10:56 PM

E Mail me at [e-mail]

Don

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: DonMeixner
Date: 07 May 03 - 11:07 PM

Hal,

I try and stay current with some books. I still collect and I buy original art from all types of comics. AS you may know, like guitars and comic books, condition is everything. Conan #1 in NM condition might have a book value equal to a new Seagull S 6, Conan 1 in VG condition might buy you six sets of strings.   At A comic show this past weekend I saw Silver Surfer #4 ( Square binding, 25 center with Thor on the cover, John Buscema art I think) in Very Fine condition priced at $280.00. It was there in the morning at that price, it was there when I left at that price.

Give a message, I'll help if I can.

Don

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Cluin
Date: 07 May 03 - 11:09 PM

Well, I've got an old Johnny Seven One Man Army gun in damn-near mint condition that I pulled out of my parent's attic. Still got all the little plastic bullets and grenades for it too, as well as the drop-out cap pistol. I took care of MY toys, man!

But I'd sell this bastard to finance a new guitar in a heartbeat too. Kinda leery of E-Bay tho'...

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: DonMeixner
Date: 07 May 03 - 11:15 PM

Cluin,

On ebay right now, Mint in the Box, $305.00 American. reserve not yet met.

Don

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 07 May 03 - 11:17 PM

I was a bigtime comic reader, cos we didn't have a TV till I was 18 years old, and I have remained a lifelong comics fan. I had very little interest in the superheroes, but loved the old Dell and Gold Key adventure comics, the Disney stuff like Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge (which had superb art and stories by Carl Barks), and I later was a fan of Howard the Duck, Groo the Wanderer, and Elfquest.

I also read most of the Classics Illustrated ones. The comics I have are not in mint condition by any means, cos they've been handled quite a bit. I always bought them to read, not to collect.

Some of the old adventure titles I recall were: Tarzan, Turok (Son of Stone), Magnus - Robot Fighter, Jungle Jim, Ben Bowie and his Mountain Men, John Carter of Mars.

Then there were the comics issued to go with various adventure movies, like Moby Dick or Davy Crockett. Had lots of those. There were plenty of western comics too, but I don't recall the titles.

I also liked Mr. Magoo...VERY funny stories with great art. I don't think there were more than maybe 10 issues of it, and I wish I could find them now. It totally outstripped the cartoon...as did the rest of them, in fact. Nothing beats the printed medium for subtlety and humour, when it's well done.

- LH

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Cluin
Date: 07 May 03 - 11:18 PM

Yeah, Don, thanks. I had checked there back around January and there were a couple on there for around 500 to 600 US$ comparable to mine. Like I said, though, E-Bay scares me.   ;)

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Cluin
Date: 07 May 03 - 11:20 PM

Turok, Son of Stone! Whoo-hoo!

Watch out for the honkers!

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: DonMeixner
Date: 07 May 03 - 11:25 PM

LH,

I have a few thousand comics. I like to keep them in good shape so I take care of them. I have friend who think I'm nuts because I also read them. They don't think I'm nuts because I read comics at 52. They think I'm nuts because I might damage the investment potential.

Oh well.

I gotta tell you I rode many a mile with my Schwinn Roadmaster, ball glove on the handle bars, Royal Crown Root Beer in my left hand and Captain America in my back pocket. The big difference now is it's a Plymouth Voyager, gas station coffee, and Xenozoic Tales on the passenger seat.

Don

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 07 May 03 - 11:27 PM

Very cool, Don!

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: NicoleC
Date: 07 May 03 - 11:40 PM

If you have anything you're really hankering for, Don, PM me. A friend of mine is currently unemployed and making a living selling off his comic book paraphenalia on eBay, after having spent many years as a Marvel employee and more as a fan. I know from first hand experience that he's got some wacky stuff.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Doug_Remley
Date: 08 May 03 - 12:33 AM

When I was stuck in Marseilles for a long time I bought all the Asterix comic books. Oddly, they were hardbound. :)

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Bagpuss
Date: 08 May 03 - 06:05 AM

I used to read comics regularly, but haven't really continued to do so since the end of The Sandman. Everything else seems disappointing in comparison. I do keep checking out the DC Vertigo line to see if there is anything promising on the horizon, but have come to the conclusion I was much more a Neil Gaiman fan than I was a comic fan - though there have been a few others I enjoyed: Early Hellblazer, for example, and some short series like The Last One - also in the Vertigo line. Oh and a lot of Alan Moore, like Watchmen, V for Vendetta etc.

Bagpuss

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 08 May 03 - 08:50 AM

Bagpuss: 'V for Vendetta', I read this on its first publication in a short run UK magazine called 'Warrior', only ran for 20+ issues, but had some good stories (I've still got them somewhere!)

Nigel

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Peter T.
Date: 08 May 03 - 05:04 PM

We have had threads on this -- I had all the Marvel comics in the 60s until I sold virtually all of them in desperation in the late 70s. I still have some of the Annuals hidden away, but I assume they aren't worth anything, I just couldn't bear not having any Steve Ditko in the house. yours, Peter T.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: DonMeixner
Date: 08 May 03 - 06:07 PM

Avengers Annual #10 is the first apperance of Rogue and a minor Key issue. $25.00 to $ 50.00 in the right condition.

And I agree, a house without Stve Ditko or Jack Kirby is like a house without Wally Wood.

Don

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 08 May 03 - 07:34 PM

My house is without all three of those guys. But I would never go without Don Martin or Sergio Aragones...or Carl Barks. Or Wendy and Richard Pini.

- LH

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 08 May 03 - 09:35 PM

My mother must have thrown out THOUSANDS of my comics! I doubt if any of them were first editions, but ya never know. It's one of the reasons why, when thinking today about a great book I often have this two-dimensional picture of the characters in mind! Gawd, some of the "Classics Illustrated" artists were bad.

Thank Gawd, I'd already moved out when I started my Furry Freak, and Crumb collections.

Cheers

Rick

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: katlaughing
Date: 08 May 03 - 10:21 PM

Classics Illustrated were the only ones I had, I think because it was all my mom allowed, but also because they were what I was interested in. Loved them almost to tatters! I only have a few left, Count of Monte Cristo, Three Musketeers, A Study in Scarlett, and Jane Eyre come to mind. I used to get a new one about twice a month when mom would go to the grocery store.

Some Saturdays, after we cleaned house, I'd get to ride my bike into town, about 3-4 miles one way, go to the drugstore, get a bottle of coca cola, a package of sunflower seeds, and a new comic, go home and hole up in my bedroom readin' and spittin' and sippin'!

I've tons and tons of MAD, but, again, read almost to tatters because my kids all grew up reading not only new editions but also all of mine. Funny that mom had no objection to them. I guess the others must have been what I wanted and not so much her stricture. We quit reading them after Wm. Gaines died.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Bill D
Date: 08 May 03 - 10:41 PM

*wondering if "comic book readers" includes National Lampoon readers*

I have a bunch of the OLD ones..(nothing from the last 10 years)
...the early ones were clever & funny

I lost my 'standard' comics in a flood in New Orleans in 1947...although I owned a few after that, it was never the same ..*sigh*

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 08 May 03 - 10:41 PM

Yeah, Rick, I agree about those Classics Illustrated artists. Some of them were just amazingly godawful BAD!!! It makes you wonder how they could get such a job in the first place. But the subject matter was great.

Of the various Classics Illustrated I fondly remember: Moby Dick, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Chief of the Cossacks, Julius Caesar's Campaigns in Gaul, Last of the Mohicans, The Three Musketeers, Cyrano De Bergerac, Ivanhoe, Robin Hood.

- LH

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 09 May 03 - 04:06 AM

Nice to see a 'Guest' post which starts an interesting thread. I note that Guest does give a name, but clearly is posting under a pseudonym.
"In brightest Day....."

Nigel

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Wesley S
Date: 09 May 03 - 09:10 AM

"No evil shall excape my sight. Let those who worship evils might beware my power, Green Lanterns Light "

I didn't know that I could still remember all of that.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: MMario
Date: 09 May 03 - 09:24 AM

Shazam!

Saturn
Hercules
A?
Zues
A?
M?

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: GUEST,Ron Olesko
Date: 09 May 03 - 10:05 AM

I still read and collect them. Between my CD's, LP's, tapes and comic books - we need a bigger house!

Don and Kat's separate mention of riding their bikes to buy their comic certainly bring back memories for me.   While my parents bought me some Disney comics when I was real young, I first fell in love with them in 1967. Amazing Spider-man #53 was the first one that I bought after a friend of mine told me about Marvel Comics. I was... amazed!   I still have that dog-earred copy and while it is worth nothing to a collector because of the condition,it is priceless to me. I collect them, not for their value, but for the pure enjoyment.

Comic book heros ARE modern folklore and mythology.   Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and all the others who should be mentioned created something very important to our culture.

When I started college I drifted away for awhile, but after my kids were born I started into them again.    My son, who is 7, loves the movies and DVD's that we have collected.   Unfortunately comic books today are not created for that age group anymore, but they still offer some wonderful stories for adults.   I love the way characters like Spider-man and Captain America have evolved.   I've always been a fan of Prince Namor and I'm thrilled at the new mini-series that just came out.   Anyone read the new Rawhide Kid?   I was worried that it would become an excuse for homophobic humor, but they explored it in an admirable way - in my opinon.

Anyone mention the Spirit?

Now instead of the bike and the trip to the candy store to pickup these gems, I get in the car and head to the comic book store on Saturday mornings where my order awaits me.   Times they are a changin!

Excelsior!

Ron

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Wesley S
Date: 09 May 03 - 11:09 AM

Many of my bike trips up to the local drug store were when I was eagerly awaiting the Secret Origins Annual from DC with reprints of the first issues of the Flash, Green Lantern, the Atom and so on. I was never the biggest Batman or Superman fan, always prefering the other superheros. Same with music - I never liked the most popular ones.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 09 May 03 - 11:11 AM

And ya know what galls me? It would have been SO easy to order the COMPLETE set of Classics Comics. Remember the order form on the back? Remember also those little tidbits in the last few pages, lile who William Osler was, and Socrates, and HEROIC DOGS!!!

MAD was wonderful, but Oh Boy, those early National Lampoons!! Did anyone collect "The Realist"...Paul Krassner's subversive magazine.....and without going into ANY detail, do you remember the REALLY subversive article?

Rick

P.S. I'll bet we're all very good and fast readers here, BECAUSE of our comics addiction.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 09 May 03 - 11:39 AM

Anybody know what the comic "Liberty Meadows" is about? I saw a copy of it yesterday (sealed) in a small comic collector store in Orillia. It had a young woman on the cover, tastefully dressed, and she had a chest dimension that would have thrown a scare into Lara Croft! These comic artists...such dreamers...

- LH

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: katlaughing
Date: 09 May 03 - 11:50 AM

They probably all want to emulate Frezetta's buxom wenches, LH!

Rick, I loved those extra articles in the back of CI!!! One that made a BIG impression on me was the story of the Cardiff Giant! Anyone else remember that one? If I can find it, I'll post it.

Jeez, now I'm going to have to go find a comic book store! I haven't bought one in years!

kat

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 09 May 03 - 12:12 PM

Yup, I remember the Cardiff Giant.

Also the adds in the other comics were great. Remember how you could sell SALVE and buy a Schwinn bike. Wonder how many tins of salve you had to sell? Hmmmmmmm, pyramid sales for the very young.

Ads for Charles Atlas. Damn I'd have loved to have kicked that bully's ass on the beach (even though he left me alone cuz' I LOOKED big enough to fight!)

OH! And also in the backs of the Classics...little tidbits about Paul Revere...complete with totally wrong information, ha ha! George Washington too. Canadian bios always pointed out the WORST in our heroes (it's the Canadian way) so that we knew that DOLLARD did save the settlement from the injuns, but he also blew up most of his own men when he aimed the cannon the wrong way!! The Americans would have left that bit out.

We knew that our first Prime Minister (the Father of our country, so to speak) Sir John A Macdonald was a total depressive souse, before we read about any of his accomplishments.

Ever since Billy Bishop was recognized as the greatest WW1 flying ace, writers have been trying to figure out how he probably lied about his exploits. Hell, I knew EVERYTHING about Charlie Lindbergh longgggg before I found out he was a Nazi.

I know a LOT about Davy Crockett, Dan'l Boone etc. but very little about Raddison and Groseillieurs. Surely between then they killed at least ONE b'ar.

Cheers

Rick

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Peter T.
Date: 09 May 03 - 12:26 PM

Rick points out an interesting fact, which is that a whole pile of obsessive readers were comic book fanatics, contrary to everything your librarian/parents/teachers used to preach about.


The one comic I would like to have again is the first one featuring Supergirl. For some reason (duh) it was like pure oxygen to my fevered adolescent brain. I always felt she was seriously underused -- also, how come she was underendowed in the chest area compared with Wonder Woman (not to mention her cousin Superman)? Was this a deliberate policy choice? yours, Peter T.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Cluin
Date: 09 May 03 - 12:31 PM

Frazetta's ladies were always much larger in the bum area. Must have been that early influence which turned me into an "ass man".   ;)

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Bill D
Date: 09 May 03 - 12:44 PM

Rick..I have 3 or 4 old "Realists"...I knew a guy who had a subscription and had almost all of them....wonder if he is still in Garden City, Kansas?

I also have 3 or 4 of Roger Price's "Grump...for people who are against all the dumb things that are going on"....if I had been better organized, I coulda been rich now!

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 09 May 03 - 12:54 PM

Anybody know where I can get the old copies of Mister Magoo?

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 09 May 03 - 01:13 PM

Jeezus Christ Peter! Supergirl was a GIRL!

Wonder Woman was a WOMAN!

Now Betty and Veronica....what a couple! Can you possibly imagine them wasting FIVE MIUTES with Archie? I'll bet they were Lesbians....oh yes, I can picture them now....it was MISS GRUNDY'S fault!

Oops!

Cheers

Rick

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: GUEST
Date: 09 May 03 - 01:26 PM

Liberty Meadows is a wonderful comic strip created by Frank Cho.    I haven't seen an issue in awhile, but the strips have been collected in a comic book. I believe Cho stopped drawing the daily strip, but I'm not sure about the status of the comic book.

Liberty Meadows is a cross between Walt Kelly's Pogo and Bloom County but with an adult sensiblity.   Liberty Meadows is an animal farm and the character that you mention is Brandy, an animal psychiatrist. The humor is full of double entendre "Nice beaver, Brandy" that runs afoul of the newspapers, which is one of the reasons he probably stopped doing it.   Check out the website - www.libertymeadows.com. The "censored" section is worth it!

Why does he draw Liberty Meadows with such voluptuous females?   Because he can!

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: DonMeixner
Date: 09 May 03 - 01:27 PM

LH,

And every one who wants to buy back that four color colection of memories, if it is available, its on EBay.

Mr. Magoo was probably a DELL/GoldKey book. And possibly Hanna -Barbera. Look on EBay.

I agree with Rick and Peter point out obsessive readers as often as not started with comics.

Frank Frazetta did many years as AL Capp on little Abner before he became well known for his comic and illustrative art. Frank's middle name is "Voluptuous". I think he was heavily influenced by Roy Krenkel and Al Williamson when they all worked at EC comics.

Kat, I suggest you find Xenozoic Tales, you'll be hooked again.



Don

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Bill D
Date: 09 May 03 - 01:35 PM

sure, Rick...it seems they had no choice

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Les from Hull
Date: 09 May 03 - 01:57 PM

I think that one of my favourites 'The Cloggies', by Bill Tidy should get a mention. It appeared in Private Eye (a UK satirical mag) some time ago, and featured A FOLK DANCE TEAM (and beer, sex and violence, just like the real thing really). I've still got the two comic books that were produced from that series, and no, you can't have them!

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Peter T.
Date: 09 May 03 - 02:27 PM

Hmm. Supergirl was pretty far along to be just a girl, unless girls on Krypton had delayed puberty. I seem to remember that her alter ego held down a job (cut to the "when do you become a grownup" thread).

By the way, did anyone ever explain why Wonder Woman had a golden lasso, an invisible jet plane, and the other rococco bits? I can figure the golden lasso -- just, though it doesn't figure in Greek Mythology -- but the plane? Were the writers drinking on the day they thought up her extras? Why not a plutonium pepper mill?
yours, Peter T.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: katlaughing
Date: 09 May 03 - 02:30 PM

I will watch for it, Don, thanks. I interviewed an artist, a young man in Wyoming, a few years ago who had just had his first of a comic book series published. I'll have to see if I can dredge up his name - he was really talented and I felt some privilege at seeing his early work, the stages the finished product went through, and to visit so with him before any major success took over. He had already done some fine book covers.

Sheesh! I just found a Frazetta website and, I dunno, Cluin, yeah they've got nice arses, but those bosoms look mighty fine, too! And, now this page makes me wonder if Rog isn't sitting on a small treasure trove.

His, meaning Frazetta's, not rog's! are certainly more buxom than Vallejo's. His all seem just a bit too masculine to me. I like a little softness in my Amazons!**bg**

Great thread!

kat

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: DonMeixner
Date: 09 May 03 - 03:52 PM

Julie Bell was a favorite model of Boris Vallejo's and then became his collaborator and wife. Julie would inspire me to do great things as well. Julie is however, not as well attenuated (sp) as most of the women Boris paints. With that being the inspiration it could explain the less bosomatic women in Boris's portfolio. Julie is still a stunner in anyones book.

Don

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: katlaughing
Date: 09 May 03 - 03:58 PM

Ah, you're just saying that 'cause she plays geetar! **bg**

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: DonMeixner
Date: 09 May 03 - 04:03 PM

Hmmmm.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 09 May 03 - 04:18 PM

Ah-hah! Thanks, GUEST! I had a good feeling about Liberty Meadows, and will buy the comic. I think it ran for a short while in one of the Toronto newspapers (the Sun). Brandy is certainly a memorable and appealing character.

Frank Frazetta? I HATE his artwork. It makes me feel sick.

I do like Conan the Barbarian, though, and that's pretty similar, I guess. In fact, I think Frank did some Conan covers, didn't he?

- LH

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Wesley S
Date: 09 May 03 - 04:20 PM

He did some of the paperbacks if I'm not mistaken but I don't think he was involved with the comic books.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: GUEST
Date: 09 May 03 - 04:36 PM

Frazetta did a TON of comic art.   Most notably in my mind is Vampirella.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: GUEST,Ron Olesko
Date: 09 May 03 - 04:38 PM

That was me - I'm at work so I'm a "guest".

Frazetta had two distinct periods of comic book work - the late 40's and 1950's where he worked for a number of publishers including DC.

In the late 60's and early 70's he was THE artist for Warren comics.


Ron

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 09 May 03 - 08:28 PM

Folks, check out Bill's blue clikie....it's fun.

Does anyone else here read exceptionally fast? I think that's another comic consumption result.

Were there any major Freudian slips during those more naive times?

Rick

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: katlaughing
Date: 09 May 03 - 10:07 PM

I wouldn't say I'm a speed-demon, but I go along at a fair clip. I wonder if they are part of why I am such a thorough reader, too. Reading every inch of a comic, all of the little bits and pieces. I cannot skip anything in whatever I read, have never been able to. Have to make sure I've got it all.

Oh, and Bill's link? Naturally it is the REDHEAD who beats out the blonde and brunette and gets to have all the fun!

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 10 May 03 - 01:49 AM

You see, Frazetta has a radically different notion about female attractiveness than I do...in an aesthetic sense. Matter of fact, I don't much like how he draws men either. He's gross. He makes Vaughn Bode seem sensitive in comparison.

- LH

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 10 May 03 - 05:32 AM

I'm just setting out to import a Toyota Surf from Japan, and guess who's going to call himself after his favourite comic book hero?
THE SILVER SURFER
Sad aint I?.......Giok

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: stevetheORC
Date: 10 May 03 - 10:23 AM

Here are a few places that you could look to compare prices and just get a general feel for the market:-)

www.metropoliscomics.com

www.comicsforever.com

www.HeritageComics.com

www.nostalgiazone.com

www.squaredealonline.com

I dont know if you live in the US or UK but there are plenty of online comic shops. Ebay is also a good place it will give you an idea of what they are realy going for (normaly a third of book value) Conan is not as popular as it was a few years ago (I collect them) but I think that SS will go up in value after all they are turning many of the comic book heros into movies now.

Loved the Freak bros, collect Batman, Shi, Conan, Kull, Robin, Huntress, Warlord, Dracula the best one that I own is a Spiderman signed by Stan Lee that for me is priceless. Ah what the hell lets just admit I love comics (ref to thread on adulthood) I'm still a child at heart LoL
I collect comics, Hockey/Baseball cards, Non sport trading card, Minature soldiers and autographs.

De Orc

Enjoy them while you still can :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Peter T.
Date: 10 May 03 - 10:29 AM

Wow, a Spiderman signed by Stan Lee. Hard to believe there are such things in the world. yours, Peter T.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 10 May 03 - 10:39 AM

Hmmmmmm.....question. I'm not asking this cuz' I'm lazy. I really would mess it it up big time.

Is there any site that could be blue clickied to let us see the different artist's styles next to each other? Naturally I well remember Frazetta, Lee, Kurtzman and a few others, but it would be nice to see 'em all together. Even those incredibly bad artists who infiltrated Classics Illustrated.

I was talking to a friend (late fifties) the other day about meeting his Ladyfriend's son's girlfriend (!?) I said she looked like a "Crumb teenager". My friend said "What does that mean"? Guess he led a different life than some of us here did.

Rick

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: katlaughing
Date: 10 May 03 - 11:30 AM

Here's one, Rick, which might show a few: complete guide to Classics Illustrated. More when I have time, if someone else doesn't beat me to it.

A Crumb child...what a vision!

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 10 May 03 - 11:57 AM

Thanks kat. The print's pretty small but it brings back memories. What the hell was "Michael Strogoff"? I'll check.

Rick

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 10 May 03 - 12:02 PM

Oops...a very well known Jules Verne novel. Sometimes my ignorance astounds me.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: stevetheORC
Date: 10 May 03 - 12:43 PM

Nice site thanks Kat

De Orc

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 10 May 03 - 03:10 PM

Jules Verne wrote some truly odd stories. He was kind of hung up on machinery, and lousy at characterization.

For really GREAT pioneering science fiction, read H.G.Wells instead! He was the master.

I loved the Classics Illustrated comics of "Time Machine" and "War of the Worlds" and "First Men in the Moon" and the art was good in those ones. Quite good. The martian machines and the Morlocks were both marvelous.

Rick, I gotta say I love your theory about Betty and Veronica being secret lesbians! Definitely makes sense to me. Those girls...Ay-yi-yi...they leave the local boys totally in the dust. I used to fantasize a lot about Veronica, but she is kind of stuck up, that's the only problem.

GUEST - Thanks again for the Liberty Meadows tip. I got the comic, and what a delight it is! This did indeed run in the Sun for awhile, but then they axed it (typical). Brandy is a character with a lot of presence...I like her. Pity she doesn't work in this town is all I can say. Man, things would definitely pick up around here, and the animals would be very happy too, I'm sure. The humour is very witty. I love the geeks at the comic convention, clustering around Brandy like gnats around a gazelle. Ha! I like the dachshund too. We have one that looks and acts just like him.

And here's the kicker...listen carefully, Mudcatters...

On the very first panel of the first page of the Liberty Meadows comic's first issue appears the name of...WILLIAM SHATNER!!!

Yes. It's true. It was fate that drew me inexorably to this comic, from the moment I saw Brandy's noble features on the cover, little realizing that the great Shatner would be waiting within the pages!

It's like this: Leslie the hypochondriac bullfrog is all excited because he has just found out that the Comic and Sci-Fi Convention is coming to town! He calls over Ralph the midget circus bear to see the announcement in the paper.

"Guess who's the guest of honor at the convention?" says Leslie. "This is so cool."

Ralph takes a long and cynical look. "William Shatner's hairpiece?" he asks.

"Yes...No..NO! BELOW THAT! BELOW THAT!" responds Leslie with considerable irritation.

Like I said. FATE has led me to this comic, and I shall read it faithfully forevermore! And I understand just how Frank feels...

:-)

- LH

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Cluin
Date: 10 May 03 - 04:19 PM

"Brandy, you a fine girl, what good wife you would be..."

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Ebbie
Date: 10 May 03 - 04:27 PM

Do any of you remember when comic books were the big primrose path bugaboo? Pretty much spoken of in some circles as some videos are now. Of course, I and my brothers loved comic books but we didn't get hold of many.

Does anyone remember 'The Big Little Books'? Red Ryder (with Little Beaver. Hmmmm.), Charlie Chan, a bunch of others. Why those in my parents' eyes were better than comic books I have no idea.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 10 May 03 - 04:37 PM

Little Hawk, I always found Betty and Veronica a bit one dimensional, however that changed when I got my ViewMaster.

Rick

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: DonMeixner
Date: 10 May 03 - 05:19 PM

Ebbie,

At one time comics were considered the path to juvenile delinquency. My third grade teacher said she'd flunk anyone she caught with a comic book in or OUT of school. She had read Seduction of the Innocent
by Dr. Fredric Wertham and she knew that if I read any comics at all I'd kill my parents, become illiterate, and probabibly lose my eyesight. Well I can't spell and I wear glasses. Comics were debated on the floor of the Senate and had a brief entrance in the McCarthy hearings. As it was the industry developed the COMICS CODE! And EC comics, the incarnation of literary evil on earth according to Dr. Wertham, folded camp and turned into MAD Magazine. Which was more insidious and evil than EC ever could hope to have been.

Jeepers but I love sequential art and panelology!

Don

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Cluin
Date: 10 May 03 - 06:44 PM

Jeez, you guys! Archie comics were for girls! Don't tell me you were getting the pages stuck together....


;)

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Ebbie
Date: 10 May 03 - 07:44 PM

Don Meixner, see? Sad, sad...

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Joe_F
Date: 10 May 03 - 07:53 PM

Some grownup comics:

Robert Crumb, especially his autobiographical ones, and the ones about (obMudcat) early jazzmen.

Harvey Pekar, _American Splendor_ (more or less annual), _Our Cancer Year_.

When I was a kid, I had a big collection of Superman & Batman.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 10 May 03 - 10:18 PM

Batman and Superman are also "grownup" comics today.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 11 May 03 - 12:01 AM

Well, yeah, sure Archie comics were for girls. We know that. But so what? It's still fun looking at Betty and Veronica. I have to agree with Rick though, they are very one dimensional.

Brandy has a whole lot more character and she's easy to relate to. She certainly has an odd lot of animals to deal with, and that has obviously assisted greatly in strengthening her character.

Her relationship with Frank (the shy veterinarian hopelessly in love with her) is interesting. I suspect that, like Charlie Brown, the character Frank is a thinly disguised version of the author of the strip itself...and Brandy is the girl he always wanted but could never have...just as Charlie Brown and Charles Schulz never got the "little red-haired girl".

Powerful stuff, unrequited love is.

- LH

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: stevetheORC
Date: 11 May 03 - 07:54 AM

Batman has quite definatly become a lot darker over the years as have a number of spin off comics, Robin gained his own series (there have beena number of Robins) and there was even a post apocoliptical series for a while.
Some comics such as Razor are of a very adult nature the art work in the Shi comics is great as are the trading card sets that followed.
Could never get into the Archie stories, I think that I started with Nemo and Superman closely followed by Sargant Rock then i was hooked.
Found that most of the comics in the seventies where not that great. to many new charecters.

Well thats my view :-)

De Orc

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 11 May 03 - 09:10 AM

Now let's be a little careful here. Several of the few Mudcatters who deal in irony are in this thread......so comments about Betty and Veronica being quiet gay icons (and of course that classic closet guy, Jughead) are probably being made facetiously.

But can ANYONE tell me who was the (either one) parent of Huey, Dewey and Louie? Look I don't mean to cast aspersions on Daisey's morality, but those kids didn't just pop out of Easter eggs!

Also.....what was with those BEAGLE BOYS? There were at least two things that gave them away after every hiest....remember what?

I LOVED Harvey Pekar. My fave line: "It's 'Okry' not 'okra'!"

Rick

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Peter T.
Date: 11 May 03 - 10:40 AM

I am having trouble remembering Supergirl's secret identity. Can anyone help? It was certainly one of those stupid L.L.s (like Lori Lemaris, the mermaid chick). yours, Peter T.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Bill D
Date: 11 May 03 - 12:42 PM

Huey, Dewey and Louie always refered to Donald as UNCLE (or "Unca")Donald...allowing us to speculate about some brother being lost to duck hunters.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: DonMeixner
Date: 11 May 03 - 01:25 PM

Peter,

Linda Danvers. Alliteration was rampant in the comic book universe tho'

Don

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Harry Basnett
Date: 11 May 03 - 01:58 PM

Who published 'The Fly' and 'Jaguar'? Or are they both figmnents of my imagination?

All the best...........Harry.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Peter T.
Date: 11 May 03 - 02:48 PM

Thanks. Almost Right! Linda Lee Danvers, actually. I forget why she had Danvers attached -- was there a wedding in there somewhere? (cf. previous note on girl vs. woman)
yours, Peter T.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: GUEST,Hal Jordan
Date: 11 May 03 - 02:52 PM

Harry - I remember both of those characters - they were publihed by some small company. Not one of the majors at least. Didn't the Fly have some sort of gun he flew around with ? I don't think either character lasted very long as far as I can remember.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: katlaughing
Date: 11 May 03 - 04:32 PM

Oh, oh, oh, THIS looks like another good resources site - take a look at their REAL HEROES archive, not very many and rotten artwork, but still too kewl! clickety

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: GUEST,Too Ducky For Words
Date: 11 May 03 - 04:53 PM

Hewey, Dewey, and Louie had a father who passed away, but I can't recall his name. Having been orphaned very young, they were taken under the wing of their uncle, Donald, and also watched over (to some extent) by Daisy, Donald's sometime girlfriend. It is ludicrous to assert that a hunter shot their father, because in the world of Donald Duck the ducks are themselves among the ruling races...and are themselves hunters on occasion.

Duckburg, as you know, is a great city, and is named after the ducks who founded it in the pioneering times. It is very much like Toronto, but not quite so far north. It's in the area corresponding to the American Midwest, near the Great Lakes.

The Beagle Boys differ from most criminals, in that they are all closely related by blood...they are all members of the Beagle family...this accounting for their great homogeneity of appearance. They are born into the criminal trade and are proud of it. Some have even been born in prison. Their special vendetta against Scrooge McDuck is due primarily to the fact that he's the richest duck on Earth, and they can't resist the challenge. He's also a very worthy opponent. The Beagle Boys have become quite fond of Scrooge over the years, although tempers can become frayed at times, in the heat of the action...and they have a mean image to live up to.

An even worthier opponent, possibly, is found in the three ducklings, Hewey, Dewey and Louie....the Junior Woodchucks organization...and the Official Hound. When it comes to sheer resourcefulness and craft they are unsurpassed. This has proven to be the downfall of the Beagle Boys' best laid plans on many occasions, not to mention Donald Duck's plans to avoid such tasks as spring cleaning for Daisy!

Donald is "everyduck". He's conventional, but a bit eccentric. His reach usually exceeds his grasp, but he never gives up. He is a very sympathetic character, plagued by a short temper and an inability to get along with his neighbours (particularly the notorious "Jones").

An interesting character in the same community is the inventor, Gyro Gearloose. He has had great difficulties over the years in gaining recognition, but never stops trying. His nemesis is the lowly toaster...a device which refuses utterly to be perfected, even by Gyro.

Also worthy of mention is Gyro's "helper"....a little mechanical man with a lightbulb for a head. He's clever, and clearly has a living soul. This alone should serve to crown Gyro as the greatest inventor of all time.

For the REAL duck stories...read Carl Barks. Don Rosa is okay too.

Quack!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: katlaughing
Date: 11 May 03 - 05:00 PM

Then answer THIS! Why is it Louie had to be different and not spell his Lewey? Has he got a primo ducko complex or what?

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 11 May 03 - 05:25 PM

My question about the Beagle Boys sabotaging their work involved them ALWAYS wearing those litle criminal (Lone Ranger) masks and carrying their loot in bags marked with dollar signs.

Now I wonder about certain things....when Unca Scrooge would sit in his treaure room and throw all his coins up in the air, did some Mudcatters fantazsize to the point of bad mental health? Yes I can picture Peter T. wanting more and more info on Supergirl, (who may have been the role model for 'super mom' of the seventies) and even increasing her bust size in his mind.....heck it's easy to picture Little hawk doing just about anything with the mental images of Betty and Veronica....I mean after his Shatner obsession would anything surprise us?

But I also worry about me sitting for hours at a time wondering if I'd really like to be a "slime and ooze" creature, just because he had long guitar playing fingers. I thought that even Peter Parker was too decisive!

Have any Mudcat women looked in here? This should explain a lot.

Rick

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: DonMeixner
Date: 11 May 03 - 08:09 PM

The Fly is a character that was developed by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby for Harvey if I recall correctly. The Jaguar was also a Harvey imprint. The Fly could fly and had a Buzz Gun that stunned his enemys. The Jaguar could fly by the benefit of a pair of small rockets attached to his belt. Like alot of secondary press comics these two books suffered from low circulation and non mainstream characters so they didn't last as long as some others.

About the same time that Jack Kirby and Joe Simon did the Fly for Harvey, Marvel Comics hired Jack and an add agency for Nelson Rockefeller hired Joe. Jack went on to be the prime aristic developer for Marvel comics during their heyday and produced such characters as The Fantastic Four, The Hulk, Sargent Fury, Dare Devil, IronMan(With Don Heck), Spiderman (with Steve Ditko), THor, Captain America (With Joe Simon), The X-Men and countless others in the form of Villians and minor heros. Jack died about 10 years ago, from congestive heart failure shortly after the 1000 Oaks earthquake.

Joe is still alive today and still active in comics, mainly licensing his creation, well into his 80's.

Don

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: GUEST,Too Ducky For Words
Date: 11 May 03 - 08:33 PM

Yes, the "Louie" thing is mysterious, all right. I have no idea why he didn't spell it "Lewey". Can't help you there.

Moving on, I ought to do a couple more character sketches:

Daisy - A remorselessly shallow and self-absorbed little society girl is this duckess, always predictable, always determined to have her way, materialistic, social-climbing, manipulative, and domineering. One wonders why Donald (and his rival, Gladstone) would go through the hell of dealing with her, but that's typical, isn't it? Among Daisy's good points...she is practical, and not easily fooled, and she has a strong sense of responsibility toward the little ducks' safety. Anyone who dates her basically gets what he deserves, I suppose...

Gladstone Gander - A jerk. A jerk with amazing luck. What could possibly be more annoying than that? Gladstone does not believe in working, he just waits for his luck to deliver him whatever he wants (money, cars, clothes, a date with Daisy, food, whatever...). His one great weakness is his colossal arrogance...so outrageous that it draws down the wrath of the gods on his head every now and then. Donald's hatred of Gladstone is totally understandable. Now and then the two of them actually get in a physical fight over some issue, providing some of the funniest moments ever seen in comics. The burning question is...is Gladstone a duck or is he a goose? I think that he is clearly a duck, despite the surname "Gander". There are goose characters seen now and then in Duckburg, and they look very different from Donald and Gladstone. Gladstone's wavy "hairdo" marks him as a slippery character, a letcher, a fop, and a major irritant. He looks like a character from the era of "The Great Gatsy" to me. Daisy probably knows Gladstone is a jerk, but she doesn't care...she's in it for whatever she can get. They deserve each other.

Uncle Scrooge - THE most classic character of them all (although Donald is still "everyduck")...Scrooge is a rugged elder survivor who was born sometime in the 1800's...dirt poor in Sotland. He started out with a single dime (made shining shoes), invested it wisely, and fought his way up tooth and nail to become the richest tycoon in history. He panned for gold in both the Yukon and the Klondike. He fought warring Indians, claim-jumpers, rustlers, and thieves. He faced down desperados in some of the most notorious saloons of the Old West and Alaska, where he found his one true love, and then lost her to his own wanderlust. He has survived encounters with every raging wild beast known to biology or pulp fiction, and some that are only rumoured (like the Yeti, for example).

He is almost unstoppable. What drives him? A desire to forever leave behind the poverty of his youth, and attain "security". But security eludes him, as it does all who think in those terms. The Beagle Boys and other top thieves constantly scheme to get his money. Other ruthless tycoons (like his archrival, Flintheart Glomgold) battle him for the gold ring. Foreign despots vie for the chance to sieze his assets. The tax people harass him.

For Scrooge it is a never-ending struggle to remain on top and in control of the World's largest fortune. He has more cold cash in one place than anyone else in history...including Saddam Hussein or the Saudi royal family. He could buy the whole USA if he wanted to.

Scrooge's brief moments of joy and relaxation come when he swims and frolics in his nine cubic acres of cash, safe inside the walls of his impregnable "money bin", the biggest building of its kind ever constructed.

His life is a testament to the futility of storing up "treasures on Earth". Still, he's a likeable old curmudgeon, and he's very courageous.

Quack!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Peter T.
Date: 12 May 03 - 09:16 AM

Ariel Dorfman's communist analysis of Scrooge McDuck is one of the high points of his writing career -- almost as good as the similar analysis of The Lone Ranger.

Daisy Duck always reminded me of Daisy Buchanan.

yours, Peter T.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: GUEST,Too Ducky For Words
Date: 12 May 03 - 11:02 AM

It sounds fascinating! Where can I find it?

By the way, that was supposed to be "Scotland" (Scrooge's birthplace), not "Sotland"! :-) Sotland sounds more like the birthplace of Sir John A. MacDonald...

Rick - It's true that the Beagle Boys are easily identified...by their little masks, their prison garb, and their number tags worn prominently on their shirts! (176-761, etc....) They do it deliberately, because they are proud of what they are, and they don't give a hang about it. They've got a lot of moxie. When a "job" requires stealth, they have been known to adopt disguises, however. One time they all dressed up as nautical types with identical souwesters, hats, and long beards. They got away with it for awhile till Hewey, Dewey, and Louie exposed them for what they truly were...the terrible Beagle Boys!!! Those kids are sharp!

The Beagle Boys have contempt for the ordinary police most of the time, and don't really worry about them too much, but one time they were prevented from blowing up Scrooge's money bin by a cop. This was after several fruitless attempts to do so...which had caused tremendous detonations in downtown Duckburg, and some collateral damage to neighbouring structures, and to the Beagles themselves. The cops were not interfering...I forget why...it was some legal technicality...but THEN a little old lady complained to the police department about the noise! Well, that was it. The cops arrived and told the Beagles they would have to cease and desist...and they did. The power of little old ladies is awesome!

You see, cops in Duckburg are a lot like cops in most places...they exert a great deal of effort in issuing parking tickets, littering tickets, speeding tickets, and so on (to enrich the city coffers)...enforcing petty minor bylaws and harassing ordinary citizens like Donald...but do they take on the major criminals? Not unless they're bloody well forced to! Ce'st la vie.

Did I mention Duckburg's lawyers? Utterly corrupt and heartless! They make the Beagle Boys look like saints. One of them is called "Sharky". He's a rat. He works for a pig named Beauregard J. Swinely.

Quack!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Peter T.
Date: 12 May 03 - 12:22 PM

Dorfman's two books of essays are "How To Read Donald Duck" and "The Empire's Old Clothes", both in the 1970's. Brilliant analyses of Scrooge, the Lone Ranger, Babar, and a host of others. yours, Peter T.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 12 May 03 - 08:36 PM

I'm enjoying your writing immensely "too ducky". Just thought I'd let you know.

Cheers

Rick

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Cluin
Date: 12 May 03 - 08:37 PM

And they all called Scrooge McDuck "Uncle Scrooge". There was an investigator tried to get to the bottom of this conundrum years ago. He worked Donald over quite thoroughly until he broke down in tears, whining:

"They're my nephews!"
*whack*
"They're my brothers!"
*whack*
"They're my sons!"
*whack*
"They're my nephews!"
*whack*
SOB

... and so on.

(At least that's what they thought he was saying. Nobody could really understand him anyway and all the tears and snot flying around just made things worse)

Forget it, Jake. It's Duckburg...

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Cluin
Date: 12 May 03 - 08:54 PM

And April, May, and June weren't Daisy's neices. There were actually a cloning experiment by Gyro gone awry. See, Gyro always had a thing for Daisy and had stalked her for a while before obtaining a few feathers during the moulting season (PMS ain't a patch on Daisy during the moult) and tried to clone her as an adult for three consecutive months (guess which ones?) before throwing in the towel. When Daisy and Donald found out about it, Donald almost killed Gyro, but Daisy persuaded Donald to just scare the inventor into giving up custody of the "projects" to her. Daisy's bio-clock was ticking, right?... Actually, the alarm had been going off for years, but Donald was shooting blanks by then because of some radiation he'd been exposed to during the war effort and...

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Bill D
Date: 12 May 03 - 11:04 PM

mmm-hmmm..yes...sure...nod...right

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 12 May 03 - 11:17 PM

Aw, fer Chrissakes...

Where is "Too Ducky"? We need the real info on this, not these sort of insane ramblings from Clueless...

Gyro is not interested in sex in the least.

- LH

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Cluin
Date: 12 May 03 - 11:19 PM

Go back to your Archie comix if you can't handle the truth, LH.    ;)

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: GUEST,Too Ducky For Words
Date: 13 May 03 - 12:04 AM

The truth is, Gyro is far too shy about things like that. I believe Daisy kissed him in one episode (for a daring rescue he had performed), and he practically melted with embarrassment, poor fellow! He couldn't wait to get back into the lab where it was safe!

April, May and June were a somewhat later invention...obviously created as a female triple foil for Hewey, Dewey and Louie. There was an earlier period of short newspaper strips in which Hewey, Dewey and Louie were more like the kids in "the Little Rascals" strip...tough, gritty, squabbling little street kids who got into fistfights over little ducky girls who would trick them out of their ice-cream money through the usual feminine wiles. This was prior to the metamorphosis of those same 3 ducklings in the hands of Carl Barks into Junior Woodchucks and smart cookies who went on grand adventures around the world, pursuing great relics like the Philosopher's Stone (a truly grand episode).

The reason Scrooge was referred to as "Uncle" is simple. Ever been around Indian or Pakistani kids and young adults? They always refer to elder friends, teachers, etc...as "Auntie" or "Uncle". It's to indicate respect.

Same deal with Scrooge. He's not literally their Uncle, but he is a respected elder in the family...and a distant relation of Donald and the kids.

Cluin is quite correct about Daisy and the moulting season, however! She mutates from being normally really difficult to being a total, absolute B---H at that time, and no one in his right mind would hang around to observe the process...not even Donald. He may be eccentric, but he's not crazy.

A word here about the duck TV and movie cartoons...they are grossly misleading. Donald does not talk in that squawking gibberish at all. He's entirely articulate, as any comic reader knows. The cartoon industry was aimed at a completely different audience with a much shorter attention span, and did with the comics what TV does with music...the results were pretty hideous.

You want to know the real ducks? Forget about the cartoons. Read the comics. TV destroys every cultural thing it touches.

Imagine what would happen to Rick Fielding if he was forced (at gunpoint) to host a weekly "folk" music show on TV. Arrrghh! It's too awful to even think about.

Quack!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: DonMeixner
Date: 13 May 03 - 12:10 AM

Would anyone have guessed this thread would have such legs? I am enjoying it no end.

Don

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Cluin
Date: 13 May 03 - 01:05 AM

Well, I'm not gonna go into the morality of Mickey having one dog for a pet and another one for a friend.

Or why Donald and the other ducks couldn't fly.

Or why Donald wears a shirt and no pants while Mickey wears pants and no shirt.

Or why they all had only three fingers.

Or Mr. Disney's fascist obsessive-compulsive Howard Hughs-like rule that they all had to wear gloves all the time.

But if Magica DeSpell had ever got ahold of Scrooge's first dime, Duckburg would have needed a real hero.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 13 May 03 - 04:35 AM

Quackkkkkgood evening ladiesquackkk! and QuackkkkgentlemenQuackkkk!!!!

Hep me Hep me!

Quack

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Peter T.
Date: 13 May 03 - 08:46 AM

Not only is he quacking up, but the Beagle mask is slipping. yours, Peter T.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Wesley S
Date: 13 May 03 - 09:30 AM

To add some music content to this thread - yesterday I saw a CD called "Oh Mickey - Where Art Thou " - a collection od Disney songs by bluegrass artists.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 13 May 03 - 09:48 AM

I used to wonder about all those things too, Cluin. Weird, that's what it is...

I also noticed that when Scrooge and Donald and the kids went camping in the great north woods (as in the encounter with the Peeweegahs and the giant sturgeon) that there were other wildfowl...wood ducks and such (I mean the real, wild kind) paddling around in the shallows, whilst Scrooge was riding in the canoe and packing a shotgun. He didn't shoot at them, but he could have... They were smaller than Scrooge and Donald...like the size of real ducks.

Explain that.

If you've ever seen Mickey without his gloves...well, it's a shocking sight! But not as bad as Goofy with his shoes off!!!

- LH

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Peter T.
Date: 13 May 03 - 11:11 AM

one of the weird ones that comes to mind is when Donald and the boys go whitewater rafting. They are wearing life preservers. Ducks. water. Life preservers? yours, Peter T.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 14 May 03 - 12:09 AM

Well, this is what happens when a race of creatures becomes "civilized"...they start needing toothbrushes, flush toilets, boots, life preservers, frying pans, and so on. Why should ducks be any different?

- LH

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: MMario
Date: 14 May 03 - 08:30 AM

My theory is that Donald and his cohorts are Anas* Sapiens a distinctly different species from those most commonly seen.

*that's with an "a" not a "u"

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: GUEST,Ron Olesko
Date: 14 May 03 - 09:16 AM

Personally I never saw the appeal of Donald Duck - comics or cartoons.   Now if you want to talk about Howard the Duck.... well, let's not mention "that" movie.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Wesley S
Date: 14 May 03 - 11:09 AM

Ron - The movie of Howard the Duck was awful - but the first year or so of the comic book itself was pretty darn funny as I remember it. I'll have to get them out and reread them to see if they still hold up.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 14 May 03 - 12:19 PM

Come on! The comic Howard the Duck was great (specially in the early days, as you say), and the movie was great too, although it could have been better in some respects, I suppose. It certainly was not exactly like the comic, but stood well on its own.

Ron, the appeal of the duck comics (Disney) was this: The stories were absolutely chock full of social satire and great art and very clever sight gags. Carl Barks was a genius at lampooning the hypocrisies and foibles of our patently idiotic, money-obsessed society. He really went after lawyers, judges, politicians, scientists, social climbers, and all the pompous and petty fools one is confronted by in life. His stories were multi-leveled too...you had the main storyline (which always worked in a moral of some kind in an amusing fashion)...and then you had the little stories within stories (like a squirrel trying to steal a bag of nuts or something...hilarious stuff) which were going on in the background, so to speak.

Of course, you've got to really be into the details and the dialogue, or else you won't care...

Now, as for the cartoons, forget it. They can't compare to the comics. They are mostly sound and fury, signifying not very much. That's Hollywood for you.

The comics by Carl Barks were in the period of the late 40's to the late 60's. A twenty-year golden age for Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge.

- LH

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Marion
Date: 14 May 03 - 02:59 PM

I squandered my childhood reading Archie comics, and the Betty-on-Veronica thing sounds like wishful thinking to me. What I'm wondering about is the band the characters were in called "The Archies" whose hit song was "Sugar Sugar". I've been informed that a band called the Archies recorded a song called Sugar Sugar in real life. Which came first?

Did anyone else see the very silly movie version (with actors, not a cartoon) of Josie and the Pussycats? It's a spoof of the flavour-of-the-month pop band industry.

Marion

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: GUEST,Ron Olesko
Date: 14 May 03 - 03:19 PM

I believe the song came first - 1969 if my memory is right. I think it was for the Archies cartoon series.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 14 May 03 - 05:09 PM

Yes, and it was one of the most dreadfully bad pop songs of all time.

- LH

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Wesley S
Date: 14 May 03 - 06:00 PM

Little Hawk - I had a friend that used to play side two of the Archies record and tell people it was the new Cars LP. Lots of folks believed them

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Marion
Date: 14 May 03 - 06:28 PM

Keep explaining, Ron. How could the song come first if it was "for the cartoon series"? Was there a TV cartoon before the comic books?

Marion

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 14 May 03 - 07:00 PM

Archie, the comic book, came out in the 1940's.   There was a cartoon series in the late 1960's. Don Kirshner put together a group to sing the songs on the series and "Sugar Sugar" was their biggest hit.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Cluin
Date: 14 May 03 - 09:06 PM

Kirshner put together the Archies out of his stable of artists and songwriters (hit writers) after his fiasco with the Monkees. The Monkees wanted to start playing their own instruments and doing their own songs and production, even though Kirshner has a contract to handle the music end of that little artificial group.

Dynamic Don then went to managing the cartoon characters so he wouldn't have to deal with any real egos anymore. When I was a kid, everybody had that damn Archies record. It saw non-stop play at every birthday and pool party for a couple of years.

"Hey Jughead, where are you?"

Trivia: The lead singer for the Archies was Andy Kim.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 14 May 03 - 11:46 PM

I don't know if I would call Kirschner's stint with the Monkees a "fiasco". It made them all rich and gave them careers, manufactured or not. Keep in mind that all of them had some sort of music background, even if it was in theater for Jones and Dolenz. Give them credit for bucking the system and actually going out and playing their instruments and in Nesmith's case, writing songs. It may have been "ego", but there is nothing wrong with having one. Their film "Head" was actually quite fun.

Still, the Archies were just a studio band - although they did some appearances.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 15 May 03 - 08:00 AM

And what did Betty and Veronica ever see in Archie anyway? I can't fathom it.

- LH

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Marion
Date: 15 May 03 - 02:17 PM

What Betty and Veronica see in Archie:

- he fronts a rock band, and musicians, as we all know, are extremely hot.

- he has a gay best friend, which shows him to be a man ahead of his time: sensitive and secure in his masculinity.

- he's just so dreamy with his red hair and his resolute underdog manner.

- because he wants them so desperately that it's a rush just to be around him; he makes them feel desirable and powerful.

Thanks for the further info on the band.

Marion

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Cluin
Date: 15 May 03 - 09:02 PM

Archie furthered his career a bit in the 80s when he dumped the rest of the band and had a few hits recording under the name of Rick Astley.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: stevetheORC
Date: 16 May 03 - 02:44 AM

OK Now I'm going to vomit!!!
how can anyone mention that name in a discusion about Comics is beyond me Yuk Yuk Yuk

De Orc

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Peter T.
Date: 16 May 03 - 08:49 AM

And what was with Jughead's hat? Never could figure that one out.

yours, Peter T.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 16 May 03 - 10:26 AM

Jughead was really a beatnik at heart, but he never had the chance to groove with the hep cats. They didn't have any real coffeehouses in Pleasantville or any real espresso either. Their knowledge of beat poetry was fragmentary at best. They were uncool. It was a bummer, man. Dig it.

But at least he tried.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 16 May 03 - 10:45 AM

We are such fools when we're children. How could I have ever thought that Betty or Veronica or Supergirl (who WAS just a girl) or even Mary Worth's niece could have fallen for me? A shy weird kid with an unnatural fixation on dead Black musicians....a neighbourhood curiosity who talked to himself while playing endless games of rubber-ball toss, against the wall: "Mantle's now at bat...Fielding throws that vicious slider...Mantle strikes out!"

And Barbara McNutt? Ha ha, don't make me laugh! Why would the most popular girl in grade eight want to even be seen with an underachiever who's only clain to fame was that he could draw cartoons ridiculing various teachers?

So why didn't I just try to hang out with Irma Kowalchuck, or Jane Johnson (other nurds like myself) or fantasize about lesser cartoon women? I'm sure there were perfectly nice girls in "The Hulk", or "Slime Woman", or "Domesto-Girl".

Ahhhhhh, the human condition.

Rick

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Cluin
Date: 16 May 03 - 12:28 PM

There was always Big Ethel, Rick.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: MMario
Date: 16 May 03 - 12:33 PM

hey! I *liked* big Ethel! face it, Veronica was a snob and a bigot, Betty was a gold digger and though intelligent didn't have the backbone of a cephalopod.

Big Ethel had character, was always willing to help, cared about what other people thought.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 16 May 03 - 02:54 PM

Good point about Big Ethel, Mario. Your analyses of both Veronica and Betty are spot on!

Rick...man, we must have somehow been ejected from the same cosmic mould (physical dissimilarities notwithstanding)...

We are such fools when we're children. How could I have ever thought that Veronica or my Dad's secretary (Edie) or Karamaneh (the daughter of Fu Manchu) or even Mary Perkins could have fallen for me? A shy weird kid with an unnatural fixation on Vanguard Recording Company folksingers....a neighbourhood curiosity who talked to himself while playing endless games of rubber-ball toss, against the wall: "Mantle's now at bat...George throws that vicious slider...Mantle strikes out!"

And Pamela Ford? Ha ha, don't make me laugh! Why would the most popular girl in grade eight want to even be seen with a Coke bottle-lensed bookworm, the class "brain" whose only claim to fame was that he could score 100% on 98% of his tests and remember all 50,000 stamps in his collection?

So why didn't I just try to hang out with Maureen McCauley, Thelma Amos, Irma Kowalchuck, or Jane Elliot (other nurds like myself) or fantasize about lesser cartoon women...like Minne Mouse? I'm sure there were perfectly nice girls in "AstroBoy", or "Slenderella", or "Miss Mannerisms".

Ahhhhhh, the human condition.

(I'm intrigued that you also had an Irma Kowalchuck in your school. Amazing...)

- LH

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Peter T.
Date: 16 May 03 - 03:18 PM

Gentlemen, stay away from this topic, I beseech you. This is Dobie Gillis and Thalia Meninger country. Eventually I will have to ask why Sue Ridgell never looked at me twice. Also, I will have to start talking about the supercostume I made, and it will all end badly. Please return to comic books. yours, Peter T.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 16 May 03 - 03:24 PM

I could never see the point of 'Archie', he was such a Sad Sack (oops, sorry, wrong comic!)

Nigel

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 16 May 03 - 03:40 PM

I think he was supposed to be "everyman", highschool style.

- LH

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Cluin
Date: 16 May 03 - 03:55 PM

Yeah, but didn't Big Ethel have it bad for Jughead?

There was something weird there. They looked waaaaaay too much alike... twins separated at birth or something. It all had the makings of a fine Shakespearian tragedy.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 17 May 03 - 01:06 AM

Indeed. You're onto something there, Cluin.

Well, I am thoroughly enjoying my second copy of Liberty Meadows...what a great comic! Adventure, romance, wacky humour, great art, and the most engaging and likeable heroine of all time, in my opinion...the courageous and lovely Brandy. She is a gal who's got it all, even if her bust size should probably be scaled down by about 35%... Scary.

Thanks to Frank "Monkey Boy" Cho, without whom Brandy would never have been created! Frank, may I be the newest Liberty Meadows fan to say, "YOU ROCK!!!" (that's apparently what they ALL say...) :-)

- LH

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 27 May 03 - 09:08 PM

"Kreegah!" is not a "Turok, Son of Stone" expression. It's a "Tarzan of the Apes" expression. For shame, Tweed! Get with the program.

Important "Turok, Sone of Stone" expressions are:

HONK! GAH-HONK!!! (uttered by annoyed or hungry dinosaurs)

RUNK!!! (uttered by dying dinosaurs)

There may be others too...I'll look into it.

NEWSFLASH!!! While purchasing a copy of "Liberty Meadows" (the World's greatest and funniest comic) at the local comic shop a few days ago I couldn't help but notice that there were AT LEAST 8 COPIES of the old "Turok" comics for sale!!!!!!!   At an average of $8 Canadian each...

I expect an avalanche of frantic, hyperventilating comic fans to descend on Orillia shortly...be warned that security will be heavy, and be prepared to bid high for these beauties, now that the cat is officially out of the bag!

- LH

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: DonMeixner
Date: 27 May 03 - 11:29 PM

LH,

Come south, you can buy them all day long at comic shows for $2.00.
Ooops, my mistake, that is $8.00 Canadian.

Don

:-)))

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 27 May 03 - 11:48 PM

I should have known... :-) $2 for a Turok is a bargain. It comes to about $2.70 Canadian right now. Our dollar's been going up substantially as the US dollar goes down.

Y'know, I haven't read one of those comics in at least 30 years...maybe longer. I should order a couple off the Net. As I recall, the stories were really lame and repetitive (Ziiip!... RUNK!!!...THUD!!!)

- LH

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Cluin
Date: 27 May 03 - 11:53 PM

Of course the Canadian dollar is on the rise. I have a bunch of gigs booked in the States this summer.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Peter T.
Date: 28 May 03 - 09:16 AM

Rick Fielding showed me recently one of the best of the old Classics Illustrated series -- War of the Worlds. It brought back a whole set of brain cells I never knew were still in there. I seem to remember that Food of the Gods was also well drawn. Some of the others were pathetic stick figures.

yours, Peter T.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 28 May 03 - 12:26 PM

War of the Worlds was a beauty. I think The Time Machine was drawn by the same artist. Those were two marvelous stories. I've always wanted to see a movie done of War of the Worlds that looked just like that comic in every way.

- LH

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Peter T.
Date: 28 May 03 - 02:59 PM

Oh yeah, forgot The Time Machine, that was really well drawn too. I wonder if the same person did all the Wells' comics? Was there a version of the Island of Dr. Moreau? Don't remember that one. yours, Peter

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 28 May 03 - 03:25 PM

I don't think they did that one. Too bad. Has anyone seen their rendition of "Hound of the Baskervilles"?

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Cluin
Date: 25 Nov 03 - 02:16 AM

You can build your own comic book super hero here.

Have fun.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Wesley S
Date: 02 Nov 07 - 02:53 PM

I'm hearing that there are big budget films in the works for both "Green Lantern" and "The Justice League of America". Plus "Hellboy 2" is in production. And the movie version of "Ironman" with Robert Downey Jr should be out soon. Things are looking up, up and away for superheros at the movies.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 02 Nov 07 - 04:16 PM

Hotsy Dandy!
Terry and the Pirates, Milton Caniff, volume one, is everything one could want in a compilation. Every strip, daily and weekly, finely reproduced on excellent heavy paper, beautiful color, a sturdy, well-bound volume. Even a ribbon to mark your place.
Five more to come!

Don't miss out!

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 02 Nov 07 - 04:18 PM

Great!

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: John on the Sunset Coast
Date: 02 Nov 07 - 08:21 PM

I love reprints of Golden Age comics. Sometimes I even see a story I read as a kid. My fav has always been, and continues to be the Phantom. Not real popular in US, but apparently very big in Scandinavia and Oz. Can't read Scandinavian and no one in LA area carries the Aussie mags.
Next fav is Captain Marvel--now called Shazam--but the DC stories have none of the humor of the old Fawcetts.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Nick E
Date: 03 Nov 07 - 04:30 PM

Fondest in my memory was the Alan Moore written series of Swamp thing. Just great and the artwork was superb.

I find the comic books so interesting in that the story is sequential and cinematic, yet the artwork is static and each progressive image on the page remains in place and is viewd in association with the next frame, that last frame, and all the other frames at the same moment. It is a narrative dynamic that no other medium offers.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Dave'sWife
Date: 04 Nov 07 - 07:06 AM

I've mentioned in other threads that Gil Kane walked me down the aisle at my wedding. He was subbing for ulie Schwartz who didn't want to fly to Los Angeles after thanksgiving. Gil and Elaine Kane were, for most of my life, a second set of parents and Julie was a super-combo of Grandad/dad/best-friend and sometimes beloved burden.

All this came about quite by accident when I met Julie at the age of 17 or 18 (I forget which). We became close when I left Graduate School in 1986 and began driving him to regional conventions. He had taken a shine to me during a long fire-drill at a Lunacon when he and I and Isaac Asimov got tfed up with repeated pullings of the alarm and sneaked back into our hotel together. isaac was so mad he packed his bags and took a taxi back to the train station and Julie and I stayed up talking. He had lost his wife a couple of years prior and when he found that I loved Dixieland Jazz, contract bridge and dry manhattans, he felt we were made to be BFFs.

This was a blessing that changed my life forver since Julie isnisted I get a job as Analog/Asimov's magazines and stop working a thankless Wall Street job. his motives were to free me up to accompany him to more conventions each year since he hated traveling alone and had a terrible fear of falling in a hotel room in tthe dark while alone. Our relationship was completely and totally platonic but that didn't stop people from snickering about "us".

Anyway - I had always been interested in comics but Julie schooled me in the cutting edge materials of the 1980s and gave me copies of as much Silver Age material as he could get his hands on. I remember how wonderful it was to get to handle and read a copy of the Batman film script a year or more before it came out. Julie also gave me everything of Alan Moore's. He thought rewally highly of him.

Eventually Julie introduced me to the Kanes in 1987 and when I moved to Los Angeles in 1990, we became close. I had a bad year in 1993-94 with a terrible health crisis and a home-invasion robbery/assault right after Jack Kirby's funeral of all things and that brought us much closer. After I moved, I began dating my husband and the Kanes often douvble-dated with us which was so darling!

We double-dated to the Hollywood Bowl to see Mel Torme in one of his last public performances. It was one of thosemagical nights you never forget. We went out to a cafe afterwards and Gil was drawing on the paper table-cloth. He was embarrassed when I tore it off to keep as a souvenir but I did it anyway. Long story short- when Dave proposed, nobody was more thrilled than Gil and Elaine. Gil assumed the role of Father of the Bride with enthisuasm and Elaine took me dress shopping. Now that Gill has passed way, I am so thankful for those memories.

What has any of this to do with the original question - not much I suppose except to say that since the age of 19, I have spent my personal life and a large part of my professional life immersed in the Comics world. My happiest memories are often of long, lazy sundays at the end of conventions when Julie and I and his group of friends and colleagues would sit in a hotel restaurant and I would listen as then reminsced and argued about the past! I spent a lot of time with the wives and duaghters of Comic greats since we kept eachother company while the "boys" were onstage doing panels or sitting signing autographs. It gave me an interesting perspective on the industry.

I still have some Superman jewlery that Julie used to give to his favorite girls known as "Juliettes". Reading this thread has brought back many happy memories.

FYI - I always felt bad for Jughead too. i rememebr one story where he nearly died from Food poisoning and the gan didn't find him cuz he had played a prank or something and was lying sick in the school on a weekend. Horrifying!

The other totally horrifying comic I recall was when Bandit from Johnny Quest got lost and eventually captured by a Dog Fighting Ring! It was so ghastly. Eventually, He tells the other dogs how to team up and escape and Johhny finds him but the really baaaaad dog who is all grizzled and busted up from years of fighting to the death - he sacrifices his own life against the captors to buy time for Bandit and the others. I sobbed for DAYS over that one. bandit was a good dog.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 04 Nov 07 - 11:26 AM

Wow! There's a dramatic story line for you...

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 04 Nov 07 - 03:03 PM

Comic book novels, biographies, histories (or graphics as the New York Times Book Review calls them) are gaining wider audiences. Some are truly works of art, in addition to presenting stories in new ways.
Enjoyed recently are:
Kim Deitch, "Alias the Cat."
Art Spiegelman, "In the Shadow of No Towers."
Chester Brown, "Louis Riel." (A balanced view, not the usual British-Canadian elite distortions of the last century).
Marjane Satrapi, "Persepolis I, II." (Autobiographical, growing up in Iran).
Joe Sacco, "The Fixer, a Story from Sarajevo." (The New York Times said about a previous work on Bosnia- "few have told the truth more bravely than Sacco's. He is an immense talent").

I wish I could afford more of them. Graphic presentation is expensive, and as yet the market is not large for hard-bound graphic works, running to many pages.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Folk Form # 1
Date: 05 Nov 07 - 10:56 AM

I use to devour comics when I was a kid in the 60s. I use to buy american superhero Marvel and DC comics. I use to have TV21 delivered to my house. My sister worked for Odhams (now IPC) and she use to bring home some of their publications: Wham! Smash! Pow! (all rip offs of teh Beano) Terrific! and The Eagle. I kept them all in date order until my mum chucked them on the bonfire. Mummy! What were you thinking?

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Donuel
Date: 05 Nov 07 - 08:06 PM

I have redone over 60 Phantom comics via photoshop to make them indecently politically incorrect. aka telling the truth.

but I suspect this exercise will remain unseen, uninteresting and undoubtedly inane.

besides I must have broken hundreds of copywrite laws.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 06 Nov 07 - 07:41 AM

I recently read Marjane Satrapi's "Persepolis I, it was fascinating.

Sunday for me is reading the comics in both our Sunday papers while eating brunch. I go to a lot of trouble at Festivals to make sure I get my Sunday papers! 'Sunday isn't Sunday without The Sunday Telegraph' (well known advertising blurb) '& the Sun Herald' (the bit I add). I've been following some of those comics - Prince Valiant & The Phantom - since I was very young & get twitchy when I can't read them!! My siblings & I used to buy comics when we had the money.

I haven't read thru the whole thread so don't know if folks have been mentioning Japanese manga. My local library has manga & other illustrated novels in the Young Adult section, & today I found a reprint of the first 3 issues of Marvel's Battleship Galactica comics in the Library so read it while I was waiting for the rain to stop, along with a manga-style novel drawn by someone who was not Japanese. I love that style of drawing.

I don't collect comics, tho I do have 2 old (1960's) Modesty Blaise comics/illustrated novels, and a few pages from manga that were used as wrapping for Japanese ceramics. The precious manga pages are kept with my other Japanese stuff.

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: bobad
Date: 06 Nov 07 - 10:25 AM

Came across this on the www - The Comic Book Periodic Table Of The Elements - pretty cool.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Rumncoke
Date: 06 Nov 07 - 12:42 PM

I used to walk down into town - so saving the bus fare, buy a comic at the stand in the bus station and then read it on the bus home. I even used to forgo lunch and buy DC comics with the money.

I had seven years worth of comics such as the Victor, Valiant, Hotspur, all in pristine condition, some of them from the first issue.

When I went off to University I left boxes full of comics at home, and eventually I came across a shop selling comics for lots of money. I told him what I thought I had, and his eyes lit up. A few weeks later I went home and prepared to tell my parents about the fortune thay had in the loft - only to discover that the boxes of comics had been disposed of almost as soon as I left home.

My parents were really struggling financially at that time, my father had been unable to work through ill health for many years, and it would have made a terrific difference to them.

I was quite shocked that anything had been thrown away - it was not the usual thing at home, everything was kept. I supose it should have told me a lot about my mother's attitude towards me, but it was not until years later that I told my father of the amount of money the comics would have fetched, and he went quite pale and very quiet for a minute or so.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Dave'sWife
Date: 12 Nov 07 - 04:50 PM

The story of the mother who tossed the valuable comics is sadly, a universal one. At every convention I went to with Julie, we'd hear various versions of this sad lament from fans. Oddly enough, it was this universal experience of Comic fans that helped drive the speculative collecting market in the late 1980s and early 1990s which eventually caved in on itself as the publishers started cranking out extreme print-runs thinking that collectors would snap them all up hoping to cash in at a later date. it worked for a while. The Superman's Dead issue is a good example of that kind of thing.

There is another version of the 'my mom chucked out all my comics and if I had them today I could sell them for hundreds of thousands of dollars" and it's the "My Ex-wife burned/trashed/shredded my comics in spite when we broke up" or worse.. "I was forced to sell my collection in my divorce in order to keep the house and/or pay off the Ex-wife." More than a few Comics professionals had their collections liquidated in that manner.

Julie used to send me huge packages of comics every month from 1990 until a year or so before his death and he used to say "Don't hang onto any of these for sentimental reasons. if you need the money - sell every last one of them" During the last big Hollywood strike (2000), I was forced to do just that and I don't regret it. Comics are for reading and enjoying. I leave the collecting and hoarding to others. it used to annoy the crap out of me to hear somebody say to me "You shouldn't be reading that without cotton gloves" or "Don't fold back the cover! You'll ruin the re-sale value."

Out of the Comics Julie used to send me from DC, I really enjoyed PREACHER, the Garth Ennis series. it went on a little longer than it should have but it was a very exciting series. I also liked the SANDMAN spinoff series LUCIFER although I lost interest in that one too after a couple of years.

Out of Non DC titles - i was crazy-mad for STRAY BULLETS when it first came out! Totally insane for it!

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: GUEST,Dáithí
Date: 13 Nov 07 - 05:09 AM

Thankfully I still have about 300 of my old American comics (mainly DC but a few Marvel and others) in a suitcase in the loft..including Number 1 of Plastic Man (dah dah!!)and a few early numbers of Fantastic Four.
Mainly Superman, Superboy, Adventure and Action, with some annuals too..all dated between 1961 and 1967 I think.
Must be worth something, but wouldn't know how to go about selling them...

D

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Bill D
Date: 13 Nov 07 - 10:55 AM

Sadly, my comic books were lost to a Hurricane in New Orleans...in 1947! (I saved maybe 5)....I bought a few others in the 50's, but it wasn't the same.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: kendall
Date: 21 Jun 08 - 08:12 PM

I can't remember all of them but here are a few that grabbed me as a boy.
Mandrake the magician
The Atom
The Shield & Dusty
Captain America
Superman
Batman
Captain Marvel
The Volta men
The Vigilante. (Rode a motor cycle, sidekick named "Stuff"
Submariner
Plastic man
The Green Lanturn
And finally, MAD.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: John on the Sunset Coast
Date: 21 Jun 08 - 09:31 PM

Kendall and everybody else===I love golden age comics.

There are several sites that have complete books available for download for freeeee. They claim the books posted are copyright free, but I have my doubts about a lot of stuff posted. There is way to much recent material that certainly copyrights must be being violated, but I don't like recent ones anyway.

The sites are easily googled. I don;t want trouble either.

There is overlap on material at these sites, and I think they may use the same server in some cases. I know at least two of the sites originate in Europe.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: john f weldon
Date: 22 Jun 08 - 05:45 PM

A link that may interest someone....

http://www.weldonalley.ca/comics/comics.html

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: john f weldon
Date: 22 Jun 08 - 05:47 PM

..or this...

http://www.weldonalley.ca/comics/ashcanalley/ashcannews.html

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Wesley S
Date: 09 Jul 08 - 11:20 AM

Young artist passes away..

Michael Turner Obit

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Wesley S
Date: 13 Jul 09 - 04:58 PM

It apperas that Ryan Reynolds has been cast to play Hal Jordon in the Green Lantern movie.I guess they could have done worse.

Link to story

By Borys Kit

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - After an intense months-long search, Warner Bros. has chosen Ryan Reynolds to play the title character in "Green Lantern," the studio's live-action movie based on the DC Comics hero.

Reynolds and his representatives entered negotiations for the part Friday, after the studio held two rounds of screen tests for the actor, Bradley Cooper and Jared Leto. Justin Timberlake also did a screen test.

The film is being directed by Martin Campbell and produced by Donald De Line and Greg Berlanti.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Joe_F
Date: 13 Jul 09 - 06:30 PM

When I was little I had Superman & Batman & all those guys. These days it's Harvey Pekar, Robert Crumb (mostly the autobiographical ones), and (rest in peace) Rand Holmes & Guy Colwell.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 14 Jul 09 - 01:03 PM

If only all threads could be like this one.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Stu
Date: 14 Jul 09 - 01:49 PM

It's fascinating to see how the US folks have grown up (and older) with their comics.

As I live in the UK I started off with the usual staples of Beano and The Dandy (plus the excellent Oor Wullie annuals my great Uncle gave me). I then became obsessed with Marvel comics and read Spiderman, Fantastic Four, The Incredible Hulk etc etc as well as Conan and the like.

At some point British comics changed, and some edgier titles came out that often centred around the second world war. Comics like Action!, Bullet and Warlord became very popular and I got these until . . .

. . . one day I picked up a new comic called 2000AD and everything changed. Along with the excellent Starlord (they merged not long after starting) 2000AD total re-wrote and re-drew British comics. Apart from Judge Dredd, there are whole rafts of characters that are brilliant and memorable. The writer's and artist's roster reads like a whose-who of British comic talent: Alan Moore, Brian Bolland, Carlos Ezquerra, Kevin O'Neill, Cam Kennedy etc etc.

I still read many of the strips now, although I have begun reading graphic novels. Watchmen was excellent, and i found a brilliant adaption of City of Glass, a Paul Auster story found in the New York Trilogy.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Wesley S
Date: 18 Nov 10 - 08:24 PM

The Green Lantern Trailer


It looks better than I expected.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Donuel
Date: 19 Nov 10 - 12:25 AM

I lurk at comics. One thing is for sure, the artwork and perspectives have encountered an age of enlightenment.

THe art is much better than ever before.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: GUEST,Patsy
Date: 19 Nov 10 - 03:40 AM

When I was a little girl I enjoyed boys action magazines more than the stuff available for girls like Marvel and DC Comics, Beano (don't know if that was considered boys reading material more so than girls?) and the Dandy etc. The comics that I indulged in was Beryl the Peril and I haven't been able to track it down since. I always rated it much more than Minnie the Minx. I still read through the vast collection that my son has which includes Marvel, DC Comics and Judge Dread and I have been known to buy the odd Viz magazine. Back to Beryl the Peril I would love to get the annual that I used to own, it was pretty hilarious even when she was trying to be good! Back then I didn't have the sense to hang on to it.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: katlaughing
Date: 09 Dec 10 - 03:41 PM

Neil Gaiman was on NPR's Talk Of The Nation today, talking about editing The Best American Comics 2010. It was a fun and interesting interview. The audio and/or transcript will be available after 6p.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Amergin
Date: 10 Dec 10 - 06:02 PM

I am not a comic book person....never really have been. I think partly it was because we were too poor for me to go into some serial that I would only read once or twice....when most kids were reading those I was reading novels, though once in a while did read my dad's heavy metal...but wow...yesterday I read The Watchmen, after of course seeing the movie...but the book was mind blowing. Never thought a mere comic book could be so deep.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Wesley S
Date: 24 Mar 11 - 04:30 PM

Here's a list of 40 upcoming movies based on comic books. It should be an interesting couple of years.

Upcoming movie list.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Wesley S
Date: 29 Mar 11 - 05:35 PM

It looks like Wonder Woman returns to TV in the fall of 2011. Here's a look at the outfit.


Wonder Woman returns

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 29 Mar 11 - 05:42 PM

Reading through volume 6 (the last) of Terry and the Pirates.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: J-boy
Date: 29 Mar 11 - 11:53 PM

Check out Scalped by Jason Aaron. It's a great noir story set on an Indian Reservation.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: GUEST,Patsy
Date: 30 Mar 11 - 02:48 AM

Will Wonder Woman be shown on UK television? If so a certain son of mine will be very pleased. Hopefully the new Wonder Woman will be as lovely and curvy as Linda Carter, speaking for my son.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 30 Mar 11 - 02:56 AM

The Eagle if I see a book in WH Smith!

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 30 Mar 11 - 05:15 AM

I used to buy Dandy, Beano and a long liquorice 'skipping rope', stick one end in my mouth and chew. It lasted until I'd read both comics. All for sixpence! (2.5 pence) When quite small, it was Chick's Own, then Bunty and Diana (or Diane, I can't quite remember) Wasn't Beryl the Peril in Topper?

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: GUEST,Patsy
Date: 30 Mar 11 - 07:46 AM

Yes Eliza I think I do remember Beryl being in Topper I used to read the comics that you mentioned and there was another one it must have come out a little bit later 'The Teddy Bear's comic' It had lovely illustrations in it of a whole family of bears, mother, father, grandpa. schoolboy and girl and 'Grizzly' fretful baby bear, doing typical family things.

Somehow sweets don't taste like they used to either.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 30 Mar 11 - 12:31 PM

A fairly new shop has opened here in Norwich, selling old fashioned sweets such as sherbert fountains, mint humbugs etc. But after whizzing in there full of hope, alas I discovered they only sell horrible Pontifract cakes and liquorice comfits, not the long skipping ropes of my dreams! I also adore liquorice 'pipes' and 'Catherine wheels'. Very good for constipation!

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: GUEST,Patsy
Date: 31 Mar 11 - 08:21 AM

I know this is drifting away from the comics but I remember the Catherine wheels which had a blue or pink aniseed flavour sweets in the middle similar to the ones in a bag of liquorice allsorts. Which has suddenly reminded me of the old 'Lucky Bags' they tried to recreate the lucky bag but it just wasn't the same.

But sort of bordering on comics and staying in the sweet line I remember Bazooka Joe gum with a little comic strip inside.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Donuel
Date: 31 Mar 11 - 12:29 PM

19th century gilded age style cartoon

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 31 Mar 11 - 02:09 PM

Patsy, I think comics and sweets went together quite naturally, because they were sold in the same shop, a newsagents/sweetshop. Also, it was lovely to munch or suck while reading, total heaven! Do you remember flying saucers? Those pink mice? Black Jacks and Salad Chews? And comic characters like the Four Marys, Desperate Dan, the Bash Street Kids with Lord Snooty, Rob Roy, Korky the Cat. We were all so happy then, no technology or sophisticated stuff, just a simple comic and a sweet or two. Even cornflake packets had little plastic things like diving men (put baking soda inside) and the cardboard models you could cut out and make up from the box itself. We had a much better time than children today, I'm quite sure!

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: bobad
Date: 29 Apr 11 - 11:12 AM

Superman threatens to renounce U.S. citizenship

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Wesley S
Date: 29 Apr 11 - 02:11 PM

I don't remember Superman talking about "Truth Justice and the American Way" in the comic book before.But I could have missed it. Was that an invention of the TV show from the 50's?

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 29 Apr 11 - 04:21 PM

Just out of interest - I am sure I mentioned it earlier in the thread - but my favourite was always The Green Lantern.

Anyone heard any mention of the film recently?

And what about Thor about to come out on the big screen. Anyone notice that bit at the end of Iron Man 2 where they found the hammer?

Ok - Yes, I am sad... :-)

MP

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 29 Apr 11 - 04:28 PM

Just noticed the name of the Opening Poster again:-) Good on you Hal!

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Wesley S
Date: 29 Apr 11 - 06:19 PM

Polly - Here's a site I go to check out the trailers of upcoming movies. Interesting that the Thor movie is directed by Kenneth Branagh.

The Movie Box - Trailers


Most of the recent Marvel comics movies have little bits after the credits that give a clue about one of the upcoming movies. I think they'll be sticking to that premise in future movies too. Of course you have to sit through 15 minutes of credits to see one.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: michaelr
Date: 29 Apr 11 - 08:13 PM

I just saw a delightful film based on a comic strip, "Tamara Drewe". Anyone here familiar with that?

It's supposed to be a modern take on "Far from the madding Crowd", but I must say I didn't see the parallels.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Max Johnson
Date: 30 Apr 11 - 07:03 AM

The superb 'Tamara Drewe' is by the artist Posy Symmonds, and is indeed based on 'Far From The Madding Crowd'. There are one or two additions. For example, she saw the two girls as a Greek chorus.
The Writers' retreat is a sort of joke of the idea of 'Far From The Madding Crowd', but there are plot and name similarities and puns.
They've made a film of 'Tamara Drewe' which I haven't seen, but I feel that it probably misses the point of the graphic novel. Nice for Posy Symmonds though!

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: GUEST
Date: 01 May 11 - 02:30 AM

Joss Whedon is directing The Avengers as we speak. Hooray!

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Wesley S
Date: 17 May 11 - 03:23 PM

It appears that Steven Speilberg and Peter Jackson are making The Adventures of Tin Tin.


Preview here

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: John on the Sunset Coast
Date: 17 May 11 - 10:44 PM

I've not cared much for the transfer of comic book characters to live action film. This is especially true of the super (and near-super) heroes. Much better--or truer--to source material were Popeye and Dick Tracy (the Beatty version). But those did not do box office, so obviously I'm in a minority.

The Fleischer Superman cartoons of the 1940s are wonderful, though based more on the radio Superman series than the four color magazines. I have the complete run, and rewatch some occasionally.

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Wesley S
Date: 03 Jun 11 - 07:54 AM

This is a strange marketing move. DC comics plans to "reboot". It's going to start all 52 of their titles over again and renumber them # 1.


DC Story here

Subject: RE: BS: Any comic book readers here ?
From: Wesley S
Date: 02 Aug 12 - 07:42 PM

I see that the DC comics character Green Arrow is going to be given a series on the CW network. The series will just be called "Arrow". Check the link below and you can see a preview video.


Link to website here.