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Post by Cei-U! on Nov 21, 2015 8:12:31 GMT -5
Because it was originally created for the black & white Motion Picture Funnies Weekly, that first Subby story makes extensive use of what I assume is Duotone or some similar shading process. Laying color over it gives it that distinctively muddy look.
Cei-U!
I summon the answer!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 21, 2015 13:53:44 GMT -5
Thanks Cei-U!
-M
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Post by tingramretro on Nov 21, 2015 14:12:44 GMT -5
Yeah, I'm kind of afraid to open up my old digests now. They were hard to read even back then, and the spine damage in trying to read them now would probably upset me. Before I found the American Blue Ribbon Digests, I came across the UK 'pocketbook' versions. These were a bit larger than the US digests and the pages were glossier and all full-colour but...they fell apart more easy too (which is why I don't have them anymore). I remember coming across a whole stash of them in a UK bookstore in the 90s when I was still in single digits and they priced at only 25p each...I bought all the Superman and Batman books and had a lot of reading. In fact, I credit these books for taking me into DC territory before I was 10.  I used to love those-still got a couple, somewhere. Published by Egmont/Methuen between 1978 and 1980. Very hard to find, these days. I think both Batman and Superman ran for about a dozen bi-monthly issues. * *Edited: nope, having just checked, it looks as though they ran for at least 18 issues! |
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Post by tingramretro on Nov 21, 2015 14:15:00 GMT -5
Before I found the American Blue Ribbon Digests, I came across the UK 'pocketbook' versions. These were a bit larger than the US digests and the pages were glossier and all full-colour but...they fell apart more easy too (which is why I don't have them anymore). I remember coming across a whole stash of them in a UK bookstore in the 90s when I was still in single digits and they priced at only 25p each...I bought all the Superman and Batman books and had a lot of reading. In fact, I credit these books for taking me into DC territory before I was 10. These kind of UK pocketbooks were among the first comics I ever owned. My mum bought them for me, but I was so young at the time that I can't really remember which ones I had. That said, I'm pretty sure I had a Batman one and maybe two or three Marvel ones (I remember the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man and Iron Man being in them). These were in black & white, right? No, the Superman and Batman Pocket Books were in full colour! |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 21, 2015 19:01:23 GMT -5
I used to love those-still got a couple, somewhere. Published by Egmont/Methuen between 1978 and 1980. Very hard to find, these days. I think both Batman and Superman ran for about a dozen bi-monthly issues. * *Edited: nope, having just checked, it looks as though they ran for at least 18 issues! Are yours still intact? As much as I liked mine, the binding was awful and the entire book would separate from the spine or individual pages would begin to come apart. Back then I wasn't as finicky so I'd also spill Ribena on them  But it's books like these that got me interested in buying original back issues...I've now got almost full runs of all Superman and Batman books, team-up books etc from the latter 70s. |
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Post by Confessor on Nov 21, 2015 20:31:25 GMT -5
These kind of UK pocketbooks were among the first comics I ever owned. My mum bought them for me, but I was so young at the time that I can't really remember which ones I had. That said, I'm pretty sure I had a Batman one and maybe two or three Marvel ones (I remember the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man and Iron Man being in them). These were in black & white, right? No, the Superman and Batman Pocket Books were in full colour! Oh really? That's not how I remember them at all. EDIT: Just had a quick look on eBay and sure enough, the UK Marvel pocket books are black and white, as you can see from this listing photograph...  I was sure that they weren't colour...like most other UK comics weren't. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 21, 2015 21:00:37 GMT -5
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Post by Confessor on Nov 22, 2015 0:37:49 GMT -5
Nope, the DC's were definitely colour. Fortunately, Egmont Publishing didn't resort to cheap ass black & white.   Ah, right...I must not have had any DCs as a little kid then. I'm sure all mine were black & white. I clearly remember the pocket books being saddle stitched too and that Superman pocket book in your picture is square bound. So yeah, I must've only have Marvel ones. Funny, I could've sworn I had a Batman one. Oh well, it was a loooooooooong time ago. |
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Post by tingramretro on Nov 22, 2015 1:59:31 GMT -5
I used to love those-still got a couple, somewhere. Published by Egmont/Methuen between 1978 and 1980. Very hard to find, these days. I think both Batman and Superman ran for about a dozen bi-monthly issues. * *Edited: nope, having just checked, it looks as though they ran for at least 18 issues! Are yours still intact? As much as I liked mine, the binding was awful and the entire book would separate from the spine or individual pages would begin to come apart. Back then I wasn't as finicky so I'd also spill Ribena on them But it's books like these that got me interested in buying original back issues...I've now got almost full runs of all Superman and Batman books, team-up books etc from the latter 70s. One of them is coverless, I think, and another has a loose cover. The card covers and inadequate binding did make them fragile. |
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Post by tingramretro on Nov 22, 2015 2:11:56 GMT -5
Nope, the DC's were definitely colour. Fortunately, Egmont Publishing didn't resort to cheap ass black & white. Ah, right...I must not have had any DCs as a little kid then. I'm sure all mine were black & white. I clearly remember the pocket books being saddle stitched too and that Superman pocket book in your picture is square bound. So yeah, I must've only have Marvel ones. Funny, I could've sworn I had a Batman one. Oh well, it was a loooooooooong time ago. The Marvel pocket books were just regular, stapled comics, but digest sized. I have a box full of them. There were nine titles in all: Spider-Man, Hulk, Fantastic Four, Conan, Young Romance, Marvel Classics Comics, The Titans (featuring Captain America, Thor and Iron Man), Chiller (featuring Dracula, the Man-Thing and occasionally Ghost Rider) and Star Heroes (featuring the Micronauts and Battlestar Galactica). They were all launched in 1980, but Marvel Classics Comics only lasted 12 issues and Conan, Hulk, Titans and Young Romance just 13. The other four lasted 28 issues in total, although in the case of Star Heroes, it was completely revamped and retitled X-Men Pocket Book from #13 onwards. They were, I believe, the last titles launched by Dez Skinn before he left Marvel. |
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Post by Confessor on Nov 22, 2015 9:48:30 GMT -5
Ah, right...I must not have had any DCs as a little kid then. I'm sure all mine were black & white. I clearly remember the pocket books being saddle stitched too and that Superman pocket book in your picture is square bound. So yeah, I must've only have Marvel ones. Funny, I could've sworn I had a Batman one. Oh well, it was a loooooooooong time ago. The Marvel pocket books were just regular, stapled comics, but digest sized. I have a box full of them. There were nine titles in all: Spider-Man, Hulk, Fantastic Four, Conan, Young Romance, Marvel Classics Comics, The Titans (featuring Captain America, Thor and Iron Man), Chiller (featuring Dracula, the Man-Thing and occasionally Ghost Rider) and Star Heroes (featuring the Micronauts and Battlestar Galactica). They were all launched in 1980, but Marvel Classics Comics only lasted 12 issues and Conan, Hulk, Titans and Young Romance just 13. The other four lasted 28 issues in total, although in the case of Star Heroes, it was completely revamped and retitled X-Men Pocket Book from #13 onwards. They were, I believe, the last titles launched by Dez Skinn before he left Marvel. Yeah, I think I must've had at least one copy of The Titans because I have a very hazy memory of one of my pocket books having an iron man story in it that featured the original "bathtub" armour suit. I definitely had a Fantastic Four one and I think I probably had at least one Spider-Man pocket book as well because I vaguely remember having the death of Gwen Stacy in that format...although that could just be my memory playing tricks on me. Perhaps, if you have time (and don't worry if it's a hassle), you could see which (if any) issues of The Titans and Spider-Man have stories featuring the original "bathtub" Iron Man armour and/or the death of Gwen Stacy (or maybe a flashback to that tragic event). I'd like to maybe pick up copies of those pocket books that I had as a little 'un. |
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Post by tingramretro on Nov 22, 2015 10:31:34 GMT -5
The Marvel pocket books were just regular, stapled comics, but digest sized. I have a box full of them. There were nine titles in all: Spider-Man, Hulk, Fantastic Four, Conan, Young Romance, Marvel Classics Comics, The Titans (featuring Captain America, Thor and Iron Man), Chiller (featuring Dracula, the Man-Thing and occasionally Ghost Rider) and Star Heroes (featuring the Micronauts and Battlestar Galactica). They were all launched in 1980, but Marvel Classics Comics only lasted 12 issues and Conan, Hulk, Titans and Young Romance just 13. The other four lasted 28 issues in total, although in the case of Star Heroes, it was completely revamped and retitled X-Men Pocket Book from #13 onwards. They were, I believe, the last titles launched by Dez Skinn before he left Marvel. Yeah, I think I must've had at least one copy of The Titans because I have a very hazy memory of one of my pocket books having an iron man story in it that featured the original "bathtub" armour suit. I definitely had a Fantastic Four one and I think I probably had at least one Spider-Man pocket book as well because I vaguely remember having the death of Gwen Stacy in that format...although that could just be my memory playing tricks on me. Perhaps, if you have time (and don't worry if it's a hassle), you could see which (if any) issues of The Titans and Spider-Man have stories featuring the original "bathtub" Iron Man armour and/or the death of Gwen Stacy (or maybe a flashback to that tragic event). I'd like to maybe pick up copies of those pocket books that I had as a little 'un. At least the first three issues of the Titans Pocket Book feature Iron Man in his original armour (afraid I don't have the next couple) although, rather confusingly, he's shown wearing his red and gold suit on the covers! The Spider-Man Pocket Book, though, only lasted 28 issues and never got anywhere near to ASM #121. Marvel UK did reprint that story at least twice, once in Spider-Man Comics Weekly and once in an early eighties Spider-Man Annual, but not in a Pocket Book. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 22, 2015 12:33:01 GMT -5
You're absolutely right. It's not like I'd ever sell any of them. In fact, I've often said, and truly believe, that if someone gave me a mint Action #1 in a slab, I'd rip it open and read it. I'd wear gloves and treat it well, but I'd read it! But you'd be kissing a huge premium goodbye...well in excess of several hundred thousand dollars. Now think just how many comics that could buy.  |
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Post by Hoosier X on Nov 22, 2015 13:24:18 GMT -5
You're absolutely right. It's not like I'd ever sell any of them. In fact, I've often said, and truly believe, that if someone gave me a mint Action #1 in a slab, I'd rip it open and read it. I'd wear gloves and treat it well, but I'd read it! But you'd be kissing a huge premium goodbye...well in excess of several hundred thousand dollars. Now think just how many comics that could buy. Um, you could just get it slabbed again after you read it. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 22, 2015 13:41:38 GMT -5
But you'd be kissing a huge premium goodbye...well in excess of several hundred thousand dollars. Now think just how many comics that could buy. Um, you could just get it slabbed again after you read it. Yep...if you want to take the risk of handling a premium book yourself...then turnaround time re-submitting it, possible risk of getting a lower grade...go ahead... |
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But it's books like these that got me interested in buying original back issues...I've now got almost full runs of all Superman and Batman books, team-up books etc from the latter 70s.
