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Post by brutalis on May 15, 2019 10:39:12 GMT -5
Love of the other is today’s Remembrance of When as I think of all the series and heroes and villains who only had their 15 minutes of fame in the spotlight. Those who are fan favorites or developed the cult following placing them in fond remembrances of the glory days of their popularity. Those, who because they were NOT the premiere big-name selling hero or villain carrying a regular series had better or more opportunity for complicated characterization or growth. These stories and adventures having a bit more “oomph” or style to help push them along in to the public eye. Some folks leap out and drew the instant attention of readers while others languished in the shadows dreaming for more. Then there are those seemingly lesser villains you anticipated anxiously while in hopes of their return bouts while other villains seemed to reappear every few months since they had a stronger concept.
These folks had opportunities for different types of adventures. For me they are just as great or even better for stories than the biggest stars. I’ll admit to liking and following and enjoying these folks since they had more to show off for bigger risks to explore than the main sales of the likes of DC’s Trinity or Marvel’s hottest stars. Many grew famous in fan favoritism they developed over the years, while many others were becoming small cult favorites in some cases.
The likes of Nighthawk, Falcon, Stingray, Triton the Inhuman, Red Wolf, Hawkeye, Metamorpho, Hawkman/Hawkgirl, Adam Strange, Jack of Hearts, White Tiger, Mister Miracle, Etrigan the Demon, Deathlok, Nova, Dominic Fortune, Captain Mar-Vell, Adam Warlock, Black Knight, Hawkeye, Green Arrow, Black Canary, The Question, Arion, Amethyst, Johnny/Jesse Quick, Creeper, Phantom Stranger, Tigra, Man-Wolf, Killraven and so many others come to mind. Many were the villains I hoped to see: Tiger Shark, Attuma, Swordsman, Grey Gargoyle, Xemnu the Titan, The Living Laser, Batroc, Diablo, Whirlwind, The Masked Marauder, The Gladiator, M.O.D.O.K, Arnim Zola, Man-Ape, Grim Reaper, Amazo, Mr. 101 the Element Man, The Animal/Vegetable/Mineral Man, The Gentleman Ghost, Trapster, Doctor Demonicus, Darkoth the Death Demon, Klaw the Master of Sound, Swordsman and others all shrouded in shadowy villainy.
Many of these heroes enjoyed a decent run in their own series or were splendid in a few storylines but then fading to occasional guest star status. Several found more than a single instance of infamy and received ongoing series once more or several attempts in reviving their past glories in modern terms and keeping them in the public eye. Some of these villains found themselves cast to the sidelines in favor of larger name villains who stole the spotlight or when writers had no interest in them or no strong ideas to carry their villainous games forward. Neither hero or villain were ever in the spotlight for very long it seemed to me and many were sitting the side lines just for lack of attention or inventiveness to carry them forward.
No matter what iteration of heroes or villains you call your own we all benefited from their trail blazing adventures as they attempted to create their own worlds for our entertainment. With individuality and attempts for doing/showing/saying more from the secondary characters, we will continue to find these comic characters uniquely claimed as our own, even as we await them in a new adventure.
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Post by brutalis on Jun 6, 2019 13:30:59 GMT -5
This Remember When is dedicated to the remembrance of the half page advertisements of upcoming and/or new comic books found in the inner pages of Marvel and DC comics in the past. How the thrill of finding out a new series was premiering soon, and that small art provided the initial fire of expectation for the endless wait or hoping you might find that issue on the racks. The fuel of one half (or even smaller) advertisement gripped our imagination and speculation for the upcoming issue advertised. Marvel was even willing to filling up an entire page with 3-4 upcoming teases.
These internal ads for me were sometimes frustrating, providing no end of agony as the limited distribution back in the 70’s left little or no opportunity for finding some of these gems. For example, Marvel advertised and released both ERB heroes Tarzan and John Carter at the same time, but I was only able to find every issue of JC through its run, and Tarzan I only found a few issues. Any other comics that I found from inside ads were difficult to find perhaps due to a lower issue in printings. A sporadic issue here or there, or perhaps several months separating issues. Never finding any Karate Kid, only seeing the ad for Kamandi’s 1st issue to hunt over 5 months before finding an issue. In the end I am wondering if those inner ads were meant for driving us readers crazy?
But oh, how those ads captivated my mind. Such a simple thing as a few words and single clip of art could begin the anticipatory tingle in the mind and blood. Yes, there were those few times where I was let down after such excitement and yet for the most part there was always happiness when finding an elusive comic sought after from an advertisement. It was the big payoff from a long seek and find I was participating in, and the reward was finding some elusively true spectacular treasure. In such a way was collecting comic books soon to become the pure thrill of the hunt as I grew older. Seeking out all the missing issues in a series or building a collection from nothing in having seen those ads but never finding them new became a strong challenge causing me to search out back issues when the LCS came around several years later.
Many a time I spent all day poring over those inner enticements as I attempted to draw or create art from those small adverts. This was the growth of my addiction in leaps and bounds from seeing a small advertisement and accepting the mission for canvasing the area, by foot or bike upon the elusive hunt for comic books I might possibly never find. Such is those formative years of a young comic reader when it quickly becomes an intense NEED for filling those holes of a growing collection in becoming a compulsive completist wanting but never having it all. Gradually age and common sense will take over reminding ourselves there are those issues we cannot find or afford in our lifetime as we hope for reprints or collections. It was not so in the days of yonder when reprints were only for the big sellers (like Spidey and Supes) and TPB’s were not a concept in any company’s sales venue. It was an all-consuming hunger devouring the mind in attempts to search out any store where you might hope of finding a new comic book.
You youngsters today have it made in ways that we oldsters never imagined. Now we old timers via the internet and on-line stores are sitting at home searching across the country working easier than ever before on those missed opportunities of our misspent youth when we would be on endless hunts for any elusive issues while roaming around the city…
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Post by beccabear67 on Jun 6, 2019 14:39:29 GMT -5
I remember the '40s Fiction House comics often had a color ad on the inside front cover of all the current numbers of their titles. As a collector many years/decades after the fact it used to be a pleasure/torture to see the then current '40s-'60s issues for only a dime or twelve cents, talk about longing for a time machine! Especially if you had a Marvel dated September 1963.
There is a replica edition of Giant-Size X-Men #1 coming soon I believe. I'll probably want to add it to the DC 80 Page Giant/Annual replicas and reprints, unless they put that True Believers banner on it, I seriously don't want to get into collecting those cheap as they seem, I'd probably want to have them all like I did with the '80s DC Silver Age Classics series!
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Post by brutalis on Jun 6, 2019 15:35:13 GMT -5
Totally agree on the pleasure versus torture of advertisements beccabear67 as I love it when I find ad listings in old comics and magazines. The fun of choosing what record albums you would have mail order from Columbia House. The monthly list of current comics at the bottom of Stan's Soapbox to choose which you might want or NOT choose? The Science Fiction Book Club where you look at minuscule titles from the aide binding of a book trying to decide upon from all the lists titles? What t-shirt with cheap graphics ironed on that will wash away after a month catches my attention? Do I mail order the green army men or the Roman army collection? Go for the ant farm or choose the Sea-Monkeys? The collector in me adores the idea of looking back as an adult for all the opportunities 8-20 year old me would have chosen or passed on. Oh the pain to quote Dr. Smith!! The pain...
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Post by EdoBosnar on Jun 6, 2019 16:06:41 GMT -5
(...) but I was only able to find every issue of JC through its run, and Tarzan I only found a few issues. (...) It was just the opposite where I lived: Marvel's Tarzan was always on the spinner racks, but I only remember seeing a few issues of JC.
Otherwise, though, I have to say that although I've always been more of a Marvel boy, I often liked DC's house ads better. For example, this one with art by Joe Staton has always been one of my favorites (I think I even cut it out of a comic book back then and turned it into a pin-up):
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Post by Farrar on Jun 6, 2019 21:38:16 GMT -5
This Remember When is dedicated to the remembrance of the half page advertisements of upcoming and/or new comic books found in the inner pages of Marvel and DC comics in the past. How the thrill of finding out a new series was premiering soon, and that small art provided the initial fire of expectation for the endless wait or hoping you might find that issue on the racks. The fuel of one half (or even smaller) advertisement gripped our imagination and speculation for the upcoming issue advertised... Those DC and Marvel house ads played such a huge role in my earliest superhero reading experiences. To this day I remember the thrill and wonder I felt when I saw this house ad in the first (monthly) issue of FF I ever owned: That ad for the FF Special (Annual) #5 captured my attention like nothing else. I knew the Torch and the Thing (from the monthly FF book and the TV cartoon), but who were all those other characters on the cover? And those colors--the blue/dark blue/purple/green/etc. costumes, Medusa's red hair, the Torch's red and yellow flames, Crystal's yellow costume and orange hair, Ben's orange skin--all set against against that white background with black linework--what an amazing cover. To my disappointment I never actually saw this issue on the stands, and it remained a holy grail for awhile; but a couple of years later I finally tracked it down in a collectibles store. It remains a cherished issue of mine. And the ad for the T-shirts: I remember thinking, why was the Scarlet Witch (whom I knew from the Avengers comic I'd just started reading) wearing such a big strange headdress? With Marvel I only read their team books on a regular basis, but it was relatively easy for me to keep up to date about things going on in all the other books too thanks to the house ads, the Bullpen Bulletins, Stan's Soapbox, and the Checklist. I almost enjoyed these features more than the stories themselves at times!
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Post by chadwilliam on Jun 6, 2019 22:06:23 GMT -5
At the risk of sounding like a complete ingrate, what I really miss is the ignorance I once had of what was out there and what was out there was so much uncharted territory. I remember going through the back issue bins at comic shops and just staring at the covers of all these wonderful Silver Age Batman comics but having to stop at whatever point my arms could no longer reach. For the lack of an extra inch or two, that was another ten or so covers of Batman circa 1963 that I might never get the chance to see again. There's a story out there where a courtroom full of Jokers put Batman on trial?! What else is out there?! Damn these stumps!
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Post by Farrar on Jun 6, 2019 22:06:41 GMT -5
I also loved DC's house ads. I remember coming across this ad in several different comics, probably when I was poring through my cousins' huge stash of DCs: I don't know why this cover appealed to me so much. I was not, and never became, much of a fan of Superboy or his comic, and I've never actually read this particular issue. But I remember being captivated by the ad. I think it may be the first ad for a Giant superhero comic I ever saw, so maybe that's a part of it; I had loved the Harvey Giant issues and maybe this Giant now represented the next step for me in terms of comic book reading. And who could resist that clear, serenely beautiful art by Swan, even if I didn't know the artist's name? The cover just looked so perfect. ... The fuel of one half (or even smaller) advertisement gripped our imagination and speculation for the upcoming issue advertised... You said it, brutalis! Those DC house ads were also where I came across numerous unforgettable covers by the Infantino-Anderson team, or Murphy Anderson solo, or Gil Kane, including these: DC distribution was pretty terrible in my neighborhood so usually I never actually got to read a lot of the advertised comics until months later, when my friends or cousins would have them. I also liked the Direct Currents feature; sure, the text wasn't as catchy as Marvel's, but there was just enough to keep me up-to-date about what was happening in the various DC mags.
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Post by Farrar on Jun 6, 2019 22:30:26 GMT -5
At the risk of sounding like a complete ingrate, what I really miss is the ignorance I once had of what was out there and what was out there was so much uncharted territory. I remember going through the back issue bins at comic shops and just staring at the covers of all these wonderful Silver Age Batman comics but having to stop at whatever point my arms could no longer reach. For the lack of an extra inch or two, that was another ten or so covers of Batman circa 1963 that I might never get the chance to see again. There's a story out there where a courtroom full of Jokers put Batman on trial?! What else is out there?! Damn these stumps! I hear you, chadwilliam. When I started buying back issues I loved the experience of going through a box or two and discovering not only comics that I was looking for (to complete my growing collections of FF, Avengers, JLA, and other series I was reading on a regular basis) but I also liked coming across series I wasn't at all familiar with, such as the Torch-Thing Strange Tales issues (loved the Kirby-Stone covers) or stuff like the pre-New Look Batman (a series I'd never read on a regular basis, but if I found an older Bats issue, especially from the dime era, I'd usually buy it). But I must admit I would always get a special thrill when I would stumble upon a comic--like that Atom I posted above--that I'd only previously known from the house ads.
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Post by brutalis on Jun 18, 2019 16:25:41 GMT -5
Let’s Remember When there was only a singular Star Trek comic on the racks where we could find our favorite science-fiction show. We, who were quickly following Trek in syndication re-runs while craving more, found the Enterprise crew within the four-color page. Well, at least it was a close facsimile attempting for recreating the television show upon the comic book pages. Not overly accurate, without any real characterization, nice art with no attempt to capture the Trek universe as it looked on television, unable to use the actors in any resemblance, the Enterprise initially having jet blasts coming from the Warp Nacelles and other such inaccuracies. And yet, it was still our beloved Star Trek!
I remember finding my 1st Gold Key Star Trek not upon a spinner rack but at a local K-Mart in the toy section. Instantly noticing this was different from other comic books. 1st off is that picture cover, colorfully striking and different. The interior artwork where these figures don’t look like the crew of the Enterprise. Yet the fine lines, the limited backgrounds, the color and story all reflect the design sense of the television show. I find a certain charm and uniqueness in these pages which is different from other comics that I have. This captivates my Star Trek recollections and I find myself beginning to look out for more issues. But sadly, none of the convenience stores around Phoenix seem to carry Star Trek. The only place I ever see issues is at the local K-Mart and after that 1 issue, they are always in a plastic bag with other Gold Key comics as a collected purchase that I can only see the covers.
Many months go by and there is never a single issue(s) to be found anywhere unless someone has torn one of the plastic bags open. I’ll find an occasional Magnus, Robot Fighter or Space Family Robinson or a Warner Brothers Bugs bunny/Daffy Duck/Porky Pig. Never do I find another Star Trek. I read that lonely single issue (Trek #7) time and time again wishing I might find more. Eventually my Grandmother, who is working at Woolworths, brings to me a most magical gift one day. She knows my love of Star Trek (every weekend my grandfather and I both watch Trek together in syndication) so when she see’s a Star Trek book at work she buys it for me. And lo and behold I am now the owner of the 3rd Star Trek Log which collect issues of the individual Gold Key comic. I am in seventh heaven! Now I have some Trek I can read other than the James Blish novelizations of the series.
Yet this is the only Trek I ever have until the Motion Picture comes around in 1979 where Marvel prints a new series. I collected all of the series (less than stellar) with enthusiasm. Eventually Trek will move over to DC in 1984 with much better results for a long life of prospering (along with new television series, The Next Generation) in comic book form. I again collect the entire series of both shows from DC with much excitement and joy for these are “true” Trek in every possible way reflecting the shows and movies while providing new explorations for all to enjoy. Space is NOT the final frontier for Star Trek, it has become a staple of big screen movies, television, novels, toys and comic books filling everyone’s imaginations…
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jun 18, 2019 16:41:34 GMT -5
While I did see a few Gold Key Star Trek comics at the five and dime store, they never held much appeal to my young self. I thought the characters didn’t look enough like their TV counterparts. My TV S-F holy grail during the same period was a pair of Space: 1999 coloring books... Low on adventure, but better at getting the likenesses right.
Nowadays, naturally, I wish I had jumped on those comics.
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Post by Icctrombone on Jun 18, 2019 16:45:04 GMT -5
I bought the collected STOS in December. It wasn’t bad.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2019 16:57:51 GMT -5
The Gold Key Star Treks were among the assortment of comics my parents bowling friends would bring to the bowling alley for the kids to read while the grown ups bowled. It was mostly Gold Key books for some reason-cartoon related stuff like Pink Panther, Road Runner, etc. but there was some trek mixed in. This was when I was in nursery school, kindergarten and 1st grade, but I was already able to read, and I was reading comics there before I got my own. I think it might have been there that I got Batman #250 to take home, as that is the earliest super-hero comic I owned, but it came out about a year before the other comics I owned as a kid came out, and was the only 20 center I remember owning that I don;t remember where it came from others were hand me downs from neighbors and friends of the family whose kids had outgrown comics and came to me years after they were published, I had the Batman 250 at the same time I got my earliest comics, and I don't remember if my parents bought it for me or I got it somewhere else, as I was just shy of 4 when it came out, but I definitely remember having it during nursery school and bringing it in for show and tell, and nursery school started just after I turned 4.
-M
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Post by beccabear67 on Jun 18, 2019 21:25:20 GMT -5
For Christmas one year (1978, 1977, 1976?) I received one of the thick collected Gold Key Star Trek comics (only it said Golden press on it). I got another one later. I remember one had that space pirates with striped shirts and fishbowl helmets story in it. Later I read about how the Italian artists hadn't even seen the show at first and were working from stills sent to them. I guess I liked it anyway, it was Star Trek, and it was a real thick comic-sized item. I wonder why that format wasn't used as much as the digests, or the even more shrunken and awkward paperback? Here's the first one, they were titled 'The Enterprise Logs'...
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Post by dbutler69 on Jun 20, 2019 9:07:29 GMT -5
I bought two Gold Key Star Trek comics back in the day. I think it was in Kmart, or maybe at a store called Two Guys. Ah, how I miss Two Guys. That's where I got a lot of my Star Wars action figures!
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