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A Month in the Life of the Comics
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670 posts in this topic

# 19

Blondie # 40 - Purchased at an antique mall (with a missing centerfold tonofbricks.gif)

 

748547-Blondie40s.jpg

 

Content:

 

Never Say Dye by "Chic Young" 5 pgs

Pattern of Life by "Chic Young" 5 pgs

Lost and Found by "Chic Young" 4 pgs

Light Work by "Chic Young" 4 pgs

 

I think we are all well acquainted with this character and I don't need to present him (I'll have to do that more tomorrow with a character and an interesting twist). What has always amazed me in the world of strips is the consistency and longevity of the creative team. Take a look at Blondie: the strip started in 1930. Over the ensuing 75 years, the strip has been in the creative hands of two main people: Chic Young and his son Dean Young. The main artists and assistants list isn't much larger either: Chic Young, Dean Young, Jim Raymond, Stan Drake and Denis Lebrun. For this history, check the official strip site or the strip's summary at Toonopedia.

 

Here's a sample splash from the book:

 

748547-Blondie40Story1s.jpg

 

In keeping with my interest in In-House ads, here's the advertised line-up for Harvey. Can you pick out the incongruous book in this line-up?

 

748547-Blondie40InHouseAds.jpg

 

A little help: which book shows an attractive woman in bondage in the midst of wholesome characters? Yup, Black Cat Mystery!

 

More strip trivia: Jim Raymond was Alex's brother and Chic's younger brother Lyman Young created Tim Tyler's Luck.

 

Collection trivia: if I find one of the books I need at an antique mall, I will buy it no matter what the condition is (proof above) just to show that these books are still floating around.

 

P.S.: Nice hijack Adam. This is exactly what I was looking for 893applaud-thumb.gif Any opinion on the Bill Ward attribution of yesterday? Brush up on your George Evans for tomorrow because I will ask if it is him or not. Oh, and are you people reading my posts in between all this? I admit to have tracked the "daily hits" to the thread and my audience seems to be about 20. Thank you for keeping on coming back!

748547-Blondie40InHouseAds.jpg.554a6d4e4dc368e1dff05d1e0cbd085d.jpg

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Oh, and are you people reading my posts in between all this? I admit to have tracked the "daily hits" to the thread and my audience seems to be about 20. Thank you for keeping on coming back!

 

I'm on board, Scrooge, so keep 'em coming! If I have any relevant bon mots, I'll try to chip in. I'm enjoying Adam's contributions, as well, and am basically content (and best qualified) just to spectate.

 

yay.gif

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Tim: This took about 45 minutes to write-up and I'm sure it could be articulated more clearly. Was this at all interesting?

 

Nope.

 

 

stooges.gif

 

Good analysis, and I'm sure others can jump in with their examples too. I have to admit I'm not a fan of the 1950s style of DC art, the fat Supermans and Batmans don't do a whole lot for me.

 

But you like Flash as a tub of lard?

WonderWoman's wide butt on JLA #7?

poke2.gif

 

Seriously, is there any artist you would like to see comments on or to comment on yourself? SA?

 

I did get a couple other positive feedbacks so I'm considering starting a thread. Although I don't know how fast I would populate it. I would probably focus it on artists I think are particularly good as those are the ones I've worked hard to learn to identify. If I go too obscure, Rockwell (who I did like seeing in this thread), then I don't think I'll maintain a level of interest. I also don't want to get into big-time artist ID as that's something the big-boy indexes over at GCD can do much better than me.

Edited by adamstrange
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# 20

 

Bob Colt # 9 - Bought from Basement Comics

 

749291-BobColt9s.jpg

 

Content:

 

The Hidden Hacienda by ? 13 pgs

The Check Out by ? 4 pgs

The Search by ? 10 pgs

 

As mentioned yesterday, I probably need to bring everyone up to speed with our feature character for the day: Bob Colt. Isn't that a great sounding name? I know I personally prefer three-part names such as Johnny Mack Brown or Wild Bill Elliott but there is something nice about this Bob Colt with this crisp last name. How long was his career? Oh ... about 10 issues.

 

See, Bob is a fictitious western star made up of whole cloth by Fawcett for this title. You gotta think there were enough B western stars to go around to write titles about but ... apparently not. Fawcett production staff did go to some trouble to appear genuine. I mean, check out this neat back cover of Bob on Buckskin.

 

749291-BobColt9BackCovers.jpg

 

On top of that, it's not like Fawcett had a dearth of Western star in their line-up, here's the inside front cover with, yes again, an In-House ad and we see tons of well known Western stars here:

 

749291-BobColt9InHouseAds.jpg

 

Bob was portrayed by Steve Holland and, for $250 , you could own this Original Art? Original Picture? What would you call this item?

 

749291-BobColt4Art.jpg

 

The blurb used for the sale is:

 

"Wow! This is the photo setup layouts for the front cover of Bob Colt #4, from Fawcett Comics. This cover was published back in 1951, making this cover already 50 years old!

The cover features a photograph of male model Bob [sic] Holland, who was a popular magazine cover subject during the 1940's and 50's. James Bama used him as the model for Bama's Doc Savage painted covers!

The cover consists of a thick, stiff 10" x 15" illustration board."

 

Of course, this title is not in the GCD, no not just not indexed, there is not even a placeholder for it. However, I did find this interview with George Evans stating he did work on this title (Note the following excerpt "Everything that came along, they stuck me doing it and but, among other things there was Bob Colt, which was based, I think on a TV character, ... ". Apparently, even George was fooled). I did not have time to check other Evans work but I doubt this is his work in this issue. Could any one confirm this for me?

 

749291-BobColt9Story1s.jpg

 

749291-BobColt9Story1Pages.jpg

 

749291-BobColt9Story2s.jpg

 

TV Trivia: Steve Holland played Flash Gordon in the 1954 TV series. Info thanks to Michelle Nolan (CBM 61), confirmed on IMDB.

749291-BobColt9Story2s.jpg.7da766623bf96b866bbe6706cf10756c.jpg

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Cool book!

 

I love the fact that "Bob Colt" was a totally fabricated B-Western-style hero. Great photos on the front and back covers.

 

The art is rather different from the EC-era Evans work that I'm primarily used to. However, I wouldn't say for certain that this wasn't Evans using a different, earlier style (I don't know his Fawcett work at all).

 

 

 

As a sidenote on Steve Holland: in addition to starring as Flash Gordon in the West German-produced 50's TV show, he was also the model for Doc Savage during James Bama's great run of Bantam paperback covers.

 

EDIT: Oops, I see that this fact was mentioned in the blurb for the cover layout, but it's worth repeating. Mr. Holland was in his fifties when posing for these covers(!):

 

 

749347-docsavage01.jpg

 

749347-docsavage01.jpg.d833bc23ea816b391bf65147d1dcb202.jpg

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749352-docsavage02.jpg

 

Awesome VG+. See you had it in you to find cool repros to contribute. Thank you thumbsup2.gif.

 

And yes I agree with you, it is a cool book + I failed to mention but notice how the stories are longer which makes them usually more enjoyable for books from that period. I hope that by the time I am done people have a better view / appreciation of those reviled genres that Western and Romance are in the hobby. Not all are great but neither were all books in other genres. I find the art in this issue attractive (even though I would enjoy it more if the artist drew "better" faces). So who is pencilling?

 

OT: I am partial to the Shadow myself and could never get into Doc S.

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Scrooge, please continue with the write ups. THEY are great. I love learning about books that I would normally never see. This is why I love these boards. GREAT JOB...keep them up, I appreciate it as I'm sure others do....very interesting.

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749352-docsavage02.jpg

 

Awesome VG+. See you had it in you to find cool repros to contribute. Thank you thumbsup2.gif.

 

And yes I agree with you, it is a cool book + I failed to mention but notice how the stories are longer which makes them usually more enjoyable for books from that period. I hope that by the time I am done people have a better view / appreciation of those reviled genres that Western and Romance are in the hobby. Not all are great but neither were all books in other genres. I find the art in this issue attractive (even though I would enjoy it more if the artist drew "better" faces). So who is pencilling?

 

OT: I am partial to the Shadow myself and could never get into Doc S.

 

I thought Bama's Doc Savage covers were great and this is a neat piece of trivia that he was the mythical Bob Colt. I'd be ecstatic if I could be in that kind of shape when I'm 50.

 

My older brother was into the Doc S when they were first published and I have read a few. As an adult, I find the Shadows better written so I have gone back and picked up a number of the paperback editions with the Steranko covers. I've picked up a few of the pulps as well.

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Bob Colt 9 = George Evans = Not

 

I was tried to figure out how to explain why not but basically the art isn't very good and George Evans is. Later Scrooge will be posting Worlds of Fear 3 (I hope -- if not, we can post my copy which is already in the pre-code horror thread) with an absolutely superb story.

 

I'll post the cover art to Strange Suspense Stories 2 that he drew later. (It may take me a bit to find my copy -- it wasn't in the normal location.) If you have your Gerber Guide, you can still get a good idea about Evans. One key characteristic was that he drew disproportionately large, rounded eye sockets -- you see hints of this on the eyes of the scientist. As far as quality goes, look at how nicely detailed the left hand of the scientist is. The four devil creatures, though small, are quite tight and anatomically correct.

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# 21

 

Bob Steele # 8 - Bought from Basement Comics at the same Mid-Ohio con as the Bob Colt from yesterday

 

750286-BobSteele8s.jpg

 

Content:

 

The Plague Plot by ? 14 pgs

The Race of Death by ? 10 pgs

Pet Crazy Pete by ? 2 pgs

 

First, let me thank all for the encouraging comments. Now, I just hope I can keep this as interesting as possible. I mean we haven't hit a single Romance comics yet and let me tell you I have quite a few.

 

Today's entry is also from Fawcett but this time Bob Steele is the real deal. His entry at the IMDB is over 200 films long. As usual, The Old Corral has extensive information about the actor and I will just give you a glimpse here of this cowboy that started his movie career at the age of 13.

 

"The 50+ year Hollywood career of Bob Steele begins in the low budget films of the 1920s when he was a youngster.

 

Bob, and his real life twin brother Bill, were in a batch of silent shorts labeled the 'Adventures of Bill and Bob'. These were directed by the father of the boys, Robert North Bradbury, Sr. And it was during this time, that Robert Adrian Bradbury became 'Robert North Bradbury, Jr.' ... sometimes shortened to Bob Bradbury, Jr. I've never seen any of these shorts --- however, Boyd Magers told me that at least three exist but their condition is very poor.

 

As Steele matured into a good lookin' young man with a mop of wavy hair, he wound up starring in silents at FBO, most of which were sagebrush adventures. The British R-C Pictures (Robertson-Cole) and their U.S. subsidiary, Film Booking Offices (FBO), were taken over in the mid 1920s by President John F. Kennedy's father, Joe Kennedy Senior. Kennedy was a shrewd, profit-oriented businessman who realized the potential of the hastily made and inexpensive westerns. He already had Fred Thomson and his trusty cayuse Silver King under contract, but Thomson was demanding substantially higher production expenditures and a larger salary. Kennedy and little FBO couldn't (or wouldn't) knuckle in to the extravagant demands, whereby Thomson left to fail with his expensive westerns at Paramount. Little FBO, which was the forerunner of RKO Pictures, continued on with a stable of silent cowboy heroes which included Steele, Tom Tyler, Buzz Barton, Bob Custer, and even a short tour for Tom Mix.

 

At around twenty years of age, Steele made his first starring western for FBO in 1927 (probably THE MOJAVE KID). There, he would make a dozen or so oaters, and would also go through a name change to Bob Steele."

 

As far as the hairier question of who drew the stories in this comic, I was able as I did for Bob Colt to garner one reference to Pete Costanza as an artist who worked on this book at one point:

 

"Born in New Jersey on May 19, 1913, Pete Costanza first worked in comics in 1940 when he joined C.C. Beck's studio at Fawcett Comics. He eventually rose to become Beck's right hand man and partner in charge of production. In 1944, Beck and Costanza jointly opened the Beck-Costanza studio in Englewood, New Jersey, in order to handle additional (non-Fawcett) accounts. During his thirteen years at Fawcett, Costanza illustrated such titles as Ibis, Golden Arrow, Bob Steele Western , and, most notably, Captain Marvel. When Fawcett folded in 1953 after losing a lawsuit filed by DC Comics, Costanza went on to illustrate educational comics and comic book adaptations of classic novels, as well as White Indian for Magazine Enterprises. In 1966 he joined DC Comics after a ten year stint at American Comics Group drawing science-fiction and monster comics, working primarily as the artist on Jimmy Olsen. He drew three issues of Adventure Comics featuring the Legion of Super-Heroes, specifically the two-parter featuring Dr. Mantis Morlo (who was also a dead ringer for Captain Marvel foe Dr. Sivana) and the one issue "Revolt of the Super-Pets!", a Legion fan favorite. Costanza continued to work for DC until 1971, when a stroke robbed him of the use of his right arm. Never daunted, he learned to draw and paint with his left hand, and would later teach a painting class for stroke victims. Mentioned by friend Beck as "...a fine artist...[who] never gave up until the bitter end," Pete Costanza died on June 28, 1984."

 

Now, the real difficult part of this is to find art from Pete from the same era. Indeed, while Pete's art from the early Fawcett days is well documented (for some examples, follow this link) and art from his later period at DC is documented (for some examples, follow this other link and look around for Pete), very little reference for his later Fawcett years is available so I had to settle for his Gilberton work published in 1954. Jones, Jr. comments that "where Rudy Palais emphasized hands and sweaty brows, Costanze highlighted eyes and tooty mouths, bestowing his characters a kind of cartoon-like cuteness ..." so I went and looked for eyes and tooth in this Bob Steele Western issue.

 

Here's the art from the first story:

 

750286-BobSteele8Story1s.jpg

 

with some specific panels highlighting eyes:

 

750286-BobSteele8Story1Panel1s.jpg

 

Left panel

 

750286-BobSteele8Story1Panel2s.jpg

 

and here are two splashes from Costanza's Gilberton work where his focus on eyes and teeth is strong:

 

750286-CaptainCourageous.jpg

 

750286-TheMutineers.jpg

 

So what's the group consensus? Costanza or not?

 

Also, is the second story artist the same as the first story?

 

Splash:

 

750286-BobSteele8Story2s.jpg

 

Story page with nice top tier panel if only for the classic sound effects:

 

750286-BobSteele8Story2Pages.jpg

 

P.S.: Adam, I do have a copy of Worlds of Fear but it'll be a while before it gets profiled.

750286-BobSteele8Story2Pages.jpg.fd104b26b76205273b1f7e0b5c7134fd.jpg

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I have to admit I'm not a fan of the 1950s style of DC art, the fat Supermans and Batmans don't do a whole lot for me.

 

But you like Flash as a tub of lard?

I think one of the reasons I was always drawn towards the non-Supes/Bats heroes were that they got better artists. Flash, Atom, GL, Hawkman, etc.--none of them looked like fat tubs of lard, which is what the 1950s Superman and Batmans looked like, IMO. Sekowsky was probably the most old-school of the SA artists, and may have been one of the factors that held back JLA. His Supermans, and his Earth III Ultra-man looked like the 1950s style tubs o' lard.

 

Seriously, is there any artist you would like to see comments on or to comment on yourself? SA?

 

I did get a couple other positive feedbacks so I'm considering starting a thread. Although I don't know how fast I would populate it. I would probably focus it on artists I think are particularly good as those are the ones I've worked hard to learn to identify. If I go too obscure, Rockwell (who I did like seeing in this thread), then I don't think I'll maintain a level of interest. I also don't want to get into big-time artist ID as that's something the big-boy indexes over at GCD can do much better than me.

 

You definitely should start a thread, I think there would be interest. I don't really have any subjects to suggest, as I only know the more mainstream artists and think most people have become pretty good at identifying their work.

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As a sidenote on Steve Holland: in addition to starring as Flash Gordon in the West German-produced 50's TV show, he was also the model for Doc Savage during James Bama's great run of Bantam paperback covers.

 

VG+, thanks for posting the great Doc Savage paperback covers! That's a real trip down memory lane, I loved those covers and loved the books, had tons that I bought back in the mid- to late-70s, and I think they're all tucked away in storage somewhere.

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Costanza is possible, but I doubt it. A better candidate is Bud Thompson, but no guarantees. The Fawcett folks drew fairly similar to each other and may have had inkers in common, further obscuring the identification.

 

I do like Bud's work. This issue of Cap Jr was my first exposure and it's very playful, dynamic story-telling -- much better than the Western page, but partly due to the imaginative nature of the stories in the Cap Jr issue. Where I noticed the resemblance was in the fine line features of the witches face on this cover with Bob Steele's face in the bottom panels of the first page.

 

750988-CapMvlJr104.jpg

750988-CapMvlJr104.jpg.b93ac7507f76636725416562dfd17c82.jpg

Edited by adamstrange
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# 22

 

Bobby Benson's B-Bar-B Riders # 14 - eBay purchase

 

751267-BobbyBenson14s.jpg

 

Not as pretty as Adam's MH copy but I still cloud9.gif this book

 

Content:

 

The head-hunter of Pirates Peak by Ayers 8 pgs

The Arena of Death by Bob Powell 8 pgs

The Brat! by Ayers 7 pgs

The Ghost Bell of Terror Valley by Ayers 7 pgs

 

Our first ME book but there's enough to talk about other than the publisher, we'll keep that for later.

 

751267-BillyHalopisBobbyBenson.jpg

 

Who is Bobby Benson? The complete show history is available here but here's an excerpt:

 

"In 1932 the Hecker H-O Company of Buffalo approached Rice and offered to sponsor a kid's radio series to promote their cereal products. The "H-O" in their title suggested a cattle brand to Rice and he quickly drew up a story about an orphan named Bobby Benson who inherits an H-Bar- O Ranch in Texas. Rice not only sold his idea to the Hecker advertising people, he also convinced CBS to give his new show a network slot.

 

This new series, called THE H-BAR-O RANGERS, began on October 17, 1932 at WGR with a cast of Buffalo actors. Richard Wanamaker, an 11 year old son of a local attorney, played Bobby while Rice, in addition to writing and directing the show, was also the voice of Buck Mason, the foreman, and Wong Lee, the Oriental cook. Others in the cast were Fred Dampier and Lorraine Pankow (whom Rice had married the previous year.)"

 

After a hiatus, the show, as we see it, resurrected:

 

"In 1949, Rice, by then a U.S. citizen, was a Vice President with the Mutual Network and he put the show back on the air. With no sponsor in sight, he re-named the ranch "The B-Bar-B" and pared the cast down to five regulars:Bobby, Tex, Windy, Harka, and a new character, Irish. The versatile Craig McDonnell was again in the cast, playing both Harka and Irish with completely different voice characterizations.

 

Don Knotts (who would later go on to TV and movie fame) was then in his mid-20s and got the part of the old geezer, Windy Wales. Ivan Cury, a talented 12 year old with over two years in radio acting, beat out several audionees to win the lead of the "Cowboy Kid." Rounding out the cast as Tex was veteran actor Charles Irving."

 

Bobby Benson would be completly forgotten even to us comic collector were it not for this well-known cover (as the fact that Frazetta happened to have some work published in this series). OS breaks it out of the run but I still don't know who the cover artist is. Maybe it's obvious to all of you but blimey, who is it?

 

It is a surprising experiment as all stories apart from The Brat! are above-average gruesome. I mean, besides the decapited heads on the cover and first splash, the Red Hawk story shows rampage and massacre on its first 2 to 3 pages. Still, by the following issue, the title goes back to its normal self.

 

Ayers carries the load for this book with three stories for a total of 23 pages. We all know who is. He is still around of course and his home page is here where you can see his current commission prices.

 

We get to see Bob Powell once more and also another Powell feline figure.

 

All said, this book is well worth having for his cover and interior.

 

751267-BobbyBenson14Story1s.jpg

 

Note that Ayers had and still has a peculiar way to draw horses. Here's a page from the first story and below is a recent drawing for the cover of AE 31, an issue that spotlights .

 

751267-BobbyBenson14Story1Pages.jpg

 

751267-AE31Cover.jpg

 

751267-BobbyBenson14Story2s.jpg

 

751267-BobbyBenson14Story3s.jpg

 

Personal Trivia: growing up I thought that Chiclets was a local term describing chewing-gum. Then I moved to the US and discovered that it was a brand. My guess is that the name outlived the merchandising of the brand in my area and I had been using it unknowing until much later. It seems that eventually the show picked up a sponsor as per this ad that features the main characters of the show.

 

751267-BobbyBenson9ChicletsAds.jpg

 

See I couldn't stop scanning pages from this one.

 

P.S.: Adam, thanks for the Bud Thompson insight. That was one heck of a pretty cover on that Cap Jr. It's great to see someone with similar interests (despite your addiction to HG tongue.gif).

751267-BobbyBenson9ChicletsAds.jpg.0f8ce6be91e5e06cc2f077db19a7c842.jpg

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Great back material, Scrooge. You've got a perfect little history -- and photos to boot. (Boot, get it? You know cowboy boots? Ok, forget it.)

 

I'm glad you posted so many images, this is one of the little gems of the 50s comics for many different reasons.

 

First, the cover is by Alex Schomburg pencils with Ayers inks, a unique combination. In fact, I don't know of any other situation where Schomburg was inked by someone else (if someone knows of a Timely or Nedor cover where that happened I'd be curious to know about it). The best indicator of the Schomburg is the ways the lady is drawn on the table and the general scene with the hero swinging in on a rope. Very Timelyesqe.

 

Ayers talked about the cover in one of the more recent interviews that I read. This is the only cover Schomburg did for ME and somehow the pencils were done and they needed an inker, so stepped in. The colors one this gruesome cover are, to put it plainly, lovely. You have violets, pinks, sky blue, and lemon yellow that are really incongous with the horror theme, but it makes it a lot of fun to admire.

 

As you noted, the interior stories are fabulous on this issue -- if you are a fan of western horror. They really push this to the edge as Bobby Benson was clearly a kid's comic, starring a kid, which featured lots and lots of headless bodies, and bodiless heads. Unlike some of the real horror companies who did this but softened the impact by their coloring, ME used the same bright, clear colors as always. And the Ayers artwork, for all the gore in the stories, says is exciting, dynamic -- just plain fun, really. I very much prefer 's style in this period to his later stuff. Like Sprang's work, it's impossible to not have a smile after you've read one of these stories.

 

The first artist on series was Bob Powell (and assistants) who had a contract with ME. When that contract was up, ME got bids from Powell and Ayers, but Ayers' was lower so he got selected. According to , Powell was not happy. also had an assistant at this time and, if I remember this correctly, the stories with the assistant are signed "Ayers", while the stories solo'd by are signed " Ayers". It looks like we've got one of each in this issue.

 

P.S.: Adam, thanks for the Bud Thompson insight. That was one heck of a pretty cover on that Cap Jr. It's great to see someone with similar interests (despite your addiction to HG ).

 

Re: Addiction to HG. I resemble that remark. Usually the stereotype is high-grade collector = person with too much money and too little time = doesn't know much about comics. I think you can see that folks like Jon Berk and Gary Carter have shown that doesn't need to be the case. Frankly, those are the HG collectors in the hobby that really impress me. Other collectors and historians that I admire are the Jerry Bails, Pat Calhouns, and Michelle Nolans.

 

The reason, by the way, that I collect HG is that I so freakin' love the comics that I want to see them exactly as they were originally. That scan of the Cap Jr does not capture the electric blue, or the way it shimmers as you angle the book in the light -- it gives me goose bumps. At the same time, its pages are snow white, presenting the wonderful Bud Thompson art and colors as God intended. It's another fine comic, just from the wrong month.

Edited by adamstrange
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Adam,

 

great info about the book. I know you'd mentioned the Schomburg ID in another thread but wanted to let you confirm this here and show the MH copy (Now we only need Fuelman hi.gif to show us his recent purchase).

 

P.S.: Adam, thanks for the Bud Thompson insight. That was one heck of a pretty cover on that Cap Jr. It's great to see someone with similar interests (despite your addiction to HG ).

 

Re: Addiction to HG. I resemble that remark. Usually the stereotype is high-grade collector = person with too much money and too little time = doesn't know much about comics. I think you can see that folks like Jon Berk and Gary Carter have shown that doesn't need to be the case. Frankly, those are the HG collectors in the hobby that really impress me. Other collectors and historians that I admire are the Jerry Bails, Pat Calhouns, and Michelle Nolans.

 

The reason, by the way, that I collect HG is that I so freakin' love the comics that I want to see them exactly as they were originally. That scan of the Cap Jr does not capture the electric blue, or the way it shimmers as you angle the book in the light -- it gives me goose bumps. At the same time, its pages are snow white, presenting the wonderful Bud Thompson art and colors as God intended. It's another fine comic, just from the wrong month.

 

Well, you can imagine it was far from my intention to slight you in any manner. It was intended tongue in check, hence the smiley added to the comment. If you took offense to it I am deeply sorry crazy.gif for it. Yes, there was a tease in it but a harmless one, just to highlight the different paths we obviously took to our collections. I made a point to tell Jon in another thread how I was glad he is the one owning the copies he does because of his willingness to share and educate people about the early days of the comics and I have always thought of you in the same light. Trust me, I know how long it takes you to provide the insights you do in this thread and always look forward to your comments as I am sure are other readers. You've proven that you know your comics and I was sincere in the first part of the comment you quote, namely "It's great to see someone with similar interests ". You must know how disheartening it is to find no-one with the same interest: unknown and forgotten golden and atom-age creators. No amount of Alter Ego reading is as fun as bouncing info on these boards with knowledgeable collectors. So sorry for the slight flowerred.gif

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Adam,

 

great info about the book. I know you'd mentioned the Schomburg ID in another thread but wanted to let you confirm this here and show the MH copy (Now we only need Fuelman hi.gif to show us his recent purchase).

 

P.S.: Adam, thanks for the Bud Thompson insight. That was one heck of a pretty cover on that Cap Jr. It's great to see someone with similar interests (despite your addiction to HG ).

 

Re: Addiction to HG. I resemble that remark. Usually the stereotype is high-grade collector = person with too much money and too little time = doesn't know much about comics. I think you can see that folks like Jon Berk and Gary Carter have shown that doesn't need to be the case. Frankly, those are the HG collectors in the hobby that really impress me. Other collectors and historians that I admire are the Jerry Bails, Pat Calhouns, and Michelle Nolans.

 

The reason, by the way, that I collect HG is that I so freakin' love the comics that I want to see them exactly as they were originally. That scan of the Cap Jr does not capture the electric blue, or the way it shimmers as you angle the book in the light -- it gives me goose bumps. At the same time, its pages are snow white, presenting the wonderful Bud Thompson art and colors as God intended. It's another fine comic, just from the wrong month.

 

Well, you can imagine it was far from my intention to slight you in any manner. It was intended tongue in check, hence the smiley added to the comment. If you took offense to it I am deeply sorry crazy.gif for it. Yes, there was a tease in it but a harmless one, just to highlight the different paths we obviously took to our collections. I made a point to tell Jon in another thread how I was glad he is the one owning the copies he does because of his willingness to share and educate people about the early days of the comics and I have always thought of you in the same light. Trust me, I know how long it takes you to provide the insights you do in this thread and always look forward to your comments as I am sure are other readers. You've proven that you know your comics and I was sincere in the first part of the comment you quote, namely "It's great to see someone with similar interests ". You must know how disheartening it is to find no-one with the same interest: unknown and forgotten golden and atom-age creators. No amount of Alter Ego reading is as fun as bouncing info on these boards with knowledgeable collectors. So sorry for the slight flowerred.gif

 

I knew no slight was intended and none was taken. flowerred.gif

 

You've been very nice in letting me share my thoughts as you've done the heavy lifting in the thread. I just figured I'd take time to explain myself to whoever's reading (sounds of crickets chirping) as I'm often misconstrued when people see my books. And I definitely love all these unknown creators, which is I why I focus a lot of my collecting attention on the 50s -- though I'm interested in every era/genre. Almost any month from 51 - 54 is a great for looking at the back alleyways of the comics collecting world. And I'm anxiously awaiting the "boring" Western and Romance, so don't think you can fly by those!

 

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Edited by adamstrange
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