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Two weeks ago I picked up issue #1 of the old Longshot miniseries. Today I finally remembered to look for the other five issues. They had 2-4 in the back issue bins. Then the dude behind the counter produced issues 5 & 6 for me. They were unpriced because they’d just recently got them in, so he gave them to me for $1 each.
It pays to be a decades long collector, and a really good customer with some disposable income.
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Picked up a couple of back issues of X-men today, #'s 26 and 61. Those I got at the store.
I also had a delivery from online, one of the sites Mr. Bitman had mentioned to me - mycomicshop.com. I finally gave that place a try. Ordered issues 2-4 of the '87 DR. Fate miniseries. I had acquired issue 1 awhile back from my store. The delivery went well, only taking two days to get to me once shipped. And it was well packaged. I look forward to reading them.
I also had a delivery from online, one of the sites Mr. Bitman had mentioned to me - mycomicshop.com. I finally gave that place a try.That's funny. I seem to remember when I mentioned that I ordered from Abe Books - the first of which I'd heard of from you - you acted shocked that I would take advice from you.
Ordered issues 2-4 of the '87 DR. Fate miniseries. I had acquired issue 1 awhile back from my store.
Hmm. I remember when I was reading old issues of that era's Justice League, which included that version of Dr Fate (Eric and Linda Strauss). It made me curious. How did those two people merge to become Dr Fate? What did that process look like? And at that point, I was greatly enjoying the JSA - that is, the 1999-2006 series, which to this day I regard as my favorite comic-book series of all time. Dr Fate - even though it was Hector Hall - looked way cool in that series, with all that flashy magic. So I got the first and fourth issues of that 1987 Dr Fate miniseries that you mentioned...
...and found it disappointing. Well, I think I got the right issues to give me an idea of what it was like, so I never had to waste money on the second and third issues. But I found the story to be... bleh.
I mean... I understand that magic is SUPPOSED to be incomprehensible and creepy, but still, seeing Nabu manifest as a giant mouth in Kent Nelson's belly was too icky, particularly in the sight of a ten-year-old.
I was also disappointed in the answer to how it looked when the Strausses merged to become Dr Fate.
And was that ending really necessary? I know that Eric transformed into an adult, but he was still only ten years old. And his stepmother tried to seduce him?! Eww!
Back when I used to read my friend's comics at his house, I briefly got into his Captain America issues. I vaguely remember the Serpent Society forming. I remember one member (whose name, I think, was Diamondback) flirting with Cap, who gave her a chance at first, but then she showed her true colors, driving Steve to the conclusion that she was not a good woman for him. I don't know if you have any of the issues I'm describing.
Now I'm obsessing over the issue I started with in his collection, because I can't quite put my finger on it. Cap had been teaming up with one other hero, and this other hero pretended to befriend the villain of that issue, in the hopes of trapping him. That villain seemed to use a gun with some funny effect to do his crimes. When the hero asked the villain about the gun, the villain said that it was just a toy he had won in a carnival or something. Later the hero tried to stop the villain by seizing the gun, only to find out that the villain had been perfectly truthful about the gun being a toy; it was the villain himself - not the gun - that had the power. At the end of the issue, that hero decided to quit partnering with Captain America. Does any of this ring any bells? I tried to Google it, but I can't seem to find it. What was the name of that partner?
Okay, it was late and I was tired last night. That's my excuse for my poor Googling skills. Now I got it. It was issue 309, the villain was Madcap, and the hero was Nomad. I'm now thinking that I read issues 309 through... 320? 321? I'm not sure. Do you have - or have you read - any of the issues in that range?
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Maybe some of this stuff could go in your Did You Know...? thread, but I just feel like posting into this one.
Red Sonja - as we know her - owes her origin to Allan Howard. No, he's not related to Robert E Howard, but he wrote an article - titled "Conan on Crusade" - for the fanzine Amra. That article (reprinted in The Conan Swordbook, edited by L Sprague de Camp) talked about Robert E Howard's fiction set during and a little after the Crusades. "Conan on Crusade" had just one paragraph about REH's short story "The Shadow of the Vulture" whose hero was a German knight named Gottfried von Kalmbach. That paragraph described the original Red Sonya - with a Y in her name - like this:
"Von Kalmbach alternately and sometimes simultaneously roisters and fights magnificently throughout in company with a red-headed Russian she-cat who would have made a fit companion for Conan. In fact, she might have been a bit too much for him."
Roy Thomas read that excerpt in that book and instantly felt intrigued. He got in touch with REH's estate to get photocopies of the original short story "The Shadow of the Vulture". And the rest is history.
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I started re-bagging and boarding some of my old Wally West Flash comics yesterday. I started collecting that series with issue 1, which is probably one of the reasons Wally is my favorite Flash.
Those early issues were done by Mike Baron, until somewhere around issue 14 or so (I think). That's when Bill Messner-Loebs took over. Some weird stuff, but also some cool stuff. Those early issues brought Vandal Savage onto my radar. And I always liked the Velocity 9 stories.
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Incidentally, this time I'm bagging and boarding with Mylar bags. I've been reading that they're better for long term storage, especially with older comics (of which I have MANY).
I've already bought about 200 of those bags (with some boards) through Amazon, with another 100 on the way. Plus, I ordered an additional 400 through my comic book store. That should put a VERY SMALL dent in my overall collection.
Still, unless I get some help with the bagging and boarding (and succeed in better resisting rereading too many of the issues), it'll take me a few years to get through them all. I suppose that's one of the downsides to collecting for nearly 40 years.
Which, of course, makes me realize I've probably been collecting longer than some people on this message board have been alive. Not that I need help feeling old. My body reminds me every day.
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My baby girl is watching Batman the Animated Series, and it’s the episode with the TV introduction of Scarface and the Ventriloquist. So that put me in mind of when the introduced the character way back in the late 80s, over in Detective Comics. He was such a new and interesting addition to Batman’s Rogue Gallery, and quickly became one of my favorites. His particular brand of crazy was really fascinating, and lent itself to some seriously awesome storytelling.
I know they replaced him with some other versions, but for me the original will always be the best. I at least applaud them for making a death (or deaths) stick.
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I remember getting Detective Comics #583 and 584 - which formed the first "Ventriloquist / Scarface" story - from a local drug store when they first came out. I don't believe I had ever bought any issue of Batman nor Detective Comics before. I was deeply impressed with how dark both Gotham City and Batman himself were portrayed. I found that stuff dramatic (although my friends didn't seem to find it so). "When you are the Batman -- when you hate crime with a passion that drives you to fight it every waking moment of your life -- where do you START?" I mean... wow! And the Ventriloquist / Scarface made a fascinating character (or two). I read that two-parter again and again, and ran it as a DC Heroes Role Playing Game adventure, sometimes reading excerpts directly out of those comics to the players in the process.
I went on to get over a dozen new issues of Batman and Detective Comics over the next few years. And I vaguely remember the Ventriloquist's part in Knightfall.
I'm not familiar with any of the replacement versions, though. And although I watched dozens of episodes of Batman: The Animated Series, I never saw the Ventriloquist in it.
Now I'm curious to know what you meant about making a death stick. At first, I assumed you meant that Wesker was permanently killed in the comics. I wondered about that, so I just looked up Ventriloquist in the Wikipedia, which says that the "One Year Later" storyline retconned his death. Later Wesker got killed again, but then got reanimated into a Black Lantern in the "Blackest Night" crossover. And then in the "New 52" continuity he was never killed. I suppose you could argue that these three events don't disqualify Wesker's death from "sticking", but it seems to me that his death was ESSENTIALLY undone. Or did I misunderstand your last remark?
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No, your initial assessment of my "death stick" comment was correct. My collecting of Batman was spotty at the time, so I was aware they had killed him, but not that they brought him back. I did recall the Black Lantern thing, but since it was space zombie I didn't count it.
I know what you mean about "dark" Batman, though. Although my earliest Batman Comic was technically #318 (acquired by one of my brothers, then passed on to me), my first bit of collecting his regular series started at Batman #414 which had Batman going up against a killer who targeted women. That was a pretty dark story. And, of course, that was coming off the heels of The Dark Knight Returns, which I also collected.
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And due to various circumstances, I ended up going to the comic book store yesterday. They didn't have anything on my existing list, so I decided it was time to add something else.
Back in the day, when the did the Invasion storyline, I picked up a few issues of Firestorm because they crossed over directly with another series I was collecting at the time - the Will Payton Starman. Anyway, I continued to collect Firestorm, and kept collecting a lot of the later series.
So yesterday I picked up about 10 back issues spread across the 60s-70s number range. I'll get more as time goes by.
I finally got off my butt and ordered the last two issues of the Kitty Pryde & Wolverine miniseries from a website. They arrive yesterday. Huzzah!
I thought you got those at the store a couple of months ago.
EDIT: Oh, wait. I guess you meant the last two issues for you to collect, not the last two issues to come out.
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Yeah, these were the last two issues I needed to complete the 6 issue miniseries. I got them from one of the websites you recommended to me, mycomicshop.com. This is the second time I've bought from them, and I'm thoroughly pleased. I think they might also be here in Texas, which might explain why my orders get to me so quickly.
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The other day on Facebook, Walt Simonson posted some art and a blurb about a 1975 illustrated adaptation of The Grey God Passes by REH. In the comments, someone posted a picture of their copy of the book.
With that knowledge in hand, I checked my usual spot for used and rare books. I was able to pick up a copy for $7. Sweet!
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Finally got around to reading my copies of the Kitty Pryde & Wolverine miniseries. Good story. Great art by Al Milgrom. Although I suppose I never really thought about it before, but except for the color of the mask, Ogun could have been Asano Nitobe from Goodwin and Simonson's Manhunter. In appearance, anyway.
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With a handful of successful orders from one of the websites our fellow poster Aaron Bitman (may he always be eaten last in the zombiepocalypse) suggested to us, I decided to start making better use of that site. So yesterday I ordered a handful of comics to finish out stuff on my gap list:
Legends of the Dark Knight 39, 40, & 73. This will complete my collection of that awesome title.
Immoral Doctor Fate 2 & 3. This will complete my collection of this three-issue miniseries. I came across the first issue some time ago and loved the cover art.
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I started really getting into re-bagging and boarding my collection. So natural I started with my Wally West Flash comics. Got all the way up to issue 85.
I’d have made more progress, but I had to read some of them. Especially the infamous Return of Barry Allen story, which served as a kind of reboot for Wally. He finally achieved Barry level speed. It also served as kind of origin for Professor Zoom. The writing was really solid. The art by Greg LaRocque was great. Such a wonderful and devious story.
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It was a great day for back issues.
Detective Comics 475 - the laughing fish issue, partially adapted in Batman The Animated Series.
Metamorpho The Element Man #1 - I love Metamorpho
Omega Men 3 (from ‘83) - first appearance of Lobo.
Tomb of Dracula 10 - first appearance of Blade.
Forever People #1 - because Kirby!
Mister Miracle #’s 1, 2, and 4 - because also Kirby!
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I read "The Laughing Fish" in The Greatest Joker Stories Ever Told. In fact, the cover of that trade paperback shows the Joker with a grinning fish, clearly referring to that story.
I saw that episode of the animated series, too.
Also, in The Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told, I read "The Deadly Ricochet", a story originally printed in the preceding issue (that is, Detective Comics #474), which shows Silver St. Cloud finding out Batman's secret identity, which sets the stage for the next issue.
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It was another good day for back issues.
Firestorm #13, just because.
Impulse #’s 1-7 from my list. Now I only need two issues.
Detective Comics #’s 639, 642, and 649-651.
Journey into Mystery #1, from Volume 2, not the original. I bought this just because I liked the cover art by Gil Kane.
And….
New Gods #1. It’s Kirby. That’s reason enough.
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Woot! I can cross off a few more back issues of Batman (473, 475, 480) and one of Detective Comics (654). These were all from back when my collecting Bat books was kind of sporadic.
I also picked up a copy of House of Secrets 98, from 1972. It’s almost as old as me. I bought it because I liked the cover art by Mike Kaluta.