BACK FROM THE GRAVE!!

Appropriate enough on Halloween to announce that the blog will be up and running with regular posts again. Sorry for the impromptu hiatus, but life happens sometimes.

Just goofin' around...

Changed the dialogue. I'm easily amused sometimes...

Happy 60th Birthday to Bob Larkin

Happy 60th birthday to supreme cover artist Bob Larkin! Its been my extreme pleasure and privilege to speak with Mr. Larkin via email and on the phone several times and he is one of the most approachable, genuine people you could ever meet. I join his legion of fans in wishing him a happy birthday. His wife has had a pretty rough time health-wise over the past couple of years and we send all our love and thoughts to the Larkin family with the best of wishes not just today, but everyday!

Thought I'd share one of my old reviews from my original blog "The Quarter Box" which was nothing BUT retro reviews.

From 1972-77 comes Werewolf by Night! When I was a kid growing up in the late 70's/early 80's I spent a lot of time digging through the long boxes at my local comic store hunting for back issues. My searches through countless stacks of decaying paper are what led me to some of my favorite characters (and the rare lung diasease I have. KIDDING!) Silver Age issues were not terribly pricey to obtain and even more affordable was the 70's stuff, what is now known as "The bronze Age". You could grab most issues from 1971-2 on for a couple of bucks or less. Try that now...

On one such hunt in a misc. box with a big "W" on the front I discovered a handful of issues of Werewolf by Night. The title had a few attractions for me: I loved monsters and they were cheap as hell. I grabbed a couple biked home and after devouring them biked right back and dug up as many as I could find! It was about 7 or 8 issues total if I recall correctly.

WBN is the story of Jack Russell, cursed to stalk the Marvel Universe fighting both supernatural and super villainous threats while he searches for an end to his nightmare. Master of Macabre mood artwork Mike Ploog started the art chores on the title and later it moved to the legendary Gil Kane. Both Gerry Conway and Marv Wolfman (hmmm...) provided scripts. Top notch talent on a top notch 70's Marvel title. Too bad they don't make em like this anymore!

Happy 4th of July

Cross-Collectible Comics

The comic collector has many competitors out there who drive up prices on specific issues. One primary reason for this is a comic falling into the category of being a "Cross collectible". The two pictured issues are prime examples. Batman #222 featured a Beatles look-a-like group and as such many rock and specifically Beatles fans seek out the issue making it quite sought after. Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #12 features a Roger Moore Bond cover, naturally fans of the Super Spy which are not necessarily comic book fans will go after it. Comics featuring photo covers of TV series (especially 1950's TV Westerns),Sci-Fi tie ins (Star Trek, Star Wars), rock stars, celebs...These all attract the non comic collecting fans of what or whoever is featured. Hence the price on an issue in between two far less pricey issues can be considerably higher. No major "event" or comics first to drive the price up, just that good old fashioned broadened sense of desirability.

I'm still trying to nab the marvel Alice Cooper issue myself...

Hump Day!

Felix Cane from Cirque De Solei's "Zumanity"