Ok, back to this over-hyped and over drawn-out story I'm spinning here...

I'm not sure how many of you would've made the deal as I did, which essentially was all of those raw key books and the two graded books for this Frankenstein book, as I like to refer to it as.

Now before I actually reveal this classic cover, these are the notations on the CGC label...

Now this is nowhere near where I thought I'd be going with this impromptu post for tonight, but I'll end it here with this.

WRONG BACK COVER?!

So what was the right back cover?

... speaking of covers, have I ever posted this one?

Sorry, I couldn't resist the opportunity.

...

...

Ok, with that out of the way and my postings seemingly reduced to spot entries, here is revealed the "Mystery of the Two Back Covers".

Interestingly enough, I just found a CGC copy of this book, on eBay, with the exact same grade but un-restored for $1000 more than I traded / paid.

What's the saving grace of this copy, as this one has the two center wraps missing? 

Well, this copy has the correct back cover as I'll show here...

And my mystery book with the wrong back cover? 

Well... I refuse to look at it as a 'Peggy'.

So this restored book I have, with this added back cover...  I get how it garnered the grade that it did but to be honest, I like this back cover better and it's because of this blurb within the advertisement.

"After the war, Bull's-Eye shot and Daisy air rifles will again be available to American boys."

Yes, we were on a war footing in the 40's...

The 40's.

Maybe this is where it all started.

Prepare yourself TVA, it's about to come crashing down on you and yes, I'm about to reveal "The Book!"

...

...

...

TVA: ...

It's officially Christmas Eve...

I hope everyone had a nice Christmas... over here it was hectic as always and a bit 'off' for various reasons. 

Work kind of interrupted the normal festivities but that's to be expected these days.  Now before I finish off this reveal on the mystery book, I thought I'd at least cap off the holidays with my favorite Christmas song... it usually sets me right in the spirit but like I said, this year was kind of fractured. 

Luckily, we still have a holiday family get together to attend soon enough and then of course I still have to plan a day for Rob and I to have our Christmas beer fest!

So, here's this...

Merry Christmas!

This easily became my favorite deal / purchase of 2022 and I suppose the best way to close out this year, would be by talking about this one even though I did jump past a few books and purchases that I'll have to get back to later.  As this deal took place over the course of a month back at the beginning of this year, looking back at it, would I make the same deal today with the market cooling and retracting a bit?

Absolutely!

As a matter of fact, the day I picked up this book from my LCS where I made this deal, I took a picture of it in my car as I was so thrilled to finally own a copy of this.  When I got home and showed my wife, I told her that I couldn't believe that I had this book and better yet, how I was able to obtain it. 

Just to recap, it involved multiple 'spec' books and two nice graded books that I'll get back.

Eventually.

And so...

From 1942, this magnificent Fred Ray classic cover, features the first cover appearance of the Joker in this title!

And yes, it could be described as a Frankenstein book but definitely not a Peggy...  

In terms of eye appeal, it has everything I could ask for!

And once again, despite the interior having married pages, it is complete.

To be continued...

A few posts back I mentioned that maybe this all started in the 40's but I'm not quite sure what I was referencing... what exactly was it that I thought started in the 40's?  Well, maybe it's the mix of graphic drawings and type to start with and how much I've been attracted to that.  Take for instance that Batman #11.  I love the composition and the figures but it all seems to be nicely framed within that awesome logo.  Now I do prefer the original 'gothic' version (with the long-eared, segmented Bat) that appeared on the first 5 issues of the title but the one that was used from issue #6 and up, is just a classic and to me, probably my favorite comic book logo of all time.  I would rank the Amazing Spider-Man and (original) Fantastic Four logos close behind.

This is my reproduction of the original logo that I used for my Batman swamp drawing...

So, I'm going to leave this here for a moment while I jump back a month and talk about some items from my birthday and then yes, this will all connect back together in a way that not even the TVA can see coming! 

One month ago...

November, 2022.

As has been the case for the past few years, I would end up finding something for myself and designating that as my birthday gift to myself.  Well, this year I ended up finding something that I wasn't necessarily looking for but it kind of just 'bit' me and perhaps from that, "the wheels were set in motion".  But before I get to that, I have to showcase what my daughter got me as it's far more fantastic to me... for a number of reasons.

She has just concluded her Fall 2022 semester of her Junior year and now the moment that I've been dreading for years has arrived with the beginning of her Spring 2023 semester.

She'll be studying abroad for 4 months in Japan. 

Where did the time go?!

Anyways, for my birthday she found something for me that I've never seen before and I have to admit, she's very good at finding gifts!  She found a copy of a Japanese Superman comic from 1978 featuring a Neal Adams cover! 

And just to top that off, she was able to translate the pages within the story that I was curious about. 

That's her major... she wants to teach English to Japanese students. 

So, yes... I was left speechless with this gift from my daughter!

...

...

As for the purchased gifts I made for myself? 

Well, somehow I got into looking at some pre-code horror books following this past Halloween and from remembering back to some of the nice issues that I had owned in the past.  And so one day while browsing through many books for sale (and with no intent to make any purchases), one book caught my eye that was just listed for sale on Mercari.  It was a pre-code Atlas book which certainly appealed to me but it was also something about the relationship between the title logo and the image.  I just thought that it all pulled together very nicely and I really wanted to get this book. 

It was listed by a seller who was posting a handful of other horror titles and so I sent an offer and it was accepted!  I was very happy but then I didn't expect this to happen just a day later.

I saw this other book... another pre-code Atlas horror book but this one was on eBay.

Upon looking closely at this other book, I had to laugh as this was so perfect!

Of course I had to buy this one too because it paired so well to the book I had just bought in order to tell this macabre story that I was seeing.

And it goes like this...

It's March of 1952 and Astonishing #10 features the first appearance of The Walking Dead! 

Okay, maybe not exactly... but this gorgeous black cover features a blonde in a red negligee startled at the appearance of a Zombie barging into her bedroom!

With purple pants and brown shoes, this Zombie seems determined to catch this damsel in distress but fear not... she would move into another house!

Yes, she was now safely out of harms way but nooooooooo!

Oh my, Atlas... you're persistent to say the least because here is Adventures into Weird Worlds #5, from April of 1952 (just 1 month later!) and the Zombie has now, once again, found the blonde in the red negligee! 

Yes, with the purple pants and brown shoes, the Zombie has startled our damsel in distress and is now more determined than ever to get the girl after having searched a whole month for her new address and bedroom! 

(Please excuse the glare from the scanner.  I can't figure out why it does that from time to time.)

So I was just thoroughly amused by these two covers and they represented my first two pre-code horror purchases in quite a while. 

Those two books were my birthday gift to myself but I think it was right around this time that something else started to take root. 

The marriage between the graphic image and the logo... the font that was used... the imagery and feeling that's being conveyed here. 

Just look at that Astonishing #10! 

It's... so good!

But what am I seeing here? Am I starting to take a renewed interest in something that I only dabbled in all those years ago during the Rusty Staples and Sunken Treasure years?

Oh yes, yes indeed!

Hey TVA... what time do you have?!

Back when I was talking about my reasons for picking up that low grade copy of Batman #251, I mentioned that there was another reason why it appealed to me. 

Along with the appeal that I wrote about, there was another reason why I wanted that particular book and that's because it was the perfect pairing for my CGC .5 copy of Batman #11.

And so here's the pair finally together!

The Joker Playing Card set.

31 years apart...

One book is from 1942.

The other book is from 1973.

This is New Year's Eve as we await the coming of the year 2023. 

We're currently in 2022. 

What are the 80's... what are the 30's?

Since I've been talking about Batman, I can't let this opportunity escape without revealing the greatest of all Bat mysteries... the one that has caused the TVA to harass me to no ends since that fateful afternoon when Rob unknowingly changed history as we know it. 

The book that alters the time / space continuum is...

****** WARNING, WARNING!  TIMELINE DIVERGENCE DETECTED AT COORDINATES - 43.0481° N, 76.1474° W ******

****** PROCEED WITH CAUTION!  ALL UNITS RESPOND!******

1942

1973

2023

...

...

Published in 2018 by Giant Panda King

The book.

1919 to 1939...

To be fair, Rob had no idea what he had unleashed when he gave me this book all of those months ago. 

You see, in this timeline, Batman was created by Bob Kane in 1939, correct?

Sure.

What if there was another timeline though? 

One with a recorded history...

The years are but numbers...

The numbers are but a mechanism to provide order...

And order can devolve into chaos at any given moment...

Hey TVA, what time do you have?

It's getting closer to midnight...

****** ALERT! ALERT! ******

In 1973, something incredible happened right under all of our noses. 

Timelines converged...  history merged.

The Shadow of the Bat.

Dear TVA, you might find me in 1973. 

After all, I did go there to retrieve these two beautiful books... a magnificent pairing! 

Do you remember this moment during the summer months of 1973? 

The moment that caused you such distress back then when you saw that we had realized that the history you gave us wasn't true. 

You're called the Gatekeepers of History but on this night, mere minutes before the new year, I will go back in time. 

It could be 1973 but I'll give you but one clue... it's actually about 40 years earlier.

Happy New Year, everyone!

It's now time for me to go pour that Whiskey...

****** ATTENTION! TARGET HAS BEEN LOST! ******

****** LOCATION OF BOOK_ : UNKNOWN! ******

...

...

I seem to have made it.

Christmas, 1936

Precisely the point I wanted to be at.  There should still be a remnant variant, residual energy, of myself remaining in 2023 and 1985.

This looks so strange but so charming.  Wait, is this a Chris Chibnall episode? 

No, no... this is something fantastic!

I'm sure I can find some old copies here. 

Hm.  This looks familiar... I think I was just here but just 87 years in the future.

They even put out a Christmas tree!

I need to find a newsstand or...

Cigars and magazines?! 

Perfect.  Maybe they have some... they do!

Back issues. 

Wow, here's one with a date stamp from 3 years ago... 

I'm going to like it here! 

Christmas, 1936.

You haven't lived until you've owned a coffee percolator train! 

January 4th, 2023...

This past Monday afternoon, before I went into work that evening, I was browsing through some books at a local thrift store.  I found an old 1990's Best Of : Football book from Sports Illustrated and started to flip through it.  I got stuck on 2 pictures... one of Dan Towler and Elroy Hirsch from the Rams that was taken in the 50's and the other was a picture of Mark Clayton of the Miami Dolphins and I believe, Andre Young of the San Diego Chargers, probably from 1983.

I just took in that Dolphins / Chargers picture for a few minutes as I remembered back to that time and looking at the uniforms, just admiring how good and classic they looked. 

I think I said to myself something like, "Man, that was football!".

I went to work Monday night and listened to the much anticipated game between the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals in Cincinnati, Ohio. 

On Westwood One radio, Kurt Warner and Kevin Harlan were announcing the game and just before 9:00pm EST, (I was on route to Buffalo, NY) play had stopped due to an injury.  After numerous commercial breaks, it was revealed that something serious had happened in the game.  Kurt Warner, who had spent many years playing football must've stated at least 3 times that he had never seen anything like what had just happened to Buffalo Bills Safety, Damar Hamlin.

Following a routine tackle, Hamlin popped up from the play and then seconds later collapsed on his back after suffering a heart attack.

On this night, I think every football fan instantly was pulling for this 24 year old player who is only in his 2nd year in the league.

The next morning, I couldn't shake the feeling that I had witnessed the night football changed forever. 

I can't explain it right now... it's just a feeling.

On Tuesday morning I went back to that thrift store to buy that book to remember the moment just a day earlier when I was looking back at the sport I had loved since a kid. Someone there saw the book in my hand and couldn't help but talk about the Monday Night game.  In a way, this affected so many people in one form or another.

I suspect 20+ million people watched that scene unfold on live TV and countless more, like myself, who only had the radio to explain to them what had happened, as well as the 80.000 people who were in attendance at the stadium that night.

Again, we're all pulling for this young man and hopefully, the quick reaction of the medical staffs on hand will have been determined to have made all the difference!

December 1936...

Christmas.

There's something here, that I need to find but I'm going to go back a year to December of 1935.  This is amazing but I can feel that's it's right in here somewhere - the seed that started it all. 

What an amazing picture this would make!

It's right in here, isn't it?

Hm.

I wonder if I can find last months issue around here somewhere? 

I'm getting close.

So there's a part of me that keeps asking, "Where the hell did this come from... Pulp Magazines?!"  Really?" 

And then there's the part of me that sits back for a moment and adds it all up.  The cumulative effect of my 13 to14 years on these boards... collecting, reading, writing and learning.  There's certainly been an ebb and flow to it all but when I think back, it's kind of been there all along.

I'll explain...

I have to go back 12 years on the boards here to get to the moment where I first believe I caught the "Pulp Bug".

It was 2011 and somehow, I don't quite remember how, I found myself looking more and more into Pulp magazines.  I started buying a few here and there but I certainly didn't have a focus.  Back then, it was mostly about the cover first and then the literary works second.  I had assembled a small collection but then sold them (as I do) the following year in 2012.  If there was any small attempt at a focus, it might've been Weird Tales as I found many covers that really appealed to me and yes, back then, I was so drawn to the trade dress of those books.

Here are a couple of the copies that I owned and subsequently sold here...

So I'll start there, in 2011 when I first started to dabble in the world of Pulps. 

Somehow I think that fell away because it was maybe a year later when I caught another bug, dove underwater and I let that take me to where it did.

Just a great song that I wanted to hear...

Before I get to yet another adventure in time travel, I have to write about these amazing past couple of weeks. 

It was last Sunday (January 8th) when Rob and I finally had our Christmas get together.  This year it would be at a new brewery that I hadn't been to before so that was exciting to me.  It would require around a 40 minute drive but that was okay as I looked at their food menu before hand and was really looking forward to this Chicken Philly Sandwich they offered!  Now prior to this meetup, in the morning, I went down to our local flea market and spent some time there as I hadn't been able to get there in a few weeks.  I was so happy I went as I scored pretty well in terms of comic finds.

I think I spent a total of just under $100 and had this to show for it...

What I was most happy about though was being able to find the Batman 52 #1-11 set featuring the Court of Owls story line for a dollar an issue!

So needless to say, this day was starting off really well and was only about to get better as a couple of hours later, I hopped on the highway and headed south for the Christmas get together.  Before I got to the brewery that afternoon, I stopped into this nearby smoke shop to buy an overpriced CAO cigar that I was planning on smoking for the trip back home.  Now this brewery is situated at a location that's about as scenic as you can get if you like countryside views. I can't wait to get back to this place in the summertime as it appears to be an ideal location for hanging out in the sun while listening to good music and enjoying good food and beer!

From where we were sitting, horses were in the field enjoying a brisk Sunday afternoon much like we were...

So I had to preface this year's Christmas get together with Rob by admitting that I failed to have rigged up his car to blow up if he didn't guess the clues surrounding his gift.  This past year has been kind of nuts with a lot going on in terms of family and work obligations.  I could get into more but I'll leave it at that.  I had to admit to him that having nailed down this year's Christmas in the month of May or June is not conducive to an elaborate event as it leaves too much time to reconsider and forget any gifts and ideas.

That being said, I had what I had this year and made the best of it.

The game was afoot...

Ultimately, Rob had to guess items all hinting to an unlicensed Loki figure but one of impeccable detail!

]

This unlicensed figure of Richard Grant as the OG Loki was so good, I had to get one for myself too.

This image is from an eBay posting...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/155059055009

I haven't looked but this may be available cheaper at other sites.

Now, I couldn't understand why the smiling face plate on the LOKI figure was censored on both of our items.  There was black tape covering the R.E.Grant LOKI smile in both of these boxes that I ordered.  For some reason, I was fixated on that.

Anyways, to me, this paled in comparison to what Rob got me and so yes... he definitely won this year!

So what did he get me?!

Well...

No, he didn't get me RUN DMC or Christmas in Hollis...

I was going to go in another direction here but there's no need.

RIP

Right from the start, there seemed to be an obvious theme... that being, The Creature from the Black Lagoon. I joked with Rob that mainly thanks to him, I probably now owned the largest Gill-man collection in Upstate New York. 

Ok, that may be an exaggeration but it could be close! 

I haven't seen this Dell FrogMen #7 book before but it's such a great cover and actually, later that afternoon, it served as a nice starting point into our discussion about pulps.  I went back and was looking through some of those FrogMen issues and there are some great underwater covers in that series...

This Zippo-type lighter matches the retro devil lighter he got for me earlier this year!

This Visible Creature model is amazing... I've already opened it and removed the pieces... now I have to get some model glue which I keep forgetting.  Anyways, it's a nod to those Visible Man plastic models of the 50's / 60's and of course replicating those awesome Aurora monster model kits that we all had.

I have to admit, Super 7 does a fantastic job in capturing old Halloween nostalgia with their packaging and design...

Now of course every Gill-man / Creature collection can not be complete without the amazing retro bubble wand, right?!   

This thing is great and yes, it does glow in the dark as well!

And finally, this Woodford Reserve Double Oaked Bourbon. 

Hoo-boy! 

Rob said that it was the most balanced, smooth bourbon he had tried and even though it took me a week to get to it, he wasn't lying.  It is so good... almost too good as it is way too easy to drink.  

It's certainly a perfect sipping bourbon to sit down and write while posting endless Depeche Mode videos ...

This picture isn't mine, but it just looked too good not to use it.

So last Sunday was just a perfect day all together.  After we left, I ended up smoking that overpriced cigar on the way home as it was just the right way to cap off the evening.  Sadly, I didn't get that Chicken Philly sandwich as it wasn't offered on the menu that day but I tell you, I did have the best plate of french fries I've ever had while Rob had some excellent fried cheese curds. 

I will get that Chicken Philly though... mark my words!

Before I end this post, I have to go back to something I mentioned earlier and that was the discussion of pulps which tied into that FrogMen 7 cover.  I talked to Rob how I lightly got into pulps around 11 or 12 years ago but there was also this... throughout those years, Rob and I have attended numerous comic shows and he always showed a liking to painted covers.  So I would also take notice of those covers too and so maybe it just kind of planted that seed in my mind where it finally all came together as it has for me now. 

When I think back, it does all make perfect sense and I absolutely love how it all coalesced.

From the time period to the materials... the typography and the imagery... I didn't see this coming but I should have. 

So Rob didn't have a direct influence on where this journey has taken me but in a way he did.  Somewhere between The Book and the TVA, jumping into the 30's to escape their targeting and discovering a love for one particular shadowy figure from the past, I found a new passion in collecting. 

I mentioned to Rob that many years ago, about 8 to be exact, on that Christmas, he gave me a replica pulp with just an amazing cover.  I showed him a picture of it although he forgot about this one.

To be continued...

So on that Christmas, in 2014, along with (ironically) some Creature related items, Rob got me this particular pulp reprint...

As I mentioned, when I told him about that during our meetup, he kind of forgotten about it but then quickly remembered.  I then explained to him that while I was recently searching through various listings, I came across an original copy of that Phantom Detective pulp from 1935 and even though it had some problems, specifically looking like it had been trimmed along with some common tape repair, I had to get it. 

The Phantom Detective : November 1935

I then had to tell him how Weird all of this was becoming (and I'll certainly have much more to add to that thought later) as just a day earlier, the LCS where I got that Batman #11, had just posted on Facebook that he had just received a collection of 145 pulps... from the 30's to the 50's.  I think I said something to Rob like, "How does that even happen?" ... meaning, that for all these years, I haven't seen any pulps around this area for sale and then suddenly - this collection drops.  I told him that I was probably going to go and take a look at it on the next day, that being Monday. 

Little did I know what would happen next.

This, I was not prepared for...