Damn.

This timeline is all screwed up... but I'll find a way to make it work. 

Perhaps if I keep pounding away at that Confessional Dial...

Yeah, that might work.

So here we are, at the Confessional Dial et al...

I was just retelling the final hours of the PulpFest that I attended in Cranberry Township, PA and if I remember correctly... the last table I attended.  

So after all of the visits and purchases across various tables and dealers, I happened to find myself at the last one that I found that hadn't been set up yet when I initially entered the show. 

As soon as you entered the show (and to the left), there were a lot of Shadow Magazine reprints here at this table along with a handful of Shadow Magazine original copies from the 30's and 40's... all in pretty nice condition (G-VG range). 

I inquired about a few of those original copies but it was the name on the table that intrigued me more than anything else!

Tollin.

Wait, what?!

Who knows why (I might have an idea ), but maybe it just takes a while for me to make simple connections. 

Such as seeing a bunch of Shadow Magazine reprints, along with some amazing George Rozen original art... mixed in with a dash of authentic, vintage Shadow Magazine pulps... topped off with the name of Anthony Tollin.

Yup... that Anthony Tollin.

https://www.comicarts-sa.com/anthony-tollin

Now this interview is very interesting as this was in 2019 and it's the first time that I heard of the 'Shadow theft' that resulted in the Batman.

Needless to say, when I realized that here was Anthony Tollin, selling reprints, OA and original Shadow pulps at this show... I fell right back into 15 year old fanboy mode. 

And really hard...

Here was the guy that totally blew up my 'comic-book-safe, paradigm'.

I would normally reserve this reaction to John Byrne level, (check out what he has to say at the 15:03 mark... I can see this!) in terms of shaping my visionary ideology... but here was something much more, so much more, that I was strongly right in tune with it at this moment.

The actual origin of the Batman.

This has been a tough weekend for me for a number of reasons.

I'll get back to that soon enough...

Anthony Tollin is (in my view) that last living legend that can connect to something that has become dear to me and that is Old Time Radio...

At any rate, while I was on the phone this week, over the course of a couple of days, I doodled this Batman drawing and it wasn't until now that I saw just what I was doing as I finished the weekend.

I buried myself...

Once again...

A story.

Back on to that day in August, at the PulpFest, I was experiencing perhaps a lifetime worth of 'personal wins'.  I say that now because what has occurred over the course of these last 5 months has all but erased those perceived achievements. 

"At what cost would you go, in order to reach back and touch history?"

...

...

...

So back to that moment when I got to meet, talk with and listen to Anthony Tollin.  I knew his name from the credits of a number of comics... mostly from DC Comics.  Towards the middle to the later years of the 1980's, I was a huge DC fan, mostly thanks to the likes of George Perez, Frank Miller and John Byrne through the New Teen Titans, Batman and Superman.  So not only was I here, in complete fanboy mode, I was also here grabbing, taking, ingesting... stealing more history with each and every fantastic story he was retelling to me.  Stories of his days working with the legends of DC Comics from the 70's, 80's and even into the 90's... how he met his wife, Adrienne Roy.  He even showed me a very breathtaking (studio) picture of her.  He told me about his relationship with Walter B. Gibson and how he owns the slouch hat that Walter B. Gibson would don. 

Anthony Tollin likes to tell the story of how "his home is where The Shadow hangs his hat".

Hearing that in person, was worth the price of admission to this PulpFest on that day in August.

In addition to hearing about all of these stories, I was able to actually address Anthony Tollin and personally THANK HIM for breaking my comicdom paradigm.

So, here...

I was able to actually thank Anthony Tollin for allowing me to discover this for myself.

(As it turns out, it was what he and Will Murray had to write about after discovering the truth about The Batman!)

So, after the stories, after the imagery, I was able to thank Anthony Tollin as I pulled out my newly acquired copy of The Shadow Magazine from that November 1st, 1936 issue!

In person, I was able to tell him "Thank you!" ...as I was able to pull out that copy and explain to him that he was indeed involved with the breaking of my Matrix!

This is how I know that my life isn't the same, in these days.

As exciting as this Rams game was to watch on this December evening...

This is still right at the top of my thoughts.

Myself, my father and my (step) son... from 30 years ago...

...

...

...

I'll wear it like...

... a tattoo.

30 years ago.

As I'm helping through Jim's thread, it is revealing once again though here, that this community is second to none!

God Bless all of you!!

" A long time ago , I met a man in a bar in NY, he told me his story... this is his song and it's about war and what he had to go though... "

...

It's Christmas Eve, 2023 - 10:14 pm EST (as I start this entry).

This turned out to be a very nice day, albeit a bit stressful... for a number of reasons.  We got together at my in-laws for our Christmas get together this evening.  We were a bit anxious but the atmosphere was just right for us and it's always a good thing to spend time with your family.   In a couple of hours it will officially be Christmas Day and another step closer to the end of this year.  Speaking of Christmas get-togethers, I somewhat set up a tentative time where Rob and I can plan to have our annual Christmas extravaganza although I warned him in advance that my methods would be much subdued this year.  I guess more on that later...

Anyways, it's nice to have my daughter home for a few weeks and even though she doesn't believe in Santa anymore, the spirit is still alive when she's here for the holidays.

I asked my dog if she believed in Santa and I didn't get a response.  She did, however, ask me to play her favorite song (and certainly one of mine).

I've often wondered why this is a favorite of mine and perhaps it's because of the inherent sadness of it. 

In another timeline, maybe only a hairsbreadth would separate the two and this could be me. 

Now who am I to not grant her that simple request on this silent night... of course I can accommodate that.

She already thanked me with a 'yip' and a tail wag...

(From Chiba, Japan, which my daughter now knows so well )

It's officially Christmas on the east coast...

War is over.

Unfortunately, DoublePlusUngood.

It is far from it...

Still, we'll celebrate this Holy Day.

Merry Christmas to my friends and family... both virtual as well as here and departed. 

I've been a huge fan of Sarah M. for many years now and this just seemed so proper to post!

DoubleplusUngood -

Post Christmas.

I thought I could get through this without any setbacks but I seriously miscalculated. 

It's been a rough go at it...

Tonight, I'll try to get back to this past August in order to finish up the PulpFest events and the ensuing nightmare that followed.

Upon getting this opportunity to spend a considerable amount of time talking to Anthony Tollin and hearing these first hand stories of his Shadow / Batman discovery, (for those that don't know, Bill Finger lifted the script for the 1939 issue of Detective Comics #27 from the November 1st, 1936 issue of The Shadow Magazine.) something else happened here.

(Yes, Anthony Tollin and Will Murray did that! Just as I loved talking about Jack Kirby's Challengers of the Unknown #3 from 1958, preceding the Fantastic Four #1 by 3 years, this was even more incredible to me because, as I've tried to illustrate here, I strongly believe that if it wasn't for Walter B. Gibson's vision of The Shadow, no one would know the character of Batman... or even Wolverine!)

There was a gentleman just off to Anthony's left that was quietly sorting through numerous pulps.  As I noticed this, I assumed that it was another vendor looking to set up shop, as I tried to be courteous enough so not to disturb his endeavor.  Soon enough, Anthony introduced me to 'his friend'.

He introduced me to him, as he acknowledged his first name... "Dwight"

"He's a huge Shadow collector and has an amazing collection!"

(I had to paraphrase here... apologies.)

Once he introduced me to him, that was my Holy S#I+ moment... I knew the name and of course, I knew that it had to be him.

Yeah,  this was Dwight ( @detective35 ) from this CGC board that has the most amazing Shadow / Blue Coal collection that anyone could hope to obtain!

We talked for a few moments as I'm sure he cast me off as a crazed 50+ year old fan boy, as I'm certain that is what I was coming off as. 

I was just completely captivated by this experience that I somewhat, haphazardly, stumbled on to!

As my discussion with Anthony Tollin was winding down, he sold me on three different volumes of his Shadow reprints which I gladly bought.  Again, this whole experience itself was worth the price of the trip as well as admission.. not to mention that I had just secured my Shadow / Batman grail, mere moments before this encounter.  It was right here that I had to stop in my tracks in amazement... recognizing just how lucky I had been from the Blue Coal discovery in Ashley, PA. to here, at this pulp show in Pittsburgh, PA / Cranberry Township, PA.

Simply an amazing moment in time for me.

My head was in an absolute cloud as my wife and daughter picked me up from the hotel.  I couldn't wait to tell them about what had just happened to me as we drove back to our own hotel.

This late summer afternoon, as it dipped into the evening, couldn't get any better...

I had a travel bottle of Scotch to match a nice cigar to enjoy later, as I thought back to this amazing day... along with a fantastic story to tell my family, along with these pictures of my wins from the day.

...

...

...

I forgot to mention that Anthony Tollin allowed me to take a picture of his amazing sleeve tattoo which I'll post here without any added explanation as to why I loved this so much!

(-91 hours : 30 minutes)

On 12/26/2023 at 10:46 PM, Hibou said:

Upon getting this opportunity to spend a considerable amount of time talking to Anthony Tollin and hearing these first hand stories of his Shadow / Batman discovery, (for those that don't know, Bill Finger lifted the script for the 1939 issue of Detective Comics #27 from the November 1st, 1936 issue of The Shadow Magazine.) something else happened here.

(Yes, Anthony Tollin and Will Murray did that! Just as I loved talking about Jack Kirby's Challengers of the Unknown #3 from 1958, preceding the Fantastic Four #1 by 3 years, this was even more incredible to me because, as I've tried to illustrate here, I strongly believe that if it wasn't for Walter B. Gibson's vision of The Shadow, no one would know the character of Batman... or even Wolverine!)

There was a gentleman just off to Anthony's left that was quietly sorting through numerous pulps.  As I noticed this, I assumed that it was another vendor looking to set up shop, as I tried to be courteous enough so not to disturb his endeavor.  Soon enough, Anthony introduced me to 'his friend'.

He introduced me to him, as he acknowledged his first name... "Dwight"

"He's a huge Shadow collector and has an amazing collection!"

(I had to paraphrase here... apologies.)

Once he introduced me to him, that was my Holy S#I+ moment... I knew the name and of course, I knew that it had to be him.

Yeah,  this was Dwight ( @detective35 ) from this CGC board that has the most amazing Shadow / Blue Coal collection that anyone could hope to obtain!

We talked for a few moments as I'm sure he cast me off as a crazed 50+ year old fan boy, as I'm certain that is what I was coming off as. 

I was just completely captivated by this experience that I somewhat, haphazardly, stumbled on to!

As my discussion with Anthony Tollin was winding down, he sold me on three different volumes of his Shadow reprints which I gladly bought.  Again, this whole experience itself was worth the price of the trip as well as admission.. not to mention that I had just secured my Shadow / Batman grail, mere moments before this encounter.  It was right here that I had to stop in my tracks in amazement... recognizing just how lucky I had been from the Blue Coal discovery in Ashley, PA. to here, at this pulp show in Pittsburgh, PA / Cranberry Township, PA.

Simply an amazing moment in time for me.

 

Thanks for the compliment and I do remember meeting you and us chatting about the Shadow.  You certainly did not come across as a fanboy (I don't even know what that really is lol), , but rather someone interested in the same thing that I am, which is awesome.

Shoot me your email and anytime I obtain any vintage rare Shadow items for my collection, I will share the images with you.

Dwight

On 12/27/2023 at 12:05 AM, detective35 said:

Thanks for the compliment and I do remember meeting you and us chatting about the Shadow.  You certainly did not come across as a fanboy (I don't even know what that really is lol), , but rather someone interested in the same thing that I am, which is awesome.

Shoot me your email and anytime I obtain any vintage rare Shadow items for my collection, I will share them with you.

Dwight

.. thank you so much!

That evening, back at our hotel, I had to tell my family about my incredible day at PulpFest. 

I couldn't have imagined it going any better.  Of course by now we were all ready for an early dinner and fortunately there were many options right next door.  My wife and daughter got some Indian cuisine while I settled for a very nice Chicken Philly.  After our early dinner, I sat outside with my wife and enjoyed a cigar and a scotch.  I told her that I was thinking about going back to one of the evening forums that were to be held at the show later on in the evening, but I was also pretty tired and a bit overwhelmed at the experience of it all.  I decided that I would forego the late evening forums and perhaps I would just stop back in, when the show reopened that Friday morning and take one last quick look around before we headed back home.  I thought that it would be nice to perhaps at least gather a few more pictures, seeing how my admission for the next day was already paid. 

I also knew that I wouldn't have a lot of time as I had planned that we would be back home that Friday night by 8pm Eastern.

...

...

...

I awoke early Friday morning and proceeded to get ready and packed before my wife and daughter got up.  I wanted to get a bearing on how much time we'd need for me to go back to the show for maybe an hour and then get back to our hotel, check out and go.  After everyone was awake, we went to get yet another 'Continental Breakfast'.  As you can tell, I was absolutely fascinated and thrilled by these as I thought these were a thing of the past based on my recent experiences.  Afterwards, we headed back to our room and I was hesitating on whether I should go back or not.  My wife encouraged me to go even though I had spent my budget already on this trip.  I didn't think I would buy anything and that I would simply go in, maybe take a few more pictures and duck out.

Sure.

I got there that Friday morning shortly after the doors reopened for the day... I think I missed the opening by about 10 minutes.  I quickly found the room of 'thrilling suspense, danger and adventure' and began to walk through once again.  I thought to myself that it was a bit shocking as to how different it all looked now.  All of the booths that were setting up, just 24 hours earlier, were now fully up and running and I quickly noticed that there was a lot more stock on the floor now.

Great.

I quickly thought back to all of the wonderful original art that I had seen on the day before... I went back to those vendors just to witness those amazing pieces one more time.  I desperately wanted to go back to Anthony Tollin's table and look at those fantastic George Rozen sketches he had for sale but I knew that I would probably blow up my time schedule, in terms of getting back to our home by the time I initially wanted to.  Needless to say, I reluctantly stayed away but I did find myself at a table which was not set up a day earlier when I was there.  On his table was a piece that I was obviously drawn to.  I paused and looked closely at it... the vendor told me that he thought it was a reprint.  I asked if he had any information on it or where it came from... he simply replied that he couldn't remember.  My central NY flea market persona kicked in and I asked him if he would take $50 for the piece.  He agreed and even though I was now a bit more over-budget as I had originally planned, I felt that I had acquired (at the very least) something 'cool' that I hadn't seen before.

I left PulpFest more than satisfied at this whole experience.

When I got back to the hotel to pick up my wife and daughter, I popped open the back of the Jeep to show them why I guess I felt that this was the reason that I felt the need to go back on this Friday morning. 

I showed them this Shadow print / ad and they both thought it was really nice. 

I packed up the suitcases and bags, made sure everything was secure... checked out of the hotel and off we were.

Headed back home...

(-82 hours : 10 minutes)

And here we are...

Thank you Rob.

And finally, the night cap for the evening.

That trip home on that Friday afternoon couldn't have gone any better. 

I wanted to kind of take more of a scenic route up from Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania up to Dunkirk, NY (west of Buffalo, NY)  before getting back on the boring NY State Thruway.  I had told my family that I wanted to make a quick stop in Mars, PA to take some pictures of (the locals?)... the middle of this quaint little town. 

Once you're there, you can easily spot why this is a tourist 'must stop destination' while driving though Western PA.

As we were leaving Mars, PA., we literally ran into my wife's greatest weakness... a salvage store.  Of course I knew she wanted to stop in but I also knew that if we stopped here, we would be behind schedule by 2-3 hours and I really wanted to get home back in time so we could see our niece's play the next day, without being absolutely exhausted.

That caused a bit of disagreement but it was somewhat alleviated a little bit later after I stopped in Butler, PA. 

There was a McDonald's there for us to get some coffee but even better, in the same plaza, was a really nice thrift store (St. Vincent de Paul Society Thrift Store) where we stopped in for about 15 minutes. 

We found a few really nice items in there, both to keep and to resell.  My favorite finds were a 1930's Art Deco religious print (nicely framed) and a bunch of these 1981 football 5"X8" mini posters by Marketcom.

With that stop now behind us, we continued to make our way north as we snaked through this scenic Western Pennsylvania route, on our way to Jamestown, NY and then up to Dunkirk, NY. which is right off of Lake Erie. 

Speaking of... this is a good spot to 'park it for the night' and leave off with a big favorite of mine from another departed talent from this past year.

Find peace, Gordon.