sfcityduck

I think it is following the general outline provided the prequels. I like the details being filled in. They are interesting. Sure, some of the vision is not Tolkein's, but he's long dead and the story told by his background notes left a lot of room for filling in. I think it is very entertaining.

I am enjoying the show immensely. It may help that I first read the Lord of the Rings back in the 70s, have read the books at least 50+ times since, and also re-read the prequels at least several times. I am a true fanatic. And the stories told in the tv show, while not a Harry Potter style word for word rendering of the texts, are a welcome expansion of Tolkein's thoughts providing new depth and interesting characters not seen before. It is sad that there are stupid and pathetic folks in the world who are so insecure and/or unaccomplished that all they have to cling to is the color of their skin and the shape of their eyes. Tolkein, born in South Africa, was an outspoken anti-racist. Yes, his story involved many different "races" (elves, dwarves, etc.), but his most important heroes were those who bridged the gaps between those races - the Fellowship composed of Elves, Dwarfs, Men and Halflings; Legolas and Gimli's great friendship; the recurring theme of the greatest mythical heroes engaging in interracial marriages (Beren and Luthien; Tuor and Idril; Elwing and Earendil; Aragorn and Arwen), etc. His books are not in any way supportive of white supremacy. There are no "correct" views when it comes to opinions about books, tv, and movies as we all have our own tastes (I find all things Game of Thrones to really suck - horrible stories told horribly with an ending which dissatisfied even those I know who liked the journey), so I don't think everyone who hates the show is racist. But anyone who dislikes the show because of a multi-racial cast is a racist.

I have no doubts that many of us missed you. Good to hear from you again!

The three 4s left on eBay are the 1971 giveaways. Both the 1970 newsstand 4s sold yesterday.

Are we talking 1970 newsstand or 1971 promo here? The census on both is low.

3 copies - highest is an 8.0.

Cool story. Never heard of that series. There were two no. 4s on eBay, but I bought one (with 1 and 3 also). The other is up for auction.

Wertham denied he favored censorship. I don't think he ever advocated book burning. He didn't even like the CCA, which he thought was ineffective. I do think he sought attention. His whole career was about staying in the public eye. He got some publicity early and then didn't hesitate to chase it by authoring articles and books. His case was flimsy as a reed. Young Wigransky destroyed him so badly in their debate in the pages of the Saturday Review that Wertham not once, as far I know, ever made any reference to Wigransky or his article or argument - despite that comic publishers were reprinting parts of it in in their anti-Wertham editorials, such as that in the Timely books. I think Wertham knew his case was an overclaim, but I also think he thought the bad apple cases he saw at his clinic warranted his puffery and fear mongering (and the publicity was good). Later in life he tried to make amends with comic collectors, the only people who then viewed him as a celebrity - which probably says something about Wertham's desire to be in the limelight. Unfortunately, the comic publishing business was not as good at rebutting Wertham as Wigransky. Gaines probably gave one of the poorest performances in the history of legislative hearings in trying to defend EC comics. He tried to argue that intentionally over the top and tasteless comics were tasteful, instead of arguing that tasteless comics were harmless entertainment. It was a bad choice and despite the reputation he has in the comic collecting community as a defender of comics, he deserves blame for the weak position that comic publishers felt they were in and that led to the CCA (which Gaines also helped to create). I do give Wertham credit for giving the superhero revival a push. I'm not sure it would have happened without him. Without Wertham, perhaps their never would have been a Marvel.

Provenance is everything when it comes to items like this.

I have put together playlists for my favorites, like my “When Dylan Dies” playlist that starts off with “Moonshiner” - achingly sad song about mortality that includes the line “I go to some hollow, and I sit at my still, and if whiskey don’t kill me, I don’t know what will”. Plan to listen to it first and toast Bob with some of his own label’s bourbon or rye. Then listen to the rest of the playlist which goes hours.

Also, some of those have been reprinted.

Definitely not Baker. Definitely is caniff.

You were only half wrong. For us, they are immortal.

Coolest Spire Christian item I ever saw was a five sided mid-70s "Best in Comics" rack for which one side of the sign had the Spire Christian logo.

Worth noting that Fran Dietrik / Fran Hopper, artist on Mysta of the Moon and other FH stories, also lived a very long life, passing in 2017 at the age of 95.

I believe she was there in both 2007 and 2011. She did the rounds making appearances with Trina Robbins at various venues in 2011 - the year Escape Artist came out.

Lily Renee, Pioneer Comic Artist of the Golden Age, Passes Away (cbr.com) I met her briefly once a few years back. I was surprised and amazed she was still alive. But, then again, she has left a legacy of art that, due to comic fans, will live forever.

Only 3 copies on the census, this my no. 2 graded copy:

That ABE seller is quoting without attribution from a blog, and the blog got its info from a NYT article that I referenced earlier in this thread which had a pic of Copp and Sam Citron reviewing the original art for page 30 of the comic. Copp was a self-promoter trying to carve out a niche doing comics for corporations. I think the "11 artists" assertion was puffery as the largest number of artists normally used to produce most single-story comics back then was three or four (penciller, inker, colorist, and sometimes a cover artist - but not here). As I look at this comic, I see at most two hands, and probably only one penciller. So I don't take the statement in the article as authoritative. The actual quote in the NYT is also equivocal, stating that Copp farmed out the work to "no fewer than eleven free-lance artists and four writers. (The artists and writers are frequently replaced until the combination jells.)" Sounds to me like the reference to 11 artists was just an interview process at best, not final production work.

I'm in SF. The record came out in a "normal" sleeve and also a "gatefold" edition. The gatefold editions came had a pocket on the left for inserts and it came with the comic book and the other larger GD insert (and also probably the map). The "normal" editions had no inserts, or at least I've never found a copy with inserts (I have found several gatefolds with comics). I know the comic was packaged originally with non-promotional gatefolds not only because I've found gatefolds with comics in the wild, but also because I have a library copy from back east which has that sort of "library binding" libraries used to do (lots of tape) and that copy has the comic taped into the package. My promo copy is unusual because of the CEO letter, not because of the comic. The map is hard to find with the gatefold, the comic next hardest, and the larger publication seems the least likely to be separated over time. Here's my library copy (cover taped into the assembliage, but the interior pulled away from the cover):

So why did I post this? I think the art screams out Noel Sickles! Sickles had previously worked with Copp, the publisher, and was doing ad work for General Dynamics and other corporations during that time. Some original art by him of nuclear power plant interiors has sold at auction. A copy of this comic is contained in Caniff's personal files - why? maybe Sickles sent it to him. When you look at the totality of the art in this comic, you can see that not that many guys working in comics had the skill set to hit that quality level. So I ask who are the candidates who could have done this thing?

25: 26: 27: 28: 29: 30-31: 32: Inside back cover: GE ad coming soon. Back cover:

21: 22: 23: 24:

16-17 (centerfold): 18-19: 20:

11: 12-13: 14: 15: