50YrsCollctngCmcs

I walked into a thrift store in Asbury Park, NJ in the late seventies and found four nice Rex books for pocket change. This is my favorite of the set.

Off Topic - but there's a funny animal on the cover! DC published Mutt and Jeff for twenty years. This issue is all strip reprints which I think most of them were. hard to imagine this series lasted this long.

Funny Stuff is a great title. The early "Three Mouseketeers" by Meyer were much more interesting than the later humorous fare. And who doesn't love a turtle modeled on the Flash!

I think a Google search might reveal some information on Random House. Also, if you want to read about Western / Dell / Gold Key I'd recommend Mark Evanier's blog. I don't recall where I read it but the story of George Delacorte (Dell) and Helen Meyer his right hand woman is quite interesting. As I was verifying Mr. Delacorte's name I just noticed Helen Meyer passed away in 2003 at the age of 95. There is a nice obituary in the NY Times but you need a subscription.

I don't know if the file copy story was ever written down but there were rumors of them going back to shows in New York in the late seventies. I think there are many sources for these (Racine, Poughkeepsie, New York, Random House); so other than the stamped Racine copies I don't know how it is determined they are file copies. Here is the old Racine office by the way back in the early 2000's.

Yeah nice book but unless you are a high grade completist I just don't see the value. So many other places to drop that cash. And the edges don't look like a 9.2 to me; but I don't play the high grade game.

I would also hit up the small press area at a show like this looking for hidden gems. Also the smaller publishers deserve support like TwoMorrows or Oni Press. Lots of interesting things there. Then there is always that odd dealer selling a collection of hard back books and they often have a box of comics hiding in the back. That's how I scored my All Flash #4 years ago at a little obscure booth no one was paying attention to because it just looked like a bookseller!

"Brittle Page Regrets!" It could be a classic lurid fifties paperback. I've only got two books in this category; they both make me want to cry. I remember when the Jerry Robinson books were on offer at a SDCC; they were mostly brittle pages. I would have bought one but the taint of the brittle pages steered me clear happily!

When Wonder Con moved from the Bay Area to Anaheim it lost a lot of the fun local vibe. But I thought hey it is close and I can get there easily and it will be bigger and more interesting. Well it was bigger and other than cosplay the comic book aspect was much diminished. Still I try to keep an open mind at shows and purposefully go explore areas not comic related to see what else I might enjoy and try to understand the broader collecting world. That approach makes the shows more interesting and has led to some fun discoveries. Thanks for the report Bob.

Sting Ray bikes!! I still remember mine so well! It had purple seats and a real gear shifter on the top bar like a car! What a ride!!

Crumb for sure!

I love this show! Wish I could have been there! A few years back I got to meet Lupoff at the show and grabbed an autograph on my well read copy of AICFD. I would have snagged that Classic Comics peeking out of the comic pile if it was an interesting book. That copy of the East Village Other also looks intriguing. Those early counter culture newspapers are interesting reads and don't show up too often; they mostly got tossed in the bin. I always find something intriguing at this show; I picked up a pile of Humbug magazines at the last one I attended. Looks like great fun Bob!!

Rich made a lot of connections on these boards all driven by his love of Disney comics! A wonderful thing for the rest of us to aspire to here!

These Kelly covers always make me smile!!

Oh I'm sorry you didn't know but Rich passed away last year. Here is the tribute thread if you would like to read it. RIP Rich Olson

Two early issues came up on these boards for sale a number of years back. I was thinking the price was a bit steep but @Yellow Kid Rich Olson convinced me they were a good buy. I sure miss Rich's advice. Here they are.

Awesome very early Barks book! I've only got a couple in the thirties; they are great books!

Quite the journey so far; thanks for posting all these great books!

Interesting research endeavor. How did you determine he came to be known as Dave Jay in the RBCC ad?

Interest on the money they tied up at the current rate seems a reasonable settlement. I’d ask for cash not store credit though. The $95 seems appropriate given that. Not every problem should result in a lawsuit; I’m afraid that is something not everyone understands.

Nice piece and I really like the cover with the embossed penny. Very interesting but not a comic; but then again who cares!! Try finding another one! Thanks for posting.

Were these characters all in animated cartoons? I should go see what is available on You Tube for viewing. Other than Mighty Mouse I don't recall seeing many of these characters.

Looking at the covers of this era were there simply more fantasy based movies coming out in the early sixties? Today we have the windfall of superhero movies from Marvel but the variety does not seem to be there. Of course we recently had a new Godzilla and Dune just came out but beyond that what other movies are on offer that might compete?

I really like this era of the Four Color Series with the movie photo or illustrated covers. They have a unique early sixites feel to them. Even the revised Dell logo is interesting; perhaps a nod to stamp collecting. There were also some great movies coming out at that time to feature in these books. The Jules Verne adaptations are always great.

I love the juxtaposition of Mr. Scarlet on the logo of 3 and 4!