Flex Mentallo

Sheeesh! Geez Louise! Why, that's quite loquacious by my current standards!

Nice pick up. All these late dialogue free covers are very scarce.

Sheeesh!

I love that cover! (Paper root, paper root...)

You can say that again! You can say that again! clothilde boudreaux's gynecologist retired, and she had to get a new one. at her first visit to dr. thibodeaux, he put her up in the stirrups, and clo' heard him say "mais, das a big one, mais, das a big one." clo' said "all my adult life i've had to hear comments like dat, dr. you don't have to say it twice, no." he said "i didn't, i didn't." Yeesh! It's time we cleaned up our act around here! Politically Correct Little Red Riding Hood There once was a young person named Little Red Riding Hood who lived on the edge of a large forest full of endangered owls and rare plants that would probably provide a cure for cancer if only someone took the time to study them. Red Riding Hood lived with a nurture giver whom she sometimes referred to as "mother", although she didn't mean to imply by this term that she would have thought less of the person if a close biological link did not in fact exist. Nor did she intend to denigrate the equal value of nontraditional households, although she was sorry if this was the impression conveyed. One day her mother asked her to take a basket of organically grown fruit and mineral water to her grandmother's house. "But mother, won't this be stealing work from the unionized people who have struggled for years to earn the right to carry all packages between various people in the woods?" Red Riding Hood's mother assured her that she had called the union boss and gotten a special compassionate mission exemption form. "But mother, aren't you oppressing me by ordering me to do this?" Red Riding Hood's mother pointed out that it was impossible for womyn to oppress each other, since all womyn were equally oppressed until all womyn were free. "But mother, then shouldn't you have my brother carry the basket, since he's an oppressor, and should learn what it's like to be oppressed?" And Red Riding Hood's mother explained that her brother was attending a special rally for animal rights, and besides, this wasn't stereotypical womyn's work, but an empowering deed that would help engender a feeling of community. "But won't I be oppressing Grandma, by implying that she's sick and hence unable to independently further her own selfhood?" But Red Riding Hood's mother explained that her grandmother wasn't actually sick or incapacitated or mentally handicapped in any way, although that was not to imply that any of these conditions were inferior to what some people called "health". Thus Red Riding Hood felt that she could get behind the idea of delivering the basket to her grandmother, and so she set off. Many people believed that the forest was a foreboding and dangerous place, but Red Riding Hood knew that this was an irrational fear based on cultural paradigms instilled by a patriarchal society that regarded the natural world as an exploitable resource, and hence believed that natural predators were in fact intolerable competitors. Other people avoided the woods for fear of thieves and deviants, but Red Riding Hood felt that in a truly classless society all marginalized peoples would be able to "come out" of the woods and be accepted as valid lifestyle role models. On her way to Grandma's house, Red Riding Hood passed a woodchopper, and wandered off the path, in order to examine some flowers. She was startled to find herself standing before a Wolf, who asked her what was in her basket. Red Riding Hood's teacher had warned her never to talk to strangers, but she was confident in taking control of her own budding sexuality, and chose to dialogue with the Wolf. She replied, "I am taking my Grandmother some healthful snacks in a gesture of solidarity." The Wolf said, "You know, my dear, it isn't safe for a little girl to walk through these woods alone." Red Riding Hood said, "I find your sexist remark offensive in the extreme, but I will ignore it because of your traditional status as an outcast from society, the stress of which has caused you to develop an alternative and yet entirely valid worldview. Now, if you'll excuse me, I would prefer to be on my way." Red Riding Hood returned to the main path, and proceeded towards her Grandmother's house. But because his status outside society had freed him from slavish adherence to linear, Western-style thought, the Wolf knew of a quicker route to Grandma's house. He burst into the house and ate Grandma, a course of action affirmative of his nature as a predator. Then, unhampered by rigid, traditionalist gender role notions, he put on Grandma's nightclothes, crawled under the bedclothes, and awaited developments. Red Riding Hood entered the cottage and said, "Grandma, I have brought you some cruelty free snacks to salute you in your role of wise and nurturing matriarch." The Wolf said softly "Come closer, child, so that I might see you." Red Riding Hood said, "Goddess! Grandma, what big eyes you have!" "You forget that I am optically challenged." "And Grandma, what an enormous, what a fine nose you have." "Naturally, I could have had it fixed to help my acting career, but I didn't give in to such societal pressures, my child." "And Grandma, what very big, sharp teeth you have!" The Wolf could not take any more of these specist slurs, and, in a reaction appropriate for his accustomed milieu, he leaped out of bed, grabbed Little Red Riding Hood, and opened his jaws so wide that she could see her poor Grandmother cowering in his belly. "Aren't you forgetting something?" Red Riding Hood bravely shouted. "You must request my permission before proceeding to a new level of intimacy!" The Wolf was so startled by this statement that he loosened his grasp on her. At the same time, the woodchopper burst into the cottage, brandishing an ax. "Hands off!" cried the woodchopper. "And what do you think you're doing?" cried Little Red Riding Hood. "If I let you help me now, I would be expressing a lack of confidence in my own abilities, which would lead to poor self esteem and lower achievement scores on college entrance exams." "Last chance, sister! Get your hands off that endangered species! This is an FBI sting!" screamed the woodchopper, and when Little Red Riding Hood nonetheless made a sudden motion, he sliced off her head. "Thank goodness you got here in time," said the Wolf. "The brat and her grandmother lured me in here. I thought I was a goner." "No, I think I'm the real victim, here," said the woodchopper. "I've been dealing with my anger ever since I saw her picking those protected flowers earlier. And now I'm going to have such a trauma. Do you have any aspirin?" "Sure," said the Wolf. "Thanks." "I feel your pain," said the Wolf, and he patted the woodchopper on his firm, well padded back, gave a little belch, and said "Do you have any Maalox?"

Waaaa

Awww!

Well said and understood, counselor - and here my purchase of the week is a Fantastic Four 72 with a popped lower staple. Life is just not fair. Aww, I was savin' up to get that Just a little more paper route money and it woulda been mine Paper root, I need a paper root....

You have a ceaseless knack for turning up the peds!

Beauty! Well done, Jeff - it's such a wonderful collection, and richly deserved.

You'll be collecting Booster Gold in no time. Look no further, for it is I , the masked - no, I wont go there.

That's quite a comic book you've got there Russell J Thanks pal.I like it so much that I feel compelled to search for the first 3 issues. Look no further - for it is I, the Masked Yankee Comics collector!

This one is my favorite, an impossible book to find, especially in grade. Puts my raw 5.0 to shame. 5.0 is nothing to be ashamed of when the book in question is a Gerber 8!

WONDERFUL! WONDERFUL! WONDERFUL!

Yes, he had a rather strange system, where the comics were jammed into mylars then placed in bags with these stickers on.

You heard right (thumbs u I've also heard they are pushy, overbearing, condescending, sarcastic, ornery, and occasionally have b.o. I've always said they were gifted.

Agreed! If we are still on the topic of scarcity - this one is tough in grade - Jeff's is easily the best I've seen. Here's mine:

I get that a lot. Would you like to see my Giant Size Man-Thing? I'm cowering behind GAtor on this one.

..I'd hypothesise that the damsel on the cover of #15 would have been wearing a red dress, but all the copies I've seen are orange. This is the curse of collecting Fiction House! It's also confusing. For instance where reds have faded, apparently bright yellow backgrounds may in fact once have been orange. And different rules seem to apply to blues. So blues can fade to green while reds remain bright. While magenta can only be described as "fugitive". I've been hunting high amd low for a scan I thought I'd kept of a copy of Rangers #25 sold here on the boards a couple of years ago, where the girl's dress is a deep purple with all sorts of detail in the folds of the maerial. Sadly, I cant find it - did anyone else perchance keep a copy of that one? It was a wonder to behold.

Here is a better scan of that book, courtesy of skybolt (Many thanks Ed!)

Kelly probably has it right. I think good fortune does play a part in forming one's impressions. I've had a couple of #6's for instance. And I've noticed a couple of #10's have turned up in the past year. My #34: In addition to the hard six, others are almost as tough I think. Maybe 4,5,8,18,19,33,35 would be in the next scarcity category. The other factor is colour of course. Finding high grade copies with colours that pop is a true challenge. Steve's #5 is the only one I've seen with such deep colours. Most are orange. Likewise most #18's seem washed out...

Planet #6 is scarce no doubt - but I think #14 and #15 are scarcest. Everyone knows that about #15 of course, but #14 is less often cited.

I hear GAtor is considering opening a funeral parlour next door to his comic shop... Morbid, I know, and not really that funny - sorry, couldnt resist. It does, however lead me to wonder... I mean, we all joke about it, but has anyone ever actually been buried with their collection?

Scoop #2 is a masterpiece but I've always had a sneaking fondness for this one. Got my copy off ebay many years ago and it's the only one I ever saw until very recently.

I hear GAtor is considering opening a funeral parlour next door to his comic shop...