samfromcalifornia

I don't know anything about the mechanics of comic book printing for the 1940s(or any other time for that matter), so I'd like to ask a general question: Were all copies of a comic series at the time printed at a single plant or were there local publishers or plants in different areas of the country, each printing copies for the local market?

I've seen so many posts that confirm your statement about lovers of the medium on this board. For instance, I always enjoy reading the Four Color Comic Covers thread. I was aware of the FC runs mainly through the Disney and Warner Brothers books, but I was never aware of the tremendous variety the FC books provided. I'll see some examples of media of the time that I was totally unaware of. A quick visit to Wikipedia will provide info that inspires link...link...link and many minutes of enjoyable discovery. The contributors to the thread are so infectively enthusiastic about the subject that it's like a glass of cool water in the desert. Another fun read is the great SPLASH thread. I think it connects us with the artists who worked on these books. You can feel how they cared about the work they did. They were artists who were passionate about their work. Their creations were never going to appear in the Louvre(excepting Roy Lichtenstein, of whom I have rather strong opinions about), but they wanted to make the most of the hand that Fate dealt them. Wherever they are now, I hope they know that their work is remembered and appreciated almost a century later.

I stopped collecting about 30 years ago(after about 25 years in the hobby). Yet, here I am, checking the CGC two or three times a day. I stopped collecting, not because I lost interest or enthusiasm in the subject, but because I was alienated by the trend of overarching commercialization of a hobby I enjoyed. Now, I am not naive enough to claim that financial considerations have not always played an important, even central, role in comics fandom. I just feel we're approaching a time when they might be the sole consideration. As more long time collectors pass from the scene, I feel their places are taken by people who regard comic book collecting in the same way another person might regard wheat futures. Long ago, when I tried to explain why I was so enthusiastic about comic book collecting, I spoke of how in, say, coin collecting, a 1909s VDB Lincoln penny looks pretty much like every other Lincoln penny ever minted. In comics, though, when you open them, there are so many different elements to appreciate(character, artist, first appearance, even the ads and many more). I think I made the case for my hobby well. Now, you can appreciate the cover and that's about it. You may dream about the first work of your favorite artist gracing a back up feature, but to actually look at it may impose a severe financial penalty. That's why, in my original post, I stated that I didn't see the same magic of collecting as I experienced it, not that I stopped enjoying the hobby. Now, if the new collectors of today get as much enjoyment as I did in the days of yore, I couldn't be happier. I just don't think I would enjoy collecting in the current environment. But there were probably similar comments from the times of the pharaohs to the effect that the ankhs made at the time weren't as good as the ones of their youth. The phrase "the good old days" reflects less a relative quality than the magic of our younger days.

I had a table at San Diego in the mid-80s and a young man came up, asking me if I had a copy of Nature Boy. I said yes, issue #3. He was dumbfounded, He said he couldn't count the number of conventions he had gone to, trying to find a copy of that run. I sold it to him for a reasonable price and he thanked me vociferously. I'll bet he remembered that find for quite a while. It gave me a good feeling as I hitched up my covered wagon for the trip back to LA, of course carrying my long rifle in case of grizzly attack. Now he could go online and find 50 copies offered for sale, most of them encapsulated to protect the market value. I sorry, I just don't see the same magic of collecting as I experienced.

Only a creature of subtle, malevolent evil, contemptuous of mankind, could even consider shredding that beautiful piece of history. Are you sure they're not cat hairs?

My most vivid memory from SD was in about 1985, when I had a dealers table. The second night, I was counting my meager income and totaling my excessive purchases, when my brother entered our room at the El Cortez with a couple "ladies of the evening", along with their "manager". It took a while to convince them to leave(all the time wondering if my demise would warrant a mention in the convention daily notes). Another fun incident was at the original BayCon(1975 edition). There was a guy in a weird costume standing on a table selling development property on the moon. Also, at one point, I got talking to one the hotel managers and he explained that it was a temporary job, because he was going to go to law school, financed by Mafia boss Joe Bonanno, so that he could become a lawyer for the mob. If true, I suspect he didn't last long, as I understand the organization guidelines have a very strong anti-loose lips policy. Eighteen hours a day conning, dealing, gabbing. Six hours of sleep, then start again. There's no substitute for youth. A final word on SD ComicCon: When dealing in the mid-80's there, there were no one more kind and helpful then Tom and Virginia French. I've casually looked at some articles online about the history of the con and haven't seen a word about them, which seems odd to me. Perhaps I got an incorrect impression about their role, but it's a shame that their efforts seem to be forgotten.

Just a little background. Ray Miller for years had a column called Information Center in the Rocket's Blast-Comicollector fanzine. If you had a question about a golden age comic, you'd send in a couple of stamps and he'd research it for you, then publish the answer in the RBCC. This was just about the only way of getting info about the subject back then. He also created some guides to obscure superheroes from the GA. When he gave up the column, it was continued by some guy named Don Rosa. I think he did something with ducks later. I sent in a couple of questions and Ray kindly answered them. Funnily enough, I don't remember any questions about how grade points should be deducted for flaking at the staple. Sorry, OMSAC(Old Man Shouting At Clouds) moment.

In the early 70's I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area and I remember buying reprints of early Spirit Sections. I'm not sure if they reprinted the whole section or just the Spirit story. They were black and white on a stiff grade of paper, each section printed separately, having(I believe) 10 consecutive sections in a plastic bag. I'm not sure if they were offered locally or nationally. I don't remember if they had an insert like yours, but it's certainly possible they did.

Jack Cole was truly one of the giants, not just of the Golden Age, but throughout the history of comics. I think the reason he doesn't get the attention he deserves is that reviewers just don't take comedy seriously. Look at how few comedians were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. In the comics field, look how reviewers focus on only part of the work of another giant, Carl Barks. They will endlessly discuss the brilliant "Only a Poor Old Man" because of its character study and ignore two decades of 10 page Donald stories in WDC&S, many of which are written and structured in a way that would have done credit to film auteurs like Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. Oh, well, at least Jack and Carl's memories are being preserved decades later, while many more prominent names of their times are long forgotten. Oops, forgot this was an unpopular opinions thread(which I hope the above will not be). Better throw in: I agree that the main reason Kirby's work in the Golden Age gets so much acclaim is because of his work in the Silver Age. Otherwise, he'd be just another of the better artists of the 40's.

Not sure if these are unpopular opinions, but let's air them and find out. Sub-Mariner is a boring character. A guy in swimming trunks who swims. Why should I waste a dime on that? Mr. Justice is a better character than the Spectre. More interesting back story. Much more appropriate(i.e. spooky/creepy) art by the under-appreciated Sam Cooper. Superman in the '40's had a higher percentage of totally forgettable stories than just about any other major character of the time. There were a few gems, but not many. S&K were good, but no better than a couple of dozen other artists of the time that don't get the same respect. Needless to say, the most unsentimental critics of the time(the editors of the publishing lines) disagreed because they either told their own artists to steal the S&K style or, if S&K had left them, to continue in their style. Alex Schomburg sometimes just wasn't trying. I mean I love those MM covers where he was obviously thinking about the canvas(like 16) or where he's having fun(like 19), but what the heck is going on in a number of others(I'm looking at you All-Winners 7 and 10). They both look like he just shoved as much as he could in there without it having to make a bit of sense. On the state of the hobby today, if repairs are done, but they are invisible while the book is sealed in Mylar, I don't see why they are so odious to those who are not going to break them out. How can knowing that their prize has an imperceptible flaw spoil their enjoyment of the book? If, however, you're going to break them out, I can absolutely understand their annoyance when they see an interior repair. Last and not least, I'm a little uneasy when someone comes on the boards and promotes a book he or she has by stating that it has this or that quality that ties it to a key book. Now, if this is for some historical perspective, I'm all in on that. But, it sometimes seems that they are promoting something they have a financial interest in, so they can make more money on their investment. It has the painful feel of a tribute band manager promoting the fact that his lead guitarist came from the same time zone as the original musician. I don't think I've seen a discussion of this, so I'm not sure if this is a popular or unpopular opinion.

Quick question: Were all copies of a particular issue printed at the same plant? I'm not familiar with the process at the time. Were west coast issues printed on the east coast and then shipped west?

There was a warehouse find of Terrors of the Jungle 10 and The Thing 16 in the San Francisco bay area in the mid-70's. I remember picking up a dozen copies of each in perfect shape for a dime apiece at my local record shop. It had dozens more of each for sale which I (unfortunately) passed on. I still have a single copy of The Thing 16 from that time.

Kind of apples and oranges. Barks worked on an established character backed by a large(and basically immortal) corporation. Kelly created his own character and it was distributed by a fairly small syndicate to a relatively small number of papers. I believe that, without the existence of early comics fandom, nobody would know Carl Barks today. He worked in the enforced anonymity of the Disney shop. His identity was tracked down by fans who recognized his ability. They in turn celebrated him in publications and at conventions. This led to wider public knowledge of his accomplishments. The corporate decision makers of a generation ago were either part of that celebration or were aware of it. They used that knowledge to advance their own projects by associating them with Barks. Public awareness of Barks and his undoubted ability equaled strong markets. There has never been a large and organized fandom for strips. Kelly's comic work is, well there is no other way to put it, cute. Cute sells to younger readers. Barks work always had an edginess that appeals to older readers. Cute is about the last word you'd apply to Barks. Arguably, Dell thought Kelly was more marketable than Barks. Note that Kelly did the covers for WDC&S until he left. Also a key point: Pogo was very topical. Someone without specific knowledge of the events of the time misses almost all of the satire that is the key element of the strip. So, apples and oranges. My personal opinion is that I can read almost anything Barks produced and enjoy it for its story and art. If I want something to make me think(and perhaps appreciate how far we've come as a society), I'd read Kelly's Pogo.

For me, the favorite has to be any of the Kooba Cola(with Vitamin B1) ads that appeared for years in Fox comics. What magnificent nuttiness to use dozens(perhaps hundreds) of valuable ad pages to push a product that doesn't exist. Even as the company is going down the tubes(perhaps due to the low quality art which was all he could afford), Victor is still printing lists of prizes that can be redeemed for sending imaginary bottle caps. Such insanity should and must be applauded.

I'd agree to a certain extent, but the doom of MF was foreshadowed in issue 74, when the Spectre(!) was given his "humorous" co-star, Percival Popp, the Super Cop.