OtherEric

Reading crease on the Popular notwithstanding, I think getting the pair for $50 was a steal.

Weird Fantasy #17 was one of the only three EC's I kept when I sold the rest of my collection to pay the rent about 20 years ago. I might personally prefer Wood, or Frazetta, or Williamson art to Feldstein... But don't think for one second I don't love Feldstein's work as well. He was a true master of the art form; it's just that he mostly did Astounding Science Fiction style covers while Wood was doing Planet Stories style covers.

Miles nicer than my copies, that's for sure! Although I consider myself lucky to have copies at all, honestly...

Today's book:

Not that I did bad in the Woolrich department, even beyond the one Avon:

And some Aces and Avons. Would have rather found Avon 104 or 106 than the 105, but I couldn't leave it there cheap. And at least the 86 has a Woolrich story.

A Frazetta cover, a Brown collection, and a couple of Lancers. I've had my eyes open for the "Bradbury" for a while, although I read a reprint published under Moorcock's real name a long time ago.

A bunch of in the wild finds today... if driving from Seattle to Portland to go to Powell's Books really counts as "in the wild", at least. Let's start with some assorted stuff. I've had my eyes open for the Robinson edited collection for ages, it doesn't turn up often. And while Alan Brennert has written far too few comics to really be called one of my favorite writers, with one or two exceptions his comic stories range from "interesting, in a good way" at the bottom to several genuine all time classics at the top. So looking forward to the novel, and it's even signed!

So, found in the wild today for $7.95. Even at that, I probably would have passed since I've got a better copy, but for one reason... Even if the signature isn't genuine... and I have no reason to think it isn't legit... I don't think I can go wrong with a nice undercopy at the price.

Sorry, not enough caffeine yet today. Delete either "not" or "non" but not both, please.

Being that it's on a "Not Brand Echh" issue, I want it to be a gag name, like Japes & Puns. But then @Get Marwood & I had to show us a version of the stamp not on a non humor title...

Congratulations! I personally don't think the book is that rare, relatively speaking, particularly compared to other pulps of that age. But that really doesn't matter in terms of its importance and value. I've described it as the Amazing Fantasy #15 of pulps in that regard. I wonder if we should start an Amazing Stories 1928 club thread on the forums...

I really do think there's a marked uptick in the quality of the SF EC's around issues 14; when you start getting work from Orlando, Williamson, Frazetta, and Bradbury.

A few $2 pickups at Half Price Books today. F-series double is an F-series double. 3 to the Highest Power looked interesting. To Your Scattered Bodies Go is a 1st paperback edition in beautiful shape. And the Wilson isn't in spectacular shape, but I NEVER see the Schrodinger Cat trilogy in the individual books. The collection with all three is all over the place, but the individual books definitely aren't.

Eerie #24 thoughts: Cover: It would be easy for this cover to get lost between the Frazetta classic on #23 and Steranko's only Warren cover on the #25, but Prezio turns in a cover that, while not as famous as the other two, manages to hold its own. A very nice, moody painting. Monster Gallery: It really feels like Sutton is doing a Loathsome Lore here, not a Monster Gallery. It's a first rate Loathsome Lore, though. Head for the Lighthouse: An excellently moody piece by Parente and Royer for the first several pages, brought down by an EC style ending that is tonally out of sync with the rest of the story. It feels like there's two similar stories here, one great and one good, and not deciding which one to go with brings the whole thing down. Pursuit of the Vampire: Still a well-executed story by Goodwin & Torres. The Immortality Seeker: It feels like Sutton saw the --script and decided to go with a Wally Wood tribute look. It fits the story well, the story feels like an EC throwback but is a nice example of that by somebody other than Goodwin. Fan Fare: I tend to skim over the Fan Fare pages unless the index points out there's something noteworthy; but the Joe Kovaks sketch caught my eye. I actually find it less interesting the more I look at it, but it certainly grabbed my attention to start. Checkmate: I think this is Ron Parker's last story for Warren; "Williamsune" tries mightily to elevate the rather pedestrian story but it's still an underwhelming --script that is too long for the material. Scavenger Hunt: I have to give Grandenetti full props; having the over-sized Cousin Eerie looking in the door while giving his intro to the story is a genuinely brilliant way of incorporating the host intro. I'm giving this story high marks because Grandenetti is really a stunningly talented artist, even if I don't actually enjoy his stuff he really does impress me with his craft. Demon-ictionary: A whole page discussing the feature, with a nice new border and title. But I'm pretty sure it vanishes after this. Dracula's Guest: A reprint of the story from the Christopher Lee book that was already reprinted in Eerie #16, not very long ago. Nothing wrong with the story as such, but way too soon for a triple-dip. Unlike stories from Eerie #1, a lot of readers could have seen the paperback this originally appeared in. Wrong Tennant: The issue ends on a high note, with great art from Crandall illustrating one of Parente's better efforts. After a couple issues which I felt were rather mixed, this is a solid issue all the way through, even if I find myself damning with faint praise looking back at my comments on individual stories.

I think it might be first Pro work? Creepy #9 was on the fan page.

Also, Happy Birthday!

In today, the September 1954 issue. Highlights: A great Finlay cover, a Robert E. Howard reprint, and an early Gahan Wilson illustration. Lowlights: It's the last issue of the classic run.

The Sikhs I know pronounce it "Sick", not "Seek", although it appears both pronunciations are correct. And that left me so nonplussed by the last panel that I apparently skimmed it and missed them spelling out the "Hide and Seek" joke. I'll now grant that there was enough of a reason for them to use the name. I'm prepared to admit that I had a bit of an overreaction; I'm sometimes prone to that.

As near as I can tell, there are very few Uncle Scrooge headlining stories in WDC&S. Instead, it's Uncle Scrooge taking a lead role in what's technically still a Donald Duck ten pager. Although I've had a couple one pagers headlining Scrooge pointed out to me. Overall, my WDC&S collection can be described as very spotty, other than a solid run of 204-254 with the Scamp feature. Which of course also included a lot of classic Barks 10-pagers.

Found at the local store today:

Some recent additions.

As promised: