oldmilwaukee6er

Maus’ Evolution in Underground Comix The importance of the Maus graphic novels is well established in academia. Art Spiegelman was awarded a special Pulitzer Prize in 1992 (Awards and Citations- Letters) for his efforts, and numerous publications and internet resources continue to elaborate on Maus’ importance in comic narratives, trauma literature (e.g. Orvell, 1992; Rothberg, 1994; & Berlatsky, 2003). However, limited scholarly attention is given to Maus’ evolution in underground comix movement. The following is an attempt to establish a printing history of the formative u-comix comprising Spiegelman’s development of Maus, including its serialization in RAW and printings prior to the tale being collected in graphic novels in 1986 and 1991 (Maus: A Survivor’s Tale I: My Father Bleeds History and Maus: A Survivor’s Tale II: And Here My Troubles Began, respectively). The first appearance of Art Spiegleman’s Maus in print is well known to u-comix collectors, but less know to academia- the 3-page story titled simply “Maus,” which appeared in Apex Novelties’ Funny Aminals [sic] in 1972. Funny Animals was a one-shot anthology title of anthropomorphic comix edited by Terry Zwigoff (later the director/producer of the movie “Crumb”) and featuring a collection of seminal u-comix artists, including Robert Crumb, Jay Lynch, Shary Flenniken, Bill Griffith, and Spiegelman. Apex Novelties’ Don Donahue recalls thinking that Spiegelman “had outdone himself.” Oddly, the Funny Aminals story was not reprinted verbatim in the larger Maus story, rather it is Spiegleman’s first attempts to render his beast fable, e.g. cats as Nazis, mice as Jews. It was also a more detailed artistic style than what would eventually be adopted for the Maus graphic novels. Figure 1, excerpted from Brown (1988), illustrates Spiegelman’s evolution toward a more simple, elegant, and austere format for which to present his father’s Holocaust survival tale. “I didn’t want people to get too interested in the drawings,” Spiegelman said, “I wanted them to be there, but the story operates somewhere else” (Brown, 1988, pg. 103). In the case of Figure 1, Spiegelman takes two panels in Maus I to illustrate what one panel shows in Funny Aminals. Most academics, e.g. Doherty (1996), Rothberg (1994), or Huyssen (2000), would agree that this self-revision was both justified and effective in avoiding pitfalls associated with visual representation of the Holocaust, e.g. what Huyssen (2000) terms psycho-comikitsch. Figure 1. Comparison of styles from Funny Aminals to Maus I (after Brown, 1988). Funny Aminals pg. 10 (more detailed) Maus I pg. 117 (more austere) The next development followed two years later and again appeared quite different (Figure 2). The 4-page “Prisoner on the Hell Planet” from Head Press’ Short Order Comix #1 (1973) is a more personal, expressionistic story portraying a prisoner who is remorseful over the death of his mother (Johnston, 2001). Figure 2. “Prisoner on the Hell Planet” in Maus I Maus I pg. 99 Exhibitions of Spiegleman’s art have shown that he first used the format of Maus in Prisoner (Feinstein, 2006). And its inclusion (or direct reprinting) is used effectively to underscore the theme of Spiegelman’s relationship with his family (Figure 3). “Prisoner” provides important direct testimony to the emotional breakdown of father and son at the death of Anja and the survivor’s guilt, complete with Spiegelman in prison clothing reminiscent of Auschwitz (Huyssen, 2000). It reinforces the theme that Spiegelman will never be able to re-create Anja’s lost narrative nor her voice- as her journals were lost to the Nazis, her re-created notebooks lost to Vladek and the garbage, and her testimony forever lost after her suicide (Rothberg, 1994; Huyssen, 2000). Figure 3. The effect of “Prisoner on the Hell Planet” on the Maus characters Maus I pg. 104 Art Spiegelman Short Order Comix #1 “Prisoner on the Hell Planet” preliminary artwork original art group of 58 pieces (FMR Eric Sack collection; currently for sale by Heritage Auctions). This auction was what inspired me to resurrect this article, originally included in the 2006 “Supplement” to the Fogel’s Underground Comix Price Guide and include it in my journal. The auction description notes “this group of art contains many of the preliminary sketches and rough scripts that were used to produce the piece. In fact, there are 58 pages of preliminary artwork and notes in this group… some in color…some in graphite only. To say that Spiegelman is meticulous could be quite an understatement. The finished work speaks for itself, to be sure; however you can see the power of the story forming as he refines panels and the viewer’s POV for increasingly more dramatic and effective storytelling….” Because “Prisoner” breaks abruptly from the metaphor that so defined Maus, that it is actually another early development of the larger Maus tale is often overlooked by contemporary u-comix collectors. While “Prisoner” stands apart stylistically from the beast fable, it cannot be separated from the entirety of Spiegelman’s family story. Consider… The art for both u-comix developments “Maus” and “Prisoner” are dated 1972, which supports the notion that Spiegelman was artistically contemplating how best to render his family’s survival tale. “Prisoner” is reprinted entirely within Maus I, pages 100-103, and the intense, personal style of “Prisoner” is one Spiegelman uses effectively to offset the ascetic tone of the larger Maus beast fable. Finally, Prisoner’s publication year (1973) represents the first copyright listed in the indicia of Maus I. Following Short Order Comix #1 in 1973, “Maus” was reprinted in several u-comix until Spiegelman became editor of RAW in 1980. All of these appearances reprint the original 3-page “Maus” storyline from Funny Aminals and they include: • The Apex Treasury of Underground Comix (Apex Novelties, 1974) • Comix Book #2 (Magazine Management Co., 1975) • Breakdowns (Belier Press, 1977) By 1977 the original 3-page “Maus” had run its course in u-comix, culminating in Spiegelman’s own anthology Breakdowns (1977). Around then, Spiegelman had made the decision to do a larger work and began to see / interview his father more frequently (Feinstein, 2006). Spiegelman’s first chapter of the larger Maus tale was incorporated into RAW Vol. 1 #2 as small-format mini comix attached to the magazine’s back cover. Subsequent chapters followed with each successive issues of RAW (Kartalopoulos, 2005; Table 1). While Spiegelman had already created an outline and basic chapters for Maus through an unsuccessful proposal for a French magazine titled A Suivre, RAW provided him with an outlet for his work and a necessary deadline (Kartalopoulos, 2005). In 1986, Panteon Books complied RAW’s first six chapters of Maus into one volume for publication, titled “Maus: A Survivor’s Tale I: My Father Bleeds History. And the rest is history.* *It is worth noting that some pages, e.g. Chapter 1: The Sheik, were redrawn or edited slightly for book compilation (as shown in Kartalopoulos, 2005). References Berlatsky, E. (2003). Memory as forgetting: The problem of the postmodern in Kundera’s The Book of Laughter and Forgetting and Spiegelman’s Maus. Cultural Critique, 55, 101-151. Brown, J. (1988). Review: of mice and memory. The Oral History Review, 16(1): 91-109. Doherty, T. (1996). Art Spiegelman’s Maus: graphic art and the holocaust. American Literature, 68(1), 69-84. Feinstein, S. (2006). Witness and legacy: Contemporary art about the Holocaust. University of Tennessee- Knoxville. Retrieved from SOMETHING. Huyssan, A. (2000). Of mice and mimesis: Reading Spiegelman with Adorno. New German Critique, 81: 65-82. Johnston, I. (2001). On Spiegelman’s Maus I and II. Malaspina University-College Liberal Studies 112 website. Retrieved from http://www.mala.bc.ca/~johnstoi/introser/maus.htm. Kartalopoulos, B. (2005). A RAW history. Indy Magazine, Winter. Retrieved from SOMETHING Orvell, M. (1992). Writing posthistorically: Krazy Kat, Maus, and the contemporary fiction cartoon. American Literary History, 4(1): 110-128. Rothberg, M. (1994). We were talking Jewish: Art Spiegelman’s Maus as holocaust production. Contemporary Literature, 35(4): 661-687. Spiegelman, A. (1986). Maus: A Survivor’s Tale I: My Father Bleeds History. Pantheon Books, NY. Spiegelman, A. (1991). Maus: A Survivor’s Tale II: And Here My Troubles Began. Pantheon Books, NY. Young, J.E. (1998). The holocaust as vicarious past: Art Spiegelman’s Maus and the afterimages of history. Critical Inquiry, 24(3): 666-699.

In Oklahoma, no less!?

There was 1-2 Crumb pieces in the contemporary art auction catalog from Sack too. Do you think he kept part of the collection or that part of it will go on auction at a later time? Felix was asking me & I don't have a good answer... The depth and breadth of the collection is astonishing if this is only part of it (even if that part is >85%)...

Amazing you guys... be sure to share your stories so we can live vicariously. About once or twice a year Heritage will send me a catalog out of the blue. Just last week I received two for the Contempory Art aution (morning / afternoon). Boy did they have me pegged wrong

The Lady Speaks. . . Sunday Road Trip! Soundtrack: OM had the great idea that we should spend the last lovely day of the fall (this is a fair assumption given that we live in Wisconsin and today was nearly 70 and it’s November 6) heading south toward Chicago and hit up a bunch of comic book stores for back issues. I’ll let him tell you what he was looking for. [Om- Spawn, dammit. I really thought I was going to finish this run. The books I am seeking are pretty recent and I thought I would get lucky with a few older issues. Plus picking comics in Chicago is nostalgic for me.] As for me, I was seeking Grendel back issues and Munchkin back issues. Munchkin, it was announced in this month’s Previews, ends its run with #25 in February of 2017. I have thoroughly enjoyed this comic and am very sad to see it end. Because I have loved it so, my issues haven’t been kept as pristine as one would hope. We removed all the free cards from issues 1-12 and a lot of the early issues were treated as reader copies (i.e. placed around the house strategically to read at one’s leisure). Now the comic is ending, I feel compelled to go back and re-collect the best issues of 1-12 that I can possibly find. [Om- Truth be told, I hoarded the cards and am asking $25 for the set.] When it comes to Grendel I’m looking at some very specific mini runs and the original Comico line which has 40 issues all told in it. Other than the Comico run, I’m looking for Warchild, Behold the Devil, and one of the Grendel Tales stories (right now I cannot remember which one because I didn’t write it down because it wasn’t until recently that I learned that there have been something like 6 different mini-runs under the banner of Grendel Tales). Other back issues I’m always looking for are Beautiful Stories for Ugly Children (an old indie DC imprint called Piranha Press), Detective Comics 267 (1st appearance of Bat Mite), Detective Comics 230 (1st appearance of Mad Hatter), Captain Britain 8 (1st appearance of Psylocke), X-Men 129 (1st appearance of Kitty Pryde and Emma Frost), and X-Men 266 (1st appearance of Gambit). I’m also on the lookout for Nightmares and Fairytales TPB (2008) and Annabelle’s Story (2010). I’m not particular about condition. [Om- I guess if I’m being honest I would have also picked Usagi Yojimbo books. Or a few other things off my want list. And I expected to make some dollar book finds too.] I’m going to give a rundown of my impressions of each comic stop. OM has his own opinions. The first place we hit was Comix Revolution in Mount Prospect. This was a small, sparse store. The guy working was a bit brusque, a bit of a meathead looking guy. There were very few back issues. Most of what they had was Marvel and DC. Very few indies. Disappointing. [Om- One bookshelf of back issues, which the guy fanned through in big stacks, bending the books in half. There were some Usagi Yojimbos, but none for me and no Spawns either Rating- But only for the Usagis Next, we tried like heck to find Pastime Comics & Games in Niles. I don’t think this place exists, or if it does it’s on an alternate plane. So we moved on. [Om- We were early and drove around some before giving up. Rating- Flaming Spawn eyes. We doubt your existence card shop. Our next stop was Aw Yeah Comics in Skokie. Another sparse store. The guy at the counter was super friendly and told us that they had just sold all their back issues two weeks ago. Apparently, the offer was one that they couldn’t refuse. I didn’t really look around this store all that much because I was distracted by a rack of writing journals. [Om- Somebody made them an offer they could not refuse, so they sold all their back issues. Rating- No Spawns Dark Tower Comics in the Lincoln Park area was our next stop. This store was set up kind of weird. Again, heavy on the Marvel, DC, Vertigo and kids’ comics. They did have a bunch of back issues and I was able to pull 4 Grendels out at $1 apiece. I also picked up a couple of Munchkins. Two positives about this store: 1) they had a public restroom and 2) the automatically bagged and boarded your raw comics. But the girl working was a bit of a fake geek girl who was more interested in putting together some IKEA shelving than helping customers. [Om- That line above was mine, actually, said perhaps unfairly and with a bit of spite. After much digging, there was some Spawn, lots of Curse of Spawn $1 issues and a ½ box of unpriced Spawn that I found, including a #244 marked $1. I asked “Are these Spawns for sale?” FGG “No, they still have to be priced.” Me “OK” (then to the lady) “Figured, there is one that is on my list marked $1” FGG- (AFTER finishing the lady’ s transaction, capitulating) “Oh well, I suppose…” Me “No, don’t worry about it. I’m not going to use a debit card for $1.” Rating- And a because I know there was at least 2 books for me in there. Our last stop before lunch was at Alley Cat Comics in Andersonville (like N Wrigleyville). This is a small store. Great location and a very cool store. Sadly, it was full of people waiting for their brunch times and they just stood in the aisles. This was also the first (but not last) store that seemed to display its moderns based on themes as opposed to standard publisher and alphabetizing. I found my needed Grendel Omnibus 1, though, so I was happy. I’ve never seen Omnibus 1 in the wild so I felt like I had to purchase it. After leaving Alley Cat OM did make the observation “All these places are terrible!” [Om- Ugh, by brunch we were in the northern portion of hell. Amazingly, I found parking in the neighborhood not far from the store. Super cool building down this faux alley. Books are by genre- and Spawn is a super hero? Anti-hero? Fantasy? WTF. Tried to look in back issues and did successfully, but had to move around this yoga dude all posing, stretched out 6 long boxes wide. Two dad-bods just standing in front of a cool display of Black Mask books right on rack. I just had to stop and back into them reaching for a Young Terrorist. Funny. Rating- You could be SO cool if you weren’t so try-hard. ALSO, I picked a Space Usagi ashcan that is foxing pretty bad. Lunch: Lou Malnati’s in Evanston, near Northwestern. Food was excellent. Service was pretty awful. I chalk that up to it being a big-named franchise location near a college campus. I don’t expect great service at a place like that. Our overly moist waiter managed to screw up just about everything except the pizza order (and truly we ended up with a much better salad than we had originally ordered). Plus, we had to ask for everything twice. [Om- Sigh, I hate you big city. Just trying to show my lady something nice! Rating- I got the Buttercrust®, damminit After lunch we walked to Comix Revolution’s Evanston location. It was only a 10 minute stroll through the heart of Evanston and after Lou Malnati’s pizza, a walk is indeed a good idea. This was a very hip store with a ton of indies, but again, the books were organized thematically which makes finding something like Munchkin difficult. Is it a kids’ book? A video game book? A fantasy/science fiction book? (For the record, all superhero books are science fiction/fantasy, whoever told these kids differently did them a great disservice). There were very few back issues here, but it was a cool enough store that I might visit again (if I can stomach Evanston again). [Om- I did a bunch of research from RCheli’s thread, but neglected to heed the warning in the title "I Went to Nearly Every Comic Store Around Chicago So You Wouldn't Have To" Rating- Just for the gaul to still ask $11.95 for those three Small Press Expo shirts from 2001. Hilarity. From there we hit the last store of the day Comix Gallery in Wilmette. Just to repeat—again, comics were arranged in some sort of esoteric thematic manner and they mixed their graphic novels in with the comics which was slightly irritating. However, this store is the first one we found that had a sale section for TPB’s. The other thing this one did that the others didn’t is that they had a vast number of bundled comics for sale, but no rhyme or reason to how those were organized. There were some back issues but most were 3/$1 raw copies in overstuffed long boxes. The guy working was very chatty and that was fun because everywhere else had been less than friendly. I did end up buying some more Munchkins, though. So all in told I cut my Munchkin list nearly in half. I still need 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, and 12. I knocked Grendel Omnibus 1 off my list and found Behold the Devil 8 (I need 5-7) and Warchild 3, 8, and 10 (I need 2 and 9). [Om- The lady found a Greendale (Neil Young) hardcover for me for $4. She knows a few of the family obsess over that album, incl. me. The guy had some great theories as to why I was striking out on Spawn- such as, McFarlane has the printing down to science to the point whereby they are basically putting the books directly into the fans hands, leaving only stores that order big to have back issues. He also said concept art for the movie caused people to buy up back issues and also noted that McFarlane has a way of creating small demand surges by limiting reprinting, giving the feeling that ‘the floppies are the material’ and so some fans may have multiple copies. Great chat, could have talked here for hours, but it was time to get the hell outta dodge. Rating- For conspiracy theories at least. The way I see it, the day wasn’t a total loss. Now we know which comic books NOT to hit and we know that Sunday might not be the best day to do such a trek as brunch can interfere with picking comics. Plus, we got out of the house, I avoided grading for another day, and we saw some lovely fall color. [Om- And I got to spend time with my special lady friend. Ten Spawns!!! (… left to go)

Once a collector learns to live without… OK… the lady made the comment that about how she was dominating the journal these days and how my hiatus has extended another month. This domination continued FRI night at the local comic store (LCS) where she shut me out 4 – 0 on new book pulls. This is part due to my lack of orders from Previews the past two months, as well as my busy schedule. As she closes out her first quarter at the college, I know her schedule will fill up and she may not write as much. Therefore, I have to get back into the habit of journaling to close out the year and think through new collecting goals for 2017. I wrote long about how “once a collector learns to live without, the passionate need to possess diminishes” (after Rinker or Welch). So what have I done in a month? Well… I guess living without. I have not really purchased any comics since my X-Men #9 and 12. I skipped Mighty Con Milwaukee- perhaps the last best one before it morphs into something bigger. I read Han Solo and Star Wars, and read through all 5 of The Massive TPBs while on jury duty. I enjoyed it… the perfect forced downtime. My most interesting modern pulls have been: My work schedule has been humming along and when I not too tired, I have enjoyed the balance of evenings and nights free of grading. I have been averaging three site visits per week, which both provides quality windshield time and demanding writing time. Proposal work has been steady and cool buildings explored include a convent in rural Wisconsin, a historic 1887 school, an old ice cream company, and a few homes. Just last night I finished a 4-day online meeting for big online University. It was the perfect time to double down on a little professional development ahead of some more institutional change (including going to Blackboard Ultra). I also have a night course starting in mid-December for a little extra holiday monies. SPEAKing of holidays… the lady and I booked a little winter holiday in Paris, that includes an $86 flight into Venice for her birthday dinner. Surprisingly to us, the whole jaunt is cheaper than going home to Montana for Christmas and well, one hopes the parents understand. FINALLY, fall is my favorite season. Our Halloween party, an open house eclectic mix of family, friends and coworkers, was a RUMP FEST (L- Om & Lady; R- Om MON for work)! Whew bwoy, we went all out with $$$ worth of food, beer, & booze to accompany the lady’s much lauded shrimp dip and roasted veg tray. It was a slow burn, yet proceeded until 4AM at the corner spot bar. I stayed up another hour cleaning up before trying disc golf on short rest at a beautiful course in kettle moraine country, where I… played solid through 11 holes before puffing some super skunk and then having a giant anxiety attack until properly hydrated. Eeeeeep. Is there such a thing as a 3-day hangover? We think so… SO… FRI we popped our heads up and after the LCS shared some happy hour maki at the lil sushi place down the block. Yesterday was a glorious 30 holes of disc golf and now SUN I am watching my fave sport- English Premier League Football (Go Liverpool!). Today I talked the lady into a comic pick run starting in Northern Illinois and ending at Chicago Comics before 7pm tonight. The goals are… 1. Finish my Spawn run, specifically- 156, 168 upgrade, 169, 174 Gunslinger, 216, 218, 221, 222, 223, 230, 244 2. Deep dish pizza at Lou Malnati’s (I’m craving the crust, and the lady has already had the other contenders) 3. Windshield time during the last Indian summer day of the year 4. Possible stop at Mar’s Cheese Castle

Look at this on eBay http://www.ebay.com/itm/152201644680 A nice CGC 9.4 on eBay with a make an offer feature. I thought about upgrading mine for a spell, but I'm pretty cool with my copy. Still, this price is not too bad for showpony. He's only 1.5hrs away and pulling high grade underground comix (but the prices are beyond pushing the market). I wonder if he'd meet up IRL at a con...

FRI was drinks out with the lady's department SAT Roman Coin 50th anniversary block party and 2 sets of Dr Chow's Love Medicine (band BTW). Nice weather too. SUN disc golf with the boys And now jury duty for two days. Some 100+ were called over 6 times (15-35). Not me until dismissed for day at 435pm. Work before, then courthouse at 9am tomorrow. $25 per day and I'm too honest not to pick as juror, so... what nice comic can I buy with my jury duty monies!? A random (cribbed) selection

Here is an old Howard copy, bought off these boards from one of his sales threads. Howard and I met over at the comicspriceguide boards. We hit it off because we both liked high grade stuff and didn't mind slabbing books. We were in the minority back then. We talked more by phone through the years, I had him on my cell. Hit him up and ask about this book or that. Was I overpaying? it is nice to have someone like that when dealing with underground comix markets. He'd ask me if I was selling anything (he always wanted first crack). I remember rolling over to these boards one day and BOOM there he was selling books! His threads always surprised me. He was never one to hype his threads. I think I picked this Die Gretchen after it sat a day or two at $99 More info: http://comixjoint.com/diegretchen.html

I bought this one off eBay from Apex Novelties (Don Donahue) c. 2005? I think it is every bit 9.4+ except those staples (from being bound in the magazine and pulled out).

Not the best picture, but in jury duty the next couple of days.

The Sucha News copy of #5 garnered 9.8. I bought all the first print Sucha News available from Metropolis c 2012. Overpaid for some n underpaid for some, but the #5 was the most expensive.

Continuing with the Crumb... A Schenker / Print Mint File Copy #8 Don't you love those old label CGCs... the notes were so sparse.

Hey BrotherJ. Thanks for reading and posting. I was looking through your eBay auctions yesterday getting tips for when (someday) I begin listing. I noticed that they were BIN. I find myself thinking about backing off of a modern comic pull list and going back to feeding off the racks. It is fun to see the Diamond Previews, however… I like gaining access to the more independent books being published. I would also miss the social aspect of the comic shop and talking with my LCS manager (we have shared interests in bicycling and music). And finally there is the ‘idea’ that I finally live within such easy walking distance of a shop. ANYways… I find myself thinking about it more and more. I was listening and the topic of Mighty Con came up three different times while grinding the floor. All I kept thinking was “be careful what you wish for.” I have called for Mighty Con to expand but the logistics of moving downtown are prohibitive IMHO. Plus 3x the table cost! One of the best things about Mighty Con was the $20 table fee. I could set up there and make a quick $120 grinding readers and surplus. And man the crowds sure did respond! One thing I think will help Mighty Con is that they do a good turn on social media and do drive public interest. However, this is the new breed of collector… more interested in prints and Funko Pops (Funko Pop vinyls are the new Beanie Babies). They do not necessarily buy comics as your posts attest, BroJ. A $60 table fee precludes me setting up; $7 entrance (x2-3ppl) and $10 to park (or bussing it) probably precludes me too. Suddenly it seems that Burnham Bowl is the show to set up at. Like the lady said, nobody seems worried for the ‘little bowling alley show that could,’ there just seems some goodwill toward Burnham Bowl. Our 30+ year old show. In a bowling alley. With a bar.

Pulling my floppies Soundtrack: SAT was a lovely raining morning at home. English Premier League soccer, Marco Polo episodes on Netflix and a little time to hobby with the comic books. Of course, this lovely sort of do-nothing morning weighed on the lady and by the afternoon she was a little stir crazy and wanton of a tame adventure with a bloody mary reward. Since she had just finished reading Assassin’s Creed: Locus #1 with the first appearance of Evie and Henry, she was kind of interested in obtaining a copy with Evie on the cover (being a cool AC female character). Additionally, she was looking forward to acquiring a copy of REBIRTH Batman Beyond… so Lost World of Wonders was our first stop. I was a nice, busy visit… she pulled a few books that she had been eyeing or that our LCS missed on our pull list, plus found a Neko Atsumi plush toy (Mr. Meowgi) and I was treated to my 5th and final installment of The Massive TPBs (Ragnorak). SAT I also took the time to organize my Star Wars and Han Solo comics and download all my digital downloads. Han Solo is easily consumed, while SW is fully 4 months behind with little retention of the previous issues and only to about #8 on my digital re-read. STILL, it was an interesting convergence of my comic collecting / reading styles… my first TPB series in The Massive versus my first digital series in Star Wars. As I catch up with both books, I want to be mindful of the reading experience and further explore these new approaches as an opportunity to ween myself off pulling floppies. Indeed, the past two Previews magazines have yielded next to nothing as far as new titles- nothing for last month and only the Mickey Mouse Inferno TPB and the Little Golden Book- I Am a Stormtrooper. Both of which I plan on popping on BTW, as the right bizarre MM book can fetch a 20-dollar bill to the right buyer and aspiring to be a child Stormtrooper is just plain strange when on pauses to think on it. SUN cancelled on Maxwell St Day’s flea market after it rained the better part of SAT set up and SUN early morning. I felt bad cancelling, as I was supposed to meet a coworker out there for a pick, but this type of rain really does impact dealer load in and set up and in my experience decreases the number of dealers. I am sure that there was still plenty of people in attendance, however I texted my buddy to get his read and he was all “hell naw” and I know another acquaintance that did not set up either. In the end my instincts were correct, as my coworker described it as a day slogging in the mud (though he did pick some interesting items to resell in his Etsy store). As it were, the chef “got pretty rumped” SAT night and so he texted that he was out for the Burnham Bowl comic show. In the end, SUN morning was a little more QT, English football, and hobbying. I loosely joked that we would not find anything as good SUN at the bowling alley as we already had. Boy, was I wrong. About 1130am we motivated over to the show by way of the ATM with our budget now $60 each after the entrance fee. I wandered the show’s wall books first, as many of the longboxes were occupied. I found a dealer that had a new dealer (DVD) that had many early X-Men in FRGD to VG or slightly better. I lingered looking at the books for a few minutes, listening in on his conversations with other potential customers, before becoming trapped in my own conversation that stretched for another 20 minutes or so (he did note that he sold the X-Men 4 from the group for 200). Eventually I excused myself to make the rounds on the floor and grind some long boxes, with the thought of schweet, early X-Men on my mind. I talked to a few dealers and listened to more, informing some of what the lady wrote on the changes to Mighty Con (and the Pop Con feud with Zurko Productions). I heard that old Ron Killian from Turning Page was like many original (OG) Golden Age collectors of their time… low on Marvel. “Like many of them, they were loyal to DC or Fawcett or Centaur… so he had one low numbered X-Men, but otherwise no Silver Age Marvel to speak of….” Stuff like that. Eventually I plucked $18 in $1-2 books from John Hauser, interrupting one such conversation to settled up with my $20 bill. Some of what I bought ended up being surplus to requirements, such as a few NM- Mad Love/Kitchen Sink “From Hell” books and one early Books of Magic prestige volume, However, I did score NM copies of Usagi Yojimbo 2, Frank Miller’s Ronin 1-2, and Astro City vol1 2-4 that should (someday) pay for the whole stack. Hopefully the doubles will serve to upgrade some of the lady’s existing copies or become readers (still, that was $8 spent unwisely). After breaking the ice with 1/3 of my greenback stack, I rallied out to the bar to conspire with the lady and plan anew. I thought I could perhaps buy one of the nicer X-Men books I viewed… perhaps the #9 Avengers crossover (priced at 120) or the #12 1st Juggernaut (130), if I was able to sweet talk a little extra cashish (or who knows what I was thinking). It did not matter, since it was time to sit down and discuss things through. Truthfully, the X-Men conversation had been bubbling for a few weeks and she suggested taking some additional funds and going after both the 9 and 12 for ~200. After hitting the ATM, I gave my remaining funds to her to help cover lunch (~18), holding back a 20 in case I had to stretch my offer a little further. I ordered my cheeseburger basket ($6) and went back in to scrutinize X-Men 12. By now, the show was much quieter and upon approaching DVD’s booth I noticed the 12 was missing and presumed sold. Dealer: “I have someone interested in all 5 books [5 low numbered X-Men, including 7, 8, 9, 11 & 12]” Om: “Ok, no problem… what are you thinking for all five?” Dealer: “Oh I told them I could probably do 15% off… are you interested in them?” Om: “Truthfully, only the 9 and 12, they are closer to the condition I am looking for.” Dealer: “Are you serious about the books? Cash right?” Om: “Yes sir, cash on the barrelhead… the most I could do is 220 for both.” I went full boat right off the bat. I generally think that -20% off is a good starting point for a larger cash transaction, and I also think he priced the books with the idea that they would be discounted a little. However, by our conversation I understood him to be willing to go about 15% off for a transaction of $300-400. AND, I presumed, my competition for the book was right there. So I went full boat right off the bat and for a moment I thought that the dealer was going to initiate a bidding war and pit the two of us against each other (I would have bowed out on principle). Thankfully, the other buyer did not interject as I weathered the following: Dealer: “Can you do 230?” Om: Slowly, “thank you so much for letting me look at the books… I am sorry but 220 is the best I can offer. I understand if you hold out for more.” Dealer: “225?” Om: “I’m really sorry, this is the drawback for me offering my whole stack…” Makes point of emptying wallet and turning out pockets. Dealer: “You can do 225.” Om: “220.” And… BOOM(!) we shook on it and the deal was done.

Fiscal fasting, new ‘mics & a pick… Soundtrack: Productivity is coming back, but not surprisingly my head hit the pillow at 8pm last and I slept a restorative 8 hours before waking and binging on Netflix’s Marco Polo (my latest watch). Hump day and new comic day. The lady and I are saving for SUN Maxwell St Days flea market in Cedarburg (~7AM) followed by Burnham Bowl comic show (11AM). I am calling it “the last pick of the year.” And I will run into some new coworkers on the flea market grounds. We invited the chef to join but the starting time is too early for him, so we will pick him up midway for the comic show only. I would have liked to set up and sell at a Burnham show… the runaway success of Mighty Con means that Burnham has been down dealers while still retaining a steady flow of customers (still, it is a dollar book type show). However, social schedules prevail and I am lazy. So today the lady and I are saving pennies and fiscal fasting. No spending ANY money. If we can succeed today, we should be in a good place. Tomorrow is local music at Radio Milwaukee (the Quilz) and if we head straight home after (and not out to eat), then FRI we can splurge on drinks/apps with coworkers and still have a budget for SUN picking (~100/ea plus 10 for parking). Fiscal fast means not picking up new comics tonight, but waiting until tomorrow after music. So double bonus for being disciplined and coming straight home tomorrow is new ‘mics and a pick. My expected pulls this week are: Batman Beyond 1 Hunt 3 Star Wars 23 Assassin’s Creed Locus 1 Dishonored 3 Munchkin 21 Backstagers 2 (for my niece) Tank Girl Gold 1? Previews magazine I keep having these images of Harvey Pekar and his collecting in the back of my mind… Maybe I will change the title of the journal for 2017? How I quit collecting moderns and bought an ASM1 with the money I saved

Slow Death Funnies #1 1st. Benefit book for an ecology center that according to the Comix Joint website (2013) the center rejected the book after it was published, leaving [Ron] Turner to sell the 20,000 copies on his own. It was published just a week before the first Earth Day 1970.

I love early R. Crumb, Freak Brothers, Zap Comix... and those oddball underground comix like Feds n Heads, Skull #1, Insect Fear #1, Bogeyman #1, Douglas Comix, or a copy of Doomsday Comics (a CGC 9.2 is parked on the 'Bay for $485) Doomsday Comics #1 (Black Cat). One of about 100 surviving copies pulled out of the trash after a payment dispute with the printer. This one still has the poster intact.

Soundtrack: Productivity is a funny thing. You can ride that train for a good long while, but it does not run forever. I have been working at an incredibly high level for weeks on end. However, sitting at my desk this morning, with my tasks clearly delineated before me, I simply cannot produce. I know my week is going to fill up and shrink my available time, but my two big tasks can be put off for one more day. It is a good feeling to finally get here, but a little worrisome that my mind and body are reluctant to pick back up. SAT was work AM, then disc golf afternoon/evening. SUN was a gloriously restful day, the one I have been hoping for a long time. I watched portions of four soccer matches, looking up the results and fast forwarding to the meat of the game. Then NFL football provided background noise to a little hobbying… the lady content to read, grade, and write herself and not pester for errands or small projects. I did not get any scanning done, but did pull the modern box out and do it a little filing, organizing, and light reading. Next I need to get up to date on my Star Wars digital downloads and catching up with more in-depth reading. Then I would like to set up at a show before the snow flies and move some Modern readers and variants. I found myself pricing books on MyComicShop and Metropolis… and doing some good research on GPAnalysis. My goal is to make note of some data I need before the start of October. I was a little disheartened, though not surprised, to see Amazing Spider-Man #1s increasing steadily in value. By my research, ASM1 CGC books in my target range are netting: 2.0 2900-3500 2.5 3100-3300 3.0 3600 3.5 3900-5200 4.0 4600-5200 4.5 4800-5400 5.0 5600-6500 I quick-looked up X-Men #1 to see how my GDVG copy is looking at full-boat and noted: 2.5 1700-1900 3.0 2000-2200 (one seller asking 3250) 3.5 2200-2900 4.0 2700-2800 (one seller asking 3800) Competitive books at that grade. And as Overstreet would no doubt say the market is strong for a $2-3k Silver Age key and there are many collectors that can see spending this amount of money on a good, complete copy of a key book. This makes me happy to have bought the books that I did. I overpaid for my X-Men #2 VG+ on impulse a few years ago, but the gap is narrowing. I felt like my GDVG X-Men #1 was an “OK” deal at top of the market and if it grades 3.0 as expected then that book will have appreciated nicely even with slabbing costs. 3.5 would be even better. My CGC 6.0 Fantastic Four #48 is in the black at 400-450, even with the cost of grading and my JLA #1 is loved even if in the red still. Not bad… as I look back across my Modern spec box, I do not see such generally positive results. I see a fair amount of drek now 1-2 two years removed- Circuit Breaker 1, Garbage Pail kids, and more. Ugh. Django Zorro… Tarantino, Wagner… how could it go wrong? . More and more these books get moved to the dump pile to make room for items with more promise. I laugh at some of the things I picked for cheap on the hope of flipping. Like Madballs #1 from 1986 for $1. I know I could price that book for $12 and flip it for $10 within 2 shows… it just has that feel to it. Or my Wolverine Vol2 #50 with the die-cut cover. I bought that book for $1 because I like Weapon X and this book reprises that story. Add a Larry Hama signature and now the book has 3 backing boards like it is a prized treasure to be paired with my VFNM run of Marvel Comics Presents #72-84. Modern books are funny- a mix of fun reads, nostalgia and drek. Sometimes all three at once. I can be much more selective. So it will help me to focus my modern buying a little. No more collecting (for me, anyway) TV or movie tie ins, video game books, no more miniseries, no more re-launch or reboot events… stick to #1 issues of new ongoing series (focus on writers over artists) or 1st appearances of new characters in popular books. No new company just because it’s a new company. No Wednesday Ones. No artist variants, no signature series. Whatever blank covers I pick up I will commission to regional artists at smaller local cons. No more of this...

Soundtrack: It is 3pm CST and I am pretty much finished working for the week. Put a fork in me, I'm done. Since last I have written extensively, over 4 weeks ago, I have taken a new 9 to 5 job working in waste management and recycling, closed out two online courses, spent time with all my immediate and extended family, and got pretty sick (not surprisingly). Right around Labor Day weekend, I sustained a minor bug bite on my right wrist that blew up to near-MRSA infected proportions. Not risking it, I limped home from a solo weekend with family and rested with the lady (she usually has a letdown around this time of year). Anyways, my bite became poorly infected and after a visit to the Minute Clinic and my Dr. they were culturing for *spooning* MRSA (nothing panned out; NOTHING!). Ugh. So I have been resting, sleeping, and otherwise working trying to establish my new normal. And working under a large report deadline, which I successfully delivered TUES of this week. So I am finally beginning to heal. However, there has been no time for comics and I have been struggling to pick up and read the comics I have. I look forward to remedying that this weekend (after a commencement ceremony for Online U.). That's about it. Some comics thoughts... It would be fun to round out my Galactus trilogy with Fantastic Four #49-50 in FN 6.0 It would be fun to collect X-Men #3-19 in VG+ to FN, the Kirby / Lee years... some good first appearances and crossovers in that little run. Only the #4 would come at great expense for my desired grade range. It could be fun to hunt for just one solid $120 book per show. I seemed priced out of the Silver Age key I most desire, and high grade underground comix, and thus gravitated too heavily toward moderns. I must restore some balance to the collection and accumulate some value over growth propositions. While I have been waning on comics, live music is waxing. Recent and upcoming shows include: Locals bands Devil Met Contention, Ian and The Dream, & Well Known Strangers Echo & the Bunnymen (Turner Hall) Jake Bugg (Pabst), incl. 8 acoustic songs The Record Company (upcoming 10/6) London Souls (upcoming 10/28) PS > I'll post my favorite new comic pickup when I get home. PPS >> We bought the lady a new Alienware 15-inch R3 overclocked laptop. She calls it "mah bei bei." I worked a deal through Online U's marketplace and scored a free 32-inch LEDtv (going to use a $40 Amazon Fire TV stick and a digital antenna). Then the lady scored a new HP 2-in-1 tablet thing-ee from work when she traded in her old laptop. This is what precipitated the whole purchase in the first place. So we had to buy a wireless extender because we are drowning in new tech.

If it is the #1 fanzine... Yes. That one hurt. For what it's worth... I believe the owner of that book is on the boards- Brother J He's been known to sell stuff from time to time.

HG copies of this are have been hotly contested since I started c. 2002. I have never owned this book. It is cool to see a nice copy. Someone else has always been willing to pay more for it. Eventually, I sold my other Dr Atomics but I did save a nice NM+ #1

What is the first appearance of Mr Natural in comix? Is it Zap 1? What are the major first appearance undergrounds?

Rise of the Milwaukee man-child Soundtrack: One of the more interesting journal reads these days involves a young, earnest millennial’s attempts to achieve success in the secondary comic book market. Many themes circulate in the thread, but one of the more interesting to me is the notion that one must pull themselves up by the bootstraps and build a cash reserve before dabbling in comic books. I want to explore this notion, while also winding together something I am observing firsthand, the rise of the Milwaukee man-child. On American savings in general In 2014, the mean American household was able to save roughly $4,900 (Stoffel, 2015). However, it is pointed out that this is a mean number and thus heavily influenced by outliers at the top. Roughly half of American households are not able to save a dime (Stoffel, 2015), fully 62% have less than $1000 in their savings account (Fottrel, 2015), and over 20% do not even have a savings account (Fottrel, 2015). Finally, Fottrel (2015), citing consumer surveys by Bankrate.com and GOBankingrates.com, notes that close to 30% of millennials reported no money in their savings account. And, the $4900 savings number is VERY misleading. Check out this breakdown by income (after Stoffel, 2015): It is not until the 7th decible, when total income exceeds $60,000 USD, that households begin to save significantly over the course of a year (e.g. achieving savings in excess of 6k on average; Stoffel, 2015). And these numbers are mirrored in real life (IRL). Since relocating to Rust Belt Milwaukee, I am astonished by how few of my acquaintances have actual savings. I had heard the statistics, but a decade of living in college towns as poor graduate students resulted in our own “delayed adulthood entry” while the lady earned the MA & PhD (and I my MS). “Clearly, for many families in the lower deciles, it isn't constructive to simply browbeat them and tell them to pull themselves up by the bootstraps” (Stoffel, 2015, para. 10). Because VERY FEW adults save even $1000USD (~38%), how many can realistically reach the Dave Ramsey-esque lauded cash reserve of 6-months of expenses? The answer is very few. Moreover, it is even more unrealistic to expect this level of savings from younger people, and our CGC message boards do tend to skew younger, with approximately 67% of the message boards under the age of 40 (after NorinRadd’s poll, started in 2006): Note: There is an indication that savings rates ARE better in Canada, where the Canadian Press (2015) noted that 56% of Canadians reported having less than 10000CAD in emergency funds, with approximately 24% living paycheck to paycheck. But still, according to the Canadian Payroll Association's 2015 survey (as cited by Buckner, 2016), close to half of Canadians would have a tough time paying bills if their paycheck came even just one week late. On the rise of the manchild Consider the following two scenarios presented in Hymonwitz’s (2008) article titled “Rise of the manchild”: It’s 1965 and you’re a 26-year-old white guy. You have a factory job, or maybe you work for an insurance broker. Either way, you’re married, probably have been for a few years now; you met your wife in high school, where she was in your sister’s class. You’ve already got one kid, with another on the way. For now, you’re renting an apartment in your parents’ two-family house, but you’re saving up for a three-bedroom ranch house in the next town. Yup, you’re an adult! Now meet the 21st century you, also 26. You’ve finished college and work in a cubicle in a large Chicago financial-services firm. You live in an apartment with a few single guy friends. In your spare time, you play basketball with your buddies, download the latest indie songs from iTunes, have some fun with the Xbox 360 – and then it’s off to bars and parties, where you meet, and often bed, girls of widely varied hues and sizes. Wife? Kids? House? Are you kidding? “Not so long ago, the average mid-twentysomething had achieved most of adulthood’s milestones – high school degree, financial independence, marriage, and children. These days, he lingers – happily – in a new hybrid state of semi-hormonal adolescence and responsible self-reliance” (Hymonwitz, 2008, para. 3). Kirkova (2014) noted that 1/7 of UK adult men admit their mother still washes their clothes, and 3/5 still play with or collect toys. *cough cough* I know man-children firsthand and I am going to use my disc golf circle to illustrate what I mean: T- About 46 years old; successful IT job; owns home and car; has savings; fiancé M- About 34 years old; works seasonally, claims unemployment the rest of the year; has apartment; owns car; some savings; has steady girlfriend J- About 34 years old; unemployed (outside of illegitimate markets); lives at home; owns car; no savings; no girlfriend N- About 34 years old; unemployed; lives at home; does not own car; no savings; no girlfriend (By comparison: Om- 42; employed; owns home/car; has savings; married 18+yrs) As you can see, of the five of us, two man-children, one borderline, and two of us as more traditional ‘adults’ (though perhaps living vicariously). This influences all sorts of decisions, from which course to play to who buys the beer, etc. If I extend the analogy to ‘the corner spot’ bar the results would be just about the same. And, this has always surprised me, because when I was 19 and struggling in college, I moved back home for a semester. And I hated it, because in 1993 there was still a strong stigma against living at home. However, that overt stigma no longer exists. My friends revel in their manchildness. And I think it is difficult to be in one’s 40s, look at someone in their 20s, and understand that this is their ‘normal.’ References Buckner, D. (2016). Canadians don't save like we used to, and for good reason. Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/savings-decline-canada-1.3403923 Canadian Press. (2015). More than half of Canadians have less than $10,000 set aside for emergencies: BMO. Retrieved from http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/personal-finance/household-finances/more-than-half-of-canadians-have-less-than-10000-set-aside-for-emergencies-bmo/article26172527/ Fotrell, Q. (2015). Most Americans have less than $1,000 in savings. Retrieved from http://www.marketwatch.com/story/most-americans-have-less-than-1000-in-savings-2015-10-06 Hymonwitz, K. (2008, Jan. 27). Rise of the manchild. NY Post [onine]. Retrieved from http://nypost.com/2008/01/27/rise-of-the-manchild/ Stoffel, B. (2015). The average American was able to save this much money last year. It isn't pretty. How do you compare? Retrieved from http://www.fool.com/retirement/general/2015/10/25/the-average-american-was-able-to-save-this-much-mo.aspx Kirkova, D. (2014). Rise of the Man-Child: One in seven adult men admits MUM still washes their clothes (despite them living away from home). Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2622261/Rise-Man-Child-One-seven-adult-men-admits-mum-washes-clothes.html#ixzz4JOmU6Yi4 Stoffel, B. (2015). The average American was able to save this much money last year. It isn't pretty. How do you compare? Retrieved from http://www.fool.com/retirement/general/2015/10/25/the-average-american-was-able-to-save-this-much-mo.aspx