VintageComics

Right. Science can be fiction, but it's not necessarily Science Fiction. When I see Bernie Wrightson's prints from his classic retelling of the story, all I see is Gothic Romance. I see the love of the creator for his creation. I see the loneliness of the creation. I see the maddening rage of the crowd that doesn't understand either. Aren't love and obsession two different sides of the same coin in almost every romance story?

Think about it. Slight tangent: When my daughters first broke up with their 1st boyfriends and were heartbroken, I shared a lesson with them that I learned from a friend. That friend said to me that "love is not free". Meaning, that if you plan to begin something, there are necessarily going to be consequences if you need to end it, so "don't start what you can't finish." Think it through before embarking on it. Breakups are hard, but nobody thinks about that when going into the start of a romance. ------------------------------------------------------ To me the greatest appeal from the Frankenstein story is the tragedy of how lonely the creature's life is. That's what drew me into the story. From Study.Com "Victor Frankenstein represents Romanticism because he is a warning against scientific pursuit without thought. Romanticism was a reaction to the Industrial Revolution, and Victor created something without considering the consequences of his actions." Dr. Frankenstein performed an experiment and breathed life into the creature without considering the consequences of his actions. The creature was never happy. That's why subsequent sequels were based on trying to find a partner for him, weren't they?

I agree and just expounded on that.

That is the interpretation that some people have NOW, but it's not how the novel was classified Classically or traditionally. If we just used that simple of an interpretation, then quite literally EVERYTHING that has a scientific achievement in it is science fiction. A story about a mechanical clock could be considered science fiction. If someone had an "automated horse carriage" driven by steam ahead of it's time before the automobile was created, it may be considered "science fiction" but would you really categorize that as science fiction? To me, science fiction includes some sort of technical "electronic" wizardry ahead of it's time along with travel away from this world. Frankenstein was all human based. He was stitched together and animated using...electricity to jump start his heart. Not electronics to keep him alive. It's science, but it's alchemy. And even at the time wasn't very fictional. And the fundamental message of the novel is actually ANTI-SCIENCE. It's a warning about the dangers of science and romance. And to me, that is a huge difference.

Edited my post for clarity.

I'm posing this question because a friend of mine, who is the wife of a longer term friend of mine (20 years and a well known collector in the hobby) broached this discussion on Facebook. The gist was this: Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein as a 19 year old teenager in 1818. There is a NYT article that attributes the 1st Science Fiction novel to Jules Verne / publisher Hugo Gernsback and H.G. Wells as the inventors of the Science Fiction genre. The article was posted 2 years ago Discussion has since ensued, including many people saying that women are not being accredited as they should. I've followed the discussion, which has led me to this point. To summarise: Frankenstein has classically been attributed as both "Gothic" and also "Romance" but not romance in the traditional, contemporary sense. From Study.Com "Victor Frankenstein represents Romanticism because he is a warning against scientific pursuit without thought. Romanticism was a reaction to the Industrial Revolution, and Victor created something without considering the consequences of his actions." I personally have always, traditionally viewed Science Fiction as "living among the stars". A quick search of top-selling Sci Fi novels shows that this seems to be the case. Only now that we are almost quite literally living among the stars, the "Science Fiction" label isn't going to be accurate in it's traditional sense, because it's soon no longer going to be fiction. It's going to be Science Reality. So maybe the definition of the genre may need to change, just as comic book ages have changed as time went on? Was Frankenstein actually "Science Fiction"? I think this is a great discussion. Anyone have any thoughts?

I'm curious to know what the book is. I may be able to help. Drop me a PM.

The 1st Yngwie album I consider really special, because it was truly groundbreaking. I consider it as groundbreaking as Eddie Van Halen was to all of rock, only Yngwie was groundbreaking to a much smaller niche of the rock genre. I was learning about Classical music in the early 80s and Randy Rhoads and Yngwie were a natural progression for me. Ritchie Blackmore, too. Those guys each in their own special ways fused Classical music with rock. If you listen closely to that 1st album, you hear a lot of special things that don't show up in music anymore. For example, you can hear the natural reverb of the room he recorded that album in. You can hear the Marshall stacks just blaring at volume in that room. You can catch the buzz of the amps. The natural echo of the drums. It was that combination of pure, clinical refinement that classical music had tempered with that raw, live, hard rock sound that really smote me. I fell in love with it. And of course, he covered all the classical, fantasy literature that so mingled well with comic book imagery. And I think that set me on a course for the rest of my life, loving the pure refinement of German auto engineering coupled with the raucous sensory impact of a racing Porsche and the refined art of Neal Adams, Bernie Wrightson and Frank Miller coupled with the visceral impact their art gave. It just exploded in your face, but it was absolutely perfect at how it did that.

Have you thought about trying to sell your item here on the boards? Most of your worries and anxiety about a scammer trying to con you would be alleviated here. To build on this, if you have a $4K book, and eBay is going to take what? 15% or more? Someone may buy that book at 15% off FMV here, because they're getting a deal and if it's a key or a desirable book a dealer may take it off your hands for 20% off and you'd have a solid transaction. So you have options. Throwing the book into the great wide open doesn't seem to be the best one. You might net a little less selling it in a hurry but that's way better than losing the whole shebang.

You should try it sometime. I did not know that Jennifer Connelly was in that video. Wow. I wanted to marry her so bad after Rocketman. She was my dream girl for a long time. I can't listen to Yngwie anymore for the same reason. I loved his first 3 albums, partially because the 1st was so original, and then the 2nd and 3rd kind of built on that, but by the 3rd album I was done.

"A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house." There's a lot of truth to this saying that Jesus said.

Interesting fact. And right around the time Disney bought Fox.

Hello friend. Id be interested in Amazing 401 through 700. You would have to ship them to Rhode Island. If interested, shoot me a private message with a price. A match made in heaven!

I remember when Steve Vai came on the scene in the early / mid 80's. Me and my friends had just picked up guitar around the same time. I bought my 1st guitar in 1985 when my baby sister was born. I remember it well, because quite literally I snuck out of the house while my mom was in the hospital giving birth. I think my 1st guitar was a cheap Les Paul knock off (may have been an Epihone?) and a tiny Fender amp. I played that thing day and night. Anyway, around that time Vai had started playing for David Lee Roth and he was getting a lot of press, and he started talking about his guitar teacher Joe Satriani and he said something like "Oh, just wait. You're going to hear about this guy and he'll blow you away." - something along those lines. Anyway, Satriani came out with this album shortly after and it definitely blew us away. Being a comic geek, it was a double shot of awesome because of the Surfer comic book concept. Back then, I didn't think anyone outside of loser comic nerds like myself read comics. It started a lifetime of mingling rock and roll and comics for me.

I don't even think Clink sells raw books anymore, do they?

I'm not sure if that's a joke or not? I would think it would be higher than that. I personally wouldn't scan a back cover on a $40 book.

We need more Jeffro. No. We need more Jerkfro. I don't think you really want that.

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We need more Jeffro. No. We need more Jerkfro.

Not at all. It was a genuine question and I stayed on point. I don't have a personal beef anymore with anyone but I can't help it if others do. The thread only got derailed when someone mentioned Kav and I tried to explain why he left and how it affects others. It was a fair answer. The people who made it personal were those who wanted Kav gone, and ironically are the same people who want me gone. It's not a coincidence that the same group of people are all clamouring for the same thing, only have now found new targets. It's a pattern of behavior. On page 2 or 3, you even contributed to this thread, and then a day later complained about why the thread is still here. That makes no sense. You're misrepresenting what happened. We made jokes, first made by CAHokie and then by me, followed by emojis. You really should quote things directly if you want to discuss them because playing broken telephone just mixes things up and makes matters worse. It's a common problem on all social media platforms when people paraphrase and misremember things. Me included.

This thread was a discussion about the COMIC FORUMS. The Friday threads, the drinking threads, the marketplace sales threads that went all night, the Cornfield thread and all the friendly banter that used to happen that we discussed in this thread happened in the COMIC FORUMS. None of those things ever happened in the WC. What on earth made you think it was about the Water Cooler? You were the first to mention the WC in 14 pages.

Agreed!!! The two of you are trying to figure out why a thread asking why traffic is down in Comics General was posted in Comics General? Where should a question about Comics General be asked? In the Marketplace?

When I was in NOLA a few years ago, I actually met with @ChiSoxFan in New Orleans. NOLA is a bit out of the way, and the convention is hit or miss - it's been decent some years, but the city is an incredible thing to visit and a lot of dealers from all over would go to NOLA just to be able to pass through. I'd highly recommend the city if someone can make it happen. It's quite literally unlike anything else in America. The city has a depth and earth energy to it that is inexplicable unless you experience it yourself.

Physician, heal thyself! My family were quite hard core cultists (they still are). They were the most hard core pacifists you'd ever known. Some were (literally) tortured and persecuted for their beliefs, yet under life threatening duress they never gave into their beliefs. They raised me to believe that way, which is why I don't budge unless you can convince me logically. We were taught that we were "not of the world" as many hardcore Christians are taught. and so because of this, I was against all politics my entire life. I think I'm actually incapable of being tribal the way people most of you are. I'm so non-ribal that I even disavowed myself from my blood family about 20 years ago over their beliefs, because I felt they were wrong. So to ascribe me to another "cult" is plain ridiculous. I'm a lone wolf as far as beliefs go, and will never belong to any tribe. I'm ruled by logic and right and wrong. And to think someone will convince me of an argument just by calling me names? It literally doesn't make a blip on my radar. It actually proves my point to me.