PopKulture

19 hours ago, Robot Man said:

Tell you what Pop, Wizard World Chicago is coming up in a few months. Go, do a con report and make ME swoon...

I've only been once, and before Wizard took over. I was always a small-show sort of guy, and looking for stuff on the cheap at flea markets and antique shows. "Retail" and "comics" are two words that don't gel in my book. I know there are bargains to be had at any show: one just has to be willing go diving, as you say.

If I do get off my curmudgeon soapbox and attend Wizard, I will bring back some pics.

Great bb offerings, Robot Man! My faves are the Slugger bagatelle, the Mickey Converse pinback, and of course Eisner's Baseball Comics.

One question - is that Satchel Paige covering second for some reason? And why is he white? Someone didn't get the memo on that one perchance...

It's also interesting to note that Ralph Kiner got the cover glory on Sports Action and Warren Spahn was relegated to the teaser strip on the bottom. Maybe it's just me, but when the dust settled, it seems Spahn had the more noteworthy career, just sayin.'

Thanks as always for the awesome report and pics, Robot Man! I can live vicariously through you - imagining it's me cruisin' the room and scooping up all that 40's and 50's goodness.

And of course it's always great to scan the wall books and lust after all the ones I'll never own like (swoon) All Winners 1, (melt) New York World's Fair, and (sigh) All-Select 1.

I've been revisiting many of my old paperbacks recently - sort of a bagging spree, more or less, after which I'm stacking them randomly in banker's boxes. I like digging through the boxes and finding the Avons and Populars mixed with the Ace doubles and Dell mapbacks. And to think I'm more or less organized with most of the other things I collect.

Here are some beauties I've reacquainted myself with:

11 hours ago, Shrevvy said:

Original advertising art by Edgar Church.

 

 

Wow, these are really cool pieces of history! The top two feature really great spot illos. Congrats!

From Batman no. 49:

From the Street and Smith comic of the same name:

Yep, I remember it well, having grown up in Villa Park (on the most southern side, so it was actually a long bike ride as a kid to B.J's!). It was on Ardmore and it was red brick back in the day. I started going there when there were no comic boxes and all the comics were stacked in grocery bags trimmed to about one foot high; plus, there were still some grocery items. Over the years I bought comics, paperbacks, postcards, etc. there. I attended many of the "Relax-a-cons" and probably at least half my comics were purchased at these cons!

I have some flyers and at least one newspaper article that I'll scan at some point and post here.

p.s. the owner's name was Hank Franklin.

I hope you'll reconsider by the close of the next con. Why let a bad apple or two ruin the vicarious thrill for the overwhelming majority of us who weren't in attendance?

Not knowing the backstory, of course, I can only hope the drama is behind you...

Thanks for the pics and reports, Robot Man. It sounds like an awesome show, the sort I wish we still had with any regularity in the Chicago area. It's nice now to be able to put a name to a few of the boardies as well. It looks like you scored overall, and especially with some nice GGA books. Congrats!

Okay, this is like a museum book. I'm serious - the intrigue and mystery hinted at by the beautifully rendered cover; that undulating text and logo, all well balanced; the relative scarcity of this short revamped title run; and the STUPEFYING condition!!

Who among us cannot imagine being transported back to '52 and having our eyes drawn immediately to perhaps this very copy on any given newsstand??

Wow, really wonderful books! Thanks for sharing these adventures of Superman when he was a boy.

Me three! That "Invasion of the Metal Men" is terrifically menacing and ominous, in that grand ol' Atlas manner.

Mrmyst - those Nellies are beautiful! Great cover art and flatteringly well preserved copies, especially that no. 23.

Inaflash - I totally agree: the details and colors on that Tessie are noteworthy. Nice score.

 

Number one

 

 

Simply wonderful books! I never grow tired of looking at 50's Atlas covers. They certainly got their money's worth out of the whole disappearing people motif.

Three funny animal offerings:

Great book! It boasts such a distinctive palette.

On a somber note, check out this bad boy that must've been sitting on the wrong craft table once upon a time. Someone used it as an impromtu cutting board, and those cuts go more than halfway thru the book, making reading it like trying to handle a bowl of spaghetti.

Of course the My Girl Pearl that preceded it and the beat up Kid Colt in the stack were undamaged. Not quite Murphy's Law, but there must be some axiom that fits here.

Robot Man - Like B9, I can't compute the overwhelming coolness of those early TOS!

Jayman - Every cover you posted is a winner, especially the "spaceship in my barn" and those beautiful mummy/monster books!

Great story, Mr. Bedrock. Thanks for taking the time to share it.