kaculler

I received another order in the mail today which will probably be my last golden age for the year.  Four steps closer to finishing off Our Gang.  Now I just need #3-9 and 13.

I just finished Funnybooks by Michael Barrier.  It covers Western Printing's comic book publishing from the 1930s to the 1960s with a heavy emphasis on Walt Kelly, Carl Barks, and John Stanley.  Their relationship with Dell, the transition to Gold Key, and other artists, writers, and executives are discussed as well.  It was an interesting book.

I'm currently reading No Good Dragon Goes Unpunished by Rachel Aaron, the third book in the Heartstrikers series.

I'm also reading 1636: The Atlantic Encounter by Eric Flint and Walter H. Hunt.  When I'm done with that, I'll only have one book left until I'm caught up with the 40+ main series in the 1632/Ring of Fire universe that I started back in June.

1 hour ago, Hollywood1892 said:

Must've been Heroes in London Ontario

Nice little shop started on Richmond St before moving to Dundas. I'm assuming it's closed down now, must be 20yrs since I've been in London. The first book I bought there was Web of Spider-man 1. As a kid I thought I hit the jackpot

Heroes is still  there at 186 Dundas Street.  I visited it back in February before the pandemic hit along with a few other London comic shops.

2021 Goals

1) Get caught up on reading my massive backlog

2) Thin out the collection a bit by selling a few titles

3) Reduce my Four Color Series II want list to below 50 (It'll be just over 100 at the end of 2020)

4) Finish off a dozen or so titles on my want list (there are a bunch where I only need 5 issues or fewer)

Another issue arrived today.

Two more issues arrived today:

Latest arrival - Four Color #24 (Series 1)

I just finished up Tiamat's Wrath by James SA Corey, the eighth book in the Expanse series and I thought it was excellent.  I'm looking forward to the final book next year and to the fifth season of the tv show adaptation in December.

I've been reading the 1632/Ring of Fire series by Eric Flint and others.  I've read around 30 books in the series so far  this year (out of around 65 including side novels).  Right now I'm reading two of them - Second Chance Bird by Garrett W. Vance and 1636: The Cardinal Virtues by Eric Flint and Walter H. Hunt

Here a couple of my early ones - Dennis the Menace #4 and 13.  I still need #1,2,3,6,7,10 from the main series plus two of the Giants (#18 and 30 which each reprint the Hawaii special) and two of the Bible Kids issues.  I finished off the digest series a couple of years ago.

This one is now my earliest Four Color Series II issue.

A pair of Flash Gordon issues arrived today.

I picked up five Four Colors over the past month or so, including one book from the first series.  I have several more on the way.

48 minutes ago, HouseofComics.Com said:

Dave told me that he sold like a semi trailer full of stuff before he moved to Tucson.

That sounds right.  He had a ton of stuff in that store and probably more in storage.

1 hour ago, electricprune said:

So, can I assume you were suspended by Milo Karhu on several different occasions?

Ha!  No, I never got suspended.  Milo was a pretty cool guy and a practical joker, too.  He was in charge of the alumni newsletter and I helped maintain the alumni database.  Since you know Karhu, did you go to RU as well?

For the last few years, I helped out at the Graham Crackers trade paperback booth during Wizard World Chicago.  I went to the show with a friend of mine and we would work at the booth for an hour or two each day so that people could get lunch or just take a break. I think that I've only been in one of their stores once, many years ago.

32 minutes ago, electricprune said:

Evidently!😁

Yes. I was going to say Dave’s had a second store in Ann Arbor. That sounds 100% correct. I definitely spent most of my time at CC’s too. I lived about 2.5 miles from it, so I could ride my bike there. Even rode to the Livonia location a few times. Not sure my parents were aware of that. Without GPS we weren’t aware of any subdivision short-cuts. So, it was all main streets.

Did you go to RU High or Thurston?

I graduated from RU in 1988.  I grew up at 5/Inkster so Classic was only a 3 mile bike ride for me, which was nice.  I didn't have to rely on my parents to get me there as much like I did when they were in Farmington.  Did you grow up in Livonia?

32 minutes ago, electricprune said:

Dave’s on Washington? If so, I remember that store. I actually think the one I went to on Washington was pre-2000s. Solid stock there either way.

You are a comic encyclopedia, my friend!

Yes, his store in Royal Oak was on S. Washington, though it moved there from another location in the late 1980s.  I used to go there occasionally, but it was a little bit of a drive from where I grew up in Redford.  It was a pretty nice store.  I think he closed that location in 2000 before moving west along I-94 and sticking to shows before opening up his next store.  

There was also a Dave's II in Ann Arbor that he owned (at least for a while).  I'm not sure when that store closed, but it was also a decent store.  Ann Arbor had a number of decent comic shops, including Eye of Agamotto which closed in 1986 and a few other stores.  After getting my first car in 1986, I started visiting other comic shops in the metro Detroit area, though the main ones I went to were Classic Comics and Comics Archives.  

One of the places I visited was one of Gary Reed's stores.  Gary Reed put on King Kon which was the first comic convention that I attended.  He also started Caliber Comics which published The Crow and many other titles.  Another place is A to Z comics on Ford Road in Garden City.  That store is still there and is worth a visit.

I try to visit comic shops when I travel as you are doing.  I visited local stores in Charlotte and Baltimore when I went to cons there last year and I also visited places in Charleston and Nashville after Heroes Con.  My family went on a long vacation where we drove out to California and back.  I took along my inventory index cards and we bought a few comics during the trip.  Being around comic stores and conventions for 40+ years helps with the comic knowledge.