Duffman_Comics

Great stuff as usual RM The Lex Barker pin looks homesick. I think you should send it back.

Given the "Wild West" nature of Oz publishing, isn't it possible the "Also available" stuff was just bumpf to fill in a page and make the book look "better"? Anyway, I have references to check. BRB

Deffman-Comics? Why I oughtta . . . Nice get on the magazine. I've never had one - are there major differences to the comic - other than size and lack of colour?

It's a Timely (but you knew that ) however it is a very interesting comic in that it simply reeks of the Chuck Jones "Rabbit Season/Duck Season" animation trilogy that began 6 years later with Rabbit Fire. Really makes me wonder if Chuck saw this book

"True Facts"

Snob

Here's one a long way from "home" .

Oh OK,I'll play. Sheldon Cooper is a character on TV's "Big Bang Theory". Sheldon is a theoretical physics genius, comic collector and train aficionado. Not necessarily in that order. The train stations of Canada are indeed beautiful, although my real world exposure to them is limited to Banff, Toronto and the (they don't really count) stations on the GO train as far as Ajax.

Sheldon? Is that you? I've never seen that train before and it looks fantastic.

They did meet, and the BBC has a pretty good account of the matter - especially since the Beatles did not want a media circus and banned all press and photographers. Link. For the click challenged: " On the evening of 27 August 1965, Elvis Presley and The Beatles, the music world's biggest stars, met for the first and only time. When the Fab Four went to see the King of Rock 'n' Roll at his Beverly Hills mansion on a night off from their US tour, the initially awkward small talk gave way to an impromptu jam session. But there are no recordings or photographs of the event. Tony Barrow, who was The Beatles' press officer between 1962 and 1968, was also in the room. As a new exhibition about The Beatles and Elvis opens at The Beatles Story in Liverpool, he recalls that memorable night. "When I put the idea of meeting Elvis to John, Paul, George and Ringo, they were initially put off by the fact that the press might be involved," he said. Image caption Elvis was in the middle of filming his movie Paradise Hawaiian Style at the time of the meeting "I remember George saying 'if this is going to be another dirty big publicity circus, let's forget it'. They did want to meet their rock 'n' roll idol, but not with a gang of reporters and photographers around to hassle them. "The first fundamental ground rules to be set were: no press to be invited, no pictures to be taken, no recordings to be made and no leaking of our plans in advance. "It was shortly before 10pm when we drove over. We were in a convoy of three big black limousines, led by [Elvis' manager] Colonel Parker and his people. "The property consisted of two storeys nestled into a hillside. It was a vast, round building with a lot of windows and a spacious front garden. There was a Rolls Royce and a couple of Cadillacs lining the drive. "Members of the famous 'Memphis Mafia' guarded the tall gates but they waved our line of limousines straight through. "Once inside the front door, our feet seemed to sink inches into deep white shag pile carpeting. Image caption Tony Barrow (right, pictured with Brian Epstein) had to keep the plans secret from the press pack "We arrived in the centre of the building, into this massive circular room bathed in red and blue light, and this was where the King entertained. "This was Elvis Presley's giant playpen, complete with a colour television, a jukebox, a deep crescent-shaped couch, a couple of pool and games tables and a well-stocked bar. "I would say, at a guess, that Presley's army of henchmen and their womenfolk must have totalled about 20 people, well outnumbering our little group. "As the two teams faced one another, there was a weird silence and it was John who spoke first, rather awkwardly blurting out a stream of questions at Elvis, saying: 'Why do you do all these soft-centred ballads for the cinema these days? What happened to good old rock 'n' roll?' "Elvis was fairly quiet - that was my first reaction. He smiled a lot and shook hands with everybody. "The ice didn't really break in the early stages at all. The boys and Elvis swapped tour stories, but it hadn't got going. Music was their natural meeting point, their most intelligent means of communication "They quickly exhausted their initial bout of small talk and there was this embarrassing silence between the mega-famous five, stood there facing each other, with very little of import being said. "Apart from anything else, I think it was just that each was in awe of the other. Elvis didn't have that much confidence, as far as I could see. He was a fairly easily embarrassed person by the look of him. "But Elvis suddenly plugged the gap by calling for some guitars to be handed out to John, Paul and George, and a piano was hauled into view. "Up to that point, the party really had been a bit lifeless and unexciting. But as soon as Presley and The Beatles began to play together, the atmosphere livened up. "The boys found that they could make much better conversation with their guitars than they could with their spoken word. Music was their natural meeting point, their most intelligent means of communication. "I can't remember all the things that they played but I do remember one of the songs was I Feel Fine. And I remember Ringo, who of course didn't have an instrument, tapping out the backbeat with his fingers on the nearest bits of wooden furniture. "Everybody was singing. Elvis strummed a few bass guitar chords for Paul and said: 'See, I'm practising.' And Paul came back with some quip about: 'Don't worry, between us, me and Brian Epstein will make a star of you soon.' "It would be wonderful to have either photographs or recordings. That recording would be invaluable, surely. It would be a multi-million dollar piece of tape. But it wasn't to be. It was an amazing session to listen to. "Parker and Epstein lost interest - they were leaving the children to play. Parker put his plump arm around Brian Epstein's shoulder and led him away to a quiet corner of this playroom. "Epstein at this point grabbed his chance to bring up the subject he'd been waiting to raise, which was his secret agenda. He hoped to persuade Parker to let him present Elvis in a series of UK concerts. 'Elvis was stoned' "It was a hopeless project from the outset, although at the time, Parker pretended to leave the door open by saying he'd think about it. "The party ended when Colonel Parker decided that it was time for it to end. He started dishing out presents, which mostly consisted of piles of Elvis Presley albums. "I remember, as we went out to our limousines, John put on his Adolf Hitler accent and shouted: 'Long live ze king.' Also, John said, as we got into our limousines: 'Elvis was stoned.' George Harrison responded very quietly: 'Aren't we all?' "They tried to make light of it and not show too much adoration for their idol, but Elvis Presley was their idol and one of the prime influences of The Beatles' music." "

Whenever this cover presents, I immediately think that Gene Colan was having a bit of a larf. The girl is clearly Ann Margaret, who the year before had released "Viva Las Vegas" with Elvis. A year later and the Fab Four ask "But, Penny - you promised to go out with us when we came over". And her response? "Sorry fellows - but I already have a date for tonight" The man from Memphis, perhaps?

Did the robbers have black and white horizontally striped shirts? Did they wear domino masks? Did the "bags of money" have "Dollar signs" on them? Speaking of thefts, didn't a substantial amount of SDCC takings "go missing" one year?

Great item, RM. Did you get the sigs or were they already in situ? I got them myself. I schlepped this down to the San Diego con many years ago. Had to do it twice to get them both but it was worth it . Back in the day when you could just walk up to a major creator and get an autograph and not have to pay for it or wait in a long line. They were both pretty blown away to see it. That is awesome! Up until the early 2000's you could go to San Diego and have a casual chat with Will Eisner on the floor. Most folks didn't seem to know who he was. A total gentlemen and a giant of the field yet totally down to earth and accessible. I had him sign my Warren Spirit 1 for my twins whom he met. Back in the seventies I met his partner Jerry Iger at an early New York show. Theses shows had about 200-300 people attending so you could meet anyone in attendance with ease. Ha might devoured Sterankos History of the Comics I was probably one of the few kids who knew who he was and of his role in the early days of the business. A) Another lovely backstory RM - and your posting it goes some way to establishing its provenance. B) I'll give a +1 to 40 years on this. I think I've told this story before, but at my first San Diego in 1989 (held at the San Diego Convention and Performing Arts Center/Omni Hotel) at the dealer set-up in the basement area there was the usual milling about and general noise. Above that noise was the unmistakable sound of Stan Lee. I knew it was him before looking, the cadence was (and is) unique. So who is he chatting with? Julie Schwartz. Those were the days. No "security" and those attending had a genuine love for the medium. Not so many cosplayers either. Sorry, didn't mean to get into an "old man" rant. Carry on.

Great item, RM. Did you get the sigs or were they already in situ?

Great book Vern, was that from an Australian EBayer? He had a few books that seemed to be priced well below anything similar on EBay and this one was a steal, I thought it was actually a scam for a second. I should have bought it but forgot to go back and grab it. Hi Peter. Yes, this one is from the land down under. Flawless transaction, go ahead and buy with confidence. Vern Ahhh. I've known this seller for more than 25 years, well before eBay obviously. He knows his stuff and is an all around good guy.

Quick question RM. Do you prefer the "Membership Card" type paraphernalia "pristine" or signed in a child-like scrawl? Me? If it is part of a membership "kit" then I'd prefer everything (including the mailer) as minty as possible. If it's a stand alone flea market type offering, I actually like the "provenance" that the signature of, say, a Junior Justice Society member adds. That's just me though. Your thoughts?

Thanks a lot phantalien, now I have to look for an autograph card Shout out to damonwad who PM'd a link to an uncut sheet - and opened my eyes as to the volume of Peanuts stuff out there

Well, I wasn't going to add my 10c as what I have ain't GA However, since BB-Gun has established the precedent, here goes. I like "Peanuts" and have a lot of bits and pieces. Couple of Dells - here's one: Now, back in 2000 I was in Newport RI and picked this up from an "animation" type store. It's an uncut sheet of cards featuring Peanuts and a photo of Schulz, 33 in the set (repeated three times on the sheet), but I am clueless as to their original purpose. Had it framed when I got home and now it sits in my "animation poster" room Anyone got any ideas or further info? Here's a closer look:

Nerd Love You two need to get a room

What an interesting painting. It looks like a miniature set was created and then painted. Maybe that ties in with the reported "stuffed" sheep. Good to see you back

OK I'll say it - an unslabbed Okajima! Congrats!

If I was a betting man, and I am, I'd lay short odds that the Robot Man's favourite Christmas cover is:

What a great eccentric eclectic collecting year it's been Science Fiction, Funny Animals, War, Jungle, and nary a superhero in sight. I await with interest the AJD Pogo insights

Now, this is a noble endeavour I am as big an E.C. fan as the next funny book guy. Bought a few from Bobby Bell back in the day just to get a "taste" of the real things. My geographical isolation (original E.C.'s were not distributed here) meant that (in the pre-internet days) I knew I had no hope of getting anything more than random books. Then two things happened. In 1973 East Coast Comix issued their series of reprints. This was as close as I could get to high grade copies at a very reader-friendly price. It was interesting to note how closely these reprints matched the originals in terms of colouring, line reproduction, "texture" (if you know what I mean) and I had high hopes that the publisher would reproduce the entire E.C. output. Not to be. Twelve issues and done. Then, Russ Cochran's mammoth effort arrived in 1978. I could not wait to get a hold of these. The reprints, larger than the originals and in black and white, opened my eyes to the detail that had been obscured in the originals. This is not a slam on Marie Severin, but simply the shortcomings of the four colour production process at the time. They also pretty much extinguished my collecting "need" to get the originals. Oh, I've still got (and continue to obtain as targets of opportunity) the old books, but I really like having the ability to read any E.C. at a moment's notice without fear of damage. Anyway, enough prattle from me . Pray continue, Ed

Good stuff - I'm in for the ride. I like these "journey of a collector" yarns (except when MM does them ). I have lots of questions and observations but I'll hold off in order not to interrupt the narrative. Please carry on