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Souvenirs from 1983...

Started by osborn_fr,

52 posts in this topic

osborn_fr

osborn_fr

Posted
Posted

Rich_Henn's post in his ROM #1 thread (about published letters) remind me of a nice experience i had back in 1983.

At the end of that year, i was able to purchase a copy of incredible hulk #289 in my local news store.

Believe me, it was something really incredible at this time: First because you had to FOUND US comics, second because you had to pay for them (the 60c comics were sold about $2 in France !).

 

Here's the cover of the hulk #289 i purchased:

 

hulk289.jpg

 

It was my first US comic, and i read and re-read it many many times.

One day, i decided to write a letter to one american reader chosen randomly in the letters page (yes, a real letter, no Internet at this time :insane:)

Few weeks later, i received a letter from this reader in which he had included a picture of him and a copy of New Mutant #5:

 

NewMutants_px300_05.jpg

 

I was filled with wonder because i now had consequently two US comics in my collection (i was 13 years old, back in thoses days) !

I wrote back to this guy and even sent him some of my french comics, with french super heroes in it:

 

mustang54.jpg

 

We communicated during some time, then it suddenly stopped.

 

Good memories...

 

Unfortunately i have lost all the letters, and don't have the hulk #289 no more...

 

If someone have this copy, i will appreciate if he could scan the letters page for me.

 

I think his name was "Sandy Collier" (or something like that).

 

Thanks,

David

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chromium

chromium

Posted
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Great story Dave ! It reminded me of something that happened in 1984 to me.

 

I was really hurting for US comics and there were none to be found in Belgium, so me and a friend of mine hopped the ferry to sail to the UK. The cheapest one took 4 hours, so when we finally got to Dover we were foaming at the mouth to buy some comics.

 

But for some strange reason none of the newsagents had any comic books at all anymore, very strange as I remember buying them in similar places a few years before that when I lived in the UK.

I'm now thinking it was about the time that the comics went Direct Market and left the grocery stores/newspaper outlets etc...

 

So we went back to Belgium without a single comic and were pretty depressed. When we saw the lights of France and Belgium coming into view we walked on the deck to take a better look. An American asked me what country we were seeing and I told him. He complemented me on my English (I was 15 or 16) and I told him the reason was US comics. Also told him the sorry tale of going to the UK and coming back empty handed.

 

Now this gentlemen was a retired Floridian and was traveling all over Europe. He asked me for my address and 3 months later I received a package from him stocked with comics...the real ones, not the ones with a UK price as well ;)

 

I was thrilled and sent him a thank-you letter. Three months later another 25 or so comics arrived...

 

I remember almost nothing about the gentleman, except that his first name was "Collie"...(which stuck because it reminded me of Lassie) but I'll never forget him or the very kind gesture he made for some kid he met on a boat and told him about the Belgian and French coastline.

 

Americans get a lot of flack in Europe, and politically we aren't always on the same page, but they are the most generous people I know and always willing to help someone out.

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osborn_fr

osborn_fr

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That's a great story ! (thumbs u

 

I also remember a trip to UK during my secondary school period.

I found some DC comics in a news store (swamp thing, batman & the outsiders, amethyst princess of gem world <- :insane:...), but no Marvel :(

 

 

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chromium

chromium

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That really is a great story Allan, and yes Osborn we americaners are ok, once in awhile. (:

 

Do you still remember what books he sent you?

 

Ze-

 

I remember Teen Titans, some Spideys, lots of War books...all Marvel/DC

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moonlite

moonlite

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I had a pleasant experience in Belgium once. It didn't involve comics though.

 

My father and I had gone to a military show there to set up a booth (he lived in Germany at the time). This older gentlemen and his grandson came up and asked if we were Americans and told us how much he loved Americans and thanked us for fighting in WW2. This fellow was wearing an American Flag pin and offered to help us negotiate on anything we wanted to buy.

 

I learned to love Belgium and its people.

 

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goldust40

goldust40

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Posted
That's a great story ! (thumbs u

 

I also remember a trip to UK during my secondary school period.

I found some DC comics in a news store (swamp thing, batman & the outsiders, amethyst princess of gem world <- :insane:...), but no Marvel :(

 

 

Pretty much how it was for all of the 1970s and early 80s - newsagents were nearly always stocked exclusively with DC, with no Marvels to be had. That of course was partly to do with Marvel not sending over most of its' line 'cause it didn't want it to clash with the British weeklies, but also due to Thorpe and Porter's deal with DC....

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Rich_Henn

Rich_Henn

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I'm going to add ONE year to this...a souvenier from 1984.

I was 16 the summer of '84 and was at Fredonia State College doing a NYSSA program (that's New York State Summer School of the Arts).

 

Visual media painting, drawing, sculputre, etc.

That summer Gremlins came out, The Neverending Story, and a little gretting card shop in downtown Fredonia had comics in the basement.

 

I discovered Cerebus there, TMNT...and was lucky enough to grab one of only two copies he had on the shelf. 1st prints, too.

 

That was a good time. The treasure I took from that summer was TMNT #1 1st print, and yes...a little Marvel Graphic Novel called VOID INDIGO.

A book that was years ahead of it's time, and TAME to today's standards.

Marvel canceled it 2 issues into it's EPIC run.

 

I miss that stuff.

I think that was the same year that Jon Muth's MOONSHADOW was published.

 

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TupennyConan

TupennyConan

Posted
Posted
I'm going to add ONE year to this...a souvenier from 1984.

I was 16 the summer of '84 and was at Fredonia State College doing a NYSSA program (that's New York State Summer School of the Arts).

 

Visual media painting, drawing, sculputre, etc.

That summer Gremlins came out, The Neverending Story, and a little gretting card shop in downtown Fredonia had comics in the basement.

 

I discovered Cerebus there, TMNT...and was lucky enough to grab one of only two copies he had on the shelf. 1st prints, too.

 

That was a good time. The treasure I took from that summer was TMNT #1 1st print, and yes...a little Marvel Graphic Novel called VOID INDIGO.

A book that was years ahead of it's time, and TAME to today's standards.

Marvel canceled it 2 issues into it's EPIC run.

 

I miss that stuff.

I think that was the same year that Jon Muth's MOONSHADOW was published.

 

Another quality post from Mr Henn.

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Rich_Henn

Rich_Henn

Posted
Posted
I'm going to add ONE year to this...a souvenier from 1984.

I was 16 the summer of '84 and was at Fredonia State College doing a NYSSA program (that's New York State Summer School of the Arts).

 

Visual media painting, drawing, sculputre, etc.

That summer Gremlins came out, The Neverending Story, and a little gretting card shop in downtown Fredonia had comics in the basement.

 

I discovered Cerebus there, TMNT...and was lucky enough to grab one of only two copies he had on the shelf. 1st prints, too.

 

That was a good time. The treasure I took from that summer was TMNT #1 1st print, and yes...a little Marvel Graphic Novel called VOID INDIGO.

A book that was years ahead of it's time, and TAME to today's standards.

Marvel canceled it 2 issues into it's EPIC run.

 

I miss that stuff.

I think that was the same year that Jon Muth's MOONSHADOW was published.

 

Another quality post from Mr Henn.

 

Why thank you, sir!

 

I'm going to add a little footnote to that...a bittersweet one.

 

Well, two other good things that came out of that summer, and in particular, that summer program in Fredonia, were two REALLY good pals that I miss a lot as the time and distance keeps us from hanging out.

 

Rob Cobb, who ended up doing the front cover of TIMESPELL #0 for me, and several of the back covers to the other issues...we stay in touch. He lives in Houston, and I'm hoping to hook up with him soon.

 

The other guy, one Roger Donnellan, was the kid who was with me at the time when I bought the TMNT #1 1st print.

Roger saw the book on the shelf, I was on the other side of the room checking out Cerebus. I remember Roger asking me what Cerebus was about, and I replied "Looks like some aardvark sits around and gets drunk all day."

Then I put it back (little did I know only a few years later I would rediscover it and it would change the way I look at comics...and 17 years after that summer, I would be doing a sit down on camera interview with Dave Sim for my documentary..who'd know).

 

So I go to check out what Roger has, and it's TMNT #1. There were only 2 cps.

Inside the cover was the dedication to Miller and Kirby. Which was the ONLY reason we bought them. We thought that if the book was dedicated to these two cats, it CANT be all THAT bad!

 

And Roger said to me, "Years from now, even if we never get together again after this summer, we can always say that you have one and I have the other."

 

I never forgot that...Roger was a great kid, a talented kid and he loved comics.

We stayed in touch for a while, but eventually we stopped writing and trading comics.

 

Time went by, I went to College, I had bought ANOTHER copy of TMNT #1 for $50 (and it was a raw 9.6 EASY) and I sold it when the first movie came out.

Went to a NYC show on a Greyhound bus, sold the book for $275. Came back home to give my Dad money I owed him, and he wouldn't take it.

Wish I never made that trip, because that $275 became beer money. ugh.

 

I held my other TMNT #1, got it graded a CGC 8.0 and ended up having to sell it this year.

 

Then four months ago, I found Roger.

With the internet at my disposal, and oddly enough...cleaning the basement I found an old letter he wrote me in 1985, with his return address.

I called his Mom who was living in Baldwin, NY but found out she moved to FL.

She gave me his contact info, and I found Roger...living in HOUSTON, TX.

 

About 2 miles from where Rob Cobb was living.

I called Rob and he got in touch with Roger.

 

Roger and I finally got to talk on the phone back in early Sept.

He pursued his art to some degree, ended up working at Marvel doing something with promotion and design for some of their action figures...then went back to school and became a paralegal.

 

AND...he still has his TMNT #1 that we picked up that day in Fredonia.

 

Which made me feel even WORSE that I caved and sold my copy after all these years.

 

Anyway...that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

(phew)

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TupennyConan

TupennyConan

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Murfreesboro, TN has a couple good comic shops: Outer Limits & Grand Adventure. I hear a new one has opened in the downtown area. Probably not a good idea, no parking. It is a busy college town.

 

 

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