Baker Romance 43 43

[Sqeggs]

1 hour ago, Ricksneatstuff said:

 Ha ha! I wish I got tax refunds 

Yeah, tell me about it!  Made some overly optimistic assumptions and ended up seriously in the red -- and not the washed out red like on an average copy of DS 16.  More like fire engine red -- as in a five-alarm blaze in my bank account.  

[Sqeggs]

1 minute ago, comicnoir said:

Lovely essay Andy. Baker's life was filled with highs and lows. He had a prosperous life while at St. John's with his yellow Cadillac and nicely tailored suits, and an exotic lifestyle in Mexico. The Archer St. John story is filled with sadness and apparent shame as he was discovered with a mistress. Nowadays no one would bat an eyelash. You're right, it was more than his heart, he went into a depression when St. John's went down. And he went to work for Vinnie who many have speculated was mob connected. 

His is a great American story set with all the elements that make that story. Money, beauty and race. I'm surprised Spike Lee hasn't thought about doing something. I worked with his cousin Malcolm many years ago on a movie called Undercover Brother and showed him Baker's work. His response? "A brother did this?" I think it is time to bring his story to the mainstream.

Yeah, there's no doubt that in the right hands Baker's life could be made into a great movie.  That Baker is largely unknown to the general public might add to the appeal the story would have to some film makers. The movie would certainly not be retelling a familiar story.  The source material is unfortunately pretty thin, though.  Although I suppose good films have been made with less.

[Sqeggs]

2 hours ago, Dr. Love said:

 

Don't forget - his world ended in August 1955.  It was so much more than just losing the job of Art Director for a prestigious publisher.  He lost his friend, maybe his best friend, Archer St. John.  And who knows the damage caused and what survivor guilt may have come into play because Archer apparently took his own life. 

And then to end up working for Vinnie at some reduced page rate, Vinnie who in some strange way had many of the qualities and life style Baker wanted - handsome, hard living, flashy dresser, charismatic, knew everybody and everybody knew him, hung out with models and movie stars and gangsters, making serious money.  It must have tore him up inside something awful.

He had a bad heart, but sometimes I wonder if he died from a broken heart. Ah, Matt.

 

I assume they are in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater.  I wonder whose handprints St John is pointing to? 

[sagii]

After seeing @Sqeggs deep colored copy and the discussion about his Quality and Atlas work come up, a perfect time to share my copy of this again....

[sagii]

..and this Atlas, (maybe his last cover?) as per AOG and GCD

[MB1952]

7 hours ago, Sqeggs said:

I assume they are in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater.  I wonder whose handprints St John is pointing to? 

his pointing at this, was there 2 years ago. 

 

 

[OtherEric]

And, to follow up on last week's first appearance of Canteen Kate, the last appearance of Canteen Kate.  Since the cover isn't Baker, I'm including the 1-page Baker story as well.  There's a longer CK story in the issue too.

[Sqeggs]

On 4/24/2019 at 10:03 PM, sagii said:

After seeing @Sqeggs deep colored copy and the discussion about his Quality and Atlas work come up, a perfect time to share my copy of this again....

Great copy!  And the only one on the census.

 

[Sqeggs]

On 4/24/2019 at 10:06 PM, sagii said:

..and this Atlas, (maybe his last cover?) as per AOG and GCD

Nice.  Another cover that looks like it was either roughed out by Colletta or Baker was attempting to copy Colletta's approach. 

[Sqeggs]

On 4/25/2019 at 12:43 AM, OtherEric said:

And, to follow up on last week's first appearance of Canteen Kate, the last appearance of Canteen Kate.  Since the cover isn't Baker, I'm including the 1-page Baker story as well.  There's a longer CK story in the issue too.

I picked up the Southern States copy of this one when DTA was selling them off a few years ago.

[telerites]

26 minutes ago, Sqeggs said:

I picked up the Southern States copy of this one when DTA was selling them off a few years ago.

 

You stay gone too long - miss seeing your posts 

[Sqeggs]

2 hours ago, telerites said:

You stay gone too long - miss seeing your posts 

Thanks so much for the kind words.  They're much appreciated.  Unfortunately I've been super busy lately and looks like I'll continue to be for the next few months.

[Sqeggs]

Although not noted on the label, this book includes one of his last (sci-fi) stories.  Also not on the label is that this is the Boston copy.  Strangely enough, I bought this one as a C*B*C*S 7.0 OW.  Had it pressed but didn't notice (through the slab) that there were pressable defects likely to cause this big a jump in grade.  Plus a significant jump in pq.  Unless I somehow mixed up the entry in my spreadsheet. 

Edited April 27, 2019 by Sqeggs

[sagii]

19 minutes ago, szav said:

Relatively cheap ebay pickup raw from a few months ago back home to me from CGC...same auction where high grade raw copies of the Texan 8 and Western Bandit trails both went around 1k

An under rated Baker Girl cover imho.  Very well done my friend! 

[OtherEric]

6 hours ago, Sqeggs said:

Although not noted on the label, this book includes one of his last (sci-fi) stories.  Also not on the label is that this is the Boston copy.  Strangely enough, I bought this one as a C*B*C*S 7.0 OW.  Had it pressed but didn't notice (through the slab) that there were pressable defects likely to cause this big a jump in grade.  Plus a significant jump in pq.  Unless I somehow mixed up the entry in my spreadsheet. 

Very nice.  And another to add to my list of affordable Baker books I can still look for. (Or, more accurately, an affordable Baker book I looked for and ordered quickly.)

[comicnoir]

Always loved this book.

[OtherEric]

On 4/27/2019 at 11:53 PM, OtherEric said:

Very nice.  And another to add to my list of affordable Baker books I can still look for. (Or, more accurately, an affordable Baker book I looked for and ordered quickly.)

Just arrived today; not nearly as nice as @Sqeggs copy so no need to show mine.

I've got to say, the Baker story in this issue inspires a very strong reaction from me.  Specifically, I want to travel back in time and slap Vince Colletta for the hack job he did inking the story.

[Sqeggs]

On 4/28/2019 at 3:22 AM, comicnoir said:

Always loved this book.

Nice copies!

[Sqeggs]

20 hours ago, OtherEric said:

Just arrived today; not nearly as nice as @Sqeggs copy so no need to show mine.

I've got to say, the Baker story in this issue inspires a very strong reaction from me.  Specifically, I want to travel back in time and slap Vince Colletta for the hack job he did inking the story.

My copy was slabbed when I got it.  Is the little circular insert of the Baker Xondu story taken from a panel?  If so, then I guess this one would count as partially Baker cover. 

[Sqeggs]

Bought this one raw awhile ago from Terry's as a 4.5.  Happy with how it turned out.  H/T to whoever pointed out its availability to me -- unfortunately, I've forgotten who it was.

Oddity about the scan:  The ghost image from the inside cover and the staining are both almost invisible in hand -- or else my eyes ain't what they used to be.