Remembering dear ol Dad

[Ze-man]

Today as I opened a box of Lucky Charms for Ellen she asked me if I could dig to the bottom of the box to find the Batman Toy inside. It brought back a flood of memories of me watching my dad do this for us back in the day, even going so far to dump out the entire box in a bowl just to find it once the "up to your elbow in cereal" dig it out method failed. (and yes I smiled inwardly that Ellen #1 wanted a Batman toy, but also was VERY excited waiting for me to find it)

 

So seeing as tomorrow is Fathers Day I wanted to give props to my dad, god rest his soul, he was an sob at times but he was still dad to me. Here are a few comic related memories.

 

 

He would give me 50 cents to go buy penny candy and comics at the Ben Franklin everytime we went to the Hardware store next door

 

When I was 10 I remember walking into the house of a photogaphy friend of his and seeing Star Trek on TV for the first time and asking him about it on the ride home.

 

The story he told me a few times when I asked about his mother throwing out and even burning a trunkload of comics that he and his brothers (who were 20 years older at the time) collected. God knows what comics they were, he said mostly Batman and Superman stuff. yikes.

 

Watching him be a puppeteer for the Timothy the Churchmouse TV show and thinking, thats my Dad!

 

Laughing at him when he would try and play the Batman theme song on his guitar.

 

 

 

 

OK, my walk down memory lane is over.

 

Give up the comic related props to your pop, or pass along what comic related things you do with your kids now as a dad. They will remember, trust me.

 

Just wanted to wish all you dad's out there a Happy Fathers day.

[Timmay]

I read my boys the latest G rated spiderman drek (which isn't that bad).

 

They love it, I love reading it to them, and everyone's happy.

 

 

Happy Father's Day Z

 

[sckao]

 

I remember my father driving me around so I could buy comics as a kid. Sometimes, he'd drive us kids all the way into Boston (40 miles or so) just so I could shop at the Million Year Picnic in Cambridge. (And Superhero Universe... Newbury Comics, etc.) (thumbs u

 

Happy Fathers Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BronzeBruce13]

Mine did too... drove me to shops often and allowed me to travel on the road with a comic dealer to do weekend shows.

 

Wish he was still here

Sure would appreciate his wisdom and advice these days.

 

I remember my father driving me around so I could buy comics as a kid. Sometimes, he'd drive us kids all the way into Boston (40 miles or so) just so I could shop at the Million Year Picnic in Cambridge. (And Superhero Universe... Newbury Comics, etc.) (thumbs u

 

Happy Fathers Day

 

 

 

 

 

[DrWatson]

Many were the trips to Knoxville to the book store and I still remember him taking me to my first convention, the Atlanta Fantasy Fair. I don't remember the year, 1980 something, but I bought my first Fantastic Four #1.

[sterlingcomics]

I need to read the latest SonicX adventure to my son tomorrow....

[Wally's Comics]

I made an awesome memory today...

 

My wife asked me what I wanted to do today the Saturday of Father's day weekend.

 

I told her let's go to a park in Raleigh that I remembered growing up.

 

I took my kid for his first Carousel ride on a nice wooden jewel that has an automatic pipe organ.

 

It has been there in Raleigh's Pullen Park so long I bet it was one of those that used to

have the infamous "Gold Rings" kids could catch for free rides that you would see in GA/SA comics.

 

I'll always remember this day...

 

Here is a pic the wife took of Jeremy and myself before it took off.

 

 

Happy Father's Day!

 

 

 

[Darth Corgi]

Took me to my first comic store and show!

Also encouraged me to save up $18 to buy a VF Hulk #181 one summer.

[VintageComics]

My dad threw away my comics every chance he had. It's hard to explain...he was old fashioned European and very religious...he thought they were wrong. He was working with what he had at that time...It took him decades to realize that comics were not actually that bad. He passed away in 2004 after a liver transplant did not do well. We got one last chance to converse and we sorted everything out. He's in a better place now. I do miss him and he knows that. Looking forward to seeing him again.

 

(thumbs u

 

To all the dads out there...Happy Father's Day. Enjoy. These moments never return. Say it loud and clear.

 

 

R.

 

 

[silverage12c]

When I was about 10 or so, I remember asking my Dad how I could store my growing collection of about 300 comics. I had them bagged, but not boarded for some reason. We spent that day making 2 very nice wooden boxes for them. (He's a fantastic craftsman, and I learned a little about woodworking from him --- especially how not to lose a finger like he did when I was 6!). Wish I still had those boxes.

 

Anyway, I am very lucky to have not only my parents around and healthy, but also both grandparents on my Mom's side (in their late-80s). Waiting until a little later this morning to phone them and wish a happy father's day. I try to be a good Dad like that to my kids every day.

[Flee-Marquette]

My dad collected coins and he would go around to pawn shops and do a lot of horse trading. I would accompany him and watch him do his thing and that is where I got my love for treasure hunting at garage sales and flea-markets. Many a Saturday morning was spent walking through aisles of dusty junk wondering who would get rid of all this cool stuff, while my Dad was up at the front counter driving a hard bargain. My thing was comic books and I had a small bookshelf that he built that I would have my comics neatly arranged and stacked by title.

 

It was in the summer of '74 on a typical outing that we went into an antique store/pawn shop in California and I proceeded to scope out the premises. Near the back door I spied several grocery bags that appeared to be full of comics. They were all brimming with early silver-age Marvel superhero comics in numerical order. I was mainly a DC collector at the time, but looking at all those cool covers together was overwhelming. I quickly asked how much the comics were and the guy behind the counter said they just came in and the owner would have to decide how to price them. He thought about it for a second and then said that if I wanted to pay full cover price then I could buy some.

 

My Dad did not know much about comics except that some were valuable and that I enjoyed collecting them. He probably saw the look in my face when the man said that because he walked over to me and quietly asked me if I needed an advance on my allowance. He gave me $40 which was a lot of lawn mowing and car washing money. I quickly made piles of X-men, Silver Surfer, Captain America, Fantastic Four, Spider-man etc. and spent every last penny of that allowance advance. The man looked kinda surprised at how many I bought, but rang it up anyway. By this time the owner arrived and didn't appear to be too happy with the transaction. He quickly moved the rest of the comics into his office as we headed out the door. On subsequent trips into the store, the owner would always smile at me and tell me what a good deal I got. I would agree, my dad was a good deal. And still is.

 

 

[Larryw7]

I'm thankful that my father is still here with us. He turned 70 this year, and I've been thinking about mortality and the future a lot lately.

 

 

He's a good guy, though cantakerous at times(he's earned that right. He's had to put up with me and the rest of the family!). He was always supportive of my comic book hobby.

 

He used to regale me with stories of the big box of comics he and his three older brothers had. Since all four guys had started buying comics at an early age, they had a ton of books. He said that they probably had every Superman, Batman, Captain America and Captain Marvel comic published between 1939-1953(when he stopped buying). He was also a big EC fan, and purchased them for a couple of years in the early fifties. He said that, even though he was no longer actively reading the books in 1954-55, he was pissed off when he read that the Comics Code was shutting down the EC horror line.

 

When I was a kid, I was caught up in the Batman hype from the television show, and my father always grabbed whatever Batman books he could get for me when he saw them. I loved the 80 pg. Giants(why didn't Batman have a yellow circle on his chest?!), and he got them for me whenever he could. When I started buying Gold and Silver in the late seventies, he used to take me to the conventions, and even purchased some books himself. He had a pretty decent collection for a little while, and purchased on and off in the eighties and nineties. I sold most of them for him on eBay a few years ago.

 

Anyhow, sorry for the rambling post, but the other posts in this thread got me all nostalgic and I wanted to share a few memories.

[Larryw7]

I made an awesome memory today...

 

My wife asked me what I wanted to do today the Saturday of Father's day weekend.

 

I told her let's go to a park in Raleigh that I remembered growing up.

 

I took my kid for his first Carousel ride on a nice wooden jewel that has an automatic pipe organ.

 

It has been there in Raleigh's Pullen Park so long I bet it was one of those that used to

have the infamous "Gold Rings" kids could catch for free rides that you would see in GA/SA comics.

 

I'll always remember this day...

 

Here is a pic the wife took of Jeremy and myself before it took off.

 

 

Happy Father's Day!

 

 

 

Great pic! And Happy Father's Day to all of the dads on this board!

[nik]

I get to see my dear old dad on Friday

[Ze-man]

Thats great Nik, enjoy a safe trip.

 

I just changed a poopy diaper on Trevor, aint fatherhood grand?

 

[Karma23]

Although my Dad is a child of the Depression and found such things as comics frivolous at best. He never discouraged my collecting, and as a matter of fact he introduced me to the Great Escape in 1977, the comic shop that's my LCS to this day even though it was 30+ miles away at that time.

When we'd go to the store and I'd be looking through the spinner rack he'd always say 'grab a couple of those and let's go'

Even in his later days, he built the two comic shelves that I have in my room, built them from wood that had been on the barn of the farm he grew up working with his Grandfather.

A great man and a great father.

[MatMarvelV1]

My father also likes comics even late into his sixties, mostly peds thou - but this year for a comedy turn I gave him a Spidey #1 gold 2nd print from 1990 - should have seen his face drop whist trying to maintain a "oh, ..... how nice ..... thanks son" before me & my brother dropped laughing

[the blob]

this is the second father's day without my father...he died in April 2007 at 83 after a 1 1/2 year illness. at least he lasted long enough to see his grandkids, although his illness prevented him from playing with them. although comics weren't a part of his childhood and he didn't read them as a marine in WW II (he preferred fancier literature), he was pretty cool about his two sons collecting comics in the 70s (his third son was more of a baseball card kid in the 80s) and took us to shows, etc. he was really into animation though and liked sci fi and Tolkien. I remember us waiting on long lines to see the animated tolkien movies and Star Wars on opening day. He wrote sci fi/fantasy on the side (albeit never published, maybe one day I'll go through his scribblings and try to edit them). He wasn't perfect, but he was a pretty darn good father.

[GACollectibles]

When I was a kid my dad and I never clicked, I'm not sure sure if even he had a childhood to refer to when it came time for him to have kids. I liked sports & collecting, he couldn't fathom my fascination with either one. I found humor in things, he couldn't have been a more serious dude.

 

Time passed, I (kind of) grew up, my dad eventually reached out and whereas he always supported whatever venture I took on in life, he expressed more of an interest of what I enjoyed. It wasn't until recently that I even found out that he liked to read Police Comics/Plastic Man as a kid, and though I was a little dumbfounded the first few times he brought up the Patriots or Red Sox, it has opened channels for discussions that I never could have imagined happening when I was younger.

 

There may be times he still doesn't "get" me(he wouldn't be the only one!), but I am thankful that we at least have a chance to get to know each other a little better. I just got back from a trip up to see him, and just wanted to say again

 

Thanks and Happy Father's Day!

[TupennyConan]

My dad collected coins and he would go around to pawn shops and do a lot of horse trading. I would accompany him and watch him do his thing and that is where I got my love for treasure hunting at garage sales and flea-markets. Many a Saturday morning was spent walking through aisles of dusty junk wondering who would get rid of all this cool stuff, while my Dad was up at the front counter driving a hard bargain. My thing was comic books and I had a small bookshelf that he built that I would have my comics neatly arranged and stacked by title.

 

It was in the summer of '74 on a typical outing that we went into an antique store/pawn shop in California and I proceeded to scope out the premises. Near the back door I spied several grocery bags that appeared to be full of comics. They were all brimming with early silver-age Marvel superhero comics in numerical order. I was mainly a DC collector at the time, but looking at all those cool covers together was overwhelming. I quickly asked how much the comics were and the guy behind the counter said they just came in and the owner would have to decide how to price them. He thought about it for a second and then said that if I wanted to pay full cover price then I could buy some.

 

My Dad did not know much about comics except that some were valuable and that I enjoyed collecting them. He probably saw the look in my face when the man said that because he walked over to me and quietly asked me if I needed an advance on my allowance. He gave me $40 which was a lot of lawn mowing and car washing money. I quickly made piles of X-men, Silver Surfer, Captain America, Fantastic Four, Spider-man etc. and spent every last penny of that allowance advance. The man looked kinda surprised at how many I bought, but rang it up anyway. By this time the owner arrived and didn't appear to be too happy with the transaction. He quickly moved the rest of the comics into his office as we headed out the door. On subsequent trips into the store, the owner would always smile at me and tell me what a good deal I got. I would agree, my dad was a good deal. And still is.