creaturefan95 Posted January 21, 2019 Share Posted January 21, 2019 5 minutes ago, AJD said: Low grade with CT, but still very nice to have. One of the nice things about non minty books is that you can read them. I enjoyed this story. I for one welcomed our new ant overlords. AJD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duffman_Comics Posted January 21, 2019 Share Posted January 21, 2019 27 minutes ago, AJD said: "While I was dead . . ." Said no-one EVER. 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Get Marwood & I Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 A notebook without notes can not a notebook be! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJD Posted February 20, 2019 Author Share Posted February 20, 2019 On 2/19/2019 at 3:14 AM, Get Marwood & I said: A notebook without notes can not a notebook be! Well, I was somewhat preoccupied with a hiking tour of Tasmania, but if the masses want their fix, I did find this for not too much in a little antique shop about 30 minutes from Launceston: The large cover pic is taken from WDC&S #19, with the "war effort" voice bubble overlaid. The war is really biting hard in England in 1943, as evidenced by this 8 page magazine which is much smaller than the 1940 editions I have. If the editorial is to be believed, they didn't have enough paper to meet the demand for copies: And even the comics have a WW2 factor. Tyres were hard to come by in the USofA during the war, hence this Taliaferro gag: Prof AJD's quiz corner: to the nearest power of 10, how many private automobiles were built in the US between 1942 and the end of the war? Point Five, 1950's war comics, Get Marwood & I and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duffman_Comics Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 10 to the power of 2, or 139 to be exact. I often wonder how comics "arrive" at certain places around the world. A WWII Pommie Mickey Mouse is unlikely to have arrived in Tasmania in 1943. UK emigrant with kids post war? Who knows, idle speculation, great fodder for these boards. Point Five and Get Marwood & I 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Get Marwood & I Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 10 hours ago, AJD said: Well, I was somewhat preoccupied with a hiking tour of Tasmania, but if the masses want their fix Nice to see you back. One of the best threads on the boards is this Point Five and Gnasher 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post AJD Posted February 23, 2019 Author Popular Post Share Posted February 23, 2019 The first Australian issue of Wings. It has the cover (but no content) from #111. An eBay "near mint", complete with a tape pull (in the white area, so not immediately obvious), staples pulled through the back cover and just holding on the front, two book length bends, some small stains and soft corners all round... It didn't cost too much though, and it's by far the nicer of the two copies I've seen. It has a locally-sourced Space Hawk backup story by Paul 'Panther' Wheelahan - reproduced in full here for your delectation. It features Shah the pin-headed lion. Umba el ruc! (??) Gnasher, porcupine48, Scrooge and 2 others 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duffman_Comics Posted February 23, 2019 Share Posted February 23, 2019 Paul did love to "experiment" with page layouts, didn't he? Hard to determine the order in which each panel should be read at times. "Umba el Ruc" What? Just terrific, typical Australian Golden Age yarns. Confusing in dialogue, art and editing. 1950's war comics and AJD 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJD Posted February 23, 2019 Author Share Posted February 23, 2019 8 hours ago, Duffman_Comics said: Paul did love to "experiment" with page layouts, didn't he? Hard to determine the order in which each panel should be read at times. Yep, that last page is a bit of a train wreck! 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post AJD Posted March 20, 2019 Author Popular Post Share Posted March 20, 2019 OK, here's a bit of esoteric fun. I have long owned this book: I was surprised to find an Australian variant of the cover of this book, given the American war stamp on it. Well, turns out there was one, with the stamp and voice balloon suitably repurposed: Like most Australian comics before the 1960s (other than Disneys), it's undated, but the GCD tells me that it was part of the 1947 series by Cleland publishers.* The series appeared in a number of formats (regular sized, pocket sized, portrait and landscape). This one measures 16 cm x 21 cm (or a little over 6" x 8" for our metrically challenged readers). I was a bit surprised by that, because if it's a "pocket comic" you'd need very big pockets. A curious carryover from the American comic of July 1944 was the "Magazine Editorial Advisory Board Approved Reading" logo. Inside we find that the members of that august body are Eleanor P. Roosevelt (no, not that Eleanor Roosevelt, this one was "past President, Girl Scouts Council of Greater New York"), polar explorer Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd and Allan Roy Dafoe M.D. "the famous quintuplet doctor". I very much doubt that the board was running an eye over Australian publications, but it can't hurt to look "respectable" on the cover, right? Here's a fun interior page. The -script page is hard to read! In the "who gives a rat's" category, but noted here for completeness, Aus Reprints points out that early issues (#1-10) were printed by Cleland for Vee publishing, but the publisher name was changes to Cleland from #11 on. telerites, Gnasher, FoggyNelson and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Point Five Posted March 22, 2019 Share Posted March 22, 2019 On 3/19/2019 at 11:22 PM, AJD said: OK, here's a bit of esoteric fun. I have long owned this book: I was surprised to find an Australian variant of the cover of this book, given the American war stamp on it. Well, turns out there was one, with the stamp and voice balloon suitably repurposed: Like most Australian comics before the 1960s (other than Disneys), it's undated, but the GCD tells me that it was part of the 1947 series by Cleland publishers.* The series appeared in a number of formats (regular sized, pocket sized, portrait and landscape). This one measures 16 cm x 21 cm (or a little over 6" x 8" for our metrically challenged readers). I was a bit surprised by that, because if it's a "pocket comic" you'd need very big pockets. A curious carryover from the American comic of July 1944 was the "Magazine Editorial Advisory Board Approved Reading" logo. Inside we find that the members of that august body are Eleanor P. Roosevelt (no, not that Eleanor Roosevelt, this one was "past President, Girl Scouts Council of Greater New York"), polar explorer Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd and Allan Roy Dafoe M.D. "the famous quintuplet doctor". I very much doubt that the board was running an eye over Australian publications, but it can't hurt to look "respectable" on the cover, right? Here's a fun interior page. The --script page is hard to read! In the "who gives a rat's" category, but noted here for completeness, Aus Reprints points out that early issues (#1-10) were printed by Cleland for Vee publishing, but the publisher name was changes to Cleland from #11 on. Cool find! "Hair-raising adventures" plus the ghost story theme seems to suggest they were trying to jump on the horror bandwagon, but 1947 seems way early for that. (Not sure the bright yellow cover was helping them.) FoggyNelson and 1950's war comics 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJD Posted March 29, 2019 Author Share Posted March 29, 2019 I got some new books in today, including a new addition to my war bonds collection. The cover image is quite good (maybe an S-class submarine, but a little too generic to be sure). Thankfully that's all we care about these days because this is some seriously ordinary reading right here. Here's a sample page - a small band of US paratroopers with only light weapons has parachuted into a heavily defended area in occupied Europe... I've read a lot of WW2 history. Trust me when I say that the depiction of German fighting spirit and acumen on that page is a tad underdone. Max Hastings put it best in one of his books: "any display of boldness by the western allies was invariably severely punished by German forces". Gnasher and 1950's war comics 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duffman_Comics Posted March 29, 2019 Share Posted March 29, 2019 8 hours ago, AJD said: Leaving aside the questionable narrative, demanding an English speaking officer be presented and the "we'll huff and puff and blow your house down threat", that bunker is a remarkable artifact. Must be a two storey (at least) arrangement and when was the last time an emplacement of this nature had the access on the same side as the armaments? Of course, there may be weapons mounted in all directions, which begs the question what exactly is it defending? Itself? Still, a pretty good cover. AJD and 1950's war comics 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJD Posted March 30, 2019 Author Share Posted March 30, 2019 4 hours ago, Duffman_Comics said: ... which begs the question what exactly is it defending? Itself? Probably - that's pretty much a description of the Maginot Line in practice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJD Posted March 30, 2019 Author Share Posted March 30, 2019 Another new arrival. (Both of these were from @mycomicshop - here's an unsolicited thank you for their great service.) These books are dialogue heavy and action short, but I quite like them as a snapshot of medical practice 60 years ago. We've come a long way in that time. It's interesting to ponder what medical science will look like in 60 years time. Getting an 'EC twist' into these stories sometimes takes a bit of work, but this issue has one that's not bad at all. here are the first and last pages. In between there are several pages of 1950s surgical practice. Get Marwood & I, 1950's war comics and pmpknface 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duffman_Comics Posted March 30, 2019 Share Posted March 30, 2019 That twist is so redolent of the fate of Ned Kelly. "Let's fix him up to execute him". George Evans, and even moreso colourist Marie Severin manage to keep a VERY static story (lots of beds and earnest conversations) interesting by way of some dramatic "lighting" and unconventional viewpoints. It didn't help the title's success (obviously, only lasted five issues) but a brave experiment. 1950's war comics, Get Marwood & I and AJD 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1950's war comics Posted March 31, 2019 Share Posted March 31, 2019 On 3/29/2019 at 10:13 PM, AJD said: These books are dialogue heavy no kidding they are dialogue heavy ! just the two pages you posted takes longer to read than some full issues of todays moderns .... FoggyNelson, AJD and ComicConnoisseur 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJD Posted April 10, 2019 Author Share Posted April 10, 2019 So... as long time readers know, I have full runs of some of the EC New Direction titles (Aces High, Impact, Piracy, Valor), and have been picking up a few others - like the M.D. above. One title I mostly managed to resist was Extra! The one copy (#4) I have isn't scintillating (though it has a very good cover). Then this lot of #1,2 and 3 (graded "average FN+") came up at Heritage and the Inner Completist (with whom I rarely win any fight) decided we needed to own them. The winning debating points were that they are nicely matched in grade and the #4 is close to that, and I'd only need to pay postage once. So at some future time these will be here to enjoy in closer detail. Here's my #4 for completness: With that I am just three books short of the entire New Direction run - Extra! #5, M.D. #3 and Psychoanalysis #1. Anyone have ones they would part with? porcupine48, FoggyNelson and Point Five 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
telerites Posted April 10, 2019 Share Posted April 10, 2019 4 hours ago, AJD said: With that I am just three books short of the entire New Direction run - Extra! #5, M.D. #3 and Psychoanalysis #1. Anyone have ones they would part with? Jim Payette has an Extra #5 VG and MD #3 VG+. Both under $30 apiece. Not sure what grade would fit for you but you may know Payette is pretty conservative. You'd have to ask for scans as he doesn't post on his website - http://www.jamespayettecomics.com/catalog_cat.cfm?cat_family=1&family_name=Comics AJD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1950's war comics Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 On 12/29/2015 at 7:10 AM, AJD said: Thanks Rich, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Here's the latest installment. I said earlier that I'm not into horror comics. But there are a couple of EC Tales from the Crypt books that have such great covers I have been eyeing them for a while. I'd successfully resisted the urge, but darned if Ed's EC journal didn't tip me over the edge. This one came up on Heritage last Sunday and had the right combination of eye appeal and price, so it's mine now. I find this cover funny. The rat is a bit over the top, but the guy's expression is priceless. And Marie Severin did a great colouring job on this one. The other one I like is TFTC #41. There might be others I'd like to have, but I'm not going to look too hard - there's enough completist in me to be a concern. Note to self: file under 'blame Ed'. I think this is the issue with the mind blowing ending where all living things are starving on a deserted island.... and the final panel shows the rat has a bird halfway in his mouth, the man has the rat halfway in his mouth, and a large fish has the man halfway in his mouth .. all at the same time and all laying on the beach dead Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...