A General Plea/Observation-Mile High

[adamstrange]

Alan,

 

We'd love to read any notes you've put together.

 

If you've done the detective work, why haven't you considered writing the book?

 

Just a thought.

 

Matt has better contacts. And I don't want to step on anyone's toes (a pedigree book has been Matt's dream for quite a while). Plus there are a whole slew of pedigrees that I really don't care about, and as a result wouldn't be able to give proper deference to.

 

I'm also not a journalist and don't know the ins and outs of "proper" research or the protocols for "background only" sections (I want the dirt, too, dammit!) and the like. I'd feel like I was flying blind.

 

If I were in charge of a pedigree book, though, I would gather all of the dealers who found the various collections and get them to do write ups on them. I would then gather other experts' opinions and print them as a sort of verification or rebuttal of the official version. I'd also try my hardest to find original owners or their relatives and get their sides of the story. In other words, I'd play the role of editor, leaving as much of the "journalistic prismatic" layer out of it. It probably wouldn't be the prettiest book, but it would probably be the most accurate.

 

In any event, thanks for the vote of confidence. But my collective knowledge of pedigrees could fill a thimble, so I'm certainly not the person to be writing the "be-all, end-all" treatise on them!

 

Alan

 

Let's hope Matt has the same high goals that you would set for yourself. When he wrote the original article, he hadn't seen a Bethlehem store stamp (EJ Kery) before.

[lou_fine]

The collection was amassed by an art teacher who used the comics as demonstrations to students during the 1940's and 1950's. This is evident upon examination of most copies from the collection, as they have check marks and occasional notes next to the panels of art inside.

 

Alan;

 

Just a quick question here for you. Based upon the above comment: Do you know or have you heard of any Cosmic Aeroplane book that did not have the check marks or notes within the interior pages of the book?

 

Thanks;

 

"Lou,"

 

Yes, the guy I corresponded with who saw the collection when it came into the Cosmic Aeroplane said he didn't recall seeing any checkmarks on a lot of the earlier books. He was under the impression that they were mostly present on the GGA books from the late '40s/early '50s.

 

So yes, I'm sure there are tons of Cosmic Aeroplane books scattered to the four winds with no way of determining their provenance.

 

Alan

 

Alan;

 

Thanks for the information.

 

That's actually good news for me since I was starting to get a little worried. The only Cosmic Aeroplane I have is an early Centaur Funny Pages from 1938 which doesn't have any of these markings that you always hear about. So maybe it is the real thing after all.

 

Well, I hope so for my sake at least.

[PedigreeMan]

The collection was amassed by an art teacher who used the comics as demonstrations to students during the 1940's and 1950's. This is evident upon examination of most copies from the collection, as they have check marks and occasional notes next to the panels of art inside.

 

Alan;

 

Just a quick question here for you. Based upon the above comment: Do you know or have you heard of any Cosmic Aeroplane book that did not have the check marks or notes within the interior pages of the book?

 

Thanks;

 

"Lou,"

 

Yes, the guy I corresponded with who saw the collection when it came into the Cosmic Aeroplane said he didn't recall seeing any checkmarks on a lot of the earlier books. He was under the impression that they were mostly present on the GGA books from the late '40s/early '50s.

 

So yes, I'm sure there are tons of Cosmic Aeroplane books scattered to the four winds with no way of determining their provenance.

 

Alan

 

Alan;

 

Thanks for the information.

 

That's actually good news for me since I was starting to get a little worried. The only Cosmic Aeroplane I have is an early Centaur Funny Pages from 1938 which doesn't have any of these markings that you always hear about. So maybe it is the real thing after all.

 

Well, I hope so for my sake at least.

 

What kind of provenance do you have on the thing, "Lou?"

[PedigreeMan]

The collection was amassed by an art teacher who used the comics as demonstrations to students during the 1940's and 1950's. This is evident upon examination of most copies from the collection, as they have check marks and occasional notes next to the panels of art inside.

 

Alan;

 

Just a quick question here for you. Based upon the above comment: Do you know or have you heard of any Cosmic Aeroplane book that did not have the check marks or notes within the interior pages of the book?

 

Thanks;

 

"Lou,"

 

Yes, the guy I corresponded with who saw the collection when it came into the Cosmic Aeroplane said he didn't recall seeing any checkmarks on a lot of the earlier books. He was under the impression that they were mostly present on the GGA books from the late '40s/early '50s.

 

So yes, I'm sure there are tons of Cosmic Aeroplane books scattered to the four winds with no way of determining their provenance.

 

Alan

 

Alan;

 

Thanks for the information.

 

That's actually good news for me since I was starting to get a little worried. The only Cosmic Aeroplane I have is an early Centaur Funny Pages from 1938 which doesn't have any of these markings that you always hear about. So maybe it is the real thing after all.

 

Well, I hope so for my sake at least.

 

Also, your mentioning of the early Centaur jogged my memory this evening -- Archiefan's Cosmic Aeroplane copy of Amazing Man #16 has the checkmarks in it. I don't remember how extensive they are, but they are definitely present.

 

Sorry to have muddied the waters some more.

 

Tell ya what: Bring the Funny Pages copy with you if you ever make it out to the Chicago area; we can compare it to the issues in my collection. Give her the old sniff test and what not.