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CAF UPDATE: Kirby Kamandi splash and the story behind it
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Started by Michael Browning,

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Michael Browning

Michael Browning

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CAF UPDATE: Kirby Kamandi splash and the story behind it

Check out this Jack Kirby Kamandi splash I just got:

http://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=1381324

Way back in 1982, a childhood friend of mine named Ernest Hilton started bringing comics to my house that were very old, mostly coverless or remaindered and that I'd never seen in his collection (all of us coal camp kids were trading around so much that we knew each and every comic in each other's collections). He let me in on a secret: he was buying them off a spinner rack at the Red Jacket Supermarket in Red Jacket, W.Va., not far from where I grew up.

My dad knew where the store was, so he took me over there to see if they had any more of these old-new comics.

The Red Jacket Supermarket was this big, monolithic building to me: it had steps that wouldn't pass ADA standards today and it was built with old stone.

Inside, the floor was made of very old and weathered wood with drafty holes where the wood had broken through and fallen to the lower level. It was chilly and dimly lit because it was an old coal camp store. Inside, there was two spinner racks with comics in the center of the floor with two pool tables behind it. The market part was mostly gone, just a few items on the other side for sale, mostly necessities that had been there for, probably, years.

I rushed over to the spinner racks to find late-1960s and early-1970s comics - mostly coverless DC 100-page giants and oddball comics and a few Charltons.

I wanted to buy them all.

I think they were about a quarter each and maybe five for a dollar. I spun the rack for more than an hour, going through each and every one until I thought I'd gotten everything I wanted.

One of the comics was Kamandi 22. It was coverless and tattered, but it had this awesome bee trying to kill this blond-haired boy who, except for the length of his hair, looked much like I did at that point in my life. I loved the Kirby art and it was such a cool comic, but there wasn't any more of the Kamandis on the rack. So, I just read this one over and over.

All these years later, I never thought I'd ever find a piece of art from that issue, but I wanted the splash so badly. Not being one who follows the Heritage Auctions much, I missed out on it twice, but it finally landed on Mike Burkey's site. Mike is good at giving you plenty of time to pay things off, so I took advantage of that and was able to buy it over a period of months.

Now it is a very cherished part of my collection and every time I look at it, I am taken back to the old Red Jacket Supermarket and that old spinner rack where I found Kamandi 22 and so much happiness.

Thanks for looking and reading. I hope you enjoy both!

Michael Browning

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John E.

John E.

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2 hours ago, Michael Browning said:

No, it was golden blond and cut in a bowl. But, I think we wore the same brand of pants - Toughskins. ;)

lol 

Michael, congrats. It's a beautiful splash. You need to teach a course on how to track down your childhood nostalgic grails. Seriously.

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