Popular Post n2wdw Posted July 27, 2018 Author Popular Post Share Posted July 27, 2018 I Completed A Matt Baker Run! Okay, it's just his 2 issue run in Blue Ribbon Comics (2 and 4). But that's why I was willing to pay a little extra for #4 at SDCC. My goal is to get a copy of every comic with the cover by Baker. So far I have 159 of them. Still need 138. And I think I've gotten the easy ones. Blue Ribbon #4 (the Teenage Diary Secrets below) is one of the harder ones -- at least I haven't seen them very often (although I've seen -- and lost out on -- a few). path4play, archiefan, Ricksneatstuff and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n2wdw Posted July 29, 2018 Author Share Posted July 29, 2018 (edited) Tweaking the Comic Book Room I wrote about how I added new shelves to display raw comics. A picture of the shelves is below. The shelves are just a tad too short length-wise, so I can't display 2 comics side-by-side without some overlap. I knew this was going to be the case when I built the shelves, and I didn't think it would be a big deal. But as I have been using the shelves, the overlap has been an inconvenience. It is a pain to get to the comics at the back. And also, the overlap reduced the number of comics I could store on the shelves. So I've been thinking how I can make the shelves longer to eliminate the overlap. I only needed about a half inch. I had to look at the shelves for a while but then I figured out a simple solution. If you look close, you'll see the vertical piece of wood at the right (that holds up the shelves) is flush with the wood behind it. The picture below (taken from the side) shows this better. To get that extra half inch of length, all I had to do was move the wood at the front to the outside of the wood in the back. This was easy to do, simply by bracing the wood (using the steel brace) at the back rather than the front. So here's the new shelves, with the overlap eliminated. As I was doing this fix, it occurred to me I could add some addition shelves to display raw comics. I have this shelf (see pic below) where I store my collecting supplies (mylars and acid free boards). On the side, I display an issue of Miss America (the 1st appearance of Patsy Walker) and some Tomb Raider action figures. I realized I could use this to build more shelves. Here they are. Thanks for reading. Edited July 29, 2018 by n2wdw STORMSHADOW_80 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n2wdw Posted August 21, 2018 Author Share Posted August 21, 2018 GGA Bondage - Tied to a Wheel I haven't been posting much lately as I've been working in my garden and doing projects in the comic room. But I continue to keep my eye on the comic world, and I recently picked up this great Jungle #45 from eBay. This, of course, is in the GGA category of "girl tied to a wheel." Typically the wheel is traveling through water, fire or (egad!) acid. I'm always amazed by what came out of the unfettered imaginations of golden age artists. It makes you wonder where comics would be right now if Seduction of the Innocent and the comic code never happened. And just in case you doubt whether "girl tied to a wheel" is actually a category, here are a few other examples. And probably my favorite "girl tied to a wheel" cover is not a comic, but this pulp cover by the great Margaret Brundage: szucchini and Ricksneatstuff 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post n2wdw Posted August 22, 2018 Author Popular Post Share Posted August 22, 2018 GGA Bondage Themes - Tied To a Pole If you're a collector of golden age GGA bondage covers, you start seeing themes. Like the one I posted above, "girl tied to wheel." Another common theme is "girl tied to pole." Below are examples from my collection. By the way, you might think it strange that I think about these themes. I do it because I like organizing my collection. The same way I like entering new purchases into ComicBase (the database program I use), and putting them in mylar with backing boards, and displaying them or putting them in long boxes. Also I find that defining themes helps me target what to buy next. Without this organization and focus, my collection gets to be too haphazard and I waste money on stuff I get tired off. Life was a lot easier when I was a title collector -- I just kept buying comics of a title I was collecting until I completed the title. But now that I've transitioned to being a cover collector (and also a keys collector), there's a risk that my collection will get unfocused and too much of a mishmash. So nowadays, when I'm considering whether to buy a comic, something I consider is whether it fits in one of the themes I'm collecting. If it doesn't, then that's a strike against buying it. The Lions Den, adamstrange, kelholt and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robot Man Posted August 22, 2018 Share Posted August 22, 2018 You're a sick man Mike, a sick sick man but I love it. My wife likes to tell people that I collect comics with a chick chained to a wheel or tied to a post. She gets some real weird looks... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n2wdw Posted August 22, 2018 Author Share Posted August 22, 2018 2 hours ago, Robot Man said: You're a sick man Mike, a sick sick man but I love it. My wife likes to tell people that I collect comics with a chick chained to a wheel or tied to a post. She gets some real weird looks... Bob, I haven't even gotten to the really crazy themes yet. Just wait .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n2wdw Posted August 23, 2018 Author Share Posted August 23, 2018 Moving Things Around In the Comic Room Art is hard to display because it's so big. For a couple years now I've displayed Betty's Bath (S/N by Dave Stevens) and Janesko's Sitting Pretty poster (signed) on the door of my comic room. Recently I added these shelves right next to the door. But I messed up measuring things, so the shelves were a tad too big and I couldn't close the door because of the posters. I could have modified the shelves, but I decided to move the posters instead. In their place, I'm now displaying some of my favorite comics on the door. They're displayed in cool black CGC frames that I bought cheap from a boardie who was looking to get rid of them. I bought all he had, 10 of them. Last September (I remember because it was the first weekend of the new NFL season), I used 6 of the frames to build a wall of Marvel keys. For almost a year I didn't know what to do with the other 4 and I was like the boardie, thinking how to get rid of them. Now I wish I had a few more to display more comics on the door. Thanks for reading. CKinTO 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robot Man Posted August 24, 2018 Share Posted August 24, 2018 I had that Dave Stevens Bettie Page print framed in my bathroom. It got replaced with a hand air brushed Rat Fink toilet seat done by Ed “Big Daddy” Roth. n2wdw and KirbyJack 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n2wdw Posted August 25, 2018 Author Share Posted August 25, 2018 GGA Bondage - Hands Tied Above Head Another recurring cover theme in golden age bondage is the damsel in distress with her hands tied above her head. This is similar to "hands tied to a pole" but not all covers have a pole. What's interesting is how many of the covers seem swipes of each other (like Atomic #1 and Planet #34). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fifties Posted August 25, 2018 Share Posted August 25, 2018 On 8/21/2018 at 6:13 AM, n2wdw said: GGA Bondage - Tied to a Wheel I haven't been posting much lately as I've been working in my garden and doing projects in the comic room. But I continue to keep my eye on the comic world, and I recently picked up this great Jungle #45 from eBay. This, of course, is in the GGA category of "girl tied to a wheel." Typically the wheel is traveling through water, fire or (egad!) acid. I'm always amazed by what came out of the unfettered imaginations of golden age artists. It makes you wonder where comics would be right now if Seduction of the Innocent and the comic code never happened. And just in case you doubt whether "girl tied to a wheel" is actually a category, here are a few other examples. And probably my favorite "girl tied to a wheel" cover is not a comic, but this pulp cover by the great Margaret Brundage: Girl tied to a wheel...Girl tied to a wheel...Girl tied...I've got it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n2wdw Posted August 25, 2018 Author Share Posted August 25, 2018 5 hours ago, fifties said: Girl tied to a wheel...Girl tied to a wheel...Girl tied...I've got it! I love the Dark Mysteries! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n2wdw Posted August 25, 2018 Author Share Posted August 25, 2018 Golden Age GGA Bondage - Girl with Arched Back I call this category "Girl with arched back." Often the damsel is tied to something (like a wheel or a stone block), but other times she's in other kinds of distress. Blackhawk 20 and Rangers 14 are two of my all-time favorite covers. There are some repeats from comics I've recently showed, but that's because some comics fit into multiple categories. comicnoir 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n2wdw Posted August 29, 2018 Author Share Posted August 29, 2018 (edited) Re-slabs and CGC Customer Service Recently I sent some books into CGC for re-slabbing. These first 2 I dropped and the slab cracked. I'm always worried that CGC will see the cracks and downgrade the comics, and I suppose they will if there's apparent substantial damage. But these 2 came back the same grade. Both are special to me. The one on the right is, of course, the first appearance of Torchy. And for the one on the left, first it's a Dave Nakayama cover (a modern artist I really like), and I have the original cover art. This next one I sent in because the label did not identify this as the 1st appearance of Omaha the Cat Dancer. When I submitted it for reslabbing, I taped a piece of paper to the original slab, asking that they include the Omaha first appearance note. I had some anxiety about whether they would, because there are a few editions of this book. But, CGC did include the note, as you can see. I'll say that I've always gotten good customer service from CGC. I find the CGC customer service both responsive and helpful (and reasonable). This last one I was most worried about being downgraded. It's the Mile High copy Junie Prom 5, one of my all-time favorite covers. Somehow, since I bought the book from @Ricksneatstuff, a piece of hair got into the slab. Worse, a little bug got into the slab too. I have no idea how this happened, as they definitely were not there when I got the book from Rick. I was worried that the bug might have caused damage to the book. But thank goodness, it came back the same grade. (Once again, thanks CGC!) I'm going to avoid something like this happening again in the future by putting this slab in Mylar. By the way, the cover of Junie 5 has always reminded me of Cindy 37, which is much more highly regarded and more expensive. I like Junie better, but I do see why most people like Cindy 37 better (the greytone really adds to the art). In fact, a lot of people aren't even aware of Junie 5, I don't think. Something I've thought about ... Cindy came out in November 1949. Junie was a few months earlier, April 1949. Was it possible that the cover of Cindy was based on Junie? Edited August 29, 2018 by n2wdw Microbia, PopKulture and STORMSHADOW_80 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n2wdw Posted August 30, 2018 Author Share Posted August 30, 2018 Ugh! Lost this one on C-Link last night. I placed a high bid and went to bed thinking I had it in the bag. Then I woke up with the news that I lost with the next increment bid. Oh well, congrats to the winner, you got a really sweet comic. Squeezy McSphincter 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tri-Color Brian Posted August 31, 2018 Share Posted August 31, 2018 On 8/25/2018 at 9:13 AM, n2wdw said: Golden Age GGA Bondage - Girl with Arched Back I call this category "Girl with arched back." Often the damsel is tied to something (like a wheel or a stone block), but other times she's in other kinds of distress. Blackhawk 20 and Rangers 14 are two of my all-time favorite covers. There are some repeats from comics I've recently showed, but that's because some comics fit into multiple categories. How about "Girl tossing Indian over her shoulder"...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tri-Color Brian Posted August 31, 2018 Share Posted August 31, 2018 Or...Girl tied to Bamboo...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n2wdw Posted September 1, 2018 Author Share Posted September 1, 2018 On 8/31/2018 at 2:36 PM, Tri-ColorBrian said: Or...Girl tied to Bamboo...? Yeah I've got a few of those too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n2wdw Posted September 1, 2018 Author Share Posted September 1, 2018 GGA Bondage - Branding Okay now we get to the really demented categories. There are 2 in my list of categories, and this is the first one, branding. So the concept is, you've got a pretty girl, she's tied up, and you're going to brand her. How demented is that? If anything, pulps were more demented than comics. It makes you wonder what was going on in the heads of comic and pulp creators back in the golden age. This text from the recent C-Link auction (or maybe it was C-Connect) describes it pretty well: Quote The early days of WWII were a frightening and tumultuous time, with the American people stiffening their spines and showing a brave front to the world, but inwardly full of doubt, fear, panic, and rage, with the war coming hot on the heels of a depression that seemed to grind on interminably. The frenetic, almost psychotic mood of the time exploded into the culture via anarchic humor, hyperpatriotic fervor, and, in comics, especially, a bloodthirsty hunger for more and more jingoistic derring do. Timely was in the forefront of this movement, with the covers of Captain America reaching a feverish level of ultra-violence and nearly panicked energy by early 1943. Among the most violent and hysterical of WWII covers, comics fans go nuts for these rare treasures, especially jarring and startling in our modern, PC era. Tri-Color Brian, PopKulture and Ricksneatstuff 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patriot6 Posted September 2, 2018 Share Posted September 2, 2018 5 hours ago, n2wdw said: Cool, never seen this one before!! What a cover! The guy's just going to town. n2wdw 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robot Man Posted September 2, 2018 Share Posted September 2, 2018 He said branding Bevis... Squeezy McSphincter 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...