Lost comic returned, fifty years later. The Sad ending. 1 1

[Batman1fan]

12 hours ago, kav said:

I left an Action #1 in my neighbor Mr Church's house I hope I can get it back-

Good news, Kav! Since that book still exists, if you can prove you're at least 85 years old, your chances of getting it back just got a lot better.

[Senormac]

16 hours ago, shadroch said:

It's 1965, maybe 1966 and my Mom takes me shoe shopping. There is some sort of promotion going on and I get to choose a free brand new comic book. As most of the comics I've see are well used and often coverless, this is a big deal. While I doubt it was my first comic, it's the one I remember getting new.

There are a couple to choose from, mostly Archies and the like. I pick one that features Jughead but he is somehow a superhero. I start to read the comic in the car but I'd recently gotten car sick so reading was out. We drive some 15 miles to my cousins house and I bring in the comic, possibly my proudest possession. I  go in and leave it on a table. When we are ready to leave, it's nowhere to be found. A quick search and it doesn't turn up. My Aunt says she will find it and return it. She never does. A few months later, as we are walking in to their house, my Dad pulls me aside and tells me not to ask about it, so I don't. 

I was in that house hundreds of times over the years, and always remembered my lost comic. I've thumbed thru dozens of Archie superhero books but never recognized any of the stories.

My Uncle died a few years ago, and my Aunt lived full time on Marco Island but never gave up the house in Flushing. She died last year. 

Evidently, my cousins kids were going through the basement and found a paper bag with my name on it,and a note saying keep for Billy.

My cousin called my Sister and got my number. She couldn't believe I remembered it and was so happy I wanted it back. She is going to get it to my Sister this week

 

 

What a great story.  I'm looking forward to seeing which book it was 

[Chip Cataldo]

Fantastic story. Glad you're getting the book back, Bill! 

[kav]

7 hours ago, Batman1fan said:

Good news, Kav! Since that book still exists, if you can prove you're at least 85 years old, your chances of getting it back just got a lot better.

[Larryw7]

Maybe the family pressed it for you.

[kav]

11 minutes ago, Larryw7 said:

Maybe the family pressed it for you.

Oh here's your comic-we never took it out of the bag it's been under and between a heavy stack of magazines and flat pieces of glass the whole time wow thats weird you can still smell the ink-

[shadroch]

The package came today. I may have made more out of this then it was really worth. I honestly don't remember much about the comic. I was pretty sure it was an Archie for 1965-66 and other than that it was a blank.

So I open the envelope to find another envelope, and open that to find the book wrapped in a plastic grocery bag and wrapped with about a pound of tape. 

I get thru all of that and open the bag to find a 1974 Batman comic. 

Now I may be off a year or so, it may have been as late as 1967 but it most certainly wasn't 1974 and it wasn't a Batman book. 

Not only is my original book still lost, but now I have a mystery of why my Aunt put aside a comic for me many years ago. 

[WolverineX]

1 hour ago, shadroch said:

The package came today. I may have made more out of this then it was really worth. I honestly don't remember much about the comic. I was pretty sure it was an Archie for 1965-66 and other than that it was a blank.

So I open the envelope to find another envelope, and open that to find the book wrapped in a plastic grocery bag and wrapped with about a pound of tape. 

I get thru all of that and open the bag to find a 1974 Batman comic. 

Now I may be off a year or so, it may have been as late as 1967 but it most certainly wasn't 1974 and it wasn't a Batman book. 

Not only is my original book still lost, but now I have a mystery of why my Aunt put aside a comic for me many years ago. 

She probably just lost it and got a random one for you. 

[thunsicker]

14 hours ago, Wolverinex said:

She probably just lost it and got a random one for you. 

Aren't all comics basically the same?

[comicwiz]

Great story, and pretty neat gesture to replace it. It's probably something she felt badly about, like writing a phone number or note on it because it was accessible, and didn't realize until you were asking about it that it meant a great deal to you.

[BlowUpTheMoon]

On 5/13/2018 at 11:18 AM, Senormac said:

  I'm looking forward to seeing which book it was 

Post pics, Shad! 

Edited May 23, 2018 by BlowUpTheMoon

[SilverAgeGuy]

Holy plot twist, Batman!

[stock_rotation]

On 5/22/2018 at 5:02 PM, shadroch said:

Not only is my original book still lost, but now I have a mystery of why my Aunt put aside a comic for me many years ago. 

< puts on deerstalker cap >

Your aunt found your comic, read it, and decided it was spectacular. Not something to be wasted on a snot-nosed kid; she decided to keep it for herself. She later told your father that she was keeping the book, which is why he warned you not to bring it up again.

She read that comic every day, and enjoyed it every time.

Years later, guilt set in. It bothered her that she wasn't able to share the magnificence with you. She went to the corner store, picked out the first superhero comic she saw and brought it home, with the full intention of giving it to you. Unfortunately for you, that book was Amazing Spider-Man 129. She thought the Punisher was a fantastic bad guy! No way you were getting that one. Back to the store she goes, this time settling on Batman.

She left it in the basement, hoping time & environment would dirty it up so it would look like something you left behind. In 1981, she wrapped it in a bag with a note to save it for you. Since you still harbored resentment about your missing book, you last visited her in 1978 and hadn't been back since.

For the next 36 years she read those books every day, alternating between the Archie and the Spider-Man. They were as fresh and enjoyable to her as the day she stole them from you.

She left a note for her family explaining her guilt and misdeeds, and asked them to burn the comics and the note upon her passing so that her shameful actions would never be revealed to you. They found the wrapped comic from 1981 and arranged for it to be sent to you, as per her wishes.

< /removes deerstalker cap, puts on dunce cap, falls off stool >

[Kramerica]

On 5/12/2018 at 11:26 PM, shadroch said:

I've tracked down my other two childhood grails. A DC Giant where Jimmy Olsen  has fire breath and was the mouth of a dragon for Chinese New Years, and the one that took me forever- a story I thought was a Mandrake the Magician but turned out to be a Giant Man story. Talk about looking in the wrong places.

Was it this Giant-Man:

 

[shadroch]

2 hours ago, Kramerica said:

Was it this Giant-Man:

 

Yes that is it. My Dad knew I loved Mandrake and somehow read me the story as if this guy was the hero.

[Kramerica]

3 hours ago, shadroch said:

Yes that is it. My Dad knew I loved Mandrake and somehow read me the story as if this guy was the hero.

Nice. When you said Mandrake and Giant-Man this popped in my head and I had to ask if this was it 

[John R]

Which Batman comic did you get? Any pics? - thanks

[Luczai]

On 5/22/2018 at 6:33 PM, Wolverinex said:

She probably just lost it and got a random one for you. 

Here's what probably happened. Somebody stole or damaged the book (spilled punch on it or something). Your aunt was embarrassed about it. Maybe one of your cousins had been naughty! It probably nagged at her just as it nagged at you and she bought the Batman comic as a consolation prize and forgot to give it to you. It's weird how that one object may have been niggling at both of you for years.

[Superman2006]

On 5/24/2018 at 11:54 AM, stock_rotation said:

< puts on deerstalker cap >

Your aunt found your comic, read it, and decided it was spectacular. Not something to be wasted on a snot-nosed kid; she decided to keep it for herself. She later told your father that she was keeping the book, which is why he warned you not to bring it up again.

She read that comic every day, and enjoyed it every time.

Years later, guilt set in. It bothered her that she wasn't able to share the magnificence with you. She went to the corner store, picked out the first superhero comic she saw and brought it home, with the full intention of giving it to you. Unfortunately for you, that book was Amazing Spider-Man 129. She thought the Punisher was a fantastic bad guy! No way you were getting that one. Back to the store she goes, this time settling on Batman.

She left it in the basement, hoping time & environment would dirty it up so it would look like something you left behind. In 1981, she wrapped it in a bag with a note to save it for you. Since you still harbored resentment about your missing book, you last visited her in 1978 and hadn't been back since.

For the next 36 years she read those books every day, alternating between the Archie and the Spider-Man. They were as fresh and enjoyable to her as the day she stole them from you.

She left a note for her family explaining her guilt and misdeeds, and asked them to burn the comics and the note upon her passing so that her shameful actions would never be revealed to you. They found the wrapped comic from 1981 and arranged for it to be sent to you, as per her wishes.

< /removes deerstalker cap, puts on dunce cap, falls off stool >

Chesparito - is that you?

[143ksk]

On 5/12/2018 at 7:22 PM, DanCooper said:

Maybe one of the issues in the "Jughead as Captain Hero" run?

Ran for seven issues in 1966 - 1967

Might also be an issue of Life with Archie from the same time period. Those featured superheroes as well.