'The past is a foreign country...' 4 4

[Flex Mentallo]

'...they do things differently there.'

LP Hartley, the first line of The Go-Between

 

In a parallel thread, a fellow boardie @70s80sTimeMachine eloquently wrote:

Sure when I was assembling my Bats run from the later GA and early SA periods, it was an incredible experience. But the most meaningful moments and fun I had in years was when I was running after and getting the actual books I read as a kid in near mint newsstand quality condition all over again. No matter how many times I look at these particular slabs, it's as if I have been teleported back in time; this is nostalgia in it's most potent form. 

 

What more powerful reason to collect than this? So regardless of time period, Gold, Silver, Bronze or Modern, it would be fascinating to see other boardies share those comics they've [re]collected that rewind the clock, and carry us back to the lost world of childhood memories...

Edited February 11, 2022 by Flex Mentallo

[Flex Mentallo]

The equivalent for me was to acquire all of the Adam Strange appearances in Mystery in Space I could not find or afford as an 8 year old kid in the corner shop, staring forlornly at the fantastical covers. And I'm still in love with Alanna.

[70s80sTimeMachine]

On 2/11/2022 at 3:22 PM, Flex Mentallo said:

The equivalent for me was to acquire all of the Adam Strange appearances in Mystery in Space I could not find or afford as an 8 year old kid in the corner shop, staring forlornly at the fantastical covers. And I'm still in love with Alanna.

 

So very true. This scenario slipped my mind entirely; that is all of the "stuff" you wanted or couldn't get early on as a kid that you now are able to, can be an even greater motivation for collecting and having a meaningful connection. Glad you were able to get these.   

[MrBedrock]

I bought this book from Tanner Miles at a Houston Con in the early 70's when I was 9 or 10 years old. Later I entrusted it to Straw-Man when #72 was one of the last issues he needed to complete the run. A few years ago he returned it...

Printed 75 years ago. In the family for almost 50 years...

[Flex Mentallo]

On 2/11/2022 at 8:48 PM, MrBedrock said:

I bought this book from Tanner Miles at a Houston Con in the early 70's when I was 9 or 10 years old. Later I entrusted it to Straw-Man when #72 was one of the last issues he needed to complete the run. A few years ago he returned it...

Printed 75 years ago. In the family for almost 50 years...

That's a beauty!

[MattTheDuck]

I can't as easily play this game as there aren't any comics that I "used to have" so I've focused on books over the past 12 months that "I couldn't find" 50 years ago.  There certainly are comics I originally bought at the grocery store or at an LCS that I need to upgrade, and I have picked up some of those that are very memorable.  For example

 

[Scrooge]

For me, what comes to mind is the French complete collection of Foster's Prince Valiant reprints.

I recall clearly that these books were not only out of reach pricewise but also physically out of reach. The bookstore had one copy of a single volume on this odd shelf that was way off the ground, only daring anyone to be able to reach for it and take it down and buy. It NEVER sold and there it was every single time I went to that store.

Years later I had my parents ship them to me a couple at a time over a couple of years. The repro is not the greatest but it will remain my reprint of PV forever.

[Note: not my photo, just cribbed online]

[Straw-Man]

On 2/11/2022 at 2:48 PM, MrBedrock said:

I bought this book from Tanner Miles at a Houston Con in the early 70's when I was 9 or 10 years old. Later I entrusted it to Straw-Man when #72 was one of the last issues he needed to complete the run. A few years ago he returned it...

Printed 75 years ago. In the family for almost 50 years...

that was good of ol' straw; now he'd REALLY be a pal if he sent it back at the same price as the original 90's deal...

[adamstrange]

On 2/11/2022 at 3:48 PM, MrBedrock said:

I bought this book from Tanner Miles at a Houston Con in the early 70's when I was 9 or 10 years old. Later I entrusted it to Straw-Man when #72 was one of the last issues he needed to complete the run. A few years ago he returned it...

Printed 75 years ago. In the family for almost 50 years...

What a nostalgic and touching story. 

I had no idea how really, really old you are.

[Scrooge]

Another most recent example is Italian Duck artists.

Once I arrived in the U.S., I focused on Barks Ducks but, in reality, growing up in the late '70's and early '80's, Picsou Magazine was loaded with Italian Duck stories rather than US reprints.

I stumbled across collected editions of IDW Uncle Scrooge issues at the library last month and have checked out everything they have and have been rediscovering these stories (and newer ones) with relish.

[adamstrange]

My grandmother gave me five dollars for Christmas when I was nine, which led to the first great crisis of my childhood.  My mother convinced me to save the money for when we would visit Disney World, where I could buy something special.  Despite my hitherto complete lack of self-control in all things monetary, the arrival of Spring found me in the promised land with a pocketful of cash.

With the light gently fading at the close of a marvelous day, I wandered through the Main Street shopping district, darting in and out of stores, looking for the perfect memento, when I spied a set of four special Disney comic albums.  Donald Duck.  Mickey Mouse.  Scrooge McDuck!!!  Bliss  

As tired as I was, I could still do the math to see that it was impossible to stretch a $5 bill to buy them all.  Pleadings to the parental units were of no use; I had to leave one behind.  Since there were two Donald Ducks, it was clear that I could only own one, and I reluctantly turned my back on "Frozen Gold". 

The trio that accompanied me home were read again and again and again, but I never forgot the one that got away.  Advertisements on the back of the other issues continually reminded me of that agonizing decision.  Twenty years went by before I finally found a nice copy of the entire set, allowing me to pass along my childhood treasures to my nieces and nephews.  They love Carl Barks.  I love Carl Barks.  And I can read the story of "Frozen Gold" any time I want to. 

Edited February 13, 2022 by adamstrange

[Cat-Man_America]

When I was a kid every couple weeks my dad would take me to a local barber shop.  The barber kept a stack of comics on all sorts in back for kids to read while waiting their turn in the chair.  

One of these comics intrigued me enough that I made a point of seeking out a copy long after I'd given up collecting most SA comics in preference of GA.  

This book was and is special, for the cover and a clever twist-ending story about a planetary invasion where proportions had an impact on the outcome...

The image below was taken with my old pre-document scanner well over a decade ago...

Spoiler

...I haven't seen a barber chair in even more decades. 

[Flex Mentallo]

We will rise again is a dark sci fi story that haunted my childhood and beyond. It lingered in the memory because it was so downbeat, quite the opposite of the primary optimism of Silver Age DC and the heroics of Dell Westerns. When I tried to track it down, I was fairly sure I'd read it in an IW reprint of a pre-code comic - but which IW, and what comic did it reprint? As a child, I had not a clue that they even were reprints, just that they felt different. I used to haunt London comic marts in the early nineties, asking dealers if they had any clue. None did. I did eventually figure it out, and don't even recall now how I did so; obtained the IW, which was Planet #8, reprinting #72 around 1990, and eventually replaced it with a high grade copy of the original.

[Flex Mentallo]

[AJD]

I was lucky enough to win back one of my childhood collection (sold when I left home at 17) on ebay. The pedigree is easy to spot with my dad's store stamp on it. I'm hoping to find a few more.

[Grendel72]

That an interesting stamp stating "Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei". 

[Flex Mentallo]

On 2/12/2022 at 12:44 AM, Straw-Man said:

that was good of ol' straw; now he'd REALLY be a pal if he sent it back at the same price as the original 90's deal...

He said you were family - he didn't say you were pals!

[AJD]

On 2/12/2022 at 8:55 PM, Grendel72 said:

That an interesting stamp stating "Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei". 

Australian Disney comics were distributed in those countries from 1967. They even got a cover shout out when the exports started:

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

Alanna has always done it for me too.

I have collected comics I read as a kid, of course. But when I was 14 or 15 my mom dragged me into an antique store that had a box of golden age comics. As soon as I realized this was the same Batman I read as an 8 year old(that took me a minute!), it blew my mind. So whenever I see a book I remember from this golden age box, I pick those up too. 
 

nostalgia in as pure a form as is possible?  I agree totally!

[Chief1332]

A big part of the reason that I returned to comics, is that I found a few of my father's books.  Nothing spectacular, rare, or expensive, but it did get my juices flowing once again.  He lost all of his childhood comics in a house fire, and he must have seen something that got his comic book desires going again too, many years later.  Like father like son, I suppose.