Have you ever taken a wrong turn? 2 2

[MB1952]

On 5/28/2022 at 3:46 PM, GreatCaesarsGhost said:

Matt Baker mos def took me down a side road

Baker has taken many down the side road in recent years. 

[Tri-Color Brian]

My whole collecting experience since the early 90s is side trips from what I used to collect.  Never made a wrong turn though...I just buy what I like...

Edited May 29, 2022 by Tri-ColorBrian

[Cat-Man_America]

On 5/28/2022 at 12:26 PM, GreatCaesarsGhost said:

Looks like you and I traveled parallel paths(I guess I better look into this Kitten!).  So did you decide to keep keep your “fling” books? Or did they get tossed overboard?

Kitten matured over the run of the series, covering a period of about 5 years.  She's definitely the cat's meow.

Most of the GA "fling books" haven't gone overboard; on occasion I've even been known to double down (twins).  Also didn't mention my ongoing romance with HIT and Prize Comics and a brief passionate affair with Phantom Lady. 

[batman_fan]

I started off collecting everything I could find but at a point early in my collecting days I decided to go after Batman.  I haven't wavered but I have cheated on him from time to time, Human Torch 1, Green Giant 1, Some classic More Fun and Adventure books and now Spiderman.  I still upgrade a Batman from time to time.

[Professor K]

On 5/28/2022 at 11:51 AM, GreatCaesarsGhost said:

My first love was Timely WWII covers, but in feeding the beast, I soon found myself straying into other areas. Some areas I got lured into by boardie posts, and some areas came only from my fevered brain. Boardies lured me into GGA and LB Cole. I myself took a side trip collecting single pages of noteworthy character developments like first Joker and etc. I don’t know if this is a lack of discipline on my part. Probably so. At any rate, in judging the success of my dalliances, I find that I never look at my GGA, sometimes look at my single pages, and am consumed by my LB Coles. I probably should purge my GGA and put that money into WWII war covers. 
 

anyone else take an alternate path? Which side trips were successful for you, and which ones weren’t?

I used to like WWII covers a lot, over the years they lost appeal to me, particularly Timely's. Sure they are historical and most are by Shomburg who had a great imagination but to me, dare I say, they are "all the same".  I wouldn't go that far but close. And I'm sure he was told by the bosses to make nearly every cover war related in those years.. And he did a superb job. But I can't help but think that if the bosses at Timely werren't so obsessed with promoting the US going to war in those years how many great non "Japanazi" covers there might have been. I also get the feeling they were kind of cashing in on war.  Maybe I'm over thinking it.

The imagination of the artists in that era was the key ingredient to how great those covers were but when the subject is the same in every one it kind of restricts things. Like telling da Vinci to only paint fruit bowls. 

I know this rant was not on topic but I needed to get that out and I'll never speak of it again. 

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

On 5/29/2022 at 1:32 PM, Professor K said:

I used to like WWII covers a lot, over the years they lost appeal to me, particularly Timely's. Sure they are historical and most are by Shomburg who had a great imagination but to me, dare I say, they are "all the same".  I wouldn't go that far but close. And I'm sure he was told by the bosses to make nearly every cover war related in those years.. And he did a superb job. But I can't help but think that if the bosses at Timely werren't so obsessed with promoting the US going to war in those years how many great non "Japanazi" covers there might have been. I also get the feeling they were kind of cashing in on war.  Maybe I'm over thinking it.

The imagination of the artists in that era was the key ingredient to how great those covers were but when the subject is the same in every one it kind of restricts things. Like telling da Vinci to only paint fruit bowls. 

I know this rant was not on topic but I needed to get that out and I'll never speak of it again. 

I'm a Schomburg fan bigly, but I cannot disagree.  And its an undeniable fact that when the war ended, so did most of the superheroes, at least until reborn again in the '60s.  So I guess you could say the comic industry used the war to push their wares.  But I look at these covers as a time capsule and they still burn bright for me.  That's the great thing about this hobby.  There really are no wrong turns.  But I guess you could say we each now and again issue a course correction

[Point Five]

On 5/29/2022 at 2:32 PM, Professor K said:

I used to like WWII covers a lot, over the years they lost appeal to me, particularly Timely's. Sure they are historical and most are by Shomburg who had a great imagination but to me, dare I say, they are "all the same".  I wouldn't go that far but close. And I'm sure he was told by the bosses to make nearly every cover war related in those years.. And he did a superb job. But I can't help but think that if the bosses at Timely werren't so obsessed with promoting the US going to war in those years how many great non "Japanazi" covers there might have been. I also get the feeling they were kind of cashing in on war.  Maybe I'm over thinking it.

The imagination of the artists in that era was the key ingredient to how great those covers were but when the subject is the same in every one it kind of restricts things. Like telling da Vinci to only paint fruit bowls. 

I know this rant was not on topic but I needed to get that out and I'll never speak of it again. 

I understand your point, but I actually think the 1940s superhero war covers are for the most part pretty wildly imaginative.

As for 'bosses at Timely obsessed with promoting the US going to war', it's worth remembering that from (say) Pearl Harbor in 1941 to the end of the war in 1945, the US public was absolutely consumed with the war effort. It permeated *every* aspect of American life of both children and adults, and seemed to have no end in sight... only with hindsight can we see that it was a distinct four-year period that was kind of an anomaly.

Finally, there are plenty of superhero covers from 1946-1949 to compare to the WWII years, and IMO they lost a lot of their juice once the war themes ran out.

 

[lhcomics]

I used to be a follower and collect the cool GA comics like Batman, Captain America etc.

Then I discovered a hidden gem in Leroy comics. Only 6 issues but WOW every issue is packed with excitement and intrigue, so I've heard. Gotta read them one day.

Now I need to find the very elusive #1 issue. 

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

On 5/29/2022 at 4:57 PM, lhcomics said:

I used to be a follower and collect the cool GA comics like Batman, Captain America etc.

Then I discovered a hidden gem in Leroy comics. Only 6 issues but WOW every issue is packed with excitement and intrigue, so I've heard. Gotta read them one day.

Now I need to find the very elusive #1 issue. 

Sounds like a very natural progression

[Professor K]

On 5/29/2022 at 3:17 PM, GreatCaesarsGhost said:

I'm a Schomburg fan bigly, but I cannot disagree.  And its an undeniable fact that when the war ended, so did most of the superheroes, at least until reborn again in the '60s.  So I guess you could say the comic industry used the war to push their wares.  But I look at these covers as a time capsule and they still burn bright for me.  That's the great thing about this hobby.  There really are no wrong turns.  But I guess you could say we each now and again issue a course correction

 

On 5/29/2022 at 4:53 PM, Point Five said:

I understand your point, but I actually think the 1940s superhero war covers are for the most part pretty wildly imaginative.

As for 'bosses at Timely obsessed with promoting the US going to war', it's worth remembering that from (say) Pearl Harbor in 1941 to the end of the war in 1945, the US public was absolutely consumed with the war effort. It permeated *every* aspect of American life of both children and adults, and seemed to have no end in sight... only with hindsight can we see that it was a distinct four-year period that was kind of an anomaly.

Finally, there are plenty of superhero covers from 1946-1949 to compare to the WWII years, and IMO they lost a lot of their juice once the war themes ran out.

 

Completely agree with all that. It was quite a time those years. I suppose unless we were there we can't really fully understand it. And I think we all would agree that after the war the juice ran out. To me it started running out by 1942 in many titles. I guess I was looking at an alternate reality and how it might have been if the war never happened. Way off topic I know. 

[Robot Man]

As many of you might have noticed by now, my collecting journey has taken me all over the place. Including many other things besides comics.

My first was MAD magazine, then EC which developed quickly into completing full runs of the other pre code horror and crime titles.

Along the way, I ran into other GA books of all titles and genres. I grabbed everything I could find and afford. With this came LB Cole, Baker, Schomburg, Wood, and many others. Many of them produced work in a myriad of genres. I have seeked out and aquired most of what I want. I just love old comics and have put together a pretty nice collection of not only the big expensive superhero books as well as much of the more unappreciated genres as well.

When I add in character and other toys, premiums, vintage advertising, sports and historical items, I have quite a varied collection.

I walk down all roads and have explored them all with NO wrong turns. 

[jimbo_7071]

On 5/29/2022 at 2:32 PM, Professor K said:

I used to like WWII covers a lot, over the years they lost appeal to me, particularly Timely's. Sure they are historical and most are by Shomburg who had a great imagination but to me, dare I say, they are "all the same".  I wouldn't go that far but close. And I'm sure he was told by the bosses to make nearly every cover war related in those years.. And he did a superb job. But I can't help but think that if the bosses at Timely werren't so obsessed with promoting the US going to war in those years how many great non "Japanazi" covers there might have been. I also get the feeling they were kind of cashing in on war.  Maybe I'm over thinking it.

The imagination of the artists in that era was the key ingredient to how great those covers were but when the subject is the same in every one it kind of restricts things. Like telling da Vinci to only paint fruit bowls. 

I know this rant was not on topic but I needed to get that out and I'll never speak of it again. 

I'm a Schomburg fan, but I agree that most of his mid-40s covers look similar. I prefer his earlier pulp-like covers (for Mystic, etc.) even though I don't own any, but most of the later covers are still pretty good. I'm not a big fan of his Better/Nedor covers, though. Those are pretty bland for the most part; it appears that he put far more effort into the Timely covers.

[jimbo_7071]

On 5/29/2022 at 10:08 PM, Professor K said:

And I think we all would agree that after the war the juice ran out. To me it started running out by 1942 in many titles.

Even though there are good covers from every era, I tend to agree. If I were to rank the books on my "want list," I'm sure that the top 20 would all be from '38 through '42. DCs were already getting pretty boring, even goofy, by '41.

[Robot Man]

On 5/31/2022 at 7:24 AM, jimbo_7071 said:

I'm a Schomburg fan, but I agree that most of his mid-40s covers look similar. I prefer his earlier pulp-like covers (for Mystic, etc.) even though I don't own any, but most of the later covers are still pretty good. I'm not a big fan of his Better/Nedor covers, though. Those are pretty bland for the most part; it appears that he put far more effort into the Timely covers.

I’m a huge Schomburg fan. Always have been. I understand what you are saying especially if you are looking at a bunch of them. But if you just single one out take a long look they are wonderful. It is just his style that sets him apart. Hard to believe his later Xela covers are him. Almost an entirely different person.  

[MrBedrock]

My second marriage was sort of a wrong turn.

[MrBedrock]

On 5/31/2022 at 11:51 AM, MrBedrock said:

My second marriage was sort of a wrong turn.

But she got me back into collecting ERB stuff...

 

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

On 5/31/2022 at 9:53 AM, MrBedrock said:

But she got me back into collecting ERB stuff...

 

Great stuff! Hopefully she didn’t take it all with her

[Robot Man]

On 5/31/2022 at 9:53 AM, MrBedrock said:

But she got me back into collecting ERB stuff...

 

Hardy Boys books. 

But, your collection of vintage character toys is severely lacking…

Bet you need a cool license plate attachment for your covered wagon.

[Professor K]

On 5/31/2022 at 10:35 AM, jimbo_7071 said:

Even though there are good covers from every era, I tend to agree. If I were to rank the books on my "want list," I'm sure that the top 20 would all be from '38 through '42. DCs were already getting pretty boring, even goofy, by '41.

To me 1937 (from Detective 1) through 1941 was the Golden Age of the Golden Age. I just always figured especially DC was trying to appeal to younger readers, like pre teen kids, starting as early as Superman 1. Broaden there market.  At least with the Solo titles like Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, All Star, ect.

[D84]

On 5/31/2022 at 11:51 AM, MrBedrock said:

My second marriage was sort of a wrong turn.

My only marriage was a wrong turn. There won't be a second.