Not a comic book collector
Nor even a fan, When I was a kid, the idea of spending a buck on comic books when the same dollar would get me one new or several used paperbacks was ludicrous. it isn’t that i didn’t like them, I would read other kids discards- I just couldn’t see spending that kind of scratch on something that was- from a reading standpoint- not a very good bargain. For the buck a couple copies of Batman cost, I could be reading for a whole DAY. A comic book, I was often through in less then two minutes. Maybe three if it had an ad for Johnson Smith.
A book, though. I could read it, and then I had it forever, to read again, if i wanted to. Plus, the art in comics of the day was lame- yes, I know people look back at it as something wonderful, but the movie that plays in my mind when I read something is always better than the movie I see on a screen, and certainly much better than anything I ever saw in a comic book in the 70’s or 80’s.
In retrospect, though, I’m a little bummed that I missed the “X men” stuff. “Hellboy” looks like it was fun, and the artwork better than usual. But, I take consolation in knowing that I come to the movies (Which i enjoy a good deal) without preconceptions, and the visuals are good, and I don’t have a yardstick to measure them against. Now I just wish there were Hellboy books instead of comics.
All this comes to my mind, of course, because I read over in m Alger’s blog that we lost Frank Frazetta last thursday.
Son of a bitch.
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I saw the news, too. Helluva loss.
My desktop is a rotation of Frazetta drawings.
Not knowing the value of a dollar, over the yeers, I have spent a pretty penny on comics. Sold my first 300 or so to the Drugstore owner down the street just before heading off to Boot Camp (and got ripped off on the value of same, but didn’t know it at the time.)
Still have around 500 or so that were gathered over the late 70’s to mid 80’s, if anyone is interested in acquiring same, let me know. The market for same has dropped considerably from what it was back in the 90’s, but perhaps something can be worked out.
And yes, there will never be another quite like Frazetta. (though Boris comes close at times)
When I was comic-reading age, they were only a dime.
Got a bunch of old Ace paperbacks with Frazetta’s work on them; got most of them for 35¢ and 40¢ when they were new.
I bought a couple Akira comic books when they came out, even though I was already too old for that stuff I liked the artwork and concepts, but I never bought a DC comic rag-paper comic “book” during the 60’s or 70’s because I could always read my buddy Steve’s – and besides there was his older brother Eric’s PLAYBOYs!! After Playboy, comics were never the same…
yeah, Dirt, naked women sorta put the kibosh on the interest in superheroes.
I don’t know, Cherry Poptart and Omaha the Cat Dancer were pretty fun reads, for comic books, once puberty kicked in …
I still have a few of Ms. Poptart’s comics about :)
Sucks about Frazetta. He was my second favorite fantasy artist after Luis Royo.
What a difference a few years makes. When I was a kid (not that long before you were), comics were 13 cents. Then a quarter. I read as many as my paper route / stockboy job would support.
M
Mad Magazine was my “comic book”. I even had a subscription. Once I was able to get my hands on the occasional Playboy, Vargas Girls caught my eye. I discovered Frazetta and Boris in college. There is something very compelling about their art that I don’t see in photographs.
Johnson Smith is still around, y’know.
Much hasn’t changed, except they get and ship orders by tubes.
http://www.johnsonsmith.com/