If I remember correctly... I was at the Fantastic Four. 

I was at Dan Dare.

Well, Dan Dare has become a series once again which I'll get into... and perhaps the Fantastic Four are well on their way to getting back into the fold with what's Marvel 'Proper'... as I shall refer to it.

Marvel.

"What would Stan and Jack do?"

Over beers, I posed this question to my good friend and the results...?

Well, the results brought me back to here.

But of course I had to play with space and time a little.

So, I just watched the Doctor Who Christmas special...

As always... to be continued!

I never expected to see David Bradley again after his role in Game of Thrones... um, which was pretty awesome.

Ok, going back in time here.  I didn't see this BBC special: An Adventure in Space and Time, until this year... and I was blown away!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/mediapacks/spacetime/bradley.html

So.

How the hell did I get here?!

Well, 2016  was crazy.

David Bowie died in January and George Michael died in December. 

That messed me up...

But then this came around and somehow, someway... it made the transition more palatable.

In a song...

Now that I'm finally back to where I began, regarding my user name, I've been thinking a lot about how I want to start this up again.  Obviously I like talking about music and weaving that into my commentaries, so that would most likely stay... but I don't think I have any more grand stories to tell.  (Thank goodness, right?!) 

I've mentioned some of the things that have sort of kept me in 'the loop' - such as Doctor Who, Dan Dare and more... but I think it would be best if I just use this spot here as a vehicle to post random gibberish.

No chapters, no trilogy... just pop culture and comic related stuff.

So...

I mentioned that I came very close to closing the door on this 'comic book stuff'... but I can't.  It's too much a part of me and I somehow found a place where all this made the most sense to me in all my years of being a fan of comics and collecting.   And that was in the late 70's to mid 80's.  I've talked about this period before in an earlier incarnation of my journal but the more I go back to that era... the more magical it seems to me.  Call it nostalgia, but it is what it is.

Again, I'll talk more about that in time but I just wanted to take a moment to mark a pivot... a point where I realize that there is a different direction I can go in that I haven't truly explored or submerged myself in.  This is an area that has and had relevance to my attraction to certain themes but it's something that I think I want to explore more and maybe invest a little time and money in.

And that would be Universal Monsters.

Of course I blame my friend for this but we'll see.

So until then...

A lot of musicians have passed away recently and we're all getting older.

Chester Bennington was the last straw.

That (again) hit me hard as I've been a big Linkin Park fan for a while.  This one however took me down this rabbit hole that I'd like to stay out of.  It was just so weird that Chris Cornell... well, you know the rest.

Anyways.

It's Saturday night... the Superbowl is tomorrow (Go Eagles! Even though I'm a Rams fan, I have to cheer for Nick Foles.)

So here we are...

Until the next installment.

...

Ugh.

Maybe it's time for a new computer... I had a long entry typed up last weekend when the computer crashed and  lost everything that I had written. Then tonight, as I was scanning and uploading to Photobucket, (yes, I still use that for some reason) this crashed again. 

So I guess I'll make this short and quick for now.

I had two really nice weeks in terms of finding some new books and such.  I actually bought my first item off of the boards here in some time although it wasn't a book. 

I'll get to some of the things I found over these past couple of weeks but for tonight I'll just cover this small local show that I went to today.

I didn't know about it until the last minute and wasn't sure if I would go, but I looked at the list of guests and sometimes what I like to do is look up the work of the artists that'll be appearing, especially if they are names I'm not familiar with.  There were a few guests and from the samples of their work, a couple stood out.  One a bit more because of the focus of the subject matter that she did.  So as I was looking through her work online, I started to get an idea because I had just gone through my comic blanks the night before and wasn't sure what I would actually do with most of them.  I would like to try to do a few for myself but finding the time is pretty difficult right now. Anyways, I had one blank that seemed like it would be a perfect choice to have this one artist work on and so I brought that with me and went to the show with my wife and daughter along with her friend. 

There was a record and CD show at the same Holiday Inn hotel so my wife spent most of her time there as the comic show didn't have anything in terms of Doctor Who merchandise or memorabilia.

I walked around the show and saw some really nice books... slabs and raw.  Prices varied greatly but I wasn't in the market for anything specific. 

I bought one raw book... X-Men 109. 

Just a solid copy around a VF- so nothing special about it. 

I bought a couple sketch cards as well from a local artist as well, Joe Orsak ( http://jorsak.com/ )

I try to pick up a Doctor Who card from him at every show and I'll have to get them all scanned together at some point.  I also had to get this Universal Mummy sketch card too... I just loved the imagery on that!

First Doctor

Mummy

...

After about 45 minutes of browsing I found Nikkol Jelenic ( http://nikkoljelenic.blogspot.com/) at a table doing a sketch card for someone.  I asked her how much her commissions were and found the prices to be very reasonable.  So I asked her about doing a drawing on a blank and then discussed the subject matter of the idea that I had in mind.  She seemed excited by the idea and told me that it could be completed by the end of the show. 

I had plans to meet my friend Rob at a local brewery in the afternoon so it was going to make the day a little hectic but that was ok.

So I left the show, went home to drop off everyone and went over to the brewery...

Middle Ages Brewery in Syracuse, NY has a new Tap Room that was just added last November.  I hadn't been there in about 5 years so I was interested to see what it was like now. 

I was pleasantly surprised!

After some good conversation and a couple of good beers, it was time to head back over to the show to get my commissioned blank.

At this point, the show was just about over and the dealers were packing up.  I went over to her table and she handed me the book...

To say that I was thoroughly impressed would be an understatement!!!

I asked for something of a Wrightson / Totleben / Bissette version of Swamp Thing and the Merman (Creature from the Black Lagoon) together and this is what I received...

Front

Back

She used watercolor along with sharpie marker (maybe some Copics too)... the results (I think) are amazing!

But what really set the whole day for me was when she told me that being able to do this commission for me on this day was the reason why she came to the convention because she loved doing this piece.

So I guess that made it a win/win for the both of us! 

As I was leaving, another artist at a table a few down from this one asked if I was the one who had the Swamp Thing / Creature piece done... I said yes and he said he kept looking over to see what she was doing because he loved the subject matter too.  Well of course after that I had to look through his stuff too and found a sketch that stood out for me...

A zombified 11th Doctor!

Just something a bit out of the ordinary... poor Matt Smith!

The artist on that one is Jeff Bonesteel ( https://jbonesteel.deviantart.com/ ) and his work is pretty clean and tight.

So it was a very good day and I should have some more convention photos to share later but for now, I have to get his posted before the PC crashes again... !!!

Until next time. 

Sweet Death...

Do go away and refrain from showing your face here.

Now that I got that out of the way...

I've tied music into these posts and it's comforting to know that there are new talents lining up to carry whatever mantle there is left... but you know, I'm not ready to let go of the ones I've so admired for all these years.  And none more so than this one...

I hope his voice stays with us for many years to come.

Ah, the week that was. So much to talk about...

Let's see.  I found a nice group of Daredevil and pulled most of the associated  Death Stalker series... I like that character a lot for some reason.  I bought a pretty nice copy of #10... along with #113,114,115 and 128.

I still need #39 and then I should have the whole Death Stalker story.

Until then, here is what I found this week. 

I swear this computer is going to be the end of me. 

Let me try this again...

I found a lot of odd books and such this past week... actually over the past few weeks, I acquired a nice little stash.  Nothing to resell or send in for grading, but just good reading material.

So that Daredevil 10 along with issues 113,114,115 and 128 came to a total of $50. I didn't think that was bad.  I would call that DD10 a sold VG and the others were around the range of Fine to Very Fine.

Issue #115 is pretty cool (I like the cover a lot) because it contains an ad for Hulk 181... I believe this book came out a week before Hulk 181.  Here's the copy I found:

And then, here's the ad for Hulk 181...

All of this will relate to a future post that I won't get into now...

And as this is starting to freeze up on me, I'll post this up and try again shortly. 

You know, maybe it's this new format that is giving me issues.  I wonder if I post in the older forum section... hm.

I keep having a couple posted pictures going away and I don't know if that's related to Photobucket or not.

This entry is becoming a disaster...

Anyways, believe it or not, there was a reason for the way I started this entry last night talking of death and Robert Plant / Led Zeppelin and then trying to tie it into comics and the like.  Last year, I almost entirely gave up comics (that's sort of how I started off this new journal) but I kept trying to find a road or a path that might take me somewhere.  I was slowing down on the Fantastic Four... I had accumulated a lot of books, even issues 1, 2 and 3!  It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed having those but then the bug hit.  I call it a bug when things don't seem to be lining up and I start to go in another direction.  I wanted to branch out and other interests were starting to creep in again. I picked up collecting coins and Silver again but that's getting frustrating as my eyesight isn't what it was when I was last into coins heavily which was about 6-7 years ago. I was also getting to a point where I saw that we were going to have to get a new vehicle because the repairs on the Jeep Liberty were starting to pile up.

And so, the FF collection took a hit.  Easy come, easy go, right?  I sold the first 3 issues of the FF along with a few other early issues and with the Inhumans issues.

That was around the time that I was about to let it all go but the 70's and 80's kept nagging at me... those whispers from a time in my youth where comics felt like the were something more than a written and drawn story on newsprint sandwiched between a glossy cover.  My excursion into the world of the Fantastic Four didn't go to waste (I'm still collecting those books, just not with the velocity and dedication that I had been) as it reconnected to John Byrne and that long run. But that re-connection slowly led to the re-energized interest in those books from the 70's and 80's that I so enjoyed. 

So this is (somehow ) the point of the beginning of last nights entry. 

Where death seems to be all around yet things build again and renew.  And as for Robert Plant? Well around the same time last year, I was made aware of this group of kids from Michigan who were playing the small circuits and clubs.  They had this sound that was undeniable... you just knew what it was.

Greta Van Fleet is comprised of 3 brothers and a friend and from interviews that I've listened to... they're not a 'tribute band', rather they've intentionally followed the same path as Led Zeppelin did in terms of the old blues masters that they've learned from and emulated. They're young as their ages range from 18 to 21 years old but as I started to listen to more of what they were doing, well...my mind did that time travel thing. 

"It's 1969... and there's this band playing at the Whisky a Go Go. They call themselves Led Zeppelin and Alice Cooper is going to be opening for them. The Amazing Spider-Man 71 and Fantastic Four 85 will be coming out in a couple of days..."

So, yeah. Finding this band sort of crystallized this idea that things don't necessarily die... they can come around again. Maybe in a different form or even a different time.  So why can't I go back to the time where 'collecting' comics wasn't really collecting something for the sake of collecting, but enjoying something that led to a collection.  And that's where it sort of began again for me... The 70's, the 80's... those were great books to me.  John Byrne... Frank Miller. 

That got me thinking again about comics and art. 

So here's Greta Van Fleet and yes, Robert Plant knows about them. 

http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/greta-van-fleet-has-a-fan-in-robert-plant/

It's happened again.

Time has gone all askew... I talked about Greta Van Fleet and once more, I'm late to the party on this one too. Another discovery and another immediate favorite!

I just heard this song and thought something like a little bit of Marvin Gaye meets a lot of Sam Cooke and so, from that, I had to submerge myself in his previous works.

I love his style, sound and message... such good stuff!

And this is the official video to that song, Bad Bad News.

Leon Bridges... such a refreshing artist!

Anyways, today was a crazy day - the like of which I haven't had in a long, long time and it was so good, so positive!

I met my friend Rob at a local comic show this afternoon and we had such a good time digging through boxes and he even pointed out a book that I hadn't seen or knew about and was thankful for him pointing that out to me!  More on that later...

However, first I have to mention that I had gone to a show at this same location just a while back (where I got the Swamp Thing / Creature blank done) and breezed through the vinyl show that they were having there as well. 

Well this week, they were having a Metaphysical / Psychic show there as well but I had no need to attend that this time around... in years past, yeah- I would've been there trying to find the answers to all my questions.  Not anymore though.

So...

At that record show, I purchased a copy of an album I absolutely killed when I was much. much younger -----> KISS ALIVE II (Complete with the booklet!)

I also got a copy of Elton John's, "Madman Across The Water".

So now that I'm turning the clock back once again, it's only appropriate that I set the right music for the night... now of course this won't make any kind of sense, but that's me.

And so, let's go back in time...

I'll post this now before my computer decides to crash and continue on with the rest... 

I arrived at the show about 20 minutes before Rob did and was making my way around the perimeter. Immediately, I saw things that caught my eye and made mental notes to go back and check out those books.

So as I was walking past these tables around where the 'special guests' were situated, I saw this print on a table with a man sitting behind it and a wall of t shirts serving as his back drop. I saw the print and thought to myself, "Maxfield Parish". And then in classical 'Google' mode, my mind danced around all of the word association play with that... "Maxfield Parish... Suzie, Elizabeth, Vermont... Mike"

And this was where I turned up 'creeper mode' to 100.

I looked at the guy behind the table. Then scrunched my eyebrows at him... then ducked down as if I were trying to identify a gem tucked within a crevice of a wall... I might've even conducted some type of snake charmer movement on this individual, unknowingly.

But then...

I blurted out, "Mike?" "Mike Sa___?"

And when he said "Yes?"... well, the dimensions and parallel universes all crumbled.

It was him... and he was here!

(Posting so not to lose this...  to be continued in minutes.)

So lets go back a few years to when I wrote these entries in a previous incarnation of this journal...

JULY, 2013

It wasn't until 1978 or 1979 that I found my way into an actual comic shop. It was sort of an enigma to me back then as I wasn't sure if it was okay to be in such a shop as a kid. The owner of this comic store looked very much like John Lennon and there was this 'back room' that I wasn't allowed in.

Later, I found out that this back room was where he sold Maxfield Parrish artwork as well as more adult oriented comics or underground books... Robert Crumb and such.

I became a regular at this shop and as the years advanced into the early 80's, this comic shop became paradise to me and the shop owner (Mike) taught me what would become my introduction to actually 'collecting comics'. He taught me about grading and values and even something called 'speculation'.

He also introduced me to other obscure mainstream titles that he thought might appeal to me as well as telling me stories of the earlier history of these comic books. From his favorites... 50's books to SOTI (Seduction Of The Innocent: Wertham) to the comics code.

His advice to me was that if I ever found books from the 50's at a garage sale, to buy them all as they were generally hard to find.

JUNE, 2014

I had written about my very first comic store that I would frequently go to in the late 70's through the late 80's and that store was called Dream Days.

It's funny but I came across these two posts and it seems that for a few of us, our recollections of this place share common threads.

"Mike was great -- far from being the stereotypical comic-shop geek who knows more than everyone else, he was very interested in helping you find stuff you liked, and went out of his way to bring in books that would be of interest."

http://tmpinsyr.com/2012/02/26/superhero-guy-vs-dad-guy/

"Growing up in Syracuse in the 70′s and 80′s, there was one place to go to for comics: Dream Days. Run by Mike, an aging John Lennon lookalike, Dream Days was the place for comic book lovers. Mike was everything positive that pop culture says about the 60′s: optimistic, community-minded, and welcoming. When my brother Matt was in the hospital for a pretty serious surgical procedure as a young boy, Mike showed up at the hospital with a massive stack of comics for Matt to read while convalescing. I think Mike’s instructions were to read them, enjoy them, bring back what he didn’t want, and get better! Mike seemed to live at the store and the positive experiences talking to him there probably cemented my love of comics."

So as wonderful of a comic book store that this was during it's heyday... I never got to experience the complete 'Wow Factor' of being surrounded by the books that a young collector with limited financial resources could only dream of.

As a matter of fact, one memory of Dream Days stays with me to this day and it was the day that Mike (the store owner) made a phone sale for a NM Captain America Comics #1... I believe it was the mid 80's (1984-1986) and as I was browsing the store, he ran to his 'back room' (where I assume all the rare stuff was kept) and came out holding this NM copy of Captain America Comics #1. He let me look at it briefly and when I asked how much he just sold it for, I was stunned!

$5000.00.

And for a 15 /16 year old in the mid 80's, $5000 for a comic was insane money!

...

So yes, this was THE Mike... the Mike who had formulated my conception of what comics were, the magic that they held and the stories that they were sure to tell!

In 1982, when I was a young 13 year old, just learning about comics... Mike was probably in this late 20's to early 30's.  And so, that would put him in his mid 60's now but he still carried that 'John Lennon of Comics' quality about him.  Just something unique... and good.  An emphasis on "Good" is important to note here!

While reintroducing myself... hell, I'm all grey and old now, I had to tell him about the association with Maxfield Parrish and him (Mike) that I held and how it was him that first broadened my vision of artwork simply by having those old Parrish prints in his store all those years ago. 

He replied that his experience was similar... just a gravitational pull that has endured throughout his life.

I love stuff like that!

So this was the print that I saw sitting on the table and one of which I bought a copy of...

(Posting so not to lose this... to be continued.)

The last time I saw Mike was probably around 23 years ago.

...

And here was the uncomfortable part of our 20 + minute discussion.

"I sold you some books..."

Done.

I'm tapping out.

Please, God... let me go now...

No such luck.

Here's a story I never told.

Pretty much everything that I've ever bought... I've sold at gains, losses and break evens. It's how my life has gone.

But was there one regret of something I sold that I'll NEVER get back?

You betcha!

...

"I sold you some books"

My entire body slumps.  I'm defeated in having to tell him the story of what's forthcoming...

"Oh no.", His reply anticipates my sudden shift in demeanor.

...

"Mike, we all do stupid and regrettable things at times..."

"Oh, no."

"And I definitely have one of those regrettable sales."

<shaking his head>

" I had fallen on hard times (as usual)..."

"And..."

<shaking his head>

"I had to sell them." 

...

So, what was 'them'?

Here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Churchward

I think it was in 1995 when I bought a series of 3 books from Mike, one first edition and two 3rd editions. 

They were all signed by James Churchward between 1920 and 1930, but they also contained around 5 pages of handwritten notes and letters to a friend describing his research, findings and writings on the subject of the mythical island of Mu.

What;s Mu?

If you're my age, you might recognize this...

They drive an Ice Cream Van!

And if you're a Zep Head like I am... well, I'm sure you've wondered about the symbols in Led Zep4 (ZOSO).

"Robert Plant’s symbol is the feather of Ma’at, the Egyptian goddess of justice and fairness, and is the emblem of a writer (ie song lyrics).  It can be found in “The Sacred Symbols of Mu” by Colonel James Churchward.  This is not a common symbol, but does turn up in Egyptian and Red Indian texts."

http://www.feelnumb.com/2009/07/09/led-zeppelin-iv-zoso-symbols/

Yes, that was one of the volumes I had and when I discovered  that Robert Plant's symbol (almost pre-internet, mind you) was found in that volume...

https://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/arqueologia/esp_churchward02.htm

Yeah.

Basically, Mu is to the Pacific what Atlantis is to the Atlantic,

The biggest regrettable sale of mine... I bought them for around $300 in 1995 and sold them for about the same a few years later.

...

So.

Once we got past that, Mike told me what his next idea is for this area of Upstate NY and I quickly told him that I;d LOVE to be a part of that as this area is RICH with suppressed comic pop culture information!

We'll see what happens!

So now that I've drawn this out so much...

How did this amazing day end?

Here are the items I found including the screened t shirt of the original Dream Days logo that Mike got from the original designer!

And I had to pick up this one as well...

And then then here's the small amount of books that I picked up.

Oh, what's that?

A Dan Dare mini series... Whaaaaaaat?!

Oh yeah.

And I can't wait to read the Dan Dare Retirement by Grant!

Wait.

What;s up with these Knights?

Ah-ha!

To be continued!

Oh .

The one book that I was proud to pick up at this latest comic show!

From EC, before EC.

I found this interesting too as this book came out in 1944.

Peace everyone!

I think I mentioned this to Rob yesterday. After the show we went over to that Middle Ages brewery and ended the day over a couple of beers and I mentioned that I was finding myself getting away from the Superhero books and getting more into other genres. Now looking back, I think part of this was a result of my 3+ year obsession with underwater books. 

I gained a lot from that period in time... in many ways.

One of the things that I really enjoyed was digging up information and doing research into the artists that I hadn't really paid attention to before.

Case in point, was this book and this story of Joe Maneely that I wrote about in the journal from 2014.

...

It just happened to be a Joe Maneely May...

This past May, I not only bought a copy of the long sought after Sub-Mariner 39... I bought two. With a terrific Joe Maneely cover (who didn't do a lot of superhero covers) it was the perfect time to close out my Cold-War underwater issues.

But what I didn't expect, was another Atlas title to pop up featuring a very cool Joe Maneely cover! This one was sent to me via PM from Miraclemet, in which he informed me that a 'cheap' underwater Atlas just popped up for sale in the GA sales section. The timing was good on this one as I had some extra money in my Paypal account and this book was right in line with what I look for.

It did have a little more cover 'noise' than I normally like but still... it was an easy decision to make!

This one came across the pond, once again... from Don (Fantasyland15). This is my 2nd or 3rd purchase from him and the books have all been delivered without any troubles!

There's something about Maneely's artwork that I can't really describe. I'm not sure if it reminds me of someone else I really like or what. Of course, the style is very distinct but there's something else in there that I can't describe. Perhaps it's the influences he may have had on other artists after him, as he died at the young age of 32 in 1958 from falling between two trains.

One of those influences and admirers was Jim Steranko...

(Taken from: http://www.comicartville.com/vassallomaneely.htm )

Comic book legend Jim Steranko, a huge Joe Maneely admirer, describes Maneely's techniques this way : "I can't think of a single instance of anyone inking Maneely. Here's why: at the incredible speed he worked, he couldn't have done finished pencils, just breakdowns. Then, knowing exactly what he was looking for in the finish, and being a superb draftsman, he DREW with the pen and brush! This is why Maneely was so fast and why no one else inked him---they couldn't work over his breakdowns".

If you look at Maneely's Black Knight covers, they're some of the best ones around, in my opinion... BK1 is just an all time favorite of mine! Of course he drew so many others... Yellow Claw 1 is a terrific cover as are many of the Western and Horror books he worked on!

There are many interesting speculations on-line about what might've happened if Joe Maneely hadn't died... how that might've changed what would later become Marvel Comics.

http://www.comicartville.com/vassallomaneely.htm

...

Anyways, I was thrilled to pick up (yet another Atlas book!) World of Fantasy #2!

I love the cover illustration and color scheme on this one. Like I said, the grade doesn't bother me one bit... but with book in hand, there's a little more noise or distracting blemishes around the central image area of the front cover than I normally like, but still it's not too bad.

This one scores a 70 on my grade scale...

...

Back to Joe Maneely for a moment...

The next book I'll be talking about involves Stan Lee so I guess this will make a nice segue.

One of the underlying threads to many of these books goes back to Wertham's congressional hearings of the 50's.

Atlas Comics, under Stan Lee as their Editor-in-chief, also wrote some stories and this one that I'll post below, features some very nice Maneely artwork.

The scans were taken from this site... http://www.panelology.info/RavingManiac.html and shows what could possibly be Joe Maneely and Stan Lee's take on Frederic Wertham from Suspense #29 (April 1953).

It may be a little stretch but the article (and story) is interesting to read nonetheless!

...

While I was researching the works of Joe Maneely (and really getting into in), I discovered a bit of works that strongly appealed to me. At that time, I didn't pursue it because it just didn't fit my 'focus', but little did I know that what actually happened during that time, would lead me to my latest excursion.

I've mentioned Greta Van Fleet as a new musical favorite of recent...

I've mentioned Leon Bridges...

I've mentioned Sam Cooke.

Now let me try to bookend all of this.

 Today I went to our local flea market here in town and found something pretty nice... not sure yet if I'll keep this or sell it later (I mean, I eventually sell everything, right?) but it's something I would like to think about for a bit. Especially the image on the cover... it's 1929 and where is the visual imagery coming from in order to conceive of these wondrous alien worlds and technologies?

I love slicing into stuff like that.

Anyways, this is the copy that I found today of Amazing Stories Quarterly (Vol. 2 Number 3) from the Summer of 1929.

If I were to grade it... and I'm not 'normally' a Pulp collector, I'd say it's around a Good (2.0) ... the back cover is split from the spine for all but two or three inches.

Later on this afternoon, I went to my local comic store and traded a few raw books for a CGC 3.0 copy of Daredevil #7.  It's not great but I still love that book... wish I hadn't sold that nice copy I had a couple of years ago.

And no, I'm not putting back together the Underwater collection although I've certainly thought about it. As I said before, there was a reason I was into that theme and now it's in the past. As are the moon books... they've been eclipsed.

Last weekend I told Rob that my brief dive into the Fantastic Four was sort of a palate cleansing for me. I called it 'generic' but what I meant was that it was something 'untapped' by me in my collection pursuits and was a rebellion of sorts against the current state of existence at Marvel.  Well, it appears that the FF are coming back into the fold and I'm happy to see that! My interests however, have shifted a bit.  Universal Monsters... movies and TV titled comics... sword and sorcery. 

Medieval Knights.

I guess that's what I was hinting at last week with the mention of Joe Maneely.

The first time I saw his work on The Black Knight... wow!  It sort of got me hooked in.

For now, I'll let that simmer a bit but I know that, indeed, A Change Is Gonna Come.

Wow.

It's been almost two years...

And a crazy two years that has been.

I acquired a very nice Fantastic Four collection including issues 1 - 3, I sold it (of course) and then found myself in a battle to reacquire a book that I had sold a year prior and realized that I had done something very stupid.

So before I get to that, I have to post my forefront thoughts in terms of where we are now.

This is horrible.

So many friends and family are echoing the same feelings...

They miss their families...

Their businesses aren't going to be able to reopen...

Their dreams have all been crushed...

So what happened here?

...

I'll put this in DC Earth 2 terms...

We've vibrated to another frequency - another Earth.

Of course I'm not serious but it sure feels like that sometimes.

To all of those that I've had the privilege of getting to know and have formed friendships and relationships over these past 10 years plus that I've been on the boards...

I'm sorry that this is a difficult time and I pray that we all make it out with our souls intact.

That last statement might've been the Scotch talking but regardless, it's sincere,

...

In time, I hope to get back to talking about the books that I love and the stories behind them... I have a doozy thanks to a spontaneous jump into here just a few short weeks ago,

To be continued...