• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

AJD's comic notebook
7 7

1,132 posts in this topic

I picked up some more Barks goodness from the Four Color run lately, all from Heritage.

Not my favourite story, but a lovely cover - I really like the Dells with strong solid colour blocks:

FC_0203.thumb.jpg.b2a9730cbea68a48d2e2fda599be8ec2.jpg

This, on the other hand, has a great story in it. The cover is interesting in having the terror off-stage and showing only the ducks reaction. I only wish it was by Barks:

FC_0108.thumb.jpg.53ec6c4dbb3e452a005026781790dfee.jpg

Finally, a cover by Barks, but a story that's - to be generous - pretty ordinary. But I do like the cover, and the link with Don Rosa's reworking of the concept is nice too. This one will be cracked out when it arrives, to match all my other Four Colors.

FC_0348.thumb.jpg.d17a238c0ce3ea52705dfc6ca992dcde.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Last of the new purchases. An Australian Fiction House reprint. This one is all Fiction House - Wings 120 to be precise. (And there's our mystery Russian fighters again).

Fight_25_Oz.thumb.JPG.73530013d80a64626429f15f67edc8be.JPG

One of the stories in this issue concerns trying to get intelligence about "Russia's new bomber":

zOz_Fight_25_int_2.thumb.JPG.a7ea7cb0143bb1be5c992befca9a2f67.JPG

I dunno - maybe they should have asked American company Convair... because I reckon that's a copy of their B-36 right there on the ice:

RB-36D_in_Convair_plant.thumb.jpg.5a20cee34c49ccf9c8cb227e93cada16.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I kinda like those Donald Duck books, something about those solid color backgrounds and innocence in simplicity get to me. I don't have any of my own, but your posts are tempting me. Sweet picks ups, not only on the duck books, but the flight books as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I kinda like those Donald Duck books, something about those solid color backgrounds and innocence in simplicity get to me. I don't have any of my own, but your posts are tempting me. Sweet picks ups, not only on the duck books, but the flight books as well.

+1 (thumbs u

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I picked up some more Barks goodness from the Four Color run lately, all from Heritage.

 

Not my favourite story, but a lovely cover - I really like the Dells with strong solid colour blocks:

 

FC_203_zpsvtmlcrbg.jpg

 

This, on the other hand, has a great story in it. The cover is interesting in having the terror off-stage and showing only the ducks reaction. I only wish it was by Barks:

 

FC_108_zpst641tonw.jpg

 

Finally, a cover by Barks, but a story that's - to be generous - pretty ordinary. But I do like the cover, and the link with Don Rosa's reworking of the concept is nice too. This one will be cracked out when it arrives, to match all my other Four Colors.

 

FC_348_zpsjaelvtbm.jpg

 

 

Nice to see you back and about sir! NIce acquisitions all!! :applause::applause:
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's that time of year again. The last couple of years I posted scans of the books I'd accumulated over the past 12 months. This year I posted them as I went along, but I still felt the need to pull them together into one place. So here's the thumbnail edition of...

AJD’s Class of aught-15

Ducks

th_FC_108_zpst641tonw.jpg th_FC_203_zpsvtmlcrbg.jpg th_FC_348_zpsjaelvtbm.jpg

th_Scrooge_006_zpsodjwlfc8.jpg

th_WDCampS_007_zpslss0wlqd.jpeg th_wdcamps_015_zps6byd1xj6.jpg th_wdcamps_016_zpsrh1hinn0.jpg th_wdcamps_023_zpsnqbsksaw.jpg th_wdcamps_032_zpsuuwh00e1.jpg th_wdcamps_037_zpsqnr6lxgy.jpg

EC

th_Mad_05_zpsidgsbrkf.jpg th_Mad_12_zpsob8egijs.jpg th_Mad_16_zps8qpqsnbe.jpgth_Mad_18_zpsiyol9q5r.jpg th_Mad_19_zpsidsdbsxb.jpg th_Mad_23_zpsztedwspl.jpg

th_Piracy_3_zpsuxb7qori.jpg

th_TFTC45_zpsd3ajrudc.jpg

th_WF_03_zpsmfwuutre.jpg th_WF_07_zpsatpe3cnk.jpg th_WF_19_zpspdva8bcb.jpg

th_WS_01_zpsi537a13w.jpg th_weirdscience132_f_zpsp8ac8cbo.jpg th_WS_03_zpsxyf4vxvw.jpg th_ws_04_zpscreuirtz.jpg th_WS_07_zpswrxcewq5.jpg th_WS_18_zpsaerxft1l.jpg

Fiction House

th_Planet_39_zpsdhf4g6wk.jpeg

Australian Fiction House

th_Oz_Fight_25_zpsfqkqqzqw.jpg th_Oz_Fight_29_zpsdgxk0jra.jpg th_Oz_Fight_31_zpshu9uffcr.jpg th_Oz_Fight_33_zpssh5sbcod.jpg th_Oz_Fight_34_zpso99dhgqd.jpg

th_Jumbo17_zpsx8sgyl2d.jpg

th_Oz_Planet_03_zpsnoyevlok.jpg th_Oz_Planet_04_zpsgm12gxxa.jpg th_Oz_Planet_05_zpsblpcehlt.jpg

War Bonds/WW2

th_BC_13_zpstlm76gp2.jpg th_Champ_25_zpsx65ci5js.jpg th_Pearl_Harbor_zpsevghocb5.jpg

Other

th_Champion_2_zps80iuxl8r.jpg th_TWZ_45_zps8ecqgmyr.jpg th_TWZ_74_zpsyh1lqthe.jpg

These are all clickable links if you feel the need to see larger versions - they'll take you to my Photobucket account, which you're free to troll around in if you so desire.

I have some time away from work, so I'm going to post some reflections on comics in the next few weeks. First up will be some thoughts on Pogo Possum, and tributes thereto.

Happy holidays all. :hi:

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm going to get under the covers with Pogo Possum over the next few posts, but I thought I'd start with how I stumbled across this character.

 

As far as I know, the Pogo strip wasn't printed in Australia - certainly not in the Victorian newspapers I grew up with. (Even though Pogo 'visited' Australia in strips in 1956 and 1961.) So back in 2007 when I got interested in collecting comics again, I didn't know about him at all, and only knew of Walt Kelly from his covers on WDC&S, which at that time I only had on Gladstone/Gemstone reprints. I really liked his style - in some cases more than Barks. :o

 

One day I found an eBay ad for a seller in New Zealand. I can't recall what he had that took me to his 'other items', but I certainly remember that he had a Dell Pogo #7, which I decided to take a chance on. When it turned up I was completely won over by the charming artwork. The writing was less compelling, but the stories were fun enough in their own right, especially the use of language. Here's a later upgrade copy I got:

 

pogo_07.thumb.jpg.bcbac7093e151f27152fa651fc444062.jpg

Perhaps as important as my reaction was my wife's. Mrs AJD thought it was the best thing I'd shown her to that point and said I should get more. When a large lot of 10 Dell issues came up on eBay she literally stood beside me telling me to bid more! (She is similarly smitten by the Dell Peanuts comics.) That lot had really nice copies of half a dozen or so of the short Dell run of 16. My records tell me that it took a little over a year to collect these:

th_pogo_1.jpg th_pogo_02.jpg th_pogo_03_file_zps68ae61c0.jpg th_pogo_04.jpg

 

th_pogo5_small.jpg th_pogo_06.jpg th_pogo_07.jpg th_pogo_08.jpg

 

th_pogo_09.jpg th_pogo_10.jpg th_pogo11.jpg th_pogo_12.jpg

 

th_pogo_13.jpg th_pogo_14.jpg th_pogo_15.jpg th_pogo_16.jpg

This was the first Golden/Atom Age run I finished. I've also picked up a few other Pogo books:

th_FC105.jpg th_FC148.jpg th_pogo_parade.jpg th_Animal_comics_23.jpg

 

The first two are Four Color 105 and 148. Note that Pogo wasn't the headline act at first - he was second fiddle to Albert Alligator. If I was a Pogo completist, I'd be looking for the run of Animal Comics 1 - 30 (though a few don't have Pogo content). For now I've resisted the urge, and Pogo Parade collects many of the early stories. But I do have #9, which has a Walt Kelly War Bonds cover:

Animal_comics_09_small.thumb.jpg.0ccbda37b47b90e2013fba4d050c0704.jpg

If I get a chance I'll pick up an Animal Comics #1, which contains the first appearance of Pogo, if the price/eye appeal is right. Speaking of first appearances, here's how Pogo looked in his first panel:

first_pogo_animal_comics_1.jpg.0857967894ea971fa20438095c34cad8.jpg

Yup, your eyes aren't deceiving you... Pogo went through a few cosmetic changes before becoming one of the most successful comic strip characters of his time.

In the next few posts we'll do some deconstruction of the language and themes of Pogo Possum comics vice the strip. (Hey, Ed's not the only slightly obsessive college professor around these parts!) And I can thank Alan Moore for making me think about these things, as we'll see.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Rich, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Here's the latest installment. I said earlier that I'm not into horror comics. But there are a couple of EC Tales from the Crypt books that have such great covers I have been eyeing them for a while. I'd successfully resisted the urge, but darned if Ed's EC journal didn't tip me over the edge. This one came up on Heritage last Sunday and had the right combination of eye appeal and price, so it's mine now. I find this cover funny. The rat is a bit over the top, but the guy's expression is priceless. And Marie Severin did a great colouring job on this one.

TFTC_45.thumb.jpg.3785c352f427dafb4907487a1d9bb197.jpg

The other one I like is TFTC #41. There might be others I'd like to have, but I'm not going to look too hard - there's enough completist in me to be a concern. lol

Note to self: file under 'blame Ed'.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Rich, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

 

Here's the latest instalment. I said earlier that I'm not into horror comics. But there are a couple of EC Tales from the Crypt books that have such great covers I have been eyeing them for a while. I'd successfully resisted the urge, but darned if Ed's EC journal didn't tip me over the edge. This one came up on Heritage last Sunday and had the right combination of eye appeal and price, so it's mine now. I find this cover funny. The rat is a bit over the top, but the guy's expression is priceless. And Marie Severin did a great colouring job on this one.

 

TFTC45_zpsd3ajrudc.jpg

 

The other one I like is TFTC #41. There might be others I'd like to have, but I'm not going to look too hard - there's enough completist in me to be a concern. lol

 

Note to self: file under 'blame Ed'.

Cool pick up Andrew :applause:

It's always intrigued me as i have mentioned before that your extended EC run(s) aren't the Horror books.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just picked up this Australian Jumbo Comics #28.

 

When it arrived, I thought the lesson was that low grade books are still low grade even if they're cheap (A$13, or US$9). Now I think the lesson is that low grade books with mostly sound covers can look great in mylar. Thankfully this one does. :)

Jumbo28.JPG.aa3ab449b5b2c14fcfc1f41770ddcaa6.JPG

In any case, with these books I'll take what I can find. There's no telling how long before another one turns up. This (I just discovered to my surprise) is the copy scanned for the GCD here and Ausreprints here. Neither have the #17 I showed earlier. Does anyone know how to contact the GCD folks? I've tried 'contact us' and never had a response. (shrug)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice looking book!

 

I just picked up this Australian Jumbo Comics #28.

 

When it arrived, I thought the lesson was that low grade books are still low grade even if they're cheap (A$13, or US$9). Now I think the lesson is that low grade books with mostly sound covers can look great in mylar.

 

This is absolutely true! Mylar makes books look so nice, I re-bag every comic I get with it -- cost be damned!

Edited by Vorpal
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just picked up this Australian Jumbo Comics #28.

 

When it arrived, I thought the lesson was that low grade books are still low grade even if they're cheap (A$13, or US$9). Now I think the lesson is that low grade books with mostly sound covers can look great in mylar. Thankfully this one does. :)

 

Oz_jumbo_28_zps93zwnt7h.jpg

 

In any case, with these books I'll take what I can find. There's no telling how long before another one turns up. This (I just discovered to my surprise) is the copy scanned for the GCD here and Ausreprints here. Neither have the #17 I showed earlier. Does anyone know how to contact the GCD folks? I've tried 'contact us' and never had a response. (shrug)

Nice one!

After PM's with a few Boardies, i am now settling into the 'get em as/anyway you can' mind set, especially if it;s a deal, and the book isn't 'common'. I have never been a 'High Grade only' guy, but used to shy away from anything under 3.0. No more... lol

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't know what I like most about Ed Owen's stellar EC collection - the quality, breadth and depth of his books... or the fact that I can bottom feed on his undercopies. lol

Mad_14.thumb.jpg.1a02d4f289da20afbdd698309af429d4.jpg

And, no, I'm not starting to collect Tales From the Crypt. Just a few with neat covers. This one and #32 have 'woman in peril' covers that will go well with some of my Fiction House books. At least that's my story. :sumo:

TFTC_41.thumb.jpg.53061f49dc85a38c963233ba7a98a591.jpg

Thanks once again Ed. :hi:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
7 7