"I Need Help!"

Well...not myself, personally. What I need is more help at work! As I figured, the boss got caught with her pants down by not having at least three people to cover the store on the weekend due to a part-timer quiting, others off sick, etc., so here I'm going to have to work this weekend (my weekend off, natch). So I took off a few hours early today and got out to enjoy a little of this wonderful weather we're having.

On my way home I decided to drop by the local flea market and one dealer there had just bought a large number of comics from the bronze to early 90's. Looking thru them I picked out 20 books and got them for twenty bucks. Looked them up in an Overstreet just to see if I did okay and found them to be worth approx. $66., which isn't bad. That means I gave a little less than 30% of "book value", and if what he's yet to go thru for me to look at next week is any indication of what I got today, it's worth going back for a second look.

In this lot I acquired 5 different John Byrne/Chris Claremont issues of The X-Men: #'s 130 (1st.app."Dazzler"),133("Wolverine"),134("Hellfire Club"),137(Death of Marvel Girl),143(last Byrne issue), plus #'s 85(reprint),& 171(Rogue joins the team), and Amazing Spider-man #'s 201 ("Punisher"),246,248("The Kid Who Collects Spider-man"=My All-Time FAVORITE Spider-man story!),311 (McFarlane art), The New Mutants #1, Rom Space Knight #1, X-Factor #6 (1st. full app."Appocalyse"), The 'Nam #'s 5 & 10 (BOTH with Mike Golden art), The Avengers V1 #239 (David Letterman cover & app.), and some misc. like Justice League of America V1 #'s 205 & 208("JSA" x-over) and an Unknown Soldier #264("Tomahawk" and "The Balloon Buster" back-ups).

Their conditions averages from Gd+ to VG+; the most expensive "booking" at $9.; some at fifty cents, but all worth picking up to have and/or read.

And now I'm getting ready to go outside and see if I can get one of the two old lawnmovers ready and started; the front yard's already needing it!

"Sin City in 2 Days"

Been seeing a few clips from the much anticipated flick Sin City, and just from the few seconds I've seen here and there it looks like it's going to be great! Oh, "Marv" could be a little bulkier and maybe "Goldie" a little "bustier", but I believe it's going to prove to be a (comics) fan-favorite just because its closeness to Frank Miller's concepts. (We'll see...

I probably won't get to actually view it until either April 2nd. or 3rd. (due to my work schedule), but I'm going to the theatre rather than wait for rental, and that's saying a lot for me!

Otherwise I have nothing new to report today except that I got in a run of DC's The Phantom Stranger 24 thru 27, which sports a lot of nice Jim Aparo and Mike Kaluta artwork. These are much of the storyline of "The Spawn of Frankenstein" series which ran in several issues, nicely written by Marv Wolfman (which another blogger we all know has just recently reviewed, so no need to go into details on my post).

Beautiful Spring Day here in KY. today, but I think that after tomorrow we may be heading back down from the 70's to the 50's since the rain's moving in. However, the cold weather's mostly gone now and my front yard is begging to be mowed (groan)!

"Spin and Seek"

Today while I was at an antique mall in another town about 50 miles from here, I picked up about a dozen or so comics from the mid-1970's and 80's. Nothing spectacular; just good fun reading stuff, like a couple of the Grell issues he did of Superboy/Legion, the first issue of the 1982 Amethyst limited series, etc. One of them was a Spider-Woman from the early 80's, drawn by Leialoha, whose issues I always picked up. And this was #37 which is the first app. of the character "Siren", who was in X-Force and even had an app. in the last X-men movie ("Banshee's" sister). Starting waxing nostalgic about "those times" and thinking about how very much I miss buying comic books from a "spin rack".

Now, fellow blogger, Johnny Bacardi and I bought our comics each week here locally at usually the same places. The last true hold outs for a spin rack was at the Jr. Foods gas/grocery, the better one being on HWY 218. So each week, usually on a Wednesday (and "Johnny" will correct me here if my memories rotted), the Haxby News Company who had their base out of Bowling Green, KY. would come to all the stores that carried magazines and service the racks, removing old product and filling it full of new magazines, comics, etc. And, just like he did, I'd sometimes catch the magazine-man just being there and wait until the books were out just to be the first one to have a choice of the better issues from that comic rack.

The rack would greet me with the tin signs saying, "Hey!! Kids Comics", "Wholesome Entertaining Comics". "The Best in Comics", "Comics Merry-Go-Round" and "Comics for All Ages" at the top of it's various five sides, and I'd thumb through each and every section just to see what was new and possibly I had even missed from the previous week. There were times I'd go back to look again through the books due to not having enough money to obtain all I wanted initially, or maybe to pick up on something "Johnny" had recommended I buy. The Comics Spin Rack was indeed a treasure chest, and I didn't even need a key!

But, times change, and Haxby was purchased by another company and eventually all of the spin racks disapeared. For a while the store still carried some comics, but mixed in with the magazines. It just wasn't the same, and marked the end was soon near.

Today, I suppose my collection room is a representation of the old spin rack. I have indeed those five signs from an old comic rack up on my wall, and boxes crammed full of comics; each one a surprize for any to see. Direct Sales have replaced newstand sales except for some select book stores, but neither those or a Comic Book Specialty shop is just "right down the street" anymore.

And sometimes I wonder "why" they call that progress?

"Silly Titans, GO!"

And the rain has finally stopped, and with no new leaks it would appear anywhere in the ceilings, so...maybe my luck's gonna hold out on that.

I think the weather's actually trying to feel like Spring this year and maybe give us a couple of those moderate cool to warm days for a few weeks instead of the jumping from one extreme to the other like it's done so much over the past few years. Looking at my lawn I see the color green quickly over-taking all the patches of dead brown, so a definate sign that life is being renewed.

Got in a lot of three silver-age issues of The Teen Titans (DC) V1, all from 1967 today: #'s 7, 8 & 9. Was bidding just on the #7 because it was the first app. of that wacky & wild character-villian, The Mad Mod, but it's always nice to get "extras". Looking through them reminded me of why I bought both DC AND Marvel Comics a lot back then, but really enjoyed most of the Marvels better. It was because DC was trying their darndest to attempt to capture the youth movement at the time...but they just didn't quite "get it".

They'd try to make their stories "hip" and "groovy"; this was during that year and a half period where every DC title has "Go-Go Checks" adorning the top of the covers. Guess they thought this was a way to distinguish them from other companies easier as well for their readers. And I think that anyone that read both companies during the 1960's could easily tell whether they were reading a DC or Marvel just from the stories, as Marvel didn't really try to make their books relevant to the times; they just were. Not that DC didn't publish a lot of good stuff back then, but Stan Lee obviously had more of a handle on what his audience wanted, and over at DC they were still trying to ride that Batman Camp T.V. Show for as much as they could squeeze out of it.

Today, tho', I buy more DC's that were pubbed back then than the Marvel's I think out of a sense of nostalgia and maybe just to see what I might have been missing. They were in many ways silly and juvenile, but for the better part, they were fun!

"Happy Eastre"

Such a rainy day I never got out of town. Was hoping it'd be much like the previous two days with sunshine and warmer temps, but it figures. Always thought I missed my calling and should have been a Weather Man because I can predict lousey weather; it's always when I have a day off!

So instead I sat around here and awaited the so-call combined shipping charges from eight different auction wins from this one eBay comic dealer. First I grabbed up 51 comics with bags & boards from my own boxes and weighed them (10 lbs.,max), then went to the USPS website to see what an estimate of shipping charges could be (since I won 51 comics total from the guy; no mention though of bags or boards on his listing). At the most the costs First Class (which is how he stated they'd be mailed) would be no more that $10., and I'd been happy to have paid even $15. total for "handling charges". When he finally replied he stated the cost for shipping would be: $32.00!

Now, I've never not paid for an auction I've won in the five-6 years I've been buying off of eBay sellers, but don't think for a moment that I didn't consider just stiffing him on this outrageous amount and risking the negs. But, yes; I DID send him the postage amount he requested, and it's only because I won 8 different comic lots at a mere .01 each (Grand Total: .08), and the amount total to send him was $32.08. This is just another one of those cases where a dealer loses money on his auctions and makes it up by gouging his customers on postage, whereas here he's getting an extra twenty dollars. It's a practise that's, unfortunately, getting more and more common place among listings.

So, I'll wait until he leaves me feedback, I get my books, and then I'll neg his ass.

In other "news", I thought seriously about posting a picture of myself on Easter Sunday 1958 when I was a child of 7 years old, all dressed up in my bowtie and little, white suit , holding my Easter Basket, but fortunately for all concerned (including yours truely) I couldn't easily locate it. Gee, I was a cute, little innocent fart back then...before I was possessed by demons.

I DID buy myself a little "Easter Present" today, tho', when at the local drug store when I was purchasing my money order I found a Director's Cut of my favorite Harrison Ford flick, Blade Runner, for $7.99, and I DO consider that a bargain!

Time for me to slow down and await all my various auction wins now that I've spent the most of my Christmas Bonus money on comics & the such and wait until everything comes in the mail before looking for other items. I've stretched the extra cash out for 3 months , which, to me, was doing really good.

Oh yeah..."A Happy Easter, and a Good Celebration of Eastre" to One and All!

"Easter Eve"

You may recall a previous post where I was wondering about the legalities of marriages in Kentucky (March 18th.). Thanks to my good, old friend, Steve, I was supplied with the following information which I quote verbatim from his letter:
"Contrary to what many people believe, Kentucky is not a common-law state. I discovered this when finishing my degree about 17 years ago. One of my requirements was a business law course and it was taught by a trial lawyer. During one of his lectures he was discussing dividing up property when two people had been living together. He assured us that Kentucky was not a common-law state so living with someone in Kentucky, no matter how long you are together, does not give a partner any property rights or expectations. He said when he had a client who lived with someone and was wanting to get her (usually a her I suspect) hands on some property he would advise them to come to him before they moved out. Then they should suggest that the couple try a little mini-vacation to try to work out their problems. But the mini-vacation would take place in a common-law state such as Tennessee. When they returned his client should retain a copy of the motel receipt to demonstrate in court that they behaved as a married couple in a common-law state. This, he said, was valuable in getting property concessions in such a case.
But in Kentucky, if you want to be married you have to see a bonded pastor or an official and you have to be of opposite sexes."

You note that Steve stated that a marriage must be performed by a bonded pastor or an official, which is pretty much the point I had made before. I did not realize that kentucky was not a common-law state, however. (Thanks for clearing that up for me, Steve!)

Here today it was much like summer-time weather again, and with that came the multitudes! Being Easter weekend and Spring Break times added to that flood of people and we were literally rushing them out-the-door when closing time finally got around! It was as busy as any typical weekend Summer day today, and more so that any combined weekend days from any other time of the year. (Sure was a shame to be inside today again when it's like this outside. Just hope we get a nice Easter Day off that's even half as pleasant.)

"Gold Moon of Kentucky"

I hope the moon looks as beautiful to everyone else reading this tonight no matter where they are, 'cause here in South-Central, Kentucky it's gigantic and a blazing gold! What a great day temperature-wise for us at 70 degrees. 'Shame I had to waste it being inside at work the biggest percentage of the day.

Well, in music news a sad note hearing that the original Foghat guitarist: Rod price died on March 22nd. These old rockers never get any younger, tho' (and neither do I).

Had a nice surprize today about noon when a fellow chat boarder and his family stopped by (briefly) just to say Hi! on their way thru while on vacation. Great to finally meet on of my fellow Boarders!

Otherwise it was just one of those typical busy days where I didn't get everything done that needed to be so. I see tomorrow being pretty busy as well (if this weather holds up) being a three day weekend for a lot of folks as well as Spring break for many students.

"Fun & Games"

Here's a neat little game for all you readers to play! Try to get Daffy's 'chute to open! (Such fun!)

I thought I did well with This and This last night on various auction wins. (Can you figure out why I wanted the westerns lot?)

And today I finally completed my bronze-age set of Kirby The Demon by getting in a #11. Didn't really have all "that much" invested in the set of 16 issues, having bought a dozen of them from one dealer as a "lot", then two more I needed at my comic shop and then the other two from on-line auctions. I think I started putting this set together, maybe, back last November.

And being off from work today I went outside and finished getting the yard in order for the approaching mowing season by raking up the last of the leaves, loose tree bark and twigs and the like. Of course, I'll still have to pick up a lot of small limbs and the like before that actually begins because we haven't even had our Spring thunderstorms yet. As much as I like having some large trees in the yard, they ARE a pain and I wouldn't mind having all three of them cut down (or, at least the ones in front), but even so I'd want to leave one of them tall enough for the local squirrels to enjoy and have my feeders for them and all the birds that "expect" a free meal.

This Easter weekend looks to be a wash-out as heavy rains are predicted to move into the area, so there goes all the egg hunts for the kids around here. I really ought to post a pic I have of myself when I was 7 years old and dressed in my smart, white jacket and bowtie, holding my Easter Basket, all decked out for church back around 1959...(but I don't think so! *heh*).

"But Keep The Long Johns Handy"

A little cool today as Winter waves bye-bye for a while. Tomorrow's supposed to be in the 60's, and Friday even warmer, and now it's time for all the Spring rains to start. I look foreward to the warmer temperatures, but not the rain as in the past I've ended up with roof leaks that have ruined parts of my interior ceilings and caused the panels to weaken and fall. Hopefully I've got all of those leaks stopped, but...well, you just never know, huh?

Typical work day, today. We got in a LOT of new tools for my sections and half of the time I spent just trying to rearrange all of the space and peg boards for those items. Still didn't have them all put out by quitting time. I used to work myself to death to get all of that done, but anymore I have gotten to attitude that "there's always tomorrow" and it'll still be waiting for me, so...

Just about time for the new Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide to be available and I haven't decided if I'll buy a new one or not this year. From just one year to the other, only prices on current new "hot" stuff seems to go up much; the rest I figure at about 7% to 10% increase. But I might still let loose of $25. just for the articles. I DO like to keep up with any price increases on comics I have that are worth twenty-five dollars or more, and the OPG always reprints a lot of nice comic covers that are fun to look at, to see what you'd like to have, have had or already do own.

"And A WET Tuesday"

Too many "things" happening in the news today, everything from a person's rights to "live" (if you want to call living in a vegatative state, "life"), to Blake getting off on a murder charge (looks like a re-run of the O. J. trial). So I'm going to just bite-my-tongue and not comment on any of it; just make me mad to talk about it probably, and perhaps many of you mad to hear what I really think about any of it.

So, let's talk about today.

After one month and 5 days mailed media from Chicago, IL. to South-Central, KY., a copy of Doom Patrol V1 (DC) #116 (1967) finally arrived in the mail after both myself and the seller giving up all hope of ever seeing it again! Geez! I could've walked to Chicago and back in that length of time! But, anyway, I'm very glad it finally arrived and that brings me down to just two issues (#'s 103 & 115) completing a set of the original DP run. The only other silver-age app. I need of the team would be the cameos in Teen Titans V1 #6.

Started in raining here early and I wanted to go outside and work on cleaning up around the house, trying to get this place back in shape from Winter. Finally went out in the rain anyway and took down part of the old insulation and weather board I had it and disposed of same. Got cold and wet, and I've just gotten over being ill here last week and didn't want to lower my resistance any more, so I quit that for the the time being and came back inside.
Want to get the yard looking better and maybe even plant some new flowers or the like soon, plus there's a load of small sticks and bark and the like that's blown off the old trees from the past season.

But my wife and I then began on Spring housecleaning, getting these floors clean, and dusting, etc., trying to get ready for the elimination of the old carpet in the living room and perhaps some furniture rearranging. Worked on that at least a couple of hours.

Then finally, the rain stopped and the sun poked it's head out for a while and I went back and finished up gathering all the leafs and small twigs and branches and got that hauled off and finished except for some old plywood I need to trash, which my wife had bought originally for craft projects, but now has gotten wet and warped and useless for that purpose.

Now we're going to try to relax the rest of the day, 'cause, it IS supposed to be a day OFF from work!

Been trying to figure out what exactly I want to do about having something better to put all my old l.p.s in. Currently I have from 250-300 albums and I've never been satisfied with the stand I have them in (actually a couple of different stands) so I'm thinking about getting rid of both of them, maybe giving one to my wife for the living room knick-knacks, and moving a large, tall, metal stand into this room instead to use as an entertainment center. I believe it'd be big enough for all the l.p.s, plus the turntable and speakers and my seperate CD/cassette tape deck and I could have all of that right in one spot. The trouble is that when I rearrange this room, I have to rearrange OTHER rooms as well due to limited space, or just get rid of something or put it in storage due to limited space. So, it's going to take some thinking before I finally decide on that solution. After all, this room already contains around 40 boxes of comics and magazines, three large and one small bookstands crammed to the hilt with paperbacks, hardcovers ,trade paperbacks and CDs, a metal "safe" crammed full, plus two small metal file cabinets, yet another stand for my scanner, the closet is packed as well, and there's my computer station and I even had to build shelves just for some plastic models and large action figures and the like!

"A Monday Post"

THIS is a real neat site! You can click on your birth month and year and see all of the various covers to the DC Comics from that time! (Of course, if you really wanna be "technical" about it, you should really go back about 2 months to know what was actually on the newstands at the time).

I'm a happy camper today having gotten in a copy of My Greatest Adventure #85 from 1964, which is the last issue I needed of that title with a "Doom Patrol" appearence. Also I got in a copy of The Demon V1 #14 from 1973, which was one of just two issues I needed to complete that set. The MGA 85 also has 8 pages of nice Alex Toth artwork, and, of course, The Demon is Kirby and features the 2nd. app. of "Klarion, the Witch Boy".

"Alright" day at work. I'm off tomorrow and Thursday and we're closed easter Sunday, so this should prove to be an easy week for a change.

"Hey, Vernal, It's Spring!"

Well. Close enough. I always thought the vernal equinox was on March 21st., and even if you look it up in Webster's New World Dictionary, it'll tell you that as well. But for some reason it seems that now it's always on the 20th.,so...anyway...I think it's measured by the distance of one week before Easter, and the 21st. is actually the 1st. day of Spring. Dunt matter. It's finally here and I'm damn well expecting nothing but warmer weather until at least November and an end to my high heating bills!

As usual, I've pretty much wasted a whole, pretty weekend off doing things for other people, but nothing for myself. It's not that I mind, but it'd just be nice to do what I'd like to do for a change, instead of always having to do tasks for my folks, or trying to help catch up with all the things needed around the house. I feel like I'm in one gigantic rut in my life at this time, and half way dread my vacation time coming on just because I know that then it's be a whole week of the same! Seems like I never get further than 45 miles from this town all of that time, and three quaters of that time is spent repairing something around here and I never get a chance to have any enjoyment from the time off. Then before you know it, the week's gone and it's back to the grind for another long 51 weeks.

And where I work at never gets any better. Next month will mark five long years at the same place, and if anything it's gotten worse to work at, since now I never have any full time help and each year more or more jobs get shoved off to my responcibility, whereas the loads seem to get lighter and lighter on my co-workers. In fact, when I'm off a day and they actually have to do something they think that's just so unfair and outrageous. (Wonder how they'd feel if just one of these days I called in and said I wasn't coming back at all?)

A good example of this would be the gasoline scooter situation, there. For at least a year we carried Terminator brand gas scooters, and they had so much trouble with them from customers letting their kids improperly ride them and tear them up and wanting free repairs or replacements, that eventually my bosses got fed up with it all and said that when they were all sold they'd never handle them again. Which was an outright lie. This past week we got in more of them, but now they're selling them "as is". If someone wants one, they have to pay for it first and sign an agreement that it's being sold "as is" before we even start one up. We let them test ride it if they wish, and then if for any reason it's not satisfactory, we refund them on the spot, because once they take it off the lot, it's theirs! So my employers wanted me to make darn sure everyone that worked in retail understood all of that, which is pretty much crap since only my part-time male help or I would even be selling them. And when I did try to explain all of these rules to the women that worked there, they all acted like they knew it all already. Just one of the many things I put up with on a daily basis.

But unless you're self-employed, then it's always something.

"Slow and Lazy day"

Sort of an on-again-off-again sort of day here, with the sun occasionally peeping out between light rain showers. Can't complain since the temperatures have stayed in the high 40's to low 50's. Spring-time's knocking on the door so maybe these high heating bills will finally disapear for a while.

Been sitting around watching The Ten Commandments for probably the 50th. time. Can't help it. Oh, I know it isn't totally accurate to Biblical scriptures and 50% Hollywood, but it's such an enjoyable flick! And I still get a kick everytime I hear Robinson talking to the Hebrews while Moses is up on the mountain! (Wish you could hear a fair imitation I do of that!) The flick made a BIG impression on me when I was a little kid and first saw it at my local drive-inn one night when my folks took us to see it back in the late 1950's.

And, speaking of that time period, I found a couple of neat comics from the 1950's today: Atomic Mouse #15 (Charlton/1955), and The Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis #33 (DC/1956). The Atomic Mouse has Al Fago art which is great! Fago always was the Frazetta of funny animal comics. This book also has a nice Fawcett "Hoppy the Marvel Bunny" reprint, albeit edited to be "Hoppy the MAGIC Bunny". The AODM&JL is in better shape than the AM; probably a VG/VG+ and worth, surprizingly, around twenty-five bucks! I got both of them at a local antique store that's having a moving sale for less than 30% of "Guide", so I did well with that. It's just a shame that when I find such comics from the 50's they can't be a Showcase 4 or some such book for that sort of price! (But, I takes what I kin get.)

Nothing new at the local flea markets, though. The rain kept people from sitting outside, and just the same-ol-same-ol at the other. I think it's supposed to clear off tomorrow so maybe some dealers will set up outside then.

"Legally Wed?"

Got into a bit of a discussion the other day (oh, alright; it was an outright arguement) regarding the legality of various ministers to marry a couple in the state of Kentucky.

It all began when I simply stated that a minister friend of mine had to be bonded before he was able to perform such a ceremony, which is a fairly simple process since all he has to do is own at least $50.00 worth of property.

The person that was arguing against me stated that ANY minister could marry someone legally, including some country preacher out in the sticks. So....I did some digging into the specific laws governing such in this state.

1) Not just anyone can perform a legal marriage ceremony just because they claim their a minister and have ,heard the calling. That just doesn't work. Not all ministers have to be bonded, but they must at least be recognized AS a minister in their religious group to do so. And not just by their church, but by the sect or denomination of which the church is a member ( i.e., if they're a minister in the Methodist Church, it's not legal if only that church says he/she's a minister; the Methodist Church as a whole has to agree upon that fact as well). There's a reason for that. It's to keep just any bum from off the street with little or no knowledge of that church or religion to claim he's a minister and have such rights. Just like being a policeman, fireman, or any professional, one MUST be certified.

2) Justices of The Peace and judges can also perform wedding ceremonies legally; whether they have to be bonded or not, I do not know, but they DO have to actually be a legal judge or Justice of the Peace and recognized/certified as such by the state .

Another point the person I was having this arguement with stated was then, "why doesn't the state tell them they aren't married? I would think for probably a couple of reasons. The minister probably didn't file the ceremony WITH the county in which the ceremony was performed, or, maybe because the state doesn't really care because a good percentage of such weddings last longer that seven years. And if you're together as a couple living in the same residence, then you're legally married by common law(besides that, if you're of legal age then there's no laws against living together).

I would think in such cases that if , say, one of the couple died before the passing of seven years, that any inheritance could be protested by other members of the immediate families (but that's something I really haven't dug into yet). I would also think that also any changes in social security benefits or armed service benefits could as well be in question .

If anyone has further information regarding the legalities of such in Kentucky, I'd be really interested to hear about them, but please do state the law with references or not just here say or personal opinion.

"Green, Green, It's Green, They Say---"

Wishing everyone a good St. Patrick's Day. Just a shame that when Patty was driving out the snakes he couldn't have driven out all the English as well.

"A Much better Day"

Say! I think I'm finally about over my cold! (About time.) This thing has drug on for a good two weeks, but I did notice yesterday feeling slightly better, and today I went the full day without a single bit of cough syrup or cold medicine. Still a little congested, tho'.

Mom called tonight to let me know she's having some eye surgery next month, but nothing major. One of those "in-and-out" things in one afternoon. Still I think I'll take that day off to make sure she's okay and can get back from the hospital without problems.

Looks like Spring is finally trying to show itself here in South-Central, KY. I noticed in the weather forecasts that temperatures are staying pretty much above the freezing mark even at night, now. As usual, I'm sure we'll go from one extreme to another and we have for the past several years, and it'll turn just out-right HOT.(Fine with me!)

Got a e-mail from someone today telling me that I didn't know HOW to write a blog, which I find sorta funny because, what was he doing reading it? Hey, folks, there's a LOT of bloggers out there that write far more interesting stuff that I do. And, this blog isn't meant to be especially informative or enlightening; just my daily rants. I must have some people that enjoy it, however, judging by the number of hits on the counter. Anyway...

I read that DC's published a new Son of Vulcan title, based on the old Charlton Comics' character from the 60's. Trying to think of the various titles of the Charlton characters they've done now since they bought the rights. Let's see, there's Captain Atom, Blue Beetle, The Peacemaker, Thunderbolt, The Question, plus I think Nightshade's made an app.; have I left any out? Maybe we'll even see "The Fighin' Five" next! Actually, I'd sorta like to see a new "Dr. Graves" book. Seems like that'd fit right in with their Vertigo line.

Release date for the Sin City flick is April 1st.: April Fool's day! Gotta mark that on the calendar 'cause I wanna be seventh row center.

"Recovering"

This certainly was a "wasted" day. I'm still trying to get over this cold I've had for about 2 weeks now, and didn't really want to chance making it worse, so I didn't get over two miles from the house. Went out to the store to buy something for tomorrow's breakfast, and then walked 4 houses down the block to where my folks live just to check on dad because my mom had been trying to call him from work for over an hour with no reply. Seems he was out in his work shop piddlin' with his air compressor.

Then came right back home again. Thought about putting about 3-1/2 long boxes of books in my collections today, but still have about a box and a half that I've yet to put backing boards on, so have decided just to wait until I get them all ready, 'cause that's gonna take some time and effort of lying them all out and quite a bit of rearranging.

Finally gave up on ever receiving a copy of Doom patrol 116 I won back on 2/13. The dealer said he'd refund it, but I haven't seen that yet. I did win a copy of My Greatest Adventure 85 which is the last app. of The Doom Patrol I needed in that title, plus copies of #'s 11 & 14 of Jack Kirby's The Demon (from the 1970's) that I needed to complete that set. All of this just happened in the past few days, though, and it's way too early for anything to come in from those wins.

While I was at the store I noticed they had the original Silly Putty for sale. Gee. I didn't even know they still MADE that stuff anymore; hadn't seen it for years! Wonder how many comic books there are out there with some slightly faded-looking panels where someone put that stuff on it to transfer the image? I know there's at least ONE copy somewhere of Fantastic Four #17 like that!(*heh*)

"Correction to Previous Post"

Crap, dang, and other %^&$#@!&^! I mistakenly reported that Bruce Willis was playing the part of "Marv" in the new Sin City flick, when actually that part will be played by Mickey Rourke. (Oh, well...Maybe I'll like this flick anyway.)

No real posting here today, folks. I'm just too sick with a bad cold to sit here any length of time.

"I'm X-Tra Confused"

At the local flea maket today I found this 1980's French Marvel comic called Spidey, which I have absolutely no idea why it's called that since there's not an appearance of Spider-man in the comic outside of an ad for another French comic with him actually on it on the back cover.

What it is, in fact, is X-Factor #3, which I believe is the first appearance of Cable as "Baby Nathan".

Looking at this story again got me to remembering "why" I gave up on any of the Marvel X-Men type titles back then.

The original Jean Grey "Marvel Girl" had died during the Claremont/Byrne run on Uncanny X-men, but had been replaced later with a clone (?) of named Madelyne? She and Scott Summers get hitched and produce a child named Nathan, who in reality, grows up to be Cable, who then goes back in time and met The New Mutants?

Then, over I think in The Fantastic Four, Ms. Grey (aka: "The Phoenix") has been found on the bottom of the ocean in a cocoon, and is resurrected and rejoins The X-men, but as Marvel Girl again instead of Phoenix? Later, she and Scott get married, right? But, what happened to Madelyne??? This whole storyline got me pretty confused. So much so in fact that I ceased buying any of the X-titles, and outside of the more recent events that unfolded in the Milligan/Allred run on X-Force and X-Statix, I couldn't tell you what's gone on in any of them for the past 20 years.

"Johnny"

Got in the above copy of Johnny #1 published in 1991 by New Voice Comics for my Beatles in Comics Collection. Has some pretty neat stuff in it . Various stories relating to The Beatles and John Lennon by some of my favorite folk, like John MacLeod, Roberta Gregory & Tim Corrigan and others, several of whose work I published in my own defunct 1980's line of small press publications under the Ravensnest banner.

Probably my favorite strip in it's by John MacLeod, who did his own book called The Mundane Adventures of DISHMAN. John's work always seemed to me as professional quality writing and artwork stuck in a small press 'zine. Eclipse Comics did have the intelligence to publish some of these in a one-shot pro-comic in the 1990's.

Roberta Gregory's work is always a treat. Roberta's a pretty well-known writer and illustrator, probably best known for her Bitchy Bitch stuff.

Then there's Tim Corrigan (whose work has graced many a small press book, fanzine as well as some pro stuff; many remember him as the publisher of The Small Press Comics Explosion from several years back), Mike Corrigan, Steve Keeter, Larry Blake and Gary Nelson.
Some really excellant and recommended material here.

"Would be A Sin to Miss It!"

Say! I'm excited! One of my all time favorite actors, Bruce Willis, is playing "Marv" in the SIN CITY movie! No movie rental for me here, folks! I'll be actually in 7th. row center when this comes around local, since that's my personal very favorite series written by Frank Miller!

And, I've noticed that my counter has pased the 1500 mark! Granted that at least 300 of those hits were from me, checking for typos and the like, but also I didn't put that counter on this blog until a good two months after I started it, so it's great to see that many times "someone" has thought that this was interesting enough to actually take a gander! My thanks to one and all!

"Just Takin' Care o' Business"

Looks like it wouldn't be such a hassle just to change two light bulbs, heh? Guess if they were "regular" bulbs, and not florescents, it would have been. So I got up early this morning and went over to my folks' house because their over-head kitchen lights went out. They have this dual-round, florescent type, right? With two seperate bulbs.

First thing I was hoping was that it was indeed the bulbs and NOT to balast; not that I couldn't change one, I suppose. I change them all the time at work, but it's for the 8 foot straight types. To my joy I found it was indeed the bulbs by their blackened conditions, and it was relatively easy just to unplug each bulb, and unsnap the supports to remove them.

Then...I had to find some place locally that carried that type. After a number of telephone calls to businesses here in town I came up empty, and finally called a hardware store about 10 miles away. They did indeed have them (but, just barely as they only had one of each of the sizes I needed in stock). So, I had to drive the 20 mile round trip to get those.

Once obtained, however, it was just a matter of reversing the removal process, and: "Bingo! Let der' be light!"

Then I cleaned out their back porch gutters, and back home by noon. But, "where has this day gone"? Let's see...I did a load of laundry, washed the dishes, went and got some groceries, and looked up at the clock to find it already 5 PM. Sure wish the time at work would pass so quickly!

And, once again, nothing interesting in today's mail. Auction wins way over-due; probably at least one them "lost" now it appears ("what else" but one of the Doom Patrols I needed). I've been researching all of the DP app.'s since their origin in My Greatest Adventure #80, BTW. I would appear that counting all the cameos I could find as well as various reprints, the number of app.'s would be around 210-215 since 1962. I have over 170 of those, so I'm "pretty close", plus I already have all of the big dollar books in those.

Been trying to work on a deal for 7 long boxes and mostly modern comics from this one guy that was selling them for a friend of his, but I've pretty much just put that aside. He wants too much for them, and there'd be a lot of dup's that I'd have to end up selling, myself. Plus the guy that has them (at the moment) seems to have no enthusiasm about really getting them sold; just lets them sit there in his living room floor collecting dust. Bet he's had them for a good 7 months and I think the only ones he ever sold out of them at all were ones I'd pulled in a previous deal. I really hate it when people won't give you some sort of "closure" on that sort of thing...so I'M closing the deal myself, by just simply backing out and spend my hard-earned cash in other places.

Still cold weather in these parts. Seems like it'll never be warm again (Im soooo sick of Winter)!

"Just More of the Same"

Well, I didn't want a day to go by without posting something, if nothing more than to keep in the habit and not break my long streak. But, honestly, not much is new here. Work was about the same as always; writing up tools, assembling large items, etc. Just enough to make the day pass pretty quick.

I did have a little luck this morning when I asked the cashier at a local gas/grocery stop for a dollar scratch-off and actually won $64.00 on it! Surprized the heck outta me, as usually winners I've seen of late have been one or two bucks.

Nothing in the mail except the typical junk. Nothing good on the tube, except that I watched Smallville, which was a re-run, but--if I've never seen it well, it's new to me. I don't keep up that much with the show. Think I'd like it better if Clark would just go ahead and don a costume instead of all this "little odd town in Kansas" sort of stuff every week.

Came home and put a few backing boards in books and fixed a couple of make-shift lids for a few of my comic boxes just so I could stack them better and not damage any books. Looks like I'll still need at least 400 backing boards before I can finally add all the new additions to my collection.

My wife finally got to go pick up our completed tax forms so we'll be mailing that off tomorrow. (We're a little later getting this done this year due to the bad weather on and off.) Looks like we'll get back maybe a little better than last year, which is always good. Always a use around here for the extra cash.

Caught yet another mouse in a trap today, which makes at least 3 over the past two weeks. Guess I'm going to have to put out some bait to get rid of the critters. They're coming inside from this cold weather looking for food. I hate to kill them, but that's a case of either them or me. My feline is, of course, non plux about mice since he's a fat, well-fed house tom that could care less about eating some nasty rodent when there's cat food always available. Lazy ass. ("Get in there, "Bobcat", and earn yer keep!")

Guess tomorrow if I can get the chance I need to seriously look for a new pair of shoes, but I'll have to go out-of-town to do so. Just depends on whether I can get the chance since my mom's already asked me to come try to fix her overhead kitchen light. There's always plenty I have to do on a day off.

"Doomed to Completion"

Okay; today I got in another 5 misc. issues I needed of the 2nd. Series DC Doom Patrol (#'s 20-24), which breaks that 20 something number I needed of this title down to 16. I notice that 10 of those are actually the Pre-Vertigo Morrison run (19-63), which isn't surprizing since they seem more in demand. These were also the rest of the issues I needed which were reprinted in the first TPB: "Crawling From The Wreckage". Finding just odd issues of this title in various auctions I've scanned thru is difficult as sellers have them in "lots", which gives me so many duplications. In fact, this lot I got today actually had an additional 3 issues I already had. One of these days I've gotta list all of those dups myself; maybe it'll help someone else's collection!

And yesterday, I got in a copy of Action Comics #553, from 1984. It's all Gil Kane art and is the second half of a story which featured a mess o' silver-age DC odditiy characters like Animal Man, Vandall Savage, Cave Carson, Dolphin,etc. I'm a little surprized those two issues of Action (552-553) don't "book" higher than they do since they're Animal Man app.'s pre-his-own-title.

Along with the Action Comics came 4 misc. issues of Marvel's X-Statix I didn't have: #'s 15,22,23 & 26; I still need 10 odd issues of that between 13-25, but haven't decided IF I'll concentrate on actually finishing the set. I may have the best of those Milligan/Allred gems already. But maybe...if I find them cheap enuff.

Little excitement across the street from where I work, yesterday. Heard "someone" flooding the engine on their pick-up truck; looked across the street to see this girl getting out and going into one of the businesses there (probably to call for help). A little while later I looked out again and a ton'o smoke was pouring out from the truck's hood! People standing all around it, and not a one of them with a fire extinguisher or trying to put it out. So I decided to grab the one I had in the store and run across there to see if I could put it out, but just as I did, large flames started coming out everywhere on the vehicle and within a matter of a few seconds had totally engulfed the truck!

Realizing it was too late to do anything, I called 911 for the fire department, but someone had already beat me to that and it wasn't but just a minute or two that a fire truck arrived and they put it out. The truck appeared to be a total loss, gutting its interior, blowing out all four tires and melting the paint job. I can't figure out "why", with all the help there was around that truck and people obviously seeing it starting to catch on fire, that someone didn't grab a handy extinguisher and use it? It would have taken me at least 5 to 7 minutes just to get the extinguisher and try to run across a busy hwy, then up the parking lot, and pop the hood on the truck. All anyone there would have had to do was grab one off the wall in one of the stores, walk 15 feet and pop the hood; probably less than 3 minutes. It's like peple just don't really care to help anyone anymore, but you know? I'm sure they'd been pretty damn happy if someone had helped out had it been their vehicle. (Seeing non-actions like that tend ta piss me off.)

Made some useless trips around to try to find me a new pair of shoes today, but I'm afraid our local stores had nadda. I have to wear 10-1/2 WIDES, and the selection here local was either pitiful or over-priced, so I guess next day off it's to Wallyworld I go. Maybe I can find something besides white sneakers, at least. (And, for the time being, I tossed my old shoes with the worn-down heels making my feet ache in the trash and pulled out my "Sunday Slippers" just to have a decent pair.)

"Movie Review: Roger Corman's Vampirella"

Last night on one of the Showtime channels they showed the Roger Corman Vampirella flick from 1996. Being one that has always tried to watch every movie based on comic book type characters at least one time, I waded thru the 90 minutes of what I expected from Corman.

I won't get into the specifics of the flick too much, or all the various people who was in it; just a quicky review here because the above link (if you want to click onto it) can tell you all of that anyway.

But basically it involves the Warren vampire character following evil vampires from her home planet to earth to extract revenge upon them for killing her father, and trying to take over her planet. The main evil vamp' calls himself: "Vlad".

Her space craft crashes on Mars and she stays there in a "suspendo" chamber for three thousand years until mankind finally sets foot upon the red planet, discovers her and brings her to Earth. She hypnotizes the crewmen into forgetting they found her, and when the craft lands she turns into a bat and flies off to seek out the killers.

The main evil dude, Vlad, is played by Roger Daltry of "The Who" fame, who makes a fairly realistic evil sort. Since he's already been on the Earth for three thousand years he's built up a legend by renaming himself, of course, "Dracula"(after the name of his home planet "Drakulon").

And in a nut shell, Vampirella (played by Talisa Soto) goes around fighting all the baddies until she finally finds and kills Vlad.

It contains all of the fair to half-ass "good and cheap" special effects for which Corman is infamous. The fight scenes are decent and the space crafts and alien landscapes are passable.

I can't say that I cared very much for Ms. Soto in the role, tho', as I always remember Vampirella being depicted as more voluptuous, and here she almost to the point of being skinny...well...let's say atheletic in build. Anyway, nothing really like what Frank Frazetta's original idea showed her. And the costume was just not quite right, but over-all I give this flick probably a grade of C+ just for the effort. Something to watch while you're doing other things, or just plain bored.

" Your Sunday I.Q. Test"

I think I have a LOT of smart people that read this blog, but---see how smart you REALLY ARE by taking this little QUIZ.

"Comic Shop Day"

A Good Day Today; went to the comic shop in Bowling Green. It's a place I don't get to real often, and since I usually drop some bucks every time I do, I save up before-hand just for that purpose.

Working on my Doom Patrol collection, I didn't find any issues of the title itself that I needed except for a #7 of the current series. I DID find the 3 misc. issues of DC's Super-Team Family with reprints of The DP I needed, however.

Some other books I have on a "want list" I found were The Demon V1 #'s 12 & 13 by Kirby, which leaves me with just two issues to complete the set of the 16.

I also bought a gaming figure of "The Demon", which is pretty neat. (I'm not into the games, but I like some of the figures.)

Got copies of The Brave & The Bold #'s 85 & 89. The 85 has Neal Adams artwork, and is the first "new look" Green Arrow app., where he's got the current costume and the goatie. The 89 has an Adams cover, and is an early app. of "The Phantom Stranger" (these are from 1969-70).

Found the 5 misc. issues between #'s 116-129 I needed of X-Force by Milligan and Allred (which is all of those I wanted). Haven't decided whether I'll buy issues further than #12 in the back-issue stock of the X-Statix title of which it continued. I may have the best of it now.

Bought the 6th. and final volume I wanted of The Essential Amazing Spider-man, which reprints issues far beyond The Death of Gwen Stacy and Green Goblin. I'll concentrate more on other volumes now of that particular reprint series.

Picked up a freebie edition of the DC "ashcan" of Advent Rising. Haven't read it yet, but it appears to be typical modern DC fare.

Got the wide-screen version of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen on DVD as well, plus a package of 100 backing boards (which the several long boxes of books I have around here I haven't added to the main collections quickly ate up).

At the local flea market I found the "Marvel Legends" Man-Thing figure; the one with 37 points of articulation. The package was all smushed up, so I took him out of that for display. Came with a reprint comic and card. And I found VHS copies of Ghost World, and Evil Dead, which are nice since all I previously had of them were where I taped them off the tube.

The one comic I passed on today was a 1941 Superman #10, which I hated to do, but the shop had a hundred bucks on the thing, and it was missing the 4 center pages along with some damage to the spine: more like a $75. book, so maybe I'll reconsider that when they have one of their 25% off back issues sales (and IF it's still there).

Finally, in today's mail, I got in copies of the Gold Key The Invaders #'s 1 & 2(based on the sci-fi t.v. series) from 1967; neat photo covers on both.

So...I had a pretty good day, collection-wise.

"Spring's Just Around De Corner"

The March Lilies are in Bloom again! (Reaalllly, they are...) Well, duh! It's March! I was outside a while ago and noticed that I had two, very pretty, yellow, March Lilies that had survived a little snowy weather and other lilies as well springing up around in the yard. Not sure if I'll plant another flower garden this year; seems like I was the only one that ever tried to keep the weeds out of it. Although warm weather isn't that far off, we gotta take the good w/the bad, and I dread lawn mowing season. Just a chore, ya know? And of course it has to be done every week, usually on my day off from work. Think I'll make it a rule this summer to mow it once every TWO weeks instead.

My local comic shop is having "some sorta" sale this weekend. Can't recall if it's on CD's or DVDs, or VHS tapes, or Trade Paperbacks. Was hoping it was 25% off the comic stock back issues, but no such luck. I'm looking forward to May 7th., tho', as that's Free Comic Book day for 2005! Looks like one of the giveaways might be a reprint of Uncle Scrooge #1 this year.

Still nadda in today's mail; got one book in particular that's late and hoping I don't start having a string of bad luck not receiving books I've won on auctions again. I went thru all that from Sept. to Dec. of last year; just ain't fun.

Fairly steady at work today, just enough to make the day go by, and I'm off for the weekend, but rain's predicted. Probably just enough to keep me indoors both days. It's not like I don't have windshield wipers on my car, but driving in the rain (especially long distances) certainly is a drag. Maybe I'll try to catch up with a little reading if that becomes the case.

"Other Incomes"

President Bush seems really concerned about where the money's all going to come from for Social Security; that eventually it'll run out.

What sorta amazes me is that he doesn't realize the various types of things he could tax in this country, besides our meager paychecks. So, let me suggest a few options here:


1) Alcohol Sales

2) Gambling (lotteries, casinos, whatever)

3) Firearms

4) Foriegn Imports

5) Major Sporting Events



I'm sure there'd be a lot more if I just thought about it for a while. And, I'm not talking about large amounts, but just a few pennies on the dollar. Every years billions of dollars are spent on such things as tickets to major sporting events, lottery tickets, booze, pistols, rifles, ammo, and a LOT of things we don't really need in life, but---just want them. If we want them bad enough, and we want to make sure that when we retire there's a reserve fund "somewhere" so we can get that Social Security Check every month I really don't see how something like a mere 3 or 4 cents on the dollar extra could hurt us.

Adding a small tariff to foriegn imports could also encourage more businesses to produce goods we could afford WITHIN the United States, rather than sending all the jobs outside of it.

I'm not saying this is the answer, because there is no quick solution...


But it's just my thoughts on the matter.

"A Short One"

Well, today is my wife, Debbie's, Birthday! So, Happy Birthday, Debbie! She seemed to have a good one. I bought her this 4 foot, red wood lattice and a tin sign with Elvis on it, and a card, and my mom gave her a card and a new pull-over. She had the day off from work and went to Bowling Green with a friend, so I think she enjoyed her day pretty well.

Nothing else new to report today, really, so maybe I'll waste more of everyone's time tomorrow!.

"Oh, I Can See CLEARLY, NOW!"

Say! I finally got my glasses today, so maybe NOW I can actually see what I'm typing and not have to go back and do about a zillion typos!

Got one book in today's mail; not what I was really hoping would come in, but a pretty neat one just the same: 1st. Issue Special (DC) #8 (11/75)=1st.app. & origin of Mike Grell's "Warlord". I think this is probably the only app. I have of the Warlord character currently in my collections, even though at one time or another I've probably had most of his own title run. I was never a huge fan of this title, but I always thought the stories were pretty neat with its "hollow-earth" theme and fighting dinosaurs and the like. Warlord's first app. is really somewhat "rough", artwise, compared to later issues Grell did after he'd been on the title a couple of years, but this was the first app. of a bronze DC character...and most importantly...it was cheap!

Also went by a place called "The Yard Sale Store" here locally. The owner said he had a couple of monitors for sale and I needed an extra one for this spare old system I have which contains a dot matrix program. Unfortunately, the one he pulled out of storage was made by Apple and it didn't have the regular-type pin connections that modern ones do, so I couldn't use it. Said he had another one and he'd drag it out sometime and let me see it as well.

While I was looking thru his store stock I found 4 older l.p.s and bought them: Todd Rundgren's "Faithful"(1975), The Moody Blues "Octave"(1978), Rick Wakeman's "The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and The Knights of The Round Table" (1975 - and complete w/booklet, incidently), and King Crimson's "In The Court of The Crimson King" (1969) Not that it really matters, but I'll give these a personal rating of 1-10.

This Wakeman album isn't, I don't think, as good as say his "Journey To The Center of The Earth", or "The Six Wives of Henry VIII", but it does have a fun and rousing ragtime-like interlude mixed in with the song, "Merlin the Magician", and that's probably the best cut on the l.p.. Rating: 6

"Faithful" is a pretty good album for Rundgren, but I find myself listening more to the various cover songs of The Beatles' "Rain", and "Strawberry Fields Forever", or Hendrix's "If Six Were Nine", or The Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations" than the rest of the songs. "Good Vibrations" is especially well re-done, as well as the Hendrix cover. The Beatle covers are fine, save that he seems to hesitate a bit in places where the originals did not. But then, this IS his versions. Rating: 8

Octave" isn't my favorite Moody Blues album, but not bad. (I love the wavery vocals, so what can I say?) Probably the best song on this l.p. is "Top Rank Suite", although I think the only one that ever got a lot of radio play is "Stepping In A Slide Zone". Both songs are excellant, as is "Driftwood", and I liked the use of the electric organ on the final cut, "The Day We Meet Again". This was the first time I'd ever listened to the entire album, having just heard various cuts from time-to-time. One thing I notice with this one is that it doesn't have as much of a connecting theme as other MB l.p.s, but you can definately tell that as a group, they had matured since previously released stuff in the 60-70's. You can always depend on anything The MB did, that their music will be excellant and the combination of vocals flawless. Rating: 7.5

King Crimson's music is...well....something you need to be on peyote, maybe, to truely appreciate (not that I'd advocate such things), but as I can recall (barely), most of the times I heard their stuff ("back when") I was usually in a a smoke-filled room somewhere. "21st. Century Schizoid Man including Mirrors" definately gets you rockin' right from the start and geared towards anyone who loves a mean lead axe and riviting drum. It is to be enjoyed by anyone who loves such comparitive songs from groups of that time such as Black Sabbath, or Bloodrock, but other songs on this l.p. have over-tones of The Moody Blues, or Spirit. The variety is the part I always liked about this album; that they can go from a rocker like "21st. CSM", to a ballad such as " Talk to the Wind" with it's light flute, then right into an orchestrated "Epitath". What I never cared for is that they seemed to get you "all revved up, but with no place to go" with too many slow-type songs; especially "Moon Child", which is way too long and has too much strange crap in it to be enjoyable. Fortunately this l.p. wraps-up with "The Court of The Crimson King" which is both up-lifting and mellow, finishing the song with something that sounds like a pipe organ. It would have sounded better had they ended "The COTCK" right before that. The whole album is really something you'd have to be in the right mood to hear, and have, oh...30-40 minutes to kill. And, even though I like parts of it, overall I'd have to give it a Rating: 5.5 (with apologies).

And finally, since I'm on the subject of music, I've been watching a little about Wacky Jacko's trial. Ever get the feeling that Jackson's not taking the whole thing very seriously? Tapping his feet and getting into his own music when it's played as background on the filmed interviews shown in court? Really, I don't know if he's guilty or not; that's up to a Court of Law to determine, but I think he would at least be concerned that he'll more than likely be convicted of contributing to the delinquency of minors from the testimonies that he gave them alcohol. But...maybe he IS innocent...well...innocent of any molestation charges... and he thinks all he'll end up getting is the proverbial "slap of the wrist"? This may actually be somewhat more interesting for me to keep up with that I'd thought.