"2006 Vacation: Day 2"

"Vacation's all I ever wanted.

Vacation...Time to Get Away!"

~The Go-Gos.


Watched Justice League Unlimited last night, and for those who missed that episode, the new "Legion of Doom", led by Lex Luthor, had this "split up" with 1/2 of them taking up for "Grodd" (whom they wanted as leader instead) and they battled it out. Luthor won, and turned their HQ into a space ship to try to recover the blasted particles of "Brainiac" so he could be joined with him again. But, as things have it, it wasn't Brainiac at all he recovered, but Darkside! So, it was continued, and the LOD will be teaming up with the JLA to fight Darkside next week, as well into this forte we'll see, I'm sure, the Kirby characters from "New Genesis".

Funny thing about Lex Luthor. He's one of Superman's oldest foes, and the most well-known, and started off as a villian with red hair.

Then, in Superman V 1 #10 (1941), a bald Luthor was introduced, and I dare say that had this bald version never been created, he'd never have been as "popular" and long-enduring as he is today.

This version led into story-lines introduced in Superboy V1 where Lex was actually a childhood friend of Superman's (when he was a teen), and because of such, Superboy built a laboratory where Lex could work on his scientific experiments. One day Lex actually succeeds in creating an artificial life form, but causes an accidental fire, to which Superboy comes to the rescue using his super-breath to put out the flames. The result was fumes from various spilled chemicals causing Lex's hair to fall out. Which also obviously did something to Luthor's mind as well, causing him to hate Superman and become his greatest of foes.

So much so that Luthor's tried to kill Supes on a number of occasions. Of course, "these days" Lex isn't like the silver-age version that much, with his "super battles suits" and the like, but more of a "Kingpin" character (at least, in the POST "Crisis" versions). And he is to Superman what "The Joker" is to Batman, or "Sivana" was to the Original Captain Marvel, i.e., somebody they could use over and over again in plots and stories into infinium.

It was in the 1960's that Lex Luthor stories got pretty strange. There were tales where he and Supes went to a distant planet with a red sun, ( under which Superman was like a "normal" man) and the two duked it out. In this tale, Lex becomes that world's greatest hero, and Superman, the villian.

There were Imaginary Stories where Lex married Lois Lane, or where he kills Superman, or even goes back in time to the planet Krypton and becomes Superman's father! There was even one where Ma & Pa Kent adopt ol' Lex and he becomes Clark's brother and in the end, gives up his life to save him.

And...way out yander on the square "Bizarro World" of the SA DC Universe, there's even a Bizarro version of ol' Lex Luthor who does Good, instead of Evil.


But...enuff about Lex.


Today is indeed the 2nd. day of my 2006 vacation from my usual "make-a-few-bucks-to-survive-from-day-to-day-existence-job". And it's been raining...which is REALLY upsetting my apple cart since my plans for today included more outdoor painting on the house. Too damp to do that, but after the rainfall ceased, but I did mix up some "Quik-Crete" for mortar to patch around the bricks in one place on the foundation, and as well I worked on repairing the arch-type lattice-work which had several runs knocked out from last month's hail storm. This rain has also killed any outdoor flea market activity in the nearby next town, so here I am stuck inside.


I noticed over on Robby Reed's "Dial B For Blog" site that it's not accessable for the past couple days. Keeps coming up that the "Band Width Has Been Exceeded" notice. I wouldn't doubt that a bit since his blogs are pretty darn big with lots of illos. Hope he's back up 'n' runnin' soon, though, as I enjoy reading his blogs.

And over on Johnny Bacardi's blog, he posed the following questions:


1) The first comic book you remember reading and its price?

(2) The first comic book you remember buying yourself and its price?

(3) The most recent comic book you bought and the price?

(4) Any particular big-time bargain you've stumbled across and the price?

(5) The most you ever spent on a comic or comics-content book and its price.?


Well...I really do not recall "what" was the first comic book I ever actually read, as my late brother bought comics and I always looked at them even before I could read. Nor do I recall what the first comic was when I could read. I'm sure it was some silver-age DC Superman or Batman, however from the mid to latter 1950's. The first comic I remember someone giving me was the "3 Camels Cover Version" of The Story of Jesus, which was December of 1957 when I was 6 years old. I think I finally narrowed down the first comic book I ever bought for myself as being a copy of House of Mystery #75, which was around 1958 and I purchased it at a local drug store called Caverna Drugs. That issue contained a story drawn by Jack Kirby, and was about those Giant Stone heads on Easter Island coming alive and trying to take over the world. Another early comic I recall buying with money that I had myself was a copy of Action #278, which was about Perry White getting super-powers and it was an early use of White Kryptonite, but that was in 1961 and I was well buying comics of various sorts by then. The cover price of any first book I bought was ten cents, tho'.

The most recent NEW comic I've bought was probably an issue of the current Supergirl series, or one of those John Byrne issues of Doom Patrol, which are around $3. now.

"Big Time Bargains?" Tons of them over the years. Got a lot of very expensive comics just in trades of one-to-ones over the years, usually swapping off duplicates.

The most I've ever spent on a comic? Hmmmm.....I'm sure I've spent over a couple hundred just on some single item at one time or another...hard to remember. The last book I paid over $100. for was a VG copy of Action #252 (1st. app. of "Supergirl, from 1959). I've paid, in recent years, $200-$350. on Golden Age comic lots (but not individual issues).


(Trying to satisfy my hunger for jazz today. Got the Chick Corea Akoustic Band: Alive CD in at the moment. "Hackensack" is probably my favorite cut on it. Great music, highly recommended, released in 1991 on GRP Records.)

Sat around bored today, so I watched "Unbreakable", with Samual Jackson and Bruce Willis, again. I've watched this flick at least three times and always find something in it I've missed. (Really like that flick.) Otherwise it's been a pretty duddy day.