Comics on Parade

Back in the 1930's, before Superman came on the scene in Action Comics #1, comic books consisted of reprints of strips that had previously appeared in the news papers.  The first "modern" American comic book in the form that we know comics today (namely a color magazine on news print with printing on both sides of the page) appeared in 1933 (Famous Funnies). This was a successful formula, and it continued for quite some time.  But eventually, books like Action Comics and Detective Comics moved in and took over the market since they were publishing new material that had not been printed before.

Comics on Parade was one such reprint magazine which actually started in 1938 (the same year Action Comics #1 was published)...quite late for a reprint book.  It would continue publication all the way through 1955 reprinting strips like L'il Abner, Tarzan, Nancy, Fritzi Ritz, Ella Cinders and The Captain and the Kids...all news paper strips of the era.

I found this copy of issue #13 on eBay a couple weeks back.  New to me, but published in 1939!

Until next time...

Another TWA card

Last week I showed a set of postcards published by TWA in the 1950's...with the theme "Along the way of TWA".  At the time I thought that the six cards I showed might be all there was to the set, but a brief search on eBay revealed that there are several more of these cards to be had.  Most of the ones on eBay are over-priced, in my humble opinion.  But I did pick up one new card last week and I just got it in the mail today.

There is a complimentary set with aircraft on it...including the legendary Lockheed Constellation.  The small aircraft in the upper left corner of this card is also a Constellation, flying over the D.C. area.

Until next time...

U.S. Route 70 to Disneyland

Once Disneyland became a well established tourist destination...which, if you think about it, was really from it's opening day onward...it started appearing on other tourist marketing brochures and the like.  This card, an advertisement for the U.S. route 70 freeway, is one such example.

The caption near the bottom of the card sold me: "2926 MILES ALL PAVED"!!

I had never seen this card up until a couple weeks ago when one popped up on eBay.  Maybe I wasn't looking very hard, because there is another one there now.  A worthy addition to the collection.

Until next time....

Aulani Postcards

My family and I went out to Disney's Aulani resort in Hawaii a couple weeks ago.  Some collector's of Disneyland cards won't include the cards from other Disney properties in their collections, and I tend to follow that rule as well.  But if I am visiting a property anyway, I tend to seek out and pick up what's there.

First off were four wooden cards that are a little different.  A fellow collector, Ken, over at Disneyland Postcards, has recently chronicled these cards on his site.  There were also two other cards at the resort which I was able to find, and they are shown here.

I especially like the surfer dude...classic design, nicely done.  Now...if I could only complete my set of early Disneyland Hotel cards!  (Not an easy task).

Until next time....

A Quality Artist

My friends Brad and Linda were over at our place for dinner tonight...both are artists with backgrounds in design and illustration. We were talking about the process of creating stuff, whether it be a painting, design or even something like this blog.  Sometimes, the creator can get so caught up in their own high standards, that nothing ultimately gets produced. (For example...I have re-written these last two sentences about 8 times!)

Well, during the Golden, Silver and Bronze age of comics, artists that worked for DC or Marvel (or any number of other smaller publishers) often had to crank out a significant amount of work and meet tight monthly dead lines, regardless of their personal standards.  Some of them pretty much phoned in the work and just slogged it out.  But others managed to be consistently good, and after a while, readers began to recognize when "the good guy" was working, wanted to know who it was and demanded more.  Joe Kubert was one such guy.  He did not phone in his work, and his catalog of War, Tarzan and other comics will long be recognized for their quality of craft.

I actually bought this copy of DC's Tarzan issue 212 today at a local shop.  And while it may not represent Kubert's greatest work, it illustrates my point well.  DC started this series in April of 1972, and while I cannot speak to it's commercial success, artistically I think it was another example of very solid work for Kubert on a monthly title that was entirely his artistic responsibility.

The cover promises a compelling story, a lot of action and good art.  And that promise is kept with a book length, well edited, Edgar Rice Burroughs Tarzan story, illustrated by Kubert.  I highly recommend this series, even if you have never read a comic before.  It's easy to come by, doesn't cost much to acquire (the issue above cost me $5), and is full of great stories and art.

In future posts I will try to feature some of Joe's War comics.

Until next time...

Thursday Missive - Is Sand Collectible?

About 30 years ago I went on a vacation with my family to the Caribbean.  Before we left, the father of a close friend of my brother asked him to bring back a shell.  My brother couldn't find a good shell, so he brought back some sand...and my brother and I brought back some for ourselves as well.  One thing led to another and 32 years later I have over 30 samples of sand from all over the world.

But is sand really a collectible?  Well, yes, of course it is.  I collect it because I think it is interesting.  All the different colors, textures, and grain variation make it so.  It sounds a little nerdy maybe (OK...maybe a lot) but that doesn't change the fact that the collection has been fun to put together.  It doesn't cost anything, and it has no value.  But value and investment potential are secondary actors.  At least, I think they should be when we collect stuff.

For more, check out the links below.  My brother and I are apparently not alone!

http://www.sand-atlas.com/en/

http://www.sandcollectors.org/ISCSHomeIndexx.html

Pictured below, my first sample from the Bahamas on the left (1980).  On the right, Aswan (1982). The Sahara in a bottle.

From the Archive - The Reluctant Dragon

Four Color Comics was started in 1939 with the publication of a Dick Tracy comic.  Issue 4 saw the earliest Disney Four Color comic and featured Donald Duck.  Issue 13 (from 1941) was the next Disney comic in the Four Color series...the Reluctant Dragon.  This is a well written and funny story about a dragon and a knight who were far more interested in reciting poetry than fighting.  The book also features some pictures of Walt Disney and Ward Kimball from the Reluctant Dragon movie from the same era.  And from the cover, you can see that Donald Duck, Goofy and the lesser known Baby Weems also are in the issue.  Included as well...a few pages on Fantasia.  So a fantastic comic all around.

I got this copy about 10 years ago.  Currently the CGC database (www.cgccomics.com) shows only 20 graded copies.  I suspect there aren't more that 50 to 100 of these books still around.