Famous Funnies 212 - Another Frazetta masterpiece

When you go to a great restaurant, and have a great meal...maybe a really fabulous rack of lamb, or a particularly great salmon fillet, or maybe a great glass of wine...unless you are a professional, you may not be able to say why you liked it.  At the end of the day, it was just, well, REALLY good.  With wine, I like a good glass as much as the next person, but I can't tell if it is because of a great nose of earthy notes with a hint of cinnamon, or whatever...I just know, after having had quite a few bottles in my time...what is good and what isn't.

Well...this cover is a great example of that same sentiment.  I am not an artist.  I can't necessarily speak to you about the technical aspects of what is an is not great composition or what specific aspects of a pictures execution make it better than the next.  I might try, but at at the end of the day, I know what I like...and I can usually tell when an artist is committed to their craft.

Frazetta had command on this cover and the others in the series.  And while I am not an artist...I know well drawn figures when I see them.  And while I may not be trained, I think I have a sense for good composition...for good story telling that is accomplished without words.  Everyone knows today that people can't just float around in space...I suspect they knew that back in the early 1950's too...but that doesn't matter here.  The beautiful girl in distress, our fearless hero (Buck Rogers), the lunatic alien thugs and their fleet of ships.  The image is bold and dynamic.  It moves.  It brings back images in my mind of Mystery in Space #1...also a classic black covered sci-fi book from the early 1950's with cover art by Carmine Infantino.

So there it is...classic 1950's sci-fi that is really timeless.  Why?  Because these artists were serious about what they were doing and were not just turning the crank.  Thanks fellas!

Until next time...

Superman #252 - DC Super Spectacular

In the early 1970's, DC printed 100 page versions of a lot of it's titles and labeled them as "Super Spectacular" issues.  These issues are fairly collectible today and are often hard to find in decent shape due to the square binding. They started publication in the summer of 1971 with issue number 4 and went to issue number 22.  The books contained all reprints from earlier DC issues.

The other day a friend of mine gave me this comic as payback for a bottle of wine I had bought for him.  This particular issue is interesting for the Neal Adams wrap around cover.  A close inspection of the cover will show that Hawkman and Hawkgirl are on the cover twice, but DC aficionados will tell you that these are Earth 1 and Earth 2 representations of these characters...keep your lore straight!  And their is a funky looking flying doctor guy at the top "right" of the wrap around cover...not being a DC expert, I had to do do a little research on this one.  Thanks to "Giant Size Geek" for pointing out that there is a key to who all the character's are in the back of the magazine itself.  He reprints it on his blog.  (Turns out the funky looking doctor guy is "Mr. Keeper", by the way!)

     

Neal Adams was know for great work on Batman, Superman and Green Arrow.  This cover is a great example of that work...but do check out his Batman and Brave and the Bold covers.  They are some of the best work to come out of the 1960's and 1970's, in my humble opinion.

So...not a bad trade for a decent Beauregard Pinot Noir from Santa Cruz County.  Not a bad trade at all!

Until next time...

Disneyland Postcard Price Guide Completed!

When I first started this blog, I was talking about all of my collectibles in one space.  And I was diligent...in a manner of speaking.  Everyday for about 5 months I was bringing everything from sand to Star Wars cards to comic and postcards.  (That's nothing compared to Gorillas Don't Blog though....he started up and ever since day one hasn't quit for almost six years...really impressive).  Anyway, I finally decided to break out the Disneyland postcard stuff to its own site because it is a rather "nichy" collection.

Last night, I finally finished the price guide for all of the cards listed in the Nickel Tour reference book!  So...if you want to check it out, go to disneypostcards.com.  This effort has kept me from more frequent posts here...but keep your eyes out...I have plenty more non-Disney related stuff to talk about!

Until next time...

Postcard Booklets from the Past!

A couple weeks back, i saw this lot on eBay for a bunch of old postcard booklets.  These are about 2 1/2 by 3 1/2 inches and they can have some great vintage images in them.  I was mostly interested in the Disneyland HiLite book...I already have it, but the price was right for this lot so I threw in the one and only bid it took to win.

Shown here are the ten books in the lot.  Everything from Jackson Hole to the Ozarks to Hollywood!

Taking a look inside, there are a many interesting shots, but I will show just a couple here.  First off, a view of Sunset and Vine in Hollywood, California.  The NBC studio is there in all of it's mid-century glory.  I am guessing this image is early 1950's based on all the cars and the two women in the picture.  You need a magnifier, but they look to be in their early 1950's casual daywear!

Next is a shot from Mitchell, South Dakota.  The Corn Palace is a multi-purpose arena that still exists today and hosts concerts and events for the good folks of Mitchell and the surrounding area. It is of "Moorish Revival" architecture and built in 1921 after several predecessors.  The domes were added in 1937.  This photo appears to have been taken in the late 1950's...maybe even 1960.  The car on the far right looks like a Chevrolet Impala from that era or something very similar.  A rather interesting building to be sure!

So there you have it...a bunch of cool little postcard booklets from mid-twentieth century America!

Mystery in Space #33

Well, I have recently been blogging primarily on my Disney Postcard site, and have neglected my blogs here.  But today we will remedy this with a quick look at this great Mystery in Space book from the summer of 1956!

It's the 27th century and wood has grown very scarce on planet earth.  With the discovery of new and more exotic materials, and presumably an exploding population, forests have been mowed down and replaced by huge structures.  Finally, one day, an alert goes out to destroy all things made from wood because it is determined that a deadly gas can be released from the material which will kill all living things near by.

When an alien fleet arrives to take over planet earth (just after all the last bits of wood have been destroyed), the earthlings realize that the deadly gas was a ploy to get them to destroy their remaining wood....the alien ray guns can easily handle the advanced materials, but cannot destroy wood!!  But have no fear!  A curator at an aviation museum has secretly preserved three old WWI fighter planes made from spruce wood...the old aircraft are retrofitted with new radiation canons and the aliens are defeated!!

Classic mid-century sci-fi!

Until next time...(sooner rather than later)

Blogging here on Sundry Collectibles and at Disney Postcards on, you guessed it, Disney Postcards!

Saturday Evening Post - May 29, 1948

All I can say about this amazing issue of the Saturday Evening Post is, where to begin?  This thing is absolutely loaded with nostalgic advertising and some great articles and writing from the mid twentieth century.  I'll get to the primary reason I bought this magazine in a bit, but there is so much fantastic advertising that I had to share it here.

I'll start off with the cover which has a nice painted piece by an artist unknown to me, Mead Schaeffer. There are wikipedia articles on him, and you can see other samples of his work online.  I have to believe that back in the day, getting the opportunity to have your work published on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post was a huge deal.  

Inside, we'll start out with this great American Airlines advertisement.  This was 1948.  Commercial air travel was still in its infancy for the most part (OK...maybe it was a toddler) and this ad was addressing some concerns as well as making air travel look cool.  Read it for yourself, but I find the last panel interesting.  Not only was air travel making our businessman friend hip and efficient, but it was appropriate for the mother and young baby as well as the elderly couple.  And get a load of all that leg room!

Next up is this magnificent centerfold advertisement for Mobil De Luxe Tires and Mobilgas.  This piece is unsigned, but it has that Norman Rockwell feel to it (pretty sure it's not him though).  The "girls" are off to the side with mom trying to quiet the young one while dad fixes the tire....but to no avail because the dog is wreaking havoc.  Just brilliant.  

Another great double page spread is this 7-Up add.  7-Up was created in 1929...this was 1948, so a mere 19 years into the life of the product.  "You like it - it likes you"...they don't mention it here, but 7-Up is not a caffeinated drink.  I suspect it was not then either.  But somehow I suspect that this is not why they say "it likes you"...probably just marketing speak for "buy this drink"!

Finally I come to the reason I bought this magazine in the first place (only a few bucks on eBay...by the way).  Look at the double page spread above.  Notice the tiny cartoon on the bottom left hand page? This is Charles Schulz's first published work in a national magazine.  While Li'l Folks had been published in the St. Paul Pioneer Press since 1947, this was Schulz's first nationally published work.  The rest, as they say, is history!

Until next time....

Flying Aces Magazine - 1941

If you have read this blog for any amount of time...you know that the one thing that ties most of my collectibles together is the medium on which they were produced...that being paper.  Paper collectibles...or ephemera...have always been interesting to me.  Most paper items are produced to serve a purpose and then were usually not taken care of and/or thrown away.  Whether it was a tourist pamphlet, an early comic book, or, in the case of today's item, a magazine...printed paper items always offer great insight into the culture of the era.

Flying Aces was a popular aviation magazine from the early 20th century.  This issue is from 1941 and is loaded with factual articles on aircraft of the day, fictional stories, and model building tips for kids and adults wanting to try their hand at the design and build of model aircraft.

I particularly thought the image here was interesting.  The P-38 Lighting, as you are probably aware, went on to become one of the most fabled aircraft of WWII.  And the P-40 also saw a significant amount of service all over the world, perhaps most notably as the "Flying Tiger" in China.

As an aside...I couldn't resist including the back cover.  Build planes...get a girl...I love it!

Until next time...