Wow! It's Been A While...

I hadn't realized it had been so long since my last comic blog posting. I guess I've been feeling like collecting has lost its focus for me over the past couple of months. By losing focus, I mean that I've been buying lots of things I like but little of which has much in common with one another other than being something related to either Spider-Man, Batman, or X-Men. I've picked up some nice Golden Age books with early Batman and Superman appearances, a first print copy of TMNT #1, another X-Men #1 (along with a #2), as well as picking up some sketch cards and lining up some signatures for a few of my bigger books.

As I said, I'm thinking about putting together something of a sketchbook. Like any collector, I want to have something neat, something that will make other collectors' eyes perk up and say "That's different--I like it!" Most importantly of course will be that I like it ;-) I'm still in the embryotic states of determining what theme/s my book will focus on, but I was thinking about doing sketch cards and mounting them into the book with acid-free adhesive tape. I was thinking about trying to get two cards per artist where the cards themselves would somehow "interact" with one another. Here are two examples of what I picked up from up and coming artist, Anthony Fleec:




I'm kind of thinking I might try to theme the sketches around the theme of "pairings" where each sketch has another sketch that it plays off of. The two don't necessarily need to intersect as these two pairs do, but Batman and Joker as well as Spider-Man and Green Goblin are two such natural pairs that go hand in hand. Anyhow, this is just some of the ideas that I'm playing with for this new little project of mine.

Anyhow, that's the current game plan. I'm working on getting at least one if not two Stan Lee signatures for my BIG Marvel Silver Age keys, as well as a few other nice signatures for classic books of mine. When they're done, I'll see about posting some pics as it's always cool when more books get signed :)

Grail Hunting--The Collector's Curse

I've come to learn some of the joys of collecting comics. It provides me with something to occupy my time and mind, as well as satisfying my inner OCD for organizing things into particular categories, etc. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, it gives me a chance to relive a bit of my youth where I grew up dreaming of super heroes. Despite all of the benefits of collecting, however, there is a drawback: the collector's curse.

Most collectors I know hunt for a particular type of item. For comic collectors, you'll find those who are either run collectors or key hunters--with some falling somewhere in between. The curse is that once you finally acquire that issue you've been hunting after for some time, your gaze immediately turns towards the next target. Of course, I'm still thoroughly stoked over owning a copy of Amazing Fantasy 15--still not sure it's completely sunk in even now. Still, the hunt is addicting and it's a real part of collecting. I've spoken to some really serious collectors (no, I don't think my AF 15 qualifies me as a really serious collector), and despite nabbing some of the biggest books out there, the desire to continue the hunt remains. This is the one thing I sometimes think about--what's more important: the object or the action?

What is it that drives our spending of hundreds or thousands of dollars a year in our little (or not so little) hobby? Are we more enamored with the comics themselves, or are we more interested simply in the exercise of hunting these pieces of ephemera down one by one? I ask myself this before every major purchase I make...or at least, I try to ask myself this. I am a key hunter in addition to being a run collector, and I pride myself on owning a pretty healthy number of milestone issues. But I have to ask myself why is it I want to own this particular milestone issue? Is this character important or interesting to me? Is there a movie or something else associated with this issue that I like? If I'm not able to find a reason for buying something, then I know I'm probably letting myself get caught up in the hunt.

The hunt is fun, but it can also be a bit of a curse causing us to lose our focus in what we collect. The only cure known to date, however, is to get out there and buy another comic. :-D

A Grail Achieved...

Yeah. That IS a copy of Amazing Fantasy 15 in my hand. The very first appearance of Spider-Man--stronger in value than any stock out there to date. Sure, I bought it for investment purposes at some leve, but ultimately, this puppy was about adding the very creme de la creme to my collection. It's still surreal to think I now I own a copy.

Bringing Comics to the Classroom

In addition to teaching full-time at a boarding school and coaching football & wrestling, next fall I will begin teaching a freshman composition course at a nearby community college. In addition to helping the students become better critical readers and writers, I'd like them to be able to better handle more than just traditional literature. SO, I thought incorporating a graphic novel into the reading list might work nicely--how well can the student learn to critically analyze the graphic components of the tpb in conjunction with the written portion of the story? Besides, I thought it'd be kind of fun to blend two things I enjoy.

I'm organizing the course around the theme of "Out of Innocence--The Journey Into Adulthood" ... or something along those lines. The first that came to mind was Spider-Man, not just because I'm a huge fan but also because it really fits this theme well. I also thought using the Ultimate Spider-Man line would be a little better in one respect since it's a little more modernized and the art might be a little more appealing to present-day students. Also... the Masterworks editions with the originals are pretty expensive and the USM would be a little cheaper for the students. However... I'm also thinking about picking some non-mainstream selections because they don't carry the same connotations that more mainstream titles have, i.e. "nerdy," "childish," etc. This underscores an additional benefit as it will force the students to expand their notions of 1. what is worthy of critical attention and 2. various mediums can be used to communicate effectively than the traditionally "stuffy" and "serious" works (which I still love).

After much deliberation I narrowed the field of contestants down to three books:

- Civil War The 7-part Mini Series
- The Watchmen
- Pride of Baghdad

It was a tough call, but I wanted to make sure that the book I choice fit within the course theme (Out of Innocence).

I thought the CW series would work well as it really forces people (in and out of the book) to confront the stereotypical view of super heroes. It also raises issues of government as being "big brother," "big oppressor," or something in between. Additionally, I liked the ability to force to students to draw parallels between current events and issues encountered in the text. However, I was concerned about the problems non-comic fans might encounter not having any sort of background knowledge of the Marvel Comics world, and frankly, I didn't want to spend any significant amount of time playing "catch up" on material that wasn't particularly important.

Watchmen worked well along the same lines PLUS it removed much of the problems with Civil War since Alan Moore essentially provides the reader with all of the information we need. Since this is a remedial course, however, I was a little concerned about being able to adequately cover this book within roughly 2 classes and still have them understand it. There's a reason this book landed on the Top 25 books of the last 25 years. If you haven't read it, get over your sophomoric notions of comics being for nerds and educate yourself on what they really can do.

This leaves me with my third choice: Pride of Baghdad--which I knew I would love having the opportunity to teach as soon as I read it. I also feel like this really fits well with the theme of the course as we see how the journey of the zoo pride leaves the area of protection into one of danger, departs from a sense of naivete and romanticism about the wild and encounters the harsh reality. The book doesn't require much background knowledge to access the material (aside from a BASIC understanding of what's been going on in the world the past few years), the artwork really accentuates the story nicely (great way to get them to see how art work helps tell a story), and I can also get them thinking critically about a work and draw those parallels to events outside the text. It will be really interesting to see how the students handle the discussion of the conclusion of the story. I think I should be able to bring a unique perspective to the discussion having walked and patrolled those streets. Again, if you haven't read this book, do yourself a favor and give it a read.

The Hunt Goes On...

Probably for the past two plus months I've been on the hunt for a copy of the grail... the grail of grails--well, for comic collectors. More specifically, the grail for Spider-Man collectors: Amazing Fantasy 15.

Amazing Spider-Man #1 (which I acquired back in Feb of this year) is certainly a huge grail to attain for any Spider-Man fan. However, while it is the first issue of Spider-Man's monthly mag, it is not his first appearance. This honor falls upon AF 15. What's interesting about this particular issue is that it was a one shot deal which pretty much happened by accident in Stan Lee's attempt to fill out the final issue of the Amazing Adult Fantasy series before it's end. Due to an overwhelming fan response, however, our favorite webslinger was given a second shot at life in ASM #1. Interestingly enough, the cover itself was done, not by the interior artist Steve Ditko, but instead by Jack "The King" Kirby. This book is probably a runs a third place to finish only behind the greats such as Action Comics #1 and Detective Comics 27: the first Superman and Batman respectively. Sure, there are other books out there more expensive (i.e. Marvel Comics #1, etc), however, these are nowhere near as recognizable to the common public as these three.

And this is the book I have been hunting. Initially, I had made a few sales of comics and Warhammer models but it looked like my efforts weren't going to produce much in the way of an affordable copy. Further, my wife and I made the decision to begin trying to have a baby...which means one heck of an expense. However, a wonderful, part-time teaching opportunity presented itself over the summer which will provide a relatively significant boost to the household income. And my wife okayed my getting back into the hunt for a copy. After all, it helps to have some added motivation if I'll be picking up a second job. :)

So here's to hoping. It will be something else to be able to post a scan or pic of the grail once/if I manage to attain it. Til then, I'll keep my fingers crossed!

Herb Trimpe Sketch and Second Grail Acquired!

My wife bought me a really, really cool birthday gift: a commissioned sketch from Herb Trimpe! Of course, I asked him to do a classic Wolverine and I couldn't have been more pleased with the end result. He also included a nice index card signed with a Hulk head sketch.



Additionally, I was fortunate enough to pickup a wonderful reading copy (about GD+) of Giant-Size X-Men #1. That's right: the first appearance of the NEW X-Men (Storm, Colosuss, Nightcrawler, Wolverine, etc)!


Anyhow, lot's going on in the woodworks but it's late so g'night for now! :-)

Childhood Hero Passes

In elementary and middle school, I was something of a nerd. I still am, but then I was a bit of an uber-goober nerd. My weekend activity of choice was playing the nerd-tastic Dungeons & Dragons. Don't laugh--most guys played this during their early pre-girl obsession years. ;) Most of the video games off nowadays owe their existence to this game. And today, Gary Gygax (founder of the game) died.

69 years too young. Everyone please raise your +2 Dragonslayer Swords in respect.