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| Image copyright DC COMICS |
Above is the cover to a comic which reminds me of three other comics at the same time. "How is such a feat of mighty memory-mastery possible?" you may be asking. So, let us now, by the power of our imaginations, return to October 7th 1972 and the Old Village quarter of my hometown, where I, resplendent in my brother's cast-off cord jacket - slightly too big for me and worn for the first time that Saturday morning - was attending a jumble sale held in aid of the 8th Scout Troop in the 'old hall' in the grounds of the Old Parish Church.
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| This and subsequent images copyright MARVEL COMICS |
I'd previously purchased The MIGHTY WORLD Of MARVEL #2 earlier that morning, and, later, SUPERMAN #251 en route to the village. Now, in the kind of hall that spoke of a long-vanished age - anything from the '20s to the '50s - I was to add MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #1 and TERRIFIC #1 to my awesome acquisitions. The previous owner seemed to have used the issue of MSH as a dartboard at some point, but it was still readable, and I think it was the first time I'd owned a complete copy of that particular Terrific, a U.K. weekly launched five years earlier which had graced the shelves for a mere 43 issues.
Looking for a place to pore over my comics as I left the jumble sale, I wandered around to the back of an adjacent, nigh-derelict building (a dentist worked in a room or two on the upper floor) which adjoined the local, centuries old public house next to the church (and overlooked the graveyard). It was an inquisitive boy's delight, and a week or so later, under the dark velvet canvas of the star-kissed heavens, yours truly and a friend were crawling across the roof of the pub, and even using the exterior, cast-iron fire-escape staircase to gain access to the back 'courtyard' below. This location became the source of surreptitious exploration every so often over a period of two or three years and holds many happy memories for me.
So, I can't look at any one cover without also thinking of the other three - or of that jumble sale, my cord jacket, and an old pub next to the final resting place of long-gone local 'worthies', who had doubtless quaffed many a flagon of ale centuries before in the very building over whose slates two teenage boys daringly defied death in the airy Autumn moonlight.
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| The building at the back of the pub |
Interestingly, I occasionally visit the upstairs lounge bar for a soft drink and a bag of crisps, and have done for many a year now. It's an odd sensation to think, while sitting there, that I'm under the very roof I once crawled over as a 14-year-old lad so very long ago. I sometimes wonder if any modern-day counterparts of me and my pals have ever retraced our footsteps (and handprints) in the years since we first braved the slates, but it's unlikely. The building at the back of the pub is now residential and access to the roof can no longer be obtained through its grounds.
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For an earlier mention of my rooftop adventures, click here.
Marvel Super Heroes King-Size Special #1 was the first Marvel comic book I ever read. I must have bought it in a drug store or grocery store. Somehow it seems as if it was not one of the local stores where we shopped regularly; as I recall, it was far from home, and I think we were on our way back from a vacation trip to Florida. The Avengers story was different from anything I had seen before, with the heroes bickering at the beginning and the Hulk leaving at the end. My previous exposure to super-heroes was in DC comics, where the heroes usually behaved themselves and got on well. I remained more of a DC fan, but, if I had been older (say, 12-14 instead of 7 or 8) I might have appreciated Marvel's depth of characterization more. Years later, I gave the issue to a classmate who was a Marvel fan and wanted it for the Daredevil origin. -TC
ReplyDeleteAlways good to read the reminiscences of others regarding the comics I feature, TC. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI'm a bit curious about how comics were distributed and priced over there, since it looks like a couple were in dollars and cents and one was in pence(?). Were original copies sold over there and re-stamped with a new price, sometimes, or was the cover always re-done in pounds and pence?
ReplyDeleteAlso, I know what you mean about remembering comics you got in groups. Four years later, in '76, I got three comic books for Christmas and I can name 'em all. It kind of amazed my mother when I told her a few years ago...along with many others from different times and places...naturally, she needed proof.
Yeah, if you loved comics, you always remember something about where you got 'em. M.P.
In the case of MWOM and Terrific, MP, they were British comics, hence the U.K. pricing.
ReplyDeleteHowever, with regard to American comics, once the U.S. run was completed, the plates were changed to U.K. prices - although some cents copies were merely stamped with pence prices also.
In some instances, I have two copies of the same comic - one in pence and the other in cents.
I didn't realise that they would print the original US comic with British prices. As far as I remember, all of the DC comics I bought back then had US prices with the British one stamped on top, whether it was 5p or 7½p. I assumed that some poor bugger had to hand-stamp them personally.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, thanks for that cover. There aren't many by Neal Adams that I haven't seen before, but that's one of them.
It happened more with Marvel mags, Gey, and the date was also removed. However, it did also happen to DC - I have a Kirby Jimmy Olsen comic with a 5p price printed on it instead of the U.S. price. ('Though I've got one of those as well.)
ReplyDeleteI loved the Superman covers at that time, and that issue (number 251) was one I always wanted but sadly never saw (still keeping an eye out for it though). My own experience on a multiple comic book memory only involved 3 comics I got in late 73 or very early 1974 (never great on dates but recal the events) in Rutherglen. My family moved to about 7 miles outside the town a few months previous but I stayed at my old school so on this day my dad (as normal) ran me into school but as he had an early meeting he dropped me off at 7:40am he wasn't happy at leaving me in town so early (being the great guy he was) and as soon as his meeting was over about 8:15am I saw his car he was obviously looking for me - anyway my dad stopped and then took me for a cuppa tea and a cake and more importanly a chat - one of those nice father son chats about football, school etc - anyway we popped into a mini mart type store near my school after out cuppa which had a pile of US comics, seeing me eyeing them up and knowing I loved them he bought me 3 comics JLA 106, Weird War 15 and Adventure 428 all great issues and they were (at the time) pretty new - I still have 2 of these books (need to pick up Weird War again) and everytime I see them I'm taken right back to that day and get a wee smile (sadly my Dads no longer here)thinking about my Dad - RE UK prices I recall Charlton also clearly had a separate box for US and UK prices as well, most of my 70s DCs have the t&p 6p etc stamp on the covers and the main price in US
ReplyDelete-McScotty
Another great reminiscence. Thanks for taking the time, McScotty.
ReplyDeleteOne particular trio of comics that spring to mind for me are METAL MEN#10; DOOM PATROL#89 & BRAVE & BOLD#51 ,all bought together on a wet day on holiday in Barmouth in 1965. There was nothing to do except hang around the B&B until teatime, so I picked up 3 titles I had never tried before to alleviate the boredom. The Hawkman/Aquaman team-up in TBATB#51 was ok, but didn'take want to get any of their solo titles. The other 2, however, were a different matter and grabbed me right from the start, so much so that whenever I came across either of these 2 titles. I always snatched them up and I was never disappointed! The Metal Men had all been melted together into an alloy & had to face the Gas Gang, whilst the DP had to face the animal/vegetable/mineral man! The reason I'm telling you this now is in case any of your readers have never tried these titles I can highly recommend checking them out either in reprint books or digital! Although I did buy Terrific#1 and MS-H's when they came into the shops, I have no memories associatef with them.
ReplyDeleteFunny how one glance at a comic cover rolls back the years, eh, JP?
ReplyDeleteSometime around 1966-67, some comics were being sold in transparent plastic bags, three to a pack, so one naturally will associate certain issues with the others in the same trio. My memory may be playing tricks, but I'm pretty sure I had Detective #352, Justice League #45, and World's Finest #158 together, and then Detective #354, WF #159, and Hawkman #15. I'm pretty sure Lois Lane #67, Wonder Woman # 163, and Superman #188 came that way, too. (I thought of WW and LL as "girls' comics" and probably would not have bought them individually.) As I recall, each package usually included at least one comic with Batman, not surprising, since this was at the peak of the TV-generated Batmania. I'm certain I read those WF, JLA, and Detective issues in my late grandparents' suburban home, so they must have been bought during visits there. The dates indicate that those comics were on sale in spring or early summer, which ties in, since we visited more often during the vacation season. King Comics also were marketed that way for a while; I'm pretty sure I had a three-pack of Flash Gordon, the Phantom, and Mandrake the Magician, and maybe three of their comedy comics (Blondie, Popeye, Beetle Bailey). And I also remember some comics that were not in bagged sets, but must have been bought at the same time. T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #7 and an issue of Undersea Agent, and a Lone Ranger and Tom & Jerry. Those two Gold Key comics were annuals or specials or giants or whatever. The Lone Ranger reprinted the story where he found his long-lost nephew, and the Tom & Jerry included a parody of the Man from U.N.C.L.E. -TC
ReplyDeleteWhat a great reminiscence, TC. I have certain comics in my collection that I can't look at without being instantly transported back through the years to MY late grandparents' home, which we visited every Sunday. I wasn't too keen on going at the time, but I wish I could once again cross the threshold of their home now - literally - as opposed to doing so merely in memory.
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