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Okay, okay, ya got me! I know that the above ish is a regular-sized mag and not a 100 PAGE SUPER SPECTACULAR, but it contains the first instalment of MANHUNTER, which is continued and concluded in the following six issues (below) - so it gets a pass. Whenever I look at #437, I think of my Gran and Grandpa's itchy, red bed-settee, on which I sat and read this particular comic one Sunday while visiting them not too long after acquiring it, but the subsequent issues I think I only saw in ads. I therefore wonder if they had a limited distribution in Britain (they definitely were distributed - the THORPE & PORTER 15p stamp proves it), or perhaps they just sold out before I even saw them on the spinner-racks.
I finally managed to obtain the next six mags in the line many, many years later, from the late PETE ROOT, a well-known Glasgow comics-caterer. I'm not quite sure whether I bought them when he rented space in another shop or from his later premises in Parnie Street, but whenever I look at the covers, I invariably remember Pete.
Anyway, I'm sure you all have your own particular reminiscences associated with these comics, so I'll leave you to indulge yourselves. Should you wish to share any fond recollections connected to these mags, then feel entirely free to share them in the comments section. Go on - beat the rest and be the first. Trust me, the sense of accomplishment is unreal! (Well, what are you waiting for? Get typing.)
Yep, they were definitely distributed in the UK. I got #438 from Sheffield's indoor Sheaf Market and #440 from a newsagents in Blackpool.
ReplyDeleteAs I recall these DC 100 pagers were not the easiest to track down in the day but were always sought after with some great artists like Toth, Aparo and Chaykin etc on the main strip_ - For me the specials were alway's something that DC always did better than Marvel. I still have a few of theses issues (440, 442 and 443 ) that I managed to pick up after school in R S McColls in Rutherglen. I always liked the fact DC reprinted a lot of their older books from various eras in these specials, ok some were not great but Detective as I recall always had a good selection including (I think) the first Ditko Creeper strip. I had forgotten about Petes shop in the back of Forbidden Plant in Glasgow. Although I was pretty much a regular at Pete's shops (and he would chat to me) I knew of him more through football as he was a big Greenock Morton fan (me Hamilton Accies) so as we played mostly in the 2nd division (and equivalent)at that time (my team now of course back in the Scottish Premiership)I would see him at the odd match - a nice guy and a well loved and missed character around the Glasgow / Scottish comic scenes.
ReplyDeleteThere was always plenty of comics to be had in Blackpool, Steve - used to be a great place for U.S. mags. (And might still be for all I know.)
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Yup, you're right, McScotty - I noticed earlier that one of them reprinted Ditko's first Creeper tale. Wisely, Ditko never dialogued it. Indeed, Pete was well-liked, despite being a grumpy buggah - but it was just a facade he liked to put on for comic effect. I first met him at the Royal Stuart Hotel at a comic mart in 1982 (Brian Bolland was there), and I remember him saying at that time that he and some friends were going to open a comic shop that would put six others out of business. That was A.K.A., which lasted a good wee while until it became A1 under new hands.
R S McColls, Bellshill.
ReplyDeleteWe had two.
A small dingy one and a larger cleaner one near the bus stops.
I prefered the smaller.
I stayed with my Nana during the summers and would run with her dog(my faithful friend Perky,a black and white sheepdog), all the way to the shop and all the way back with my purchases.
The route I took is no longer there although parts of it are.
These Detective Comics were available in R S McColls and I had maybe four of them.
I was intrigued by Manhunters ankles and in my mind visualised how they wrapped around and could be worn.
100 pages and all those stories made them a must buy for me.
I have bought a couple of these on e-bay,now where did I put them?
I got my comics from a variety of places in those days, and I don't think there was an issue of Detective or Batman's own comic that I couldn't get — whether on holiday in Blackpool or Rothesay, at home locally, or in nearby Paisley or Glasgow; I even picked up a few on my one-and-only trip to Majorca.
ReplyDeleteAs for the covers themselves: well, if Adams was producing his very best work on the character of Batman in the issues you've shown recently, then Aparo was doing the same here and in his first couple of years on Brave & Bold. I know he would work on the character for many years to come with much success, but at this point his art was still fresh and full of dynamism and vitality — qualities that he lost (for whatever reason) to a certain extent in later years. He was the only other Batman artist whose work I sought out as avidly as that by Adams — and I think I read somewhere that Adams himself would go out of his way to see Aparo's new work when it came into the offices.
That said, it's always a pleasure to see Adams' cover for Night Of The Stalker — just a wonderfully iconic cover. I see that, like my copy, yours has the price stamped on the worst place imaginable; surely down in the swamp would've been more appropriate.
Baab, there's been at least three reprint presentations of the Manhunter stories should you'd like to re-acquire them. Thinking about it now, I may have had The Night of the Stalker issue, but I'm not 100% certain - I'll have to take another look at that issue.
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GB, did you ever get any of your comics from Johnny's in Rutherglen? That was a great shop, sadly missed. Aparo was one of the great Batman artists, and I always enjoyed the tales he worked on. Regarding that T&P stamp - y'know, I'm so used to them that they're practically invisible to me.
Rutherglen was on the wrong side of town for me, Kid — at least at that point in time. We rarely went far from the West End or the South Side, although on occasion the family would all squeeze into our blue Anglia and venture further afield to visit friends who had moved out to the New Towns.
ReplyDeleteNow that I think about it, I rarely passed any shops in places like EK or Cumbernauld because of the way they were laid out. It was better in older established towns, where you'd have to go down the main street and there'd be a newsagent that would usually have a comic rack in the corner, and I'd get my father to stop the car so I could nip in for a look. I got a heap of stuff in places like that — from Gourock and Largs down on the Clyde, Dunlop and Lugton up on the Gleniffer Braes, beyond Paisley in places like Barrhead and Neilston, and over to Bridge Of Weir or Kilbarchan. It meant that even going to places that I didn't particularly to go to could result in a treasure hunt.
Amazing when you think how easily pleased we were to get a comic, compared to nowadays, eh, GB? I very much doubt that a comic would do - unless, of course, it was a poly-bagged one with a cheap bit of tat included and priced at £4.99. Back then, a trip in the car to the shops was an adventure, and a 3d Beano was reward enough, but kids these days seem to expect a bit more.
ReplyDeleteIs it just me or was the cover of WORLDS´ FINEST 3 ( NEW 52 version by George Perez ) done in homage to DETECTIVE COMICS 442 ?
ReplyDeleteDunno, Subby - haven't seen that WF cover, Anyone else know?
ReplyDeleteMaybe I´m imagining things.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.comics.org/issue/956046/cover/4/
There's definitely a similarity I'd say, SZ, but whether it's deliberate I'm not quite certain. Could be 'though.
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