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| Images copyright DC COMICS |
When these comics first came out nearly 28 years ago,
for some reason #20 wasn't put aside for me (I had a standing
order for them). I only acquired it a few short years ago, from
the late Neil Craig's FUTURESHOCK in Woodlands Road in
Glasgow. I only remember that because of the back issue 'lot-
tery' ticket I found within its pages when I flicked through
it relatively recently.
The ticket must have been there for years as it comes
from a time when the shop had relocated for a while to Byers
Road in the '90s, so it had long-expired by the the time I bought
the comic from the shop's original premises a couple or so years
before Neil Craig passed away. It always gives me a sense of
achievement when I manage to fill a gap in a collection -
still got a few more to go.
Anyway, well done. You've endured my self-indulgent
wittering for long enough, so enjoy your reward of these six
covers from a period when a SUPERMAN comic was still
a super read. (It's been a while in my view.)
******
Incidentally, doesn't it look like there's something missing
from the 'Power Failure' blurb in the above cover (#19)?
11 comments:
Could it be the ol' exclamation mark ?
It still does not seem that long ago that these books came out (28 years)- I loved Futureshock when it was in that lovely corner shop in Byers Road you could actually see all his comics and access the back issues, the Woodlands shop was way too small for all his stock I gave up looking for stuff in these you could hardly move - it ws great in its day thought (the 80s) and was the first dedicated comic shop (not counting "Virgin" , "Listen" etc that sold records and comics) I knew about in the 80s in Scotland - then the cramped space, dusky lighting and overflow of comic book stock was exciting to me.
I passed Craigs Woodland store a few weeks ago (on the way to an amazing cafe) it looked the same just more "dusty" with a broken window - you would think someone would shut the shop up and sell all those amazing books for his famiy etc before (GOd forbid) a fire or decay comes to play.
It's not just that, Baab - there's a space above 'power' that looks like it should have something.
******
I don't think I was ever in the Byers Road shop, McS. The only comics shop in Byers Road I was ever in was one called 'The Dream', which later moved to EK Village. Yeah, Neil's shop was too small and cluttered. The last time I was in, I tried looking for a back issue, but his filing cabinets were jammed so I gave up. That meant I gave up on the shop too, because it was too much bother to try and find anything. I don't know how I got that Superman #20, unless it was on the same day from a drawer that wasn't jammed.
What was the cafe you were going to? I usually use The Offshore, but they close too early now, so me and my pal used the icafe (with the seats outside) when we were in last week.
I can’t remember the name of that shop sorry it was a small name think there are a few in town (it’s near the motorway heading to Sauchiehall street coming from Woodlands area if that makes sense) . I haven’t been to Offshore in a while - I’ve become a massive coffee shop fan so much so I prefer going for a coffee and a wee cake than spending the night in a pub with my mates. Glasgow has so many excellent coffee shops now some a bit ott re price and as much as I still love greasy spoon type cafes (University café etc) my favourites at the moment (even although you didn’t ask me for them) are:
Laboratorio Espresso –West Nile Street - for coffee this is unsurpassed its real coffee not chain store stuff – it’s pretty small inside though and does not open late (like most coffee shops here) sells really nice tasty wee cakes as well and not costly.
Eat - (no relation to the bland UK-wide chain) in Shawlands – really excellent and reasonably priced food and good coffee.
Riverhill Café in Gordon Street - for food and coffee (can be costly though for food has a bit of a pretentious menu for a coffee shop )
Café Wander, West George Street - if you can get in and its open well worth a visit.
Avenue G, in Byres Rd (but has slipped a bit in my estimation recently)
Kimber and James – Byres Rd - But only when I want to spend £15 plus for a sandwich! It is nice though but soooooooo up its own ar~#@ ooops sorry I meant to say it’s a tad pretentious
The Beanscene? Yeah, some of the prices are a bit ridiculous in some of those cafes, but there's usually a nice atmosphere. I also like using the cafe at Glasgow University, but it's only open to the public at certain times, being restricted for the use of students at others. Been in Cafe Wander a couple of times, I like their Curiosity Cola. I was sad to see that the little cafe/bar in the GFT has closed; I used to like going in there from time to time. I also like Where The Monkey Sleeps in West Regent Street.
I remember winning one of Neil's back issue lottery tickets too, he usually had some good offers in Futureshock, like his discounts which got higher the more back issues you bought. Sad to hear when he passed away, Futureshock was always good for a bargain and Neil was always enthusiastic when it came to recommending stuff (I seem to remember him bigging up Robert Heinlein.)
Totally agree that the Byres Rd shop was when it was at its best, but I vividly remember buying Marvel Saga 10 and X-Men 213 and 214 in the crowded little Woodlands Rd shop on a sunny summer day in 1986 then walking back to the bottom of St.Georges Road to get a bus home.
The first comic that I remember buying from him was TV Century 21 #1 (which I still have), and he was meant to reserve #s 2 & 3 for me. When I went in to pay him for them, he'd sold them to someone else, a fact which I wasn't too happy about. That was around the mid-'80s, I think. I also did him a new letterhead logo, which he clumsily altered somewhat, another thing I wasn't too happy about. I saw him in the street one night and was about to say hello, but he just walked past me, scowling and muttering away to himself. An odd chap in some ways, but it was a shock to hear that he'd died.
I'm glad to say that I later managed to get #s 2 & 3 of TV21 from another source.
I have a vivid , almost total recall memory of buying Punisher issue 1 in his wee shop (got loads before that) and getting the bus back to Hamilton at Buchanan St. I also recall my cousin (who has no idea or interest in comics these were his childhood mint condition titles) gave him a batch (of over 300) back issues to get a price on them (1960s and some recent at the time DC and Marvels all top titles in great nick ) he said to come back in 2 weeks for a price ensuring him he would give hi a good price and would not sell before they agreed a price - when my cousin got to his shop 2 weeks later he had some of them displayed on his walls (with high prices) without asking if he wanted to sell them and before getting a (really poor) price for them - he actually has offers on 3 of the comics at more than £50 but offered my cousin only £60 for 300 (90% were top collectable titles I sold 2 of them for him not long after for £30 alone).
Yeah Neil was indeed an odd chat in many ways but despite my not being a fan of his most recent political stance he was a nice but socially awkward guy and I miss his shop.
That was totally out of order of him to do that, McS, as well as just being stupid. It makes sense that if you're going to rip someone off (which is essentially what he was doing), you buy the items first before putting them up for sale at individually high prices which far outstrip what you paid for them collectively. Hardly the behaviour you'd expect from someone with such strong political ideas about 'social justice'. Still, shame he's dead as he was a bit of a local worthy.
I wish someone would open up his shop, even if it was only until the stock had been sold.
Is the shop still unoccupied? How long has that been now?
It was the first "dedicated" comics shop in Glasgow I ever found- sometime about the spring of 82 or 83, I reckon. Prior to that, I had been going through to the Science Fiction Book Shop in Edinburgh for US monthlies and before that ( late 81), Virgin in Union Street.
I switched to AKA in the Virginia Galleries by 1985 although I did go back to the Byres Road Futureshock circa 91. The owner seemed to be lacking in social skills compared to John McShane or Pete Root and I felt that he'd rather not have customers at all, so I rarely ever bought anything again. It used to frustrate me watching graphic novels fade and blanch in the window of the Woodlands Road premises.
At a guess, Dougie, it must be going on for a couple of years now. I wish someone would open it up for at least as long as it takes to sell the stock - if, that is, it's no longer viable as a long-term enterprise. It must've been the early '80s when I first discovered the shop as well, but at that time, I visited the West End infrequently at best, so I wasn't exactly a regular customer. Like you, it irked me to see the contents of the window display bleach over time; I'd never have bought anything in that condition.
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