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| Characters copyright The Estate of EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS |
I remember it was raining. I also remember buying this comic in a local R.S. McCOLL's before wandering into another shop, W.&R. HOLMES. "Better get back to school" I eventually thought, having taken an extended lunch break and missed a couple of lessons. I remember taking my seat in English class and then furtively browsing through KORAK #1, secure in the knowledge that I was out of the teacher's immediate sight just so long as she stayed seated at her desk. I remained alert though, ready to put the mag back into my schoolbag at the first sign of 'teach' standing up and going for a wander 'round the classroom.
And, contents aside, that's all I remember about this comic from the early '70s - shops, school and schoolbag (which I still have), and the fact that it was raining when I purchased it and as I made my way back to school. Hardly a riveting reminiscence by any means, but I find myself smiling at the memory of a vanished period of my youth whenever I gaze upon the cover and internal pages of one of my favourite comics of the past. (Especially as the original school buildings were demolished in 2007/8 after a new one had been built nearby.)
"Good for you," you say, "but what's in this for us?" Ah, for you, the pulsating pleasure of perusing some pleasant pictures, and maybe even recalling your own memories associated with this terrific treasure from yesteryear. Perhaps it was raining then, too, or did the sun beat down relentlessly upon you? Can you remember? Then share it with the rest of us in the comments section. It's what it was invented for.
I remember buying this in the local grocery store....seems like it was late spring. I had been reading DC's adaptation of Tarzan (and the John Carter back-up) for a few months, so I eagerly snatched this one up. I remember reading all of these over the summer. I was not familiar with any of ERB's other works, so it was exciting to read about John Carter, David Innes, and Carson Napier, too.....almost as much as it was to read about Tarzan and Korak. I ended up tracking down the related books for each as well as many of the Tarzan series.
ReplyDeleteI was worried when the DC series down-sized later that summer because I was afraid that some of the back-up series would disappear, so I was glad when they came out with the Weird Worlds series. Apparently, I was one of the few because it didn't last very long.
I mainly remember that I was reading them at night. We mostly stayed outside during the summer and either worked or played with friends until dark. I can hear the crickets and cicadas chirping outside at night as we went into the house. It was so HOT outside, too, so when we came in at night, the air conditioner was on and it was so cool inside. I can remember reading this over and over again in my room on my bed. I think I still have that dog-eared copy lying around somewhere.
Brilliant reminiscence, G, I can almost hear those crickets myself. I remember buying at least the first three DC Tarzan's in the '70s, and getting replacements for them sometime in the '80s. It took me probably over 20 years to obtain #4 (for the first time), thereby completing the adaptation of the first story. If I recall correctly, there were 8 issues of Weird Worlds, and I've got them tucked away somewhere. I may have done a cover gallery of them on the blog, can't quite remember. Glad this post prompted a few happy memories for you, and thanks for dropping by.
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